* * *
Would it be possible to exclude Kim Minsoo?
That was the first thought that came to mind when I received his letter.
From my perspective, meeting him was a way to gather information about him and his plans, but the surrounding circumstances were more complicated than I had anticipated.
It was a meeting between Karon Luavis and Sean Kreveta.
A meeting between Karon Luavis and Shane Pantheon.
There was no place for friendship in this equation—neither internally nor externally.
In the end, if I wanted to continue contacting and meeting Kim Minsoo, I would have to force the issue.
To the Duke and Duchess, I could justify it by saying I wanted to find out why Karon Luavis was so intent on approaching me, or by mentioning the circumstantial evidence that the Luavis family was involved in my parents’ deaths.
In fact, I had already said as much.
But from their perspective, while they might worry about me, they would also wonder, ‘Why go to such lengths?’
Either way, they wouldn’t be able to ignore the fact that I was meeting Kim Minsoo.
The same applied to Raizen.
He was overly wary of Kim Minsoo, visibly uncomfortable with the fact that we both shared the unique trait of being transmigrators.
Even though I had already informed him at the cabin that this was originally supposed to be my place. But whether he fully grasped the distinction was uncertain.
‘No matter how I look at it, this feels like stirring up unnecessary trouble.’
After agonizing over it for a long time, my conclusion remained unchanged—excluding Kim Minsoo was too risky.
Not because he was the protagonist of this novel, but because he couldn’t even hide his hatred for Raizen in front of others.
‘Kim Minsoo already sees Raizen as an irredeemable villain.’
I didn’t know how many regressions he had gone through, only that he had failed each time.
And judging by his deep-seated hatred for Raizen, most of those failures were probably because of him.
Which meant he would never leave Raizen alone.
More than anything, my very existence was an anomaly.
A story with a regressing protagonist never simply ignores a variable like me.
Kim Minsoo would keep seeking me out, and trying too hard to avoid him would seem even more suspicious.
For all I knew, this could be the moment where, for some unknown reason, I gave him a clue that I was something beyond Sean Kreveta—something that deviated from the original story.
After much deliberation, I shared the contents of the letter with the Duchess and asked for her permission.
The monster attack in Belman had been identified as a monster wave, and Duke Pantheon had left the ducal estate to oversee the subjugation.
The Duchess hesitated for a moment before nodding in approval.
∗ ∗ ∗
The year had changed, yet the season remained as cold as ever.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but the days felt particularly gloomy, as if the sunlight itself had dimmed.
There was no sign of rain or snow, yet everything seemed cast in shadow.
The New Year’s banquet had, of course, been canceled.
Not just the ducal estate, but the entire duchy seemed to have fallen into a quiet slumber.
And on one such day, Karon Luavis—or rather, Kim Minsoo—arrived at the ducal estate.
“It’s been a while.”
Kim Minsoo greeted me with a smile as he stepped into the parlor.
He looked thinner than before, his features sharper, giving him an even more sensitive appearance.
I quickly scanned him before returning his smile.
“It has been a while, indeed, Lord Luavis.”
Following etiquette, I gestured for him to take a seat, and he nodded before settling into the chair opposite me.
Up close, I noticed his eyes were slightly bloodshot—clear signs of someone who hadn’t been sleeping well.
He stared blankly at the tea set on the table before shifting his gaze restlessly, as if nervous.
‘Something’s not going well for him?’
I had expected him to look more at ease than before.
After all, things were moving according to Duke Luavis’s plan.
Of course, my assumption was that Kim Minsoo had formed some kind of temporary alliance or made a deal with Duke Luavis.
‘Otherwise, there’s no way he’d let his own son publish a thesis on the controversial prophecy.’
The look of satisfaction on Duke Luavis’s face at the academic conference had been proof enough.
In the novel, Kim Minsoo had loathed and despised Duke Luavis, but that was not the Kim Minsoo standing before me now.
‘If it’s something that could put Raizen and the Pantheon family in a difficult position, he’d go along with it.’
The fact that he had requested to meet me while Raizen was away only reinforced my suspicions.
After organizing my thoughts, I cleared my throat.
Kim Minsoo’s wandering gaze landed on me.
I deliberately made a hesitant expression and spoke in a subdued voice.
“I’m sorry for declining your birthday party invitation last time… The circumstances were just…”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. I understand. There wasn’t much you could do, given the situation…”
As he spoke, Kim Minsoo looked me up and down.
His expression said, ‘Well, you’re just some noble’s adopted child, so of course, there’s bound to be discrimination.’
‘What an absolute piece of shit.’
But his reaction confirmed my theory.
‘Kim Minsoo doesn’t know much about Sean Kreveta either.’
I had sensed as much when we first met at Raizen’s coming-of-age ceremony, but I had wanted to be more certain before making a final judgment.
He couldn’t find out I was acting.
Today’s meeting was meant to solidify my suspicions—and it had.
The novel ‘From Transmigration to Hero’ was, strictly speaking, a transmigration into a book story.
Meaning, from Kim Minsoo’s perspective, he had entered a fantasy novel he had once read.
But in the novel’s actual storyline, there was barely any explanation about the original work Kim Minsoo had supposedly read.
Before meeting him today, I had reread the novel carefully, just in case.
If anything, I became more certain—there wasn’t even a mention of the original novel’s title.
The narrative simply stated that he had read so many stories that he couldn’t remember details precisely, that the names and events felt familiar but just out of reach.
As the story progressed, even those vague references disappeared.
‘So the only information Kim Minsoo has about Sean Kreveta is what’s in From Transmigration to Hero.’
Raizen Pantheon’s first victim.
Originally Sean Kreveta, but for some reason, he had become Shane Pantheon and ended up as Raizen’s adopted younger brother.
Weak, timid, and terrified of Raizen.
“But things have been a little better for you lately, haven’t they?”
Kim Minsoo took a sip of tea and asked casually.
For a moment, I thought, ‘What kind of nonsense is he spewing?’—but I quickly understood.
‘He’s asking if life is better now that Raizen is gone?’
Don’t make me laugh.
Every single day has been excruciating.
That bastard hasn’t even sent a single letter.
“…Not necessarily.”
I lowered my gaze, hiding my true emotions.
“Hmm, I see?”
Kim Minsoo murmured, then continued,
“You do know who you really are, don’t you?”
So that’s what he was suspicious of.
It was clear he didn’t have solid information on Sean Kreveta. In that case…
“I do… but, um… I’m not really sure. About what happens next. About what I should do.”
I should throw out some bait.
Something Kim Minsoo wouldn’t be able to resist.
A brief silence settled over them.
Kim Minsoo traced the rim of his teacup before speaking.
“So the rumors about your relationship worsening were true?”
His tone was probing.
This was the response I had expected, but I couldn’t confirm it outright.
Publicly, there were rumors that the relationship between the Kreveta and Pantheon families was not what it used to be.
But the person before me was from the Luavis family.
There was no telling where Duke Luavis, who kept Pantheon in check, had planted his spies.
‘Then, it’s best to play dumb.’
I looked at Kim Minsoo as if I had no idea what he was talking about, then furrowed my brows.
“Relationship worsening… Are you referring to the ties between my family and this place?”
“That’s right. The rumors have already spread throughout high society. You didn’t know?”
‘Not that they spread on their own—your father must’ve had a blast spreading them around.’
“To be honest, I don’t know much. I’ve only heard what my brother told me… Ah, so that’s why you never visited.”
Kim Minsoo smirked.
“Now do you believe me? Raizen Pantheon is not a man you can trust.”
To me, that was nothing more than arrogant nonsense.
* * *
