Asher sat silently in his carriage as it rolled forward under the moonlight, wrapped in the blanket of the night. At this time, Lyra wasn’t with him inside the carriage; she sat on her own horse, riding just beside the moving vehicle.
Asher sat with his eyes closed. The window beside him was also shut as he remained deep in thought. He could still feel his boots soaked with the heavy, iron-rich smell of blood. With every part of his body enhanced, especially his senses, the scent slammed into his nostrils like a tidal wave.
He felt nauseous. He felt like vomiting, as though he could literally taste the blood on his tongue. But Asher didn’t dare throw up; he clenched his jaw and forced everything back in.
Asher couldn’t be blamed. Prior to his transmigration, when he was still Ethan, he had never been in a single fight, not even a minor scuffle involving a thrown fist.
So naturally, Asher hardly ever saw blood. Even when he did, it was either from a minor bruise or a small cut that produced a mere drop and nothing more.
But this, this was different. The only reason he hadn’t vomited at this point was due to the two day long massacre of weak beasts that had crossed his path during this journey to the capital. Their blood had stained him repeatedly. Slowly but surely, he had gotten used to its sight and stench.
’I wonder what it would feel like to kill a person,’
Asher thought, his mind drifting as he stared blankly ahead. He knew that sooner or later, he would have to fight someone to the death.
Asher was sure, even a split-second hesitation on his part could lead to decapitation. But he wouldn’t hesitate. He didn’t plan to. And he knew that this gut-twisting sensation, this nauseating discomfort, would pass eventually.
It was only a matter of time. He would adapt. He had to.
Besides, that wasn’t the only thing bothering him.
Something else made his brows furrow at that very moment. His gaze shifted to the system notification floating before him.
[Detecting Mind Invasion, Mind Shield Activated]
[Memory Manipulation Detected, Mind Shield Activated]
His purple eyes stared at the system panel in silence. When Asher had first received this notification, he had been stunned, shocked into speechlessness.
But at the same time, it made sense. This was a noble gathering, after all. People who smiled at your face while simultaneously stabbing you from behind.
If the system hadn’t warned him, if it had just quietly protected his mind, he would have been unaware and completely oblivious.
The first system notification had appeared the very moment Asher dropped his handkerchief beside the unconscious Ryan. This meant that whoever had tried to interfere with his mind had waited until the spar ended to make their move.
Earlier, during the royal party itself, no one had bothered trying to read Asher’s memory. They had all deemed him unimportant. But after witnessing the spar, their curiosity had ignited, they had wanted to uncover what secrets he was hiding.
The second system notification came at the exact moment the Emperor, Zolthemir Lux Vanthelmor, touched Asher’s shoulder while smiling and congratulating him.
It had been such a casual gesture, such a normal action, that without the system’s alert, Asher wouldn’t have suspected anything.
’Could it be a coincidence?’ Asher wondered, placing two fingers under his chin in thought.
He didn’t want to label the Emperor as someone who had tried to manipulate his memory right there in front of four Dukes.
But at the same time, Asher wouldn’t put it past him. This was an Emperor who had probably been scheming since birth, perhaps even from within his mother’s womb.
Besides, anyone who possessed the ability to manipulate memories wouldn’t go around announcing it to the world. They would be killed instantly, if only to ensure that certain secrets and vulnerabilities remained hidden.
Asher’s face darkened as another unsettling thought entered his mind.
’If Emperor Zolthemir is truly behind the memory manipulation... then how much of Father’s mind has he tampered with?’
The idea alone made Asher’s stomach churn. And it wouldn’t just be Duke Azeron’s mind.
What about the other Dukes? The other nobles? The Royal Knights? The number of potential victims grew with every second Asher spent thinking about it.
But at the same time, there was no way nobles at the level of Dukes wouldn’t have some means of defending their minds, whether through artifacts, or unique abilities.
Especially beings of their caliber. Even the slightest tampering should instantly alert them.
But that was now, when they were already powerful. What about when they were younger?
When they were Asher’s age, weak, inexperienced, and vulnerable? Back then, they could have easily fallen prey to such manipulation. But also, during that time, Zolthemir himself might not have developed his ability to such a high level.
Asher’s frown deepened.
’Emperor Zolthemir... A dangerous man. I must also be wary of others with psychic abilities. Just because only two people tried to invade my mind doesn’t mean only two people possess the ability.’
His mind drifted to Vaelra Lux Vanthelmor and her twin brother, Vaelric Lux Vanthelmor. As prince and princess of the Empire, manipulation and scheming had to be like oxygen to them.
’Could one, or both, of them have inherited the Emperor’s memory manipulation ability?’
Asher closed his eyes again.
’The noble circle is truly dangerous. I have to tread carefully,’ he thought, the intensity in his expression sharpening.
The Emperor’s ability to manipulate memories proved something vital to Asher, something he couldn’t afford to forget:
Just because someone hailed from a particular bloodline or lineage didn’t mean they couldn’t awaken a unique, personal ability outside their heritage. Power in this world wasn’t always bound by ancestry. Sometimes, it was random... or fated.
Asher sighed. He could choose to warn his father... or he could stay silent. But he wasn’t sure how it would all pan out. Though he guessed that noble households, like the Dukes and perhaps even Emperors of other Empires, would have some form of protection against mind attacks, that was just speculation.
He could warn Duke Azeron, but who knew how the Duke would respond? For all Asher knew, his father and the others might already be under the Emperor’s influence.
’This world is dangerous. I wonder how dangerous the Emovirae are,’ Asher mused, a chill running down his spine.
He shook his head, choosing to set everything aside for now. His mind and senses shifted back to the blood on his clothes and the soles of his boots. Yet this time, that gut-twisting sensation had disappeared.
He no longer felt nauseous. He felt... perfectly fine.
A small smile appeared on his lips. He hadn’t expected to adapt this quickly.
By the time Asher arrived at the inn, the night had already deepened. After a long bath and a warm supper, he jumped onto the bed and collapsed into it.
Though a part of his mind still reasoned that Ryan’s father might send assassins after him, Asher felt no fear. With Duke Azeron here, Ryan’s father would be powerless to act.
So Asher allowed himself to drift off into sleep. After all, tomorrow marked the beginning of their journey back to the Wargrave estate.
’What a dangerous world,’ he thought.
That was Asher’s final thought before he slipped into the depths of dreamland.