THE VILLAIN'S POV Chapter 235 235: A New Beginning (2)

-Frey starlight POV-

That day, I walked through the corridors of the old Frey Starlight estate. The servants bowed, one after another, as I passed them.

I spent a long ti reviewing the new system .. its changes, its updates…

And the additions I had been granted.

There was so much to process, but perhaps the most jarring of it all… was the truth. That I had been reincarnated into this body from the very beginning .. not just two years ago.

It was a shocking revelation, one I struggled to fully comprehend.

I kept wondering what I truly ant to the Engineer… and those strange creatures around him. And those who called themselves the Naless Order.

A group without a na .. about whom I knew absolutely nothing.

For now, I chose to focus on uncovering the truth and surviving this world drowned in chaos and destruction.

To find a new purpose. A new reason to exist.

But before that… there was one thing I had to do.

There was still a part of my father's ssage .. one he hadn't left for .

It was for soone else.

"Ada…"

I had already listened to that part before.

My father had distanced himself from Ada because she reminded him of the family he lost. While she, on the other hand, believed he hated her… because of everything he had taken from her, everything he had left for .

My father had felt guilt toward her .. until the very end. That's why he left part of his final ssage for her. For both of us to hear.

It didn't take long before I found myself standing before Ada's room .. the one she had used in the estate.

I knocked.

And she told to go away.

Maybe she thought I was a servant. Or soone else entirely.

So I opened the door and walked in anyway.

As I stepped inside, I found my sister seated at her desk. She looked more exhausted than usual.

"Frey?"

She sounded worried .. especially after my recent breakdown and what might've looked like a death wish.

So I tried to stay calm, as much as I could.

"Hey, Ada."

I saw her eyes widen slightly as she got a good look at .

"What happened? Are you feeling better now? Ah! You cut your hair!"

She examined quickly, her hands flitting about in concern. She really did look just like her mother…

"I'm fine. I just… wanted to apologize for all the trouble I've caused so far. I'm sorry for being the worst brother ever."

Honestly… she had gone through a lot because of recently.

"No, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. I wasn't exactly the best sister either… I couldn't do much for you."

Maybe she was blaming herself. Thinking she would've failed if not for Iris' intervention, never even knowing what that old man was truly after.

But I was still grateful for her.

She looked relieved to see ..more stable, at least for now.

So I seized the mont… and activated the ssage.

"Ada… there's sothing you need to hear."

As soon as I said that, my father's voice echoed throughout the room, his words manifesting once more like magic.

"Hello, Ada. It's been a long ti…"

The instant she heard that voice, Ada trembled as she clung tightly to my sleeve.

In a soft, stunned whisper, she said:

"Frey… that voice!"

I nodded to her.

And my father continued speaking…

I heard him apologizing to her .. telling her he had always loved her as his daughter, and that he had never once hated her.

To be honest, I didn't want to hear his voice again. Every ti I did, I felt the void inside deepen… and those suicidal thoughts return.

But this was sothing Ada needed.

My father spoke to her at length, though he never revealed any of our secrets. Just a few simple words ...like how much he loved her ...were enough to bring Ada Starlight to tears in my arms, as I knelt beside her, holding her close.

For soone like her, who had spent her entire life trying to earn her father's recognition, hearing those words after all this ti was the culmination of everything she had endured.

She had finally heard what she had longed to hear most.

Ada wept in my arms, and I looked at her in silence for a while.

She clung to tightly, her warmth seeping into my skin.

Ada Starlight .. the girl who did everything she could to be acknowledged by her father, who honored her mother's mory, and who supported her brother with everything she had…

Even when that brother was nothing more than worthless trash.

But more importantly ..

Ada was my father's daughter.

My real father's daughter.

Which ant she wasn't just my sister by na .. she was real. Truly real.

I returned her embrace, holding her tightly as I buried my face against her right shoulder.

We sat there like that for so ti…

I'm not sure what exactly changed that day ... but sothing did.

Ada's place in my heart had shifted. She beca the first real person I had in this world.

…

…

…

Ti passed quickly after that. I had to explain to Ada that I had sohow found that ssage from our father within , stored in the form of a power he'd left behind.

It might've been hard to believe .. but she didn't doubt . Not after I revealed the Dark Sister.

That sword had now fused with my right arm in the form of a large tattoo .. an intricate flower.

A flower on the right, and a serpent on the left.

My body was slowly being covered in tattoos. And I could feel it .. my strength had grown more than ever before.

I was now heading north, inside a carriage bound for the coldest region of the empire… to serve my sentence in Alkatraz Prison.

And the one accompanying on this journey… was Phoenix Sunlight.

He had been watching for a while.

"Looks like you've finally co back to your senses."

"More or less."

At the very least, I wasn't the suicidal wreck I'd been before.

"Do you hate , Frey? For what I did back at the tribunal?"

I shook my head.

"Not at all. I understand it had to be done."

After all, it was the only way to pull out of the ss I'd dragged them into.

Phoenix nodded, satisfied, as he turned his gaze to the snowy landscape outside.

We were heading into one of the coldest regions in the empire…

The location of its worst prison ..Alkatraz.

"To be honest with you, Frey… right now, the Empire views you much like they did the forr Temple Director, Bloodmader. They're trying to use you."

The previous director, Raphael Bloodmader, was also serving his ti there, awaiting the next great war.

"They've already crafted a plan around you, Frey .. because of your… inexplicable talent. And ? I'm just the one assigned to keep watch over you. If I ever determine you're a threat .. they want to kill you imdiately."

Phoenix was honest with . And I appreciated that.

"I understand."

He nodded, then smiled faintly.

"If you want to escape the future others have written for you, Frey… then you need to beco like him. Like your father."

Like Abraham Starlight.

Strong enough to shatter every obstacle.

I let out a long sigh, thinking about everything happening around .

You don't know, Phoenix…

There are greater things at work .. forces planning my future from above.

"I wonder… just how much power would I need to break those chains?"

To free myself from the fate that others had decided for … I would need so much more.

I continued speaking with Phoenix throughout our journey toward the prison.

He never once felt like a warden assigned to monitor .

No… he was completely friendly.

As we neared our destination, I received so information about my sentence.

"You'll be staying here for three months. But for you, it'll feel like three years."

Inside, powerful magic is applied to distort human perception .. making ti feel much slower.

Aura suppressors would also be enforced, rendering completely powerless to resist… especially during the torture.

"You'll suffer inside, Frey. But you'll have to endure it."

This was the lightest punishnt I could get away with for now.

The duration was set to three months so I could return just in ti for the start of the temple's second year.

I understood that clearly.

Alkatraz was considered hell for many…

But physical pain didn't an much to anymore.

In fact, it might be just what I needed ... because my mind was overwheld with too many things.

Three months that would feel like three years.

It would be more than enough ti to clear my head… and reorganize every one of my plans for the future.

After a long, silent ride, that massive fortress finally ca into view ..its tall, black walls towering in the distance.

It looked less like a prison, and more like a dark military city.

This was to be my new ho.

I closed my eyes as the guards began dragging through its gates.

"Let's start over…"

It was ti to write a new chapter… in this wretched life.

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A.N : More chapters are coming today for the recent gifts ... thank you all for your support!

This chapter marks the conclusion of Volu One — Between Two Worlds — and serves as the final installnt of the long-awaited Victoriad Arc.

With it, we turn the page on one of the arcs closest to my heart and step into a new journey of struggle in Volu Two, titled Convergence.

A restorative volu begins today ... and there will be no breaks. We press on!