Despite the external appearance of the Memories Record book, it was, in reality, an artifact capable of storing still images and live ones with sound.

In the first volume of Deon's novel, this artifact, the Memories Record, was described along with how it could be browsed. Yet, holding it in his hands, he remained astonished.

He felt a desire to praise himself for coming up with the concept, but at the same time, he couldn't.

Even though he had created the idea as ink on paper, Deon knew nothing about how such an artifact could actually be crafted.

Even the idea itself was probably just borrowed from another source, like so many cases with modern fantasy novels.

SIGH

He sighed.

Deon cleared his wandering thoughts, looked around at the calm of the lake and the surrounding bushes, then turned to his task with a serious expression.

As he flipped to the second page, he was greeted by an image that filled the entire page.

It was a family photo, with all four family members dressed formally, exuding wealth and noble status.

Deon immediately recognized Vierenna, though in the image, she appeared to be about six years old. Her features were unmistakable. She held the hand of the man who was presumably her father—short black hair, light blue eyes, and a sharp, serious expression.

Surprisingly, the man bore a striking resemblance to Deon’s current appearance. After all, he was his father.

Deon shifted his focus to himself—the younger version of himself in the photo. Unlike Vierenna, he looked very different. Apart from his wide violet eyes and raven black hair, the sharpness of Deon’s current demeanor was entirely absent from the innocent expressions of the child with chubby cheeks.

Young Deon held the hands of the woman, whose own hands rested gently on his small shoulders.

Deon observed the woman who looked much like Vierenna in her present form. Shining white hair, eyes like gray obsidian, and sharp yet gentle features. Even the smile she wore was beautiful and captivating.

‘So, that’s her!’

Though she appeared as a reserved and kind woman, the air of authority mixed with a touch of wildness was unmistakable.

‘So, she’s the one who corrupted Vierenna?’

Deon stared at the photo for a few seconds before turning the page.

It was a simple image. The animated ones were still deeper within the book.

In the following few pages, Deon found only still images echoing the memories of the Eirenios family, depicting moments of pride, nostalgia, joy, and grandeur, marking the passage of time as they aged.

Each page carried the spirit of the people frozen in the images—a life they had lived, now left as mere memory and trace.

The guilt returned to cloud Deon's vision, yet it only made him see things more clearly. His resolve to return to his world and reunite with his family grew sharper.

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With every page he turned, the presence of Viktoria de Avila was prominent and constant, as if this Memories Record belonged to her alone, with the other individuals serving merely as supporting characters.

There were others from the family, too, but their appearances were limited compared to the main figures.

Deon continued flipping through the pages until he found what he had been searching for.

An image of two small children playing by a small lake, with a beautiful woman seated on a wooden bench. Sunlight reflections added a golden shimmer to the water, and the children's laughter seemed frozen in time.

But unlike the previous still images, this one was marked with faint blue patterns, signifying it as a live image.

Deon placed the tip of his finger on the picture, and the blue patterns began to shatter and fade, bringing the image to life.

The scene felt strange, unlike playing a video on a phone. Yet, that oddness only made it feel more real and believable.

Deon focused intently on the now animated image, determined not to miss anything.

---

"Mommy! He’s going to drown! Grab him, or I’ll let go!"

The first voice belonged to a young Vierenna, who was holding the collar of young Deon’s clothes to stop him from dipping his head into the lake. Her expression was a mix of worry and anger.

The woman on the bench brushed her long hair aside and lifted her gaze from the book in her hand.

"V, you worry too much about your baby brother. He’ll be fine. Let him live. If he wants to drown, that’s his life to live and his decisions to make."

Her voice was clear and calm, with a hint of amusement.

"I’m not going to drown," Deon retorted, ceasing his struggle against his sister's grip.

"You will, you idiot!"

"Your baby sister is right. There’s a big chance that my little D will drown. What would I do without you? But if it’s your decision to drown, this poor momy won’t stop you. She’ll just cry a lot if her baby makes bad decisions. Bad decisions are very, very bad."

Young Deon looked at her from his spot by the lake, his innocent violet eyes seemingly lost in deep thought.

Slowly, he rose to his feet without saying a word.

He turned to Vierenna, who was still holding onto him, and spoke.

"V! You go."

He spoke with a seriousness that made Viktoria laugh heartily under Vierenna’s confused gaze.

"I’m not going. I don’t want to dirty my dress, you filthy little big-headed boy."

"You’re scared."

"I’m not scared. I’m smart."

"You’re scared."

"I’m not... Mom, tell him to shut up, I’ll hit him!"

Viktoria stifled her laughter, though her cheeks turned red from the effort.

"Don’t hit your baby brother. He’s just... I don’t even know what he’s thinking!"

"She’s just scared. I was going to go, but I don’t want to make a bad decision."

Vierenna spun furiously toward Deon.

"And why should I go? I’m smart enough to know better, unlike you, you stupid big-headed boy."

"V!"

"What?! What?!"

"You’re scared."

Vierenna’s expression turned red with anger as she grabbed Deon by the head and threw him into the lake, falling in after him.

"I. Am. Not. Scared!"

Viktoria resumed laughing, her book falling to the ground as she clutched her stomach. She seemed unbothered that her children were now drenched in water.

Vierenna made her way out of the lake, her eyes brimming with tears.

She glared at Deon with hatred, but as soon as she noticed his condition, she began to scream.

"Mommy! Deon’s drowning!"

She rushed back into the water toward Deon.

"Don’t worry, V. The lake is shallow; he can’t... Oh no! Deon’s drowning!"

Viktoria rose from her bench with a speed the animated image couldn’t capture. That was also where the recording ended.

---

The image froze on the last frame it had stopped at, with the blue patterns reforming as if to seal the moment in time once again.

Deon, in a silence that mirrored his surroundings, closed the book quietly and rested his hands on it.

He had found what he was searching for. There was no point in looking any further.

‘It was her voice.’

Indeed, Viktoria de Avila’s voice from the Memories Record was the same as the greeting message Deon had received from the lake.

Though this only confirmed his suspicions and turned them into truth, Deon still preferred facts. He could work better with facts than doubts.

Now, he had a lead to follow to unravel the mystery of his arrival in this world.

And Viktoria de Avila was directly connected to that mystery.