Both gravity and the earth were merciless upon the poor boy- his body came hurtling down into the deepest depths of the cavern, until its momentum was finally stopped by a greater, harsher force.

THUD!

His fall onto the stone surface beneath had been rather harsh; bones all throughout his body had shattered instantly, as his body had simultaneously become permanently paralyzed and rendered completely immobile, as he couldn't even twitch a single portion of his fingers. Not only that, but his breathing became laboured and increasingly difficult, as the mind-numbing pain all throughout his body tortured his nerves without a single respite.

Despite all of these grievous injuries however, for some reason, Novus was still alive and breathing... although, he wasn't exactly sure if he was going to survive the dreadful predicament he had been caught in once more.

"... Shit... is this it..." he thought to himself, as he lied down on the stone surface, completely helpless to the elements. "... This... can't be the end of my... second chance..."

There was also the issue of the unsuppressed bleeding from his missing left arm; if it wasn't tended to immediately, which he unfortunately won't be able to due to his paralysis, he would eventually bleed out and die, taking away the second life that had been given to him. Not only that, but he will most likely go back to that cold, dark void he was supposed to be in after his first death, and there was no way to guarantee if that voice he met was willing to grant him a third chance.

"... Please... someone... help me... I'll do anything..."

Novus was practically begging to be saved at this point, as he had already been rendered completely helpless. Even if it meant swallowing his pride and becoming the slave of some higher being, he would do anything to preserve the second chance that the voice from the void had given him.

His life flashed before his eyes, as the helplessness he had been quickly reduced to made him feel more pathetic than ever. His life and death as a soldier, and his quick, short-lived life within the body of this pitiful third prince; each and every single one of his experiences from these lives passed by like a camera film in his eyes. If only he could turn back time to fix his mistakes...

"... Please... someone..."

Several moments had already passed, and the ground beneath him was already completely soiled with his own blood. If he wasn't going to die from asphyxiation due to his troubled breathing, he was definitely going to perish from the rapid blood loss he was suffering from. His hope was, by now, slowly fading, as he gingerly closed his eyes and prepared to meet the embrace of the cold eternity of the dark void once more.

"... My, after burning those Neugomian scum alive, I never would have expected this to happen... what's a cute, pathetic child like you doing here, all bruised and bloodied?"

It was then he heard a voice speaking to him directly. At first Novus thought that it was a mad illusion conjured from his nausea due to the blood loss, but as he looked up to find the source of the voice, he quickly discovered that there was indeed a person talking to him... and it was a rather strange individual indeed.

"... What... burned?... who are you?"

The voice chuckled lightly as it spoke. "... Well, dear, if you want to see what I'm referring to, simply look up." it said as it made a gesture by pointing the tip of its index finger upwards.

When Novus looked up, he saw smoke billowing from the cliff he was thrown off from: the cliff had been erased mercilessly, what remained was a circular hole, with most of its structure completely vaporized by some powerful force, as not even a single fragment of what remained had fallen on top of him; how he couldn't hear such a thing transpire right above his broken body was probably due to his injuries. As he continued to look upwards, the injured prince could also see pillars of black smog rising into the sky, as the color orange bathed the broken cliff in a sea of blazing fire.

"... W-what... who the hell are you..." his mouth ran agape, still shocked by what he had just seen.

"... What a pitiful child... did those foolish knights of Neugomia throw you here? They even sliced off one your arms... how truly pitiful..."

The source of the voice was a rather tall woman with unique features: she had long purple hair and intense, orange eyes, and her face looked like she had been a mother, and an incredibly beautiful one at that. She spoke with a deep, clearly dominant, yet gentle tone of voice, as her entire body was clad in a metal that was perfectly tuned to the shape and tone of her body, like one of those exoskeletons that Novus used to wear when he was a soldier; the only difference was that the armor of the woman resembled that of a dragon that had taken human form.

"... P-please... whoever you are... help me... I beg of you..."

"Certainly! However..." she responded, as a cold, calculating grin emerged from her lips. "... Let's make a deal, child... I shall help you, right here and now, and in return... I shall ask something of you in the future... something rather... demanding..."

"... Knowing this, are you still willing to accept my offer?"

There was no way that Novus was going to refuse such an offer. If there was a way to at least save what remained of him and to ensure that he lived, he would gladly take that chance without any hesitation.

"... I-I accept... So please... please save me..."

A look of triumph emerged from the mysterious woman's face. "... Do not worry, little one, I shall help you... a young one like you doesn't deserve such a cruel fate in the first place, after all..."

The woman then knelt and got closer to Novus' battered body, as she placed her right hand on his bruised chest. Her eyes then began glowing with an intense, orange radiance, as she then suddenly spoke once more.

[... Heal thyself...]

It was as if time was being rewound- like a complete miracle, the blood scattered throughout the ground began to disappear. Simultaneously, the brutal, supposedly incurable injuries he had sustained were slowly being erased from existence, as his body was gradually being restored to its former glory with just a few short words that she had uttered.

And of course, it didn't take long for Novus' body to completely recover to a refined state, as if he had never even been injured in the first place.

Novus had quickly become completely shocked at what had just happened, as the confusion began flooding his brain with thoughts both wanted and unwanted.

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Though of course, he had to thank this woman for what she had done- he didn't want to displease her in anyway after all of this.

"... T-thank you... t-thank you so much... I-"

The lady suddenly moved her armor covered index finger close to his mouth. "Shh... Shh... you must first rest, child..." she spoke with a soft, gentle tone that seemingly soothed his ears, as her eyes began glowing with an orange radiance once more. "Now... rest, and close your eyes, there is no need to worry..."

[Sleep.]

With the words she uttered using her strange power, an extreme fatigue then quickly seized his mind, and Novus instantly found himself unable to prevent himself from closing his eyes. As he fell asleep and lost consciousness, the woman quickly moved towards him as she gently scooped up his body before it could make another dangerous thud upon the ground.

For now, Novus had been spared of a great and terrible tragedy, though his miracle came from a strange savior whose true intentions will still remain unknown to Novus... At least for now...

________________________________________

"... Where am I..."

That was all the young prince uttered as his first words after his quick recovery, as he opened his eyes to find a dark ceiling that met his vision. Along with the fact that he noticed that his clothes have been changed into that of new, clean ones, Novus would find himself resting within the comforts of a warm and comfortable bed, within a dark room whose interiors were lit only by a dim candlelight, as well as the pale glow of the moon that shone through the singular window whose curtains remained unshut.

Odd, the young prince thought. The room was rather well-kept, though at the same time, one could easily tell that it hadn't been used for a while. He noticed a small mirror attached to one of the walls, and, with his curiosity peaked and roused, he stood up and walked towards its general direction, eager to look at how well he had been saved by that mysterious saviour of his.

"... Woah... ..." he gasped weakly, while his left hand moved upwards to caress the perfectly restored features of what was once his shattered face. "... That lady really did heal me... amazing..."

There was no way that this was possible at all. There was only one reason how this could have happened in the first place, as it was practically impossible for someone to just heal the injuries of a person who was supposed to die; magic, the same accursed thing he had fought against in his previous life. That damn cancerous force, for as much as Novus hated it, it was most likely the only reason why he had managed to keep his second chance safe and intact.

At first, he had wanted to go outside and explore more, however, this desire was quickly shot down as he soon discovered that the door that led to the outside part of his room was locked shut: instead he then moved around to explore the other corners of his small, yet comfortable chamber.

It was a rather plain one, he surmised, as the small space contained everything of what you would expect from the sleeping quarters of a typical person. What interested him the most, however, was the outside world that laid just beyond the glass window of his room.

"... It's so dark outside..."

His room was seemingly positioned upon an elevated area, based on what he could examine from the depth of his point of view from the window, as well as the distance of the trees from his sight: in fact, it was so high up, that he wouldn't be able to escape through here if something terrible were to arrive at this room. Of course, there was also the issue of the heavy snow just outside the glass pane of his window: Novus could also notice that it was teeming with an incredible amount of snowfall outside, and combined with the complete, cover of darkness that came with the current time of midnight, the young prince couldn't tell just what else laid beyond the large patches of woods situated outside his room.

".. Ah, you're finally awake, child..."

The door that was once locked shut had made faint, creaking sounds, as its hinges gave way and allowed it wooden frame to open. Simultaneously, the strange woman who had saved the prince had come inside the room, her sharp, observant eyes fixated upon the prince with their orange radiance.

Strangely, though, the woman was no longer wearing the peculiar armor she wore previously; she was instead wearing a simple, yet elegant white dress that she wore with an impressive, nonchalant elegance.

Novus quickly wasted no time and faced towards her as he began bowing: the woman, as he could already tell based on the terror he sought just moments ago, was an incredibly powerful monster he must not displease.

"... T-thankyou for saving me... I am very-"

"... Ahahaha... no need to be so uptight, dear... calm down..." the woman said with a gentle tone, as she moved closer and gave him a pat on the head. "Come with me to the dining room... let's feed that hungry, weary stomach of yours now, shall we?"

________________________________________

The prince was then led into a rather large room, with a single, yet long wooden table arranged with neatly fashioned chairs that would have been enough to support an entire banquet.

"Sit here, dear." the woman gestured to one of the nearby chairs, as she clapped her hands twice all of a sudden.

Almost immediately after Novus sat on his designated chair, a massive, metallic humanoid of impressive features came into the room pushing a large food trolley, where on top of it laid a collection of various, seemingly delicious food stuffs on top of it. As the construct soon came close to Novus' chair, it then lifted the food tray on its trolley and placed it on the table with a careful sense of precision found in only the most devoted of hospitality managers.

"Ahaha... Impressive, is it not child? A walking, pile of steel capable of making actions like a normal individual can?" she stated rather proudly, as she placed her hand on the metallic skin of the tall construct. "In your lands... hmm... a walking, non-sapient, inorganic moving 'thing'... I think they call it-"

"Androids..." he uttered unconsciously: a slip of the tongue which Novus regretted quite instantly.

Almost immediately, the woman's eyes narrowed out of an emotion that Novus couldn't tell, as her warm gentle smile returned soon afterwards. "... Well, not quite, dear... it's supposed to be 'golems', but..." she then drew her chair closer, as she then gave his hair a gentle scruff using her hands, with her grin noticeably getting slightly wider. "... but, it's quite impressive for you to know of such a word... you must like to read a lot, don't you, dear?"

Novus felt relieved, as he thought, for a moment, that he had irritated the strange woman.

"... W-well... a bit..."

"That's good! Very good! Children who always read become quite smart after all..." she praised eagerly, her interest in him only growing even further. "... Ah, by the way... I would like to ask you a question..."

A faint nervousness was then roused within the prince's heart. "... Y-yes... what do you want to ask?"

"... Well, based on the insignias on your old, tattered clothes... you were a child of humans within your... upper hierarchies, correct?" her face moved slightly towards his, which only served to make the prince slightly more anxious. "... Simply put, you're either a child of some noble family, or... you're a child of royalty... am I correct with this assumption?"

He couldn't lie: lying would only put his life in danger at this point. "... Y-yes... you're correct..." he answered, still contemplating a bit whether he should really tell the truth, though ultimately, his mind would force him to. "I-I am the 3rd prince of... Neugomia... Roland Primus von Neugomia..."

Her hand moved to her chin for a moment. "... Roland... Roland... Ah! That Roland!" she giggled as she became lost in thought for a while before she spoke. "... while I've never seen your face until now... from what I've heard, you're the magickless child that the scummy old emperor tried to hide from the public... the weak little runt who can't even compare to his talented siblings, and so when the royal family couldn't hide your presence from the people anymore, the emperor would scorn your existence everyday and make you a laughingstock for all the people to abuse... how pitiful..."

Novus was quickly shocked: it seemed that this woman knew much more than what he initially thought she would. "... H-how do you know..." the prince spoke while his mouth ran agape. "... And... please don't be so mean with your words..."

The woman smiled again, though this time, she spoke with a teasing, yet gentle voice. "I know many things, dear! I'm quite knowledgeable about many things, you know... and besides..." she spoke once more, as she then began to lightly caress his cheek in a somewhat motherly fashion. "... I don't mind at all that you're completely magickless... In fact, I really, really hate magic! As in, I fully despise it with a passion!"

"... Y-you hate magic?" he asked, a spark of curiosity showing clearly within his voice: how could she have come to hate magic, even when she had just used it on him to cure his injuries?

"... Well... let's just say that I had some... certain terrible 'incidents' with it in the past..." for a while, her face darkened as her once gentle tone became serious, although she would eventually return to her caring persona once more. "... Anyway, dear, before you eat your food, I have one last question for you..."

Before Novus could speak to respond, the woman wasted no time to quickly proceed with her next and last inquiry.

"... The reason why you were... down that cliff... they threw you there, didn't they?" her voice had become even more gentle, with a sense of sympathy now mixed into its soothing tone. "An unwanted child who they wanted to get rid of... though it's incredibly... disappointing how they chose to get rid of you so brutally..."

"..." Novus didn't cry at all; this wasn't his body in the first place. Despite this, he couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for this body's old user, a pitiful child who'd lived such a poor, miserable life which he didn't deserve: In fact, Novus could even relate with some of his experiences, due to the similarly pitiful childhood he lived.

"... You have nowhere else to go, don't you? If you leave this castle of mine, you'll be all alone, even more pathetic than before.. and you'll probably die from the severe cold outside; after all, the snow here rarely ever ends..." she said, as she then pulled the young prince into a warm embrace, surprising Novus quite a lot. "... How about this, child... Let's make another deal, shall we?"

"D-deal?" Novus asked curiously.

"Yes dear... I'll let you stay here for as long and as much as you want! I'll even take care of you in a lovely way that your pathetic parents never could... In return..."

"... In return..." she stated bluntly, as a gentle grin formed on her beautiful lips. "... I only desire for you to be my child from now on, plain and simple! You may not be my true, biological son, but from now on, I will treat you as such... well, that is, if you choose to accept..."

Her eyes then sharply fixed themselves towards his with a warm look. "So, dear, do you accept my offer? I-it's alright if you don't want to, I'll give you time to think about it, so-"

Without hesitation, the young prince had quickly made his decision.

"I accept."

"... Splendid then!" quickly, she pulled the prince into her warm embrace once more as she spoke. "From now on, you shall be my child, my own, very special child, and I shall take care of you dearly starting today... Ah! By the way, I haven't told you my name yet, haven't I... my child~?"

Novus quickly nodded repetitively, as a faint series of giggles came from her mouth.

"... My name... my name is Anastasia..." the motherly woman continued to hug him with the lovely embrace of her soft body. "... Don't you ever forget the name of your new, beloved mother... alright?"