NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: The Truth
Ayden Rosewood grew up in a place we called Earth, a place that exists in a different world. When he left, it was the year 2033 CE.
This wasn’t what Rian had expected at all!
Rian’s mind was abuzz. If this world was a novel…then that would imply there was a world where the novel was written. Why hadn’t he thought of that? His gaze towards Ayden Rosewood changed.
“Then how did you come to ‘this world’?” he asked.
Ren Xiyang’s eyes lowered. “There was a plague which it made dead people ‘undead’. I died under certain circumstances after being infected, only to wake up in this world.”
The words roared in Rian’s ears as Ayden Rosewood yanked him in a different direction again. “You need to repeat that all for me.”
Ren Xiyang looked at Rian. It was interesting how Rian believed him, despite the outlandish—though true—claims.
“I grew up in a different place. The planet was called Earth. One day, the sky turned red and many people died and turned into zombies, while others gained magical abilities. I was a fire-ability user. I was eventually infected by those zombies and died, leading me to wake up in this world, as a child of Roland and Marie Rosewood.”
“Zombies?”
“These were dead people who were re-animated. They could move around. The higher level zombies could move very fast and had their own magical abilities. If you were scratched or bitten by them, then you would become infected and inevitably turn into a zombie.”
Rian tensed. Ayden had lived through a plague that was similar, yet different from the one Rian had witnessed. “Did you ever find a cure?”
“There had been efforts in producing a vaccine or therapeutics, but nothing successful as far as I knew. We didn’t have Saintess-like healer mages.”
Rian found that he had unconsciously leaned forward. He straightened up again, forcefully calming himself down. “That…is a very surprising background. Your focus on the Angio Kingdom…”
“I lived through one plague. I don’t want it to happen again,” Ren Xiyang said gravely.
That sentiment struck Rian right through the chest. He made a snap decision. “We need a second contract.”
“Go right ahead.”
Rian wrote a second contract. The conditions were the same—the words spoken henceforth would not leave this room. The costs: that Ayden Rosewood will cooperate with Prince Rian on matters pertaining to the Angio Kingdom and medical research.
Ren Xiyang signed, and then waited.
Now, Rian leaned back on the sofa. “You know that this world is recorded in a novel.”
Ren Xiyang blinked, surprised. “Yes, I do know.”
“You know that in the future, there could be a plague-curse originating from Angio.”
“I know.”
“You know that in the future, I could die.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know that I lived through everything written in the novel, only to return to the past—now.”
“I didn’t know.”
Rian pouted slightly. “You don’t seem that surprised.”
Ren Xiyang’s lips quirked slightly. “You returned to the past. Were you surprised by my background?”
Rian pointedly admitted nothing.
Ren Xiyang felt a thread of amusement. He unconsciously relaxed. “My old world was very developed. There existed many, many stories of occurrences just like this. Such as characters travelling across worlds into a different body after death, or characters returning to their pasts, or characters travelling to multiple different worlds. My previous world could have been a novel too. There might even be others in our position.”
—That last sentence was said on the fly, but in retrospect, Ren Xiyang realised that it could be true. There could be multiple transmigrators or reincarnated individuals in this novel world, all of which would reduce the importance of the original novel as they deviated further and further from the past. Suddenly, the complexity of everything increased, threatening to give Ren Xiyang a headache. If the Transmigration Bureau knew what was good for them, they wouldn’t throw in more chaos!
In contrast, Rian’s implicit unconscious assumptions were disintegrating. He suddenly felt insignificant and common. What if it wasn’t just him and Ayden? What if there were others out there? How could he know if someone was a ‘returner’ or ‘traveller’?
Rian exhaled, returning to the task at hand. “Regardless, we still need to stop Angio.” His lips tightened. “If someone ‘returned’ back in Angio and knew about the future plague development, then they could create an even more terrible plague-curse.” Maybe the best option is—
“If worse comes to worse, a little assassination should work,” Ren Xiyang said calmly.
Rian’s eyes widened, giving a little laugh out of shock. He and Ayden Rosewood were so synchronous! “Only if we’re prepared to fight a war,” he countered with a lift of his lips.
Ren Xiyang nodded. “It is our last resort option. The potential for other people to have similar knowledge to us should be considered, but the important thing is to prevent the plague-curse and watch out for unexpected events that will later happen due to us changing the course of history.”
Rian nodded. “On the matter of Angio Kingdom, we should give them no reason to develop such a plague-curse in the first place. Diplomacy is the cheapest option, one that my Imperial Father the King and the Imperial Council would agree on.”
“We also mustn’t be complacent on disease prevention, since natural diseases occur all the time,” Ren Xiyang added.
“Yes, of course. I’ve been considering the best courses of action…”
The two of them spent the rest of the meeting comparing ideas and plans for preventing the plague-curse. Ren Xiyang shared his lay knowledge of epidemiology, initiating Rian into the what, germs exist?!-club.
“While healer mages do use cleaning spells, it’s not clear how much they clean,” Rian realised. His hands suddenly felt dirty, although he had washed them.
“This should be tested,” Ren Xiyang mused. “In addition, shield spells should be tested to see if they are fine enough to prevent bacteria and viruses from passing through…”
“Yes.” Rian recalled the healing spells he had learnt in his first life after the plague-curse broke out. Then he gave Aden Rosewood a mischievous look. “In the Royal University Library, there is a section devoted to healing spells. If you come to the Capital, I will show you.”
“At that point, am I visiting the Capital or living at the Capital?”
“If you fly the way you do, surely it’ll go quite fast,” Rian joked.
Ren Xiyang suddenly became pensive.
Rian narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
“Allow me to develop it first,” Ren Xiyang said. “Your Highness, this meeting has been going on for quite some time. I believe Count Aegean is stirring in his suite.”
“Ah.” Rian rather Count Aegean didn’t find out—it was better for Count Aegean’s heart that way. He reluctantly stood up.
Ren Xiyang also stood up. The two of them went to the door. Rian dropped the sound-blocking spell.
“Earl Rosewood, after learning about your background, I have to confess that I’m even more interested in duelling with you again.”
“Alternatively, if His Highness wants to defeat me, he should challenge me to a verbal-spells only duel,” Ren Xiyang said.
Rian blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know any spells,” Ren Xiyang said.
Rian: “…”
Rian narrowed his eyes. “You imply that you used only fire-based attacks during the duel because you don’t know any other spells?”
“I do know a spell,” Ren Xiyang remembered.
Rian perked up.
“—The Release spell.”
Rian perked down. His lips twitched. “I see. Well, to make it fair, I will restrain from using non-ice spells.”
“Your kindness is appreciated,” Ren Xiyang said drily. “But there is no need to restrain yourself.”
“I don’t need other spells to win,” Rian said.
Ren Xiyang simply raised his eyebrows. He opened the door.
The Royal Guards were standing right at the door. One of them quickly stepped back, as though he had just been attempting to eavesdrop.
“Earl Rosewood, let’s speak again on matters,” Rian said formally. If he thought about it, the two of them did have a tacit understanding to use only fire or ice attacks. Ayden Rosewood could have used his fists, after all.
“My door is open to you, Your Highness.”
Prince Rian left with his Royal Guards.
Ren Xiyang closed the door. His gaze went over to the sofas where they two had just been sitting. The two contracts they had signed were lying on the coffee table.
There hadn’t been much information about Rian Azure in the novel. He was a conscientious prince who became the crown prince, tried to help his people, and then died of the plague-curse. There wasn’t a hint of him being a genius at magic to the level that Ren Xiyang had seen, nor were there any mentions of his maturity at a young age.
In retrospect, Rian Azure’s actions were far from the original plot of the novel. In the novel, he didn’t go to the Rosewood summer manor after the murders.
In retrospect, Rian Azure was now a magical genius.
In retrospect, compared to some of the servants’ children chattering before and after the duel, Rian Azure spoke to him as adult-to-adult, and only switched to childishness when Count Aegean was around.
Ren Xiyang had no interest in pretending to be a child, and Rian Azure seemed to not bother pretending to be a child around him.
Ren Xiyang hadn’t expected Prince Rian to have died and returned. However, the prince seemed trustworthy and competent, and their ultimate goals were aligned. The prince also seemed to want to be his friend…?
Nonetheless, the important thing was that the prince had signed a contract, promising to help Ren Xiyang—for the cost of zero gold!
Rian: Found a friend and partner in (legal) crime ^_^
Ren Xiyang: Found a new employee volunteer collaborator (・ω・)