C2 Chapter 2 : I am Back (Part 2)

I gently rubbed my reddened left cheek. One slap, and it felt as though my cheekbone could shatter at any moment.

Damn it.

Wasn’t this supposed to be just a dream? Then why did the pain feel so real?

I turned toward the right side of the bed. A mirror stood there, capturing my reflection. At first, the image looked vague. But as I moved closer, my body trembled violently as I instinctively grabbed the mirror—roughly 900 square centimeters in size.

“This—!”

I swallowed slowly, blinking several times. I shook my head from side to side, then closed my eyes for a moment, thinking this was nothing more than a dream—until a hard blow to my back jolted me awake again.

DUAKKK!

Snickering laughter rang out from Aron and one of his friends. I clenched my jaw; that wasn’t what troubled my mind right now.

The face I had just seen was clearly different from my twenty-six-year-old self. My hair was short and black, my dark eyes looked innocent.

If I wasn’t mistaken, this was my face somewhere between the ages of ten and fourteen.

“Don’t tell me I’ve gone back to the past?” I muttered softly.

My head spun endlessly, searching for a conclusion.

“Is that even possible? But how?”

That hand scratched the top of my head where it itched, then moved down to my lower back.

“Did the universe grant my wish?” I whispered, just before I glanced at Aron and his friend, turned around, and—using all the strength I had prepared—pushed Aron aside and swiftly stepped out.

As soon as I made it outside, sunlight poured over my face. I turned and looked back at the house I had just left.

An old wooden house—worn and simple.

They said my mother and I were only given this house by the emperor, but everyone knew it was the empress’s order.

“If that’s the case, then Mother—!”

Before I could continue, someone’s voice made me turn around.

“Cassian.”

It was only one word, but soft, coming from behind me.

A voice I had long yearned for.

A woman with blonde hair and crystal-blue eyes stood there, wearing worn, simple clothes. Anyone who saw her would say she looked like a fairy who had descended from the heavens.

And that fairy was my mother, Cassandra.

“Mother!”

Without hesitation, I ran to her and wrapped my arms tightly around her body.

At last, this longing was fulfilled.

“Cassian?”

My mother’s eyes widened as if holding a question—perhaps surprised by behavior so unlike my usual self.

My gaze shifted to a wooden basket filled with freshly dried clothes from the clothesline. I clenched my jaw. I had already made up my mind.

If I truly had returned to the past, I would change every tragedy that befell my mother and me. Those who hurt her would suffer.

“Cassian, you’re awake already? Then eat breakfast first,” my mother said with her almond-shaped eyes.

Her hair shimmered in the air like golden threads as her hand gently stroked my head.

“Mother, how old am I?” I asked hurriedly. I stared at her slightly widened eyes. She smiled faintly and answered, “This year, Cassian is twelve years old.”

I flinched. There was more I wanted to ask, but suddenly footsteps emerged from the old house.

It was Aron and his friend.

They always secretly harassed my mother and me.

“Auntie, you should discipline your son properly! Even though you’re castoffs of the Emperor, that disgrace still clings to the imperial bloodline,” Aron said, folding his arms like interlocked iron chains as he flashed a crooked smile.

My mother stepped forward as if to shield me. Aron’s face darkened; his lips curled upward, baring his teeth, his brows sharply arched.

SRAAAK!

That same face was struck by the basket of clothes my mother hurled with both arms.

“My son! I know best how to raise him! I don’t need lectures from a delinquent child like you!” my mother declared bluntly. Her anger did nothing to diminish her beauty. She rolled up her sleeves despite her small, almost bony hands.

I fell silent for a moment, my thoughts sinking into my own world.

There was one way to change our fate: find someone within the palace who was not bound to any heir faction—

someone who sided only with imperial law and order.

I had to establish a connection with that man, the rule-obsessed maniac: Marquis Lucien Devereuq, the current imperial administrator.

I lifted my head again. One thing was now certain—a first step to avert the tragedy. But first—

My eyes locked sharply onto Aron, my hand clenched into a fist. Finally, my lips parted.

“Aron! So what if the emperor doesn’t allow us into the palace? With your position as nothing more than a servant, your attitude is utterly insolent!” My voice rang out. My mother turned around, her eyes wide, lips parted as if she wanted to say something—but all that showed was shock mixed with worry.

The pale-skinned youth lifted his lips into a crooked grin, his brows bouncing as he burst into loud laughter.

At the same time, a horse-drawn carriage sedan suddenly passed along the main road. The thunderous sound of hooves followed behind it, rolling toward where we stood.

My eyes narrowed, watching closely.