"Did you hear what I said?" Grandma's voice pulled me out of my head.

I gazed up at her.

We were sitting outside enjoying our breakfast near the edge of the white marble balustrade railing surrounding the patio. The smell of roses wafted in the air, and we had a perfect view of the town below, and green farmlands stretched out as far as the eyes could see. Something was taking place in town, with various sounds and music floating from below.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" I asked.

"Luca, what is the matter? You've been a little out of it since you arrived, but especially this morning." Grandma pursed her dark red lips. "Was it whatever news Natalia Ashford had sent?"

I smiled.

Nothing could get past my grandmother.

"Was it bad news?" She asked.

I sighed. "Yes, but it was also more confusing than anything else."

Natalia had written in her letter two new insights about the missing prince.

The first bit of gossip she shared in her letter was that Chase Daylan was, unfortunately, dead. And rumor had it his body will never be found.

There goes any hope of preventing a war from occurring.

Even without a body to confirm his death, his war-loving mother would rouse the Daylan Dynasty to wage war against the Adovorian Kingdom. Instead of Adovoria falling to the Kobar Empire in seven years, I managed to expedite the kingdom's fall.

The Adovorian Kingdom was in a much better position than it was seven years from now in the original timeline that I had lived through. First, Lord Blanche hadn't yet fully emptied the mana stone reserves from our mage squad. Second, corruption had not yet spread quite as far within the upper echelons. Third, and most importantly, the kingdom still had a ruler that had a decent head on his shoulder, unlike his successor, who was a mere puppet for the nobles.

However, the Daylan Dynasty was a powerhouse at this point in time, more so than even the Kobar Empire. It was only after Queen Yadana Daylan died and her children squabbled with one another to take the throne for themselves, thereby dividing and weakening the once-great dynasty.

"Care to share your confusion? I might provide some helpful insight. I have lived far longer than you, after all," grandma suggested.

I picked at the poached egg before me, spilling its liquid yellowness across my plate and into the boiled spinach and muffin on the side.

Chase Daylan's death and the impending war were worrying indeed, but that wasn't what confused me. The second insight that Natalia shared in her letter was that some child in her bakery had seen a white and violet cat walk out of the same bathroom that Chase Daylan had magically vanished from.

I broke off some of the muffin and wiped it on the spilled yolk, thinking through the message she had sent me.

I immediately grimaced when I bit into the muffin, realizing that the same cook that baked the salty croissant from this morning had made this muffin.

Did he forget to mix the ingredients?

There were slightly bitter and salty chunks throughout the dough.

However, as I was having breakfast with my grandmother, I chewed and swallowed the muffin as it was. I did my best to avoid it touching my tongue more than necessary.

"You look quite distressed. Are you sure you don't want some insight?" she asked.

I downed a full glass of water to wash out the bitter taste.

"It's alright," I replied. "I just need to think through a few things."

I didn't want to worry my grandmother in her final days.

As for the cat's appearance, I had two possibilities in mind. In the previous round, I had died due to a white and violet cat. This same cat might have decided to target Prince Chase Daylan in this round for some reason, and just as it had killed me, it had killed him.

This meant that I'd need to protect the prince from this feline creature in a potential future round.

Then there was the alternative and even more troubling theory: the prince was the cat. It would have been far-fetched if the System hadn't told me about how the prince had found and killed the players on several occasions in the previous game rounds.

I gazed at my plate, my fork picking around, wondering what was actually edible.

And I knew one dead white and violet cat in this round that looked exactly like the one that had killed me in Round 6. Micah had even shown him to me and told me that it was a shapeshifter and a warlock.

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My fork landed on a cut-up watermelon.

No matter how bad the cook is, he couldn't have messed up the watermelon, could he?

I bit into the red fruit and smiled. It was sweet and juicy like a watermelon should taste.

However, if Prince Chase Daylan was the cat that killed me, I was in a tricky situation. I couldn't ignore the danger he posed to me in a future round, but at the same time, I couldn't get rid of him either, even if he was after my life.

"You know what you need? You need to have a little fun. Perhaps a little bit of distraction would do you good. You arrived just in time for the annual Summer Festival." Grandma waved over Ben, who handed her her usual Red Poppy Potion.

"I'll have Ben accompany you," she said and downed the red vial.

"There will be lots of food, entertainment, and games. Youngsters like you typically enjoy that sort of thing. And merchants from around the continent have come and set up shops, so if you find something you like, just let Ben know, and I will have it be an early birthday gift to you."

"But I came to spend time with you," I protested.

"My body isn't what it used to be." Grandma stood up from the table with Ben's help. "I won't be much company around the festival. Besides, I still have a lot of work I need to complete today. I'll see you for dinner and a few rounds of chess tonight."

"I'll take Madame Ruth to her office and return to accompany you down to the festival," Ben said and helped her walk back inside the villa.

"Peep."

Luca, I'm starving. Let's go to the festival. Maybe there will be something edible there.

Leona grumbled from the top of my head.

"Here, try the watermelon," I suggested. "It's edible."

Leona hopped off my head and picked at the red pieces. Her yellow feathers were ruffled up in annoyance, but she finished off all the watermelon on the plate.

***

I had never attended the Summer Festival in the Town of Ascot. However, I had heard of it.

"Peep!"

Luca! Go there! Go there! I want to eat that thing. It smells good!

Leona was sitting in my left hand and was only halfway through her apple fritter. My hand was covered in powdered sugar that fell from the pastry and other food particles.

Thank goodness I had the sense to tell her to come off my head to eat.

I bit into the grilled chicken intestine wound up on a stick. It had a sweet and slightly spicy flavor. Overall, while a little unusual, it was delicious.

It was in the middle of the day, and the lower parts of the town around the edges were surrounded with merchants, food stalls, and performers. The festivities were limited to the perimeter around the town's walls. They didn't extend close to the center where grandma's villa sat.

"Is it possible to walk in a circle and see the entire festival?" I asked Ben.

He was walking beside me with his ever-present solemn expression. I concluded that it was likely his standard facial expression.

"Indeed, the festival grounds are in a perfect circle, representative of the sun, the symbol of summertime," he replied. "It would take two hours to walk the full length without stopping."

I bit into the skewered meat and gazed up at a performer tight-walking between two of the white stucco buildings. The woman was walking on her tippy toes while juggling three colorful balls.

"I don't think I'll get to see all of it since I'll be returning to the villa for dinner," I said.

Beating drums sounded behind me, and a soft melody wafted from the area ahead. The instruments and people's voices seemed to combine into one joyous sound.

It was a bizarre situation.

Henry had died just yesterday. My grandmother will pass away very soon. Also, there was an impending war by the Daylan Dynasty, so everyone in the Adovorian Kingdom might be wiped out before the Kobar Empire would get a chance to strike. And if I regressed again, I had a cat and prince problem to deal with.

I finished off the last of my skewer and walked over to the booth that Leona was so excited about. The scent of roasted rabbit filled my nostrils.

And yet, despite everything, here I am, at a festival.

Ben handed over some coins to the merchant, and Leona and I each had a rabbit leg.

I watched with amusement as Leona gobbled up the rabbit meat about the same size as her little yellow body.

"Do you have a bottomless pit in your stomach? Or a vortex of some kind?" I asked.

I didn't bother whispering. I figured asking such a question to one's pet bird wouldn't seem that unusual. I had seen plenty of people talk to their dogs and parrots.

"Peep!"

No. I just happen to digest food differently from you.

"Young master Luca, did you wish to look at some wares?" Ben asked. "Your grandmother instructed me to help find you a gift."

I gazed about the various merchants.

It was a strange mix of goods. There were antique swords, mana-embedded artifacts, and intimidating giant statues. Then there were other merchants selling glowing potions, books that looked to have been dug out of some grave, and questionable toys that weren't kid-friendly. And then there was the odd merchant or two that looked shady enough to belong on Ebony Alley.

"Nothing has caught my eye yet," I said.

I honestly didn't know what I'd want anyways. Perhaps I should find something the twins might like instead?

My eyes wandered over toward a merchant in the midst of putting out a fire. The merchant beside him was struggling to tear a plant that had entombed some customer's hand in its green jaws.

Perhaps I'll find something for them that won't potentially cause me to regress early.

What?

[ Level 1 Random Character Check in progress for Duncan Genuiver (Former Duke-in-training) ]

I blinked in surprise, seeing the blue screen appear.

Genuiver? As in the Genuiver Dukedom? Is it Anastasia Genuiver's brother that I overheard the ladies talking about at the Ashford Bakery?

My eyes paused on a man whose face was covered in white bandages, save for a pair of piercing blue eyes that stared back at me. He sat in a shadowy corner behind a table another merchant was working at.

The random character checker began with slot-machine-like letters and numbers moving quickly through the rounds within the blue floating screen.

Tsk.

I had hoped to use it on someone I knew, but I should have known it would go off randomly when I didn't want it to.

[ Skill: Grim Reaper Eyes (Level 7) ]

[ Duncan Genuiver is capable of seeing how many people someone has killed (not to be mistaken with accidental deaths). This ability also allows the user to see the |+¥

Fuck.

I backed away, my eyes still on the young man.

I didn't even know how many people I had killed in my original life. I had lost count. And there were many I had forgotten.

No. I reasoned. I had only killed one person in this round. He can't possibly see what I did in my original life.

However, Duncan Genuiver rose from his seat. He strode towards me in a straight line, ignoring all obstacles, seemingly walking through the table and the people in his way. He was even taller than I imagined when he stood up. His piercing blue eyes were directed towards me the whole time, making no mistake that he was coming to me.

Damn it. Can he actually see?? Or is it something in those other blocked information spaces?

I quickened my walk backward, but his long legs were faster.

What the fuck is this guy seeing? And why is he coming towards me?