Chapter 3— THE CALAMITY INSIDE ME
1334 Words
The moment Cael Arclight left the estate, sunlight fading behind him like he was the last shining hope of humanity, the atmosphere in my room collapsed.
The Duke dismissed the guards.
The servants rushed out.
The door closed with a heavy thud.
Silence.
A terrifying kind of silence.
The kind where your father is about to lecture you, punish you, or train you until your bones vibrate.
I sat on the edge of my bed like a dehydrated raisin, clutching the pillow as if it could protect me from life.
Duke Vaelor ran a hand across his face, something he only did when extremely stressed.
“Elion… what happened?”
“What happened?” I echoed. “Well, let’s see. I died. Returned. Became a villain. Got a cursed mark. Nearly exploded. And the hero showed up threatening my existence three years early.”
The Duke stared at me.
I stared back.
He blinked.
“…Explain again. Slowly.”
I took a deep breath.
“Father, I think—”
“I do not think,” he interrupted, “you understand how serious this is.”
I clutched the pillow tighter.
“I understand MORE than I want to.”
He walked over and sat beside me. That alone scared me. Dukes didn’t sit casually. That was a universal rule.
“Elion,” he said quietly, “your mana… reacted violently.”
“I noticed,” I muttered. “The carpet screamed.”
“It wasn’t just raw power. It was corrupted.”
My stomach dropped.
“Corrupted as in… evil?”
“No.”
He shook his head. “Worse.”
WORSE THAN EVIL?!
“Your mark—” he lifted my hand carefully “—should not have awakened until your seventeenth year. This early awakening means your soul is unstable.”
“My soul has always been unstable,” I said. “Especially since a ceiling fan murdered me.”
He ignored that.
“Dark mana is parasitic,” the Duke continued. “It feeds on emotion and grows when the user loses control.”
“Oh,” I said weakly. “So it’s like a toxic roommate.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“This is not a joke.”
“I know,” I whispered.
Because under the panic, the fear, the screaming… I felt it.
A presence.
Something cold.
Something hungry.
Something inside me that wasn’t me.
The Duke squeezed my shoulder.
“We will protect you. I will not let the prophecy take you.”
Prophecy.
The word alone felt like a cold nail sliding down my spine.
The prophecy in the novel predicted:
“The child born under the dark star shall bring calamity upon the empire.”
Which was WHY Elion became the villain and Cael hunted him.
Except…
This time the prophecy was happening FASTER.
“I’m not a calamity,” I muttered. “I’m just a man who wants snacks and naps.”
The Duke actually sighed.
A real sigh.
He was that stressed.
“Elion, until we understand what is happening, you must suppress your emotions.”
“Suppress—WHAT?!”
“Your emotions trigger your mana.”
“That’s impossible! Everything triggers my emotions! Air triggers my emotions!”
He stood.
“Then you must learn to control them.”
Fantastic.
Now I needed emotional stability.
Something I had NEVER possessed in two lifetimes.
---
⭐ A Suspicious Guest
A knock interrupted us.
A servant peeked inside.
“Your Grace… the intruders captured earlier… request to speak with the young master.”
I froze.
Intruders?
Speak with ME?
“Bring them to the east hall,” the Duke commanded. “I’ll interrogate them myself.”
“No,” I blurted. “I want to hear what they say.”
The Duke’s brows rose.
“Elion…”
“If they came for me,” I said, swallowing my fear, “then I need to know why.”
A moment passed.
Then he nodded.
---
⭐ The East Hall Interrogation
The east hall was cold, stone walls towering high, the air thick with pressure.
Two men knelt on the floor, bound by magic ropes.
Their clothes were travel-worn.
Eyes sharp and frantic.
When they saw me enter, they stiffened in fear.
One whispered, “The cursed child…”
“I am NOT cursed,” I snapped. “I’m just… unlucky!”
The Duke stepped forward.
“State your purpose.”
The first man swallowed.
“We… we saw a dark omen.”
My pulse quickened.
“What omen?” the Duke demanded.
The man trembled, glancing at me.
“A shadow in the sky… shaped like a star. It hovered over the Vaelor estate.”
A cold chill ran through me.
The Dark Star.
My mark.
“We followed it,” he continued. “It led us to this place—your son’s room.”
My stomach twisted.
The dark omen was pointing to ME.
“We thought he was the source,” the second man added quickly. “So we came to warn you.”
Warn me?
I expected assassins.
Cultists.
Enemies.
Not… worried farmers.
The Duke’s aura softened only slightly.
“And what is this omen supposed to mean?”
The man’s voice shook.
“Death. Calamity. Disaster. It means something terrible is awakening.”
All eyes turned to me.
I instinctively hid behind the Duke like a traumatized kitten.
“I didn’t awaken anything!” I protested. “I didn’t even wake up properly!”
The Duke lowered his tone.
“You have done nothing wrong. We will investigate the omen.”
The intruders bowed deeply.
“We mean no harm. Please… keep the child away from the capital.”
My heart dropped again.
“Why the capital?” I asked.
“Because,” one whispered, “that is where the calamity will begin.”
The Duke dismissed them with a wave.
Guards dragged them away.
I felt sick.
The Duke turned to me.
“Elion… you understand now why the hero came.”
I sat on the cold floor.
Even fate was giving me warnings now.
Fantastic.
---
⭐ A Power I Can’t Contain
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
My hand kept glowing.
Not bright—just a faint pulse.
Like a heartbeat.
I stared at it in the darkness.
“What do you want from me…?” I whispered.
The mark responded with a soft tingle.
And suddenly—
I saw something.
Not with my eyes.
With my mind.
A blurry vision—
a giant shadow swallowing a city whole.
Screams.
Light.
Destruction.
My breath caught.
“Is… that me?”
A whisper curled in the darkness of my thoughts:
Not yet.
I jumped.
“H-HELLO?! Who said that?!”
No answer.
Just silence.
Terrifying silence.
I covered my hand with a blanket.
“Nope. Not dealing with existential horror at midnight. I refuse.”
But sleep didn’t come.
The vision kept replaying behind my eyelids.
Shadows.
Flames.
The hero’s silhouette.
And my own power tearing the world apart.
---
⭐ Morning Comes Too Soon
When dawn broke, I hadn’t slept a second.
Dark circles under my eyes.
Hair a disaster.
Soul missing.
I dragged myself to the mirror.
“I look like a villain who taxes orphans,” I muttered.
A servant knocked softly.
“Young master… the hero has returned.”
I froze.
NO.
NOT THIS EARLY.
NOT TODAY.
“Why is he back already?!” I squeaked.
“He… wishes to escort you to the Academy.”
“To WHAT?!”
Before I could flee, the Duke appeared behind me.
“Elion,” he said firmly, “you cannot run from your fate.”
I swallowed hard.
“Watch me.”
He grabbed my hood before I could escape out the window.
“Elion.”
I sighed dramatically.
This was it.
Day two of my reincarnation.
And I was already being taken to the place where the villain arc begins.
Perfect.
Just perfect.
- Writer
