Chapter 130: The Choice

Eryndor stood at the end of the corridor, completely still.

Rin could see immediately that something was wrong.

The boy’s face was unusually pale.

His hands were clenched at his sides, and his eyes were fixed on Rin as if he had just heard something he wasn’t supposed to hear.

Rin slowed his steps.

"Eryndor."

Eryndor didn’t answer.

The Crown Prince, walking beside Rin, stopped as well.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke. Then Eryndor lowered his head.

"You refused."

Rin frowned.

"What?"

"The engagement."

Rin understood.

"You heard us."

Eryndor nodded.

"I was coming to the great hall when I heard your voice."

Rin walked closer.

"Eryndor—"

"Why?"

Rin stopped.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I don’t want to marry him."

"That’s not what I mean."

Eryndor finally looked up.

"Then what?"

His voice was quiet.

"Why did you refuse because of me?"

Rin’s heart tightened.

"I didn’t."

"You did."

"No."

"I heard you."

Eryndor stepped closer.

"You said you wouldn’t let her decide your life anymore."

Rin remained silent.

"And then you said you would protect me."

Eryndor’s voice trembled.

"Why?"

Rin didn’t know how to answer. Because the truth was impossible to explain.

Because he knew what Eryndor would become. Because he knew the future. Because somewhere inside this boy was the man Rin had loved across countless lives.

Instead, Rin said quietly,

"Because you’re important to me."

Eryndor froze. The Crown Prince looked away, giving them privacy.

Rin continued.

"You’ve been beside me since we were children."

"So?"

"So I won’t let someone hurt you just because they want to control me."

Eryndor shook his head.

"You don’t understand."

"Then explain."

"If you keep standing against your mother because of me, she’ll eventually make you choose."

"Then I’ll choose."

Eryndor stared at him.

"You don’t even know what you’re choosing."

Rin looked at him seriously.

"Maybe I don’t."

Then he stepped closer.

"But I know what I don’t want."

"What?"

"I don’t want to live a life where someone else decides who I have to marry."

Eryndor lowered his gaze.

"And if refusing means losing your family?"

Rin’s expression softened.

"Then I’ll deal with it."

"And if refusing means losing your title?"

"I’ll deal with it."

"And if it means losing everything?"

Rin paused. Then he answered,

"I’ll still choose for myself."

Eryndor looked at him for a long moment. Something changed in his expression.

Not happiness. Not relief. Something deeper. Was fear.

Rin noticed.

"Eryndor?"

The boy took a step backward.

"I don’t want to be the reason you lose everything."

"You aren’t."

"I am."

"No."

"I am."

His voice cracked.

"I know how your mother looks at me."

Rin remained silent.

"She already hates me."

"Eryndor—"

"If you keep protecting me, she’ll hate you too."

"I don’t care."

"But I do."

Rin’s expression changed. Eryndor looked toward the great hall.

"You’re the young master."

"So?"

"You have a future."

Rin almost laughed bitterly.

A future that ends with you.

But he kept the thought to himself.

"You think I want a future chosen by someone else?"

Eryndor didn’t answer. Rin stepped closer.

"You think I want to become someone I’m not?"

"No."

"Then stop telling me what I should sacrifice."

Eryndor stared at him. Rin’s voice became quieter.

"You’re not a burden."

Eryndor looked away.

"You are my friend."

Those words seemed to hurt him. Rin noticed.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Eryndor didn’t answer. Instead, he whispered,

"What if I don’t want to be only your friend?"

Rin froze. The corridor became completely silent.

The Crown Prince’s expression shifted slightly, but he said nothing. Eryndor immediately looked away.

"I shouldn’t have said that."

Rin’s heart began beating faster.

"Eryndor..."

"Forget it."

"Eryndor."

"I said forget it."

He turned. Rin reached out and caught his wrist.

Eryndor stopped. For a moment, neither moved.

Rin didn’t know what to say. Because he remembered Kaelith.

The man from his own time. The man who had looked at Rin with an intensity that sometimes frightened him.

The man who remembered lives Rin couldn’t. The man who had said he loved Rin regardless of body, name, world, or time.

And now... Rin was standing in front of the beginning.

The first version of that person but Eryndor was still only seventeen.

A boy who didn’t yet know what his future would become. Rin slowly released his wrist.

"I’m sorry."

Eryndor looked at him.

"For what?"

"For not knowing what to say."

Eryndor gave a small smile.

"You never know what to say when you’re scared."

Rin frowned.

"How do you know I’m scared?"

"Because I’ve known you since we were eight."

Rin looked down. Aelion’s memories stirred faintly.

Two children beneath a tree. A promise. Anywhere. Rin closed his eyes.

Don’t change this.

Aelion’s voice suddenly appeared.

Rin’s eyes opened.

"What?"

Eryndor looked confused.

"I didn’t say anything."

Rin shook his head. Aelion spoke again.

Don’t interfere with this moment.

"Why?"

Because this is important.

"Important for what?"

No answer came. Rin became frustrated.

"You’re the one who keeps telling me I can’t change the past."

Yes.

"Then why are you afraid of me changing it?"

Aelion remained silent. Rin understood. There was something Aelion wasn’t telling him.

Something about Eryndor. Something about the future. Something about the beginning of Kaelith.

The Crown Prince finally spoke.

"I think you two need to talk alone."

Rin looked at him.

"Thank you."

The prince nodded and walked farther down the corridor.

Eryndor watched him leave. Then he turned toward Rin.

"Why is he helping you?"

"Because he doesn’t want this marriage either."

Eryndor looked surprised.

"He refused?"

"Yes."

"Then what will happen?"

"I don’t know."

Eryndor sighed.

"You’ve made everything more complicated."

Rin smiled faintly.

"Apparently that’s what I do."

For a moment, Eryndor smiled too. Then a loud voice echoed from the other side of the corridor.

"Eryndor!"

Both boys turned. Lady Valen was standing there. Her expression was cold.

"Eryndor, come with me."

Eryndor immediately lowered his head.

"Yes, my lady."

Rin stepped forward.

"Mother."

She looked at him.

"Stay out of this."

"No."

Her eyes narrowed.

"I wasn’t asking."

"I don’t care."

Eryndor whispered,

"Aelion..."

Rin didn’t move. Lady Valen pointed toward Eryndor.

"He’s coming with me."

"Why?"

"Because he needs to learn his place."

Rin’s expression hardened.

"He already knows his place."

Lady Valen smiled.

"Does he?"

She looked at Eryndor.

"Then perhaps he should be reminded."

Rin stepped between them.

"No."

The atmosphere changed instantly. Lady Valen’s eyes became cold.

"You are challenging me again?"

"Yes."

"Because of him?"

"Because it’s wrong."

She stared at him. Then she said something that made Rin’s blood run cold.

"Do you know what happened to servants who forgot their place in the old days?"

Rin didn’t answer.

"They disappeared."

Eryndor’s face went pale. Lady Valen continued.

"House Valen has existed for generations because everyone understands their position."

Rin’s voice became quiet.

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you will learn what it means to be a son who betrays his own family."

Rin felt Aelion stir inside him.

Rin.

"What?"

Don’t.

"Why?"

Not yet.

Rin clenched his fists.

"Why not?"

Because this is not the moment.

Rin looked at Eryndor. The boy was terrified and Rin realized something.

If he attacked his mother now, Eryndor would suffer for it.

He couldn’t simply fight. He had to think. That was the difference between changing the past and destroying it.

Rin took a slow breath.

"Fine."

Lady Valen raised an eyebrow. Rin stepped aside.

"Eryndor can go."

Eryndor looked at him in shock.

"Aelion..."

Rin didn’t look at him.

"Go."

Eryndor hesitated. Then he followed Lady Valen.

Rin watched them disappear. His hands trembled.

The Crown Prince returned.

"You let him go."

"For now."

The prince looked at Rin carefully.

"You have a plan?"

"No."

Rin stared at the empty corridor.

"Not yet."

The Crown Prince crossed his arms.

"Then you should make one."

Rin nodded.

"I will."

That evening, the estate became unusually quiet.

Rin spent hours in the library. Old books covered the wooden shelves.

Family records. Kingdom laws. Marriage contracts. Servant laws. Noble agreements.

Rin searched through everything he could find.

If he couldn’t fight his mother with power, he would fight her with knowledge.

He needed a way to protect Eryndor without destroying the future.

He needed a way to break the engagement.

He needed to understand what happened to House Valen.

And most importantly... He needed to discover why Eryndor eventually became Kaelith.

Hours passed.Rin finally found something.

An old family record. He opened it.His eyes moved across the faded writing.

Then he froze. There was a name. A name connected to Eryndor, a name that shouldn’t have been there.

Rin read it again. His heartbeat accelerated.

"Impossible..."

Aelion became completely silent inside him.

Rin stared at the page. The record described a servant from generations earlier who had been given a strange title.

A title that appeared nowhere else.

Bearer of Calamity.

Rin’s blood ran cold.

"Eryndor..."

He turned another page. There were several names. Most had been erased. One remained.

And beneath it was a symbol Rin had seen before.

The same symbol that had appeared in the records of the Demon Realm. The same symbol connected to Kaelith.

Rin slowly closed the book.

"This isn’t where it started."

Aelion finally spoke.

No.

Rin stared into the darkness between the shelves.

"Then what is this?"

Aelion’s answer was almost inaudible.

The beginning was much earlier.

Rin’s heart sank. There had been something else. Something that had already been waiting for them.

And somewhere inside House Valen... Eryndor suddenly opened his eyes.

He was standing alone in a dark room. A strange black mark had appeared on his palm.

He stared at it in confusion. Then a voice whispered from somewhere beyond the walls.

"Not yet."

Eryndor looked around.

"Who’s there?"

The voice disappeared but the black mark remained.

And far away, in the library, Rin suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.

He turned toward the direction of Eryndor’s room.

"Eryndor..."

For the first time since arriving in the past, Rin understood something terrifying.

The past wasn’t simply waiting for him to change it.

It was already changing around him.