Even If Everyone Hates You - Chapter 6

Calahan continued his report as if the previous commotion had never happened. This too was like the past Sjoerd remembered. Sjoerd, staring intently at the steward, took the documents he offered and asked.

“Tell me, what year is it now?”

“It is the year 357 since the kingdom’s founding. It also marks the beginning of the fifth Origin Festival you’re hosting, Your Grace.”

Calahan answered calmly, as if he had caught the hint. He casually added another comment to the thoughtful Sjoerd.

“It seems you’ve had a disturbing nightmare. It’s understandable after working non-stop for months.”

A nightmare.

It was too vivid and extended to be dismissed as merely a dream. But there was no other explanation, given everyone he faced said the same.

With no immediate way to understand why this was happening, dealing with what was before him seemed the right approach.

If this is a dream, eventually, I will wake up, and if I have truly traveled back in time… then I…

Sjoerd lowered his gaze to the documents. Listed were the names of the distinguished guests who would be staying in the main and annex buildings of the castle, many of them familiar. Only the royal family and Tudur from other families could stay in the main building, while all other nobles stayed in the annex.

Initially, the number of nobles who could participate in the Origin Festival was limited to close collateral relatives of each Tudur family, so the number wasn’t large.

The gray eyes scanning the names paused at the end of the list of those staying in the annex. There, included was the current queen’s eldest son and the second royal prince, Reuschers Raymann Solias.

As Sjoerd mulled over why that person was here, he soon recalled that this was his own decision.

The Crown Prince, Aster, had first commanded him through a letter. Despite the treatment not aligning with etiquette and rules, Sjoerd followed the order, partly because of the Crown Prince’s firm power and partly due to the dismal status of Prince Reuschers.

From the beginning of the Tudur, there existed Guides alongside them on this land. Immense power always brought mental fractures, and only a Guide could quell such fractures. The royal family of Solias had uniquely possessed the power of Guides for generations.

It is said that the most powerful ruler, Raymann the First, purified the wavelengths of many Tudur without discrimination, although usually, a member of the royal family had the capacity to handle one or two Tudur.

The current royal family could not purify indiscriminately as their ancestors did, but the constant number of existing Tudur meant that even that level of power proved their worth as royalty.

However, Prince Reuschers lacked anything representative of royal lineage. Instead of the golden hair and light eyes that the Solias royalty traditionally bore, he was born with black hair and lacked the translucent pattern on his back, known as the mark of a Guide. He also lacked the self-healing abilities typical of Guides, which usually appeared around the time they learned to write, so it was a foregone conclusion that he possessed no power.

‘But everything will change after this Origin Festival.’

If the reality Sjoerd experienced and the future remained the same, Prince Reuschers would soon awaken his power, starting with this Origin Festival.

To the disappointment of those who ignored and ridiculed him, the prince’s power turned out to be as strong as the legendary abilities of Raymann the First.

He was an unprecedented Guide, perfectly compatible with any Tudur. His purification abilities were so strong that even light contact could stabilize a Tudur, making it natural for Prince Reuschers to become a candidate for the throne.

In his past life, Sjoerd had confronted him countless times. It was not only because the Crown Prince he served wished it but also because Sjoerd personally disliked him. He despised the blood of the current queen flowing through Prince Reuschers and also hated those around him.

His mind became cluttered. The documents crumpled in his grip. If things were as they had always been, he would naturally follow the Crown Prince’s command.

However…

He had a feeling that following the same path as the past would lead to the same death.

The Crown Prince was indeed his benefactor but also the one who abandoned him. All the efforts to reclaim his family’s honor only led to him being called the demon of Solias.

It was an unwelcome reality, but the path Sjoerd had chosen was wrong.

If he made the same choices as the past, the future he would face was clear—standing by the Crown Prince, repeating the actions of before, and eventually facing a rampage.

The cause of the rampage was unknown, but repeating the past would only yield the same result.

There was only one way to avoid it and change the future.

To mend his relationship with Prince Reuschers, who he had turned into an enemy.