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Kaelen fixed his eyes on the girl, his voice laced with curiosity and a hint of seriousness.
"Are you a seer?"
The girl barely reacted to the direct question, turning her head away and digging into the meat Liam had brought. Her movements were frantic, almost feral. She tore into the piece of meat with a hunger-driven appetite, shredding it carelessly with her hands. The only sounds in the surrounding silence were the tearing of the meat's fibers, the grinding of teeth, and faint chewing noises.
Despite her petite and innocent appearance, the girl painted a starkly contrasting image.
Kaelen silently observed the scene for a while. He could see how hungry she was, but something about it unsettled him. Keeping his eyes on her, he slowly turned to Liam, whose expression mirrored his own bewilderment.
Liam swallowed hard as he watched the girl.
*Either she's incredibly bold,* Kaelen thought, *or she knew all along she wouldn't be harmed.*
When the girl finally finished eating, the juices from the meat had run down her fingers to her wrists. Without bothering to wipe her dirty hands, she looked at Kaelen with a faintly guilty smile and spoke:
"Ahem… Sorry about that. I was really starving. Until now, we've only been getting by on the dried nuts Liam brought. It's been a while since I've seen real food. And yes, to answer your question… I am a seer."
"So that's what this is about."
Kaelen didn't respond immediately. His gaze roamed over her face, searching for a reflection in her onyx-dark eyes, framed by the black hair cascading over her shoulders. But… no. He didn't recognize her. None of the seers he had encountered in his past life looked like this—neither her appearance, nor her name, nor her demeanor.
Seers had been important figures in his former life. Each was carefully protected by the Council, wars were fought over their prophecies, and the future was shaped by their words.
After all, who wouldn't want someone with the ability to see the future by their side?
But this girl… she was unfamiliar. Kaelen didn't remember any seer with black hair and black eyes from his past life.
His expression grew increasingly stern as he sank deeper into thought. Just then, Liam interjected, as if sensing Kaelen's mood.
"This girl… is Olivia Nightshade," he said cautiously. "The daughter of a family friend. She came with me under the condition that I protect her until the Eldorian trials. That was our agreement. You could say I was hired as a sort of mercenary. The Nightshade family helped us out a lot in the past."
A sudden tension gripped Kaelen's face. His voice turned icy sharp as the name "Nightshade" left his lips. His teeth clenched, his lips thinning into a hard line, and his hands trembled involuntarily. Even as he tried to suppress the anger, the fire inside him was hard to conceal.
"Nightshade… I see."
That name began to haunt the room like a ghost from his past. The Nightshade clan… the cornerstone of memories Kaelen wished to forget. A sly, secretive family that always moved in the shadows. Even in those dark days, people whispered their name—with fear, respect… but most of all, hatred.
Kaelen had once sensed the clan's intentions but had been powerless to resist. Their influence, their hidden connections, and their seers… Yes. Now he understood. It was no coincidence that their presence still lingered even after his death. Because standing before him now was this girl—a seer who shaped the future for her clan.
"What a great loss," Kaelen muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, Liam continued explaining.
"Olivia asked me to go to the riverside and leave some celestial nuts there. She said I'd meet someone and needed to bring them back here."
"Ah, that explains why you followed her instructions. I was thinking I might have to beat you up a little."
Liam sighed deeply and smiled.
"That was hilarious..."
Then he added,
"That was a joke, right?"
Kaelen turned his eyes back to Olivia. There was no anger or suspicion left in his gaze—only pure inquiry, a deep curiosity.
"So you never intended to oppose me from the start," he said.
Olivia nodded slightly. "Yes… that part is true."
Kaelen took a step forward, his voice firmer now. "Then what's the other part?"
This time, the answer came from Olivia. Her eyes carried the weight of the past, and her voice was soft yet unsettling.
"Have you ever been trapped in fate, Kaelen?"
The question stabbed into Kaelen's thoughts like a blade. He froze, giving no reply.
At that moment, he wondered: Had this girl learned his name from the future? Or had she known it all along from the past? Seers' abilities varied, but what truly set them apart was how far they could see—whether into the future or the past. And Olivia… her intuition was far beyond that of an ordinary seer. That much was clear now.
"I've heard a few things about this," Kaelen finally said, averting his eyes. "But… no. I've never experienced anything like that."
A lie. Or perhaps a half-truth.
Because he *had* experienced it. In his past life, he had been ensnared by a seer's vision. Trapped in the cycle of fate, bound to events he couldn't change. To cheat fate required extraordinary power and fearless will. Even if he succeeded… fate always returned. It always found a way to drag him back into its circle. It was an endless loop. And Kaelen still hadn't fully broken free from those chains. That was how he felt.
*He couldn't share this with anyone yet.*
Usually, when seers sensed they were caught in fate's web, they resorted to various methods to escape—complex rituals or long sessions of silent meditation. The goal was to see the unseen while avoiding being seen. But it didn't always work. Fate sometimes flowed with a will beyond all foresight.
Kaelen frowned slightly when he noticed the girl's puzzled expression. This kind of reaction was incomprehensible to him. Most seers already knew the future; naturally, his responses should have been part of that knowledge. In that case, there was no need for her to say anything—or so Kaelen thought.
"Being trapped in fate… is a problem no seer can escape," the girl said, her voice tired but clear. "It's normal that you don't understand. Unfortunately, in the futures I've seen… we all die by the second morning. I'm sorry, but I haven't found a way to prevent it."
The suspicion in Kaelen's mind solidified into certainty. Just as he had thought.
"Then why did you call me here?" he asked, his voice edged with sharpness. "I'm just a mage who hasn't even grasped his first mana seed. What can I do in a place where fate is swallowing you whole? How could someone like me possibly defy fate?"
"I called you because… we need someone to protect us," the girl said, her voice softer this time. "If you help us, we'll owe you."
"That's a big request. Why do you want this so badly? Even if you're part of a major clan like Nightshade, it shouldn't be a problem for you."
"Passing this trial is crucial for me and Liam. Even if it's just six months, staying at the Eldorian Academy will help us survive long enough to form alliances with other mages and nurture our mana seeds."
"Don't be so sure about that."
Kaelen responded with a brief silence. His eyes were fixed on the girl's face, but his mind was elsewhere.
"I see," he finally said. "But you still haven't answered my question. How do you think *I* can unravel a knot of fate?"
The girl answered without hesitation. "I don't know."
The blunt reply made Kaelen's eyebrow twitch. It had been delivered flatly, with complete certainty. The black-haired mage's expression went completely blank, as if he had masked all emotion.
"What did you say?" Kaelen repeated, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"I don't know," the girl said with the same calm. "I have no idea whether you can break this cycle of fate. But there's one thing I do know. The threads of fate… bend around you. That's rare. Sometimes, people become the center of fate, and—"
"Enough," Kaelen cut in, his voice sharp. "I don't need to hear any more. Ugh, the rumors about seers are true. You're all just fate-obsessed lunatics."
Her words had unsettled him deep down. He knew he didn't belong in this world. Seers could sense beings like him. Someone like him, who came from beyond time, should have been detectable to them. That was part of their abilities. That was why the threads of fate couldn't fully bind him. But this wouldn't last forever. The longer he existed in this world, the more fate would weave around him.
For now…
Kaelen rose with heavy steps and walked toward one of the beds laid out in the corner of the room. He didn't sit—instead, he let himself fall backward onto it. The rustling of dry leaves beneath the wooden floor echoed in the silent room, blending into the darkness of the night like a faint whisper.
Olivia leaned forward, her eyes filled with open concern.
"Will you help us?" she asked, her voice low but hopeful.
Kaelen answered with his back turned. His voice carried a tired edge.
"Stop asking questions you already know the answer to. It's annoying."
The girl responded with a small chuckle. "Hehe…"
The light laughter made Kaelen's eyes crack open slightly. It was the first time he had ever heard a seer laugh like that. He found it strangely fortunate, in its own way.
Another movement stirred in the room. Liam, who had remained silent the whole time, had been trying to follow their conversation, narrowing his eyes at certain points, but eventually gave up. With a sigh, he flopped onto one of the beds Olivia had prepared.
He, too, had been through too much today. He deserved some rest.