“He should be awake any moment now.” A gentle bell-like voice nudged at Ryan's consciousness as the sweet scent of lavender brushed past his nose.

He sat up and stared at a stunningly beautiful elven face. The figure reflected in his eyes had perfect features, her bright amber hair gleamed under the evening light, her luscious creamy skin and succulent ruby lips could charm any man. A pair of crystal eyes stared back at his, he could see within those irises sparked cold arctic flames.

“Are you well?”

Still frozen in thought, he gave no response. She looks like an rpg character. The unfamiliar thought brushed at his mind. What's an rpg character? He questioned himself, before a barrage of foreign memories assaulted his mind.

Ryan screamed.

The fragments began putting themselves together as they filled every crevices in his brain. Slowly, Ryan could see the picture, starting from when he was sucked through the mad professor's portal to other aspects of his previous life.

It took a while for reality to set in as his mind scrambled frantically to organize the new memories. Though many parts of them still remained blank. He could remember his previous mother's face but not his father and he can recall clearly the faces of half of his friends, but not the other half.

Ryan wanted to try and remember more, but time wasn't on his side. He realized during the entire ordeal that he became unconscious again.

Had he not been in such a dire situation, Ryan would have dived deeper into the new memories and go through the fascinating alien concepts of the different world - Earth.

At least I have no student debt in this life.

Opening his eyes, he was met with Mira’s.

“Ryan!” She pounced towards him.

He held up his arms to block her bodily assault. “Get me some water.”

With the troublemaker gone, he looked at the other woman.

“Glad to have you back.” She gave a faint smile.

“Sorry, I was a little disoriented.” He shook his head. “I should be fine now. May I ask who are you, and did you save me?”

“I gave you the antidote.” She held up a small empty flask. “It was not easy, mind you. Someone raided the medical storage room and countless other poisonings are taking place. The capital is in turmoil.”

It was then that Ryan noticed the faint sound of violence permeating through the walls -screaming, yelling and the clanking of swords.

“You may call me Vera, I'm the guildmaster of Silica.”

“For saving my life, I give you my greatest gratitude. But unfortunately I do not have much in my possession to repay you.”

“It is fine, I only fulfilled the Empress’s request. Now that your condition has improved, shall we go see her in person?”

Ryan has no choice but to nod.

Pure chaos reigned the corridors, servants and doctors ran around in a panic. Fights broke out even on the stairs as the minor noble factions compete for power.

With Vera leading, Eli walked in front of Ryan while Mira -surrounded in a defensive barrier- covered his back.

##

Eva Valentine, the current Empress of the Valentine empire sat on the throne, her breathtaking velvet dress draped to the ground like a carpet. The silky aqua hair cascading down her ankle and the serene gaze of her hazel eyes made the Empress’s appearance seemingly ethereal.

“You may rise, my son.” Said a voice as sweet as birdsong.

Ryan stopped kneeling.

“You must think that I am a cold, neglecting mother to have let such a thing happen between my own children.” She smiled mockingly to herself.

“I do not, mother. You are very caring towards your children including myself. It is only when we fight among ourselves that you seem to never interfere. Your attitude towards our interactions with each other seemed apathetic.” Ryan answered truthfully.

“You've always been my most observant child. It's a pity you have no motivation for the throne.” Eva’s smile grew wider. “It was your father’s demand. To tell the truth, that man has no wish to preserve the empire. He was selfish, his only goal in life was to establish the greatest empire the world has ever known. And he did.”

Her gaze seemed distant. “After achieving the dream, he has no intention of choosing a heir. ‘Let them fight for the throne themselves like I did.’ He'd say. I wasn't allowed to mediate between any of you for fear of letting others think that I've chosen a heir. And now that he's on his deathbed, your siblings will proceed to fight each other to the death.”

She locked eyes with his. “You must really hate me now, don't you?”

“Of course not, mother. You've always granted my requests and provide me the books I wanted. I understand that you cannot help me more than you did already.” Ryan expressed his sincere thought.

“Such a compassionate child.” She chuckled. “My restraint no longer apply to you, however. You do not wish to sit on the throne, hence I find it unfair to leave you to the violence of your siblings.”

“I have requested that Vera bring you to her headquarters and let you work as her assistant for the time being. I want you to leave the capital immediately and away from the cross fire. Of course it all depends on your decision.”

“I will gladly accept.” Ryan responded without pause. Looks like I'm not dying anytime soon.

“Before you depart, I'd like to ask a small favor.” Eva's eyes turned serious.

“You have read and memorized the entirety of our libraries. The Valentine Empire's founding, accomplishment and glory have all remained in your head. If by any chance our empire is no more after the chaos, through writing and in folklores, I'd like you to keep it alive within people's hearts.”

“You have my word, esteemed mother.” Ryan bowed and left.

##

Sometime after the meeting, Eva sat next to Tiamat -the current emperor.

“How are you faring, darling?” Her soft voice echoed throughout the empty bed chamber.

“I'm dying, but other than that I'm good. How was our little Ryan?”

“I sent him away for now, that child is too pure for his own good.” A sly smile formed on her lush lips.

“He'd never believe it, if I told him everything you're doing now is for his sake.” He tried to laugh, but it turned into a coughing fit.

“Of course, darling. I'd do anything for him, even if the empire burns in my wake.” Her smile grew even more sinister.

##

Not designed to go at such speeds, the carriage shook and rattled. Ryan found himself vomiting on the side almost constantly since they departed.

“You seem even more frail than you look.” Vera smirked.

Ryan hasn't traveled much since all the books he needed were delivered to him. And even though he had a driver license, he only took the tram to college in his past life.

Much of the memories as Tom still eluded his mind, he tried to gasp at the blank areas hoping to remember to no avail.

“So how big is Silica?” Mira tried to break the silence.

“Quite small, it's close to the Eastern frontier. Though because of a large influx of adventurers and exploration activities, it's towns are big and busy.” Ryan said.

“You are quite knowledgeable, just like Eva said.” Vera nodded.

“Thank you, I read a lot. Now what I don't know is when we will reach the next sto-”

His eyes rolled to the back of his skull as another surge of foreign memories barged into his brain, they were not just Tom’s memories.

Scarlett was awake.