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This is my first novel.
All opinions will be appreciated.
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Ryan's world ended not with a glorious climax, but with a petty, frustrating drain on his phone battery. His monumental achievement, the 72-hour sustained binge, had finally claimed him.
He'd done it. He had consumed every last piece of "The Saint-Veridian Scion" franchise, every panel of the webtoon, every obscure fan theory on the forums. The novel, the primary source of emotional and intellectual stimulation in his solitary, independent life, was complete.
He needed that complete knowledge, that tactical edge, to prepare for the anime premiere and confirm the most unforgivable sin of the entire narrative: the Scapegoat Sacrifice of the best character, Prince Aureus Solaris.
His mind, hyper-caffeinated and running on fumes, had been obsessively calculating the flaws in the official plot armor, how the Harem Protagonist benefited from the death of the "Show Stealer", Prince Aureus. It was that mental exertion, that white-hot, furious focus on narrative justice, that finally overloaded his mundane, non-magical, human body.
His final, gasping thought was a bitter, internal scream against the cosmos: "I died of exhaustion... just like the plot demanded for Aureus. I still think it was a bull load of crap. I should have invested in better maintaining my body when I had the time, training when I had the chance, instead of wasting time arguing on forums..."
In his last moments of life, Ryan managed a curse to leave for the author.
"May that author's wife fall in love with that very character he did so dirty…"
The screen went dark, and his consciousness vanished. The exhaustion, the very narrative instrument designed to remove his favourite character, had claimed the fan instead.
…
For a timeless, terrifying moment, there was nothing.
No light, no sound, no body, only the terrifying vastness of the void he had only read about in the most esoteric theories about the space or void. It was the true emptiness, a state utterly antithetical to life.
Fear, colder than any deep space, seized the essence of his existence. He felt that he was going to be utterly and absolutely erased.
Then, the void violently fractured.
Consciousness returned not as a slow waking, but as a blinding, overwhelming, burning rush. Golden light assaulted his vision, not external, but internal, a dense, pure energy that felt like liquid sun coursing through his non-existent veins.
He gasped, the sheer volume of this energy threatening to overload his awareness.
This was Mana, pure, hot, limitless. It was the elemental power he had only dreamed of reading about, and it was now his.
He was slammed back into a body, the impact causing a rush of air scented heavily with rosewood and the subtle, sharp tang of high-grade magical polish. He stared up, his vision swimming, finally focusing on a magnificent fresco depicting a triumphant, armored figure radiating the very definition of light.
He recognized it, he wouldn't mistake it even in his dream.
The sigil of the Solaris Royal Family.
The room was absurdly grand, gilded moldings, towering carved onyx pillars, and silken banners. He looked down at his trembling hands, expecting to see his old, pale fingers. Instead, he saw tiny, plump, baby hands gripping silk sheets.
The theories of an obsessed fan began to build in his mind.
'Is it… what I think it is…'
'The feeling… of some kind of energy flowing in my body is real!'
He scrambled off the bed, his small legs unsteady, his eyes frantically searching the chamber. He spotted a floor-to-ceiling mirror framed in carved gold near the entrance.
He rushed toward it, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his small chest. He stopped short, staring.
The reflection staring back was undeniably the character he had just finished obsessing over: the impossibly perfect features of the Solaris Royal Line, the flowing golden hair he knew was famous in the fandom, and the piercing amber eyes that were already burning with unnatural intensity.
'It's real!'
'It's really real!'
'I'm Aureus Solaris!'
'The character is real, and the whole world is real!'
The sheer, magical reality of it all overwhelmed him, replacing his fear with the ecstatic, fanatical joy of an obsessed fan he is. He had the ultimate cheat code of this world, the power, and the face! The cosmos, in its chaotic way, had answered his demand for narrative justice.
But the confusion quickly followed, mixing panic with awe.
'Is this a dream? Is this the delirium of the coma?'
He pinched his tiny arm, feeling the pain and the unsettling firmness of the small muscle beneath his skin. This was no dream. The feeling of mana was too real, the gilded prison too solid.
Then, the true shock, the amalgamation, occurred.
Ryan's knowledge and emotions slammed into the native, prodigious genius of Prince Aureus's soul. The latent intellect of the "Show Stealer" merged with the meta knowledge of the fan. The result was a terrifyingly calm clarity.
Aureus (from now on referred to as such) took a shuddering breath, the action unnatural for his small body. He was no longer just a fan, the fan's meta knowledge was now wedded to the latent, immense intellect of the "Show Stealer" Prince.
The ecstatic joy was gone, replaced by a crystalline clarity, a cold, total commitment to the path of dominance.
The first, unavoidable truth slammed into his mind, not as a list, but as a single, overwhelming mandate: Time and Power.
He was 4 years old according to his memories. The entire narrative, the true danger period, hinged on the Saint-Veridian Academy Arc beginning at when the Harem Protagonist becomes 15 years old.
Eleven years. It was an eternity for a child, but a terrifyingly narrow window to achieve the necessary power. Every second of those eleven years was a finite resource that had to be brutally managed.
The cold math of the power chart dictated his ambition. Moreover, power was not just strength; it was the alchemy of the soul. Sustained advancement in Rank fundamentally stabilizes and strengthens the mortal constitution, allowing it to process energy flows that extended its natural temporal limits. The Human baseline was a mere 80 years. If he wanted to outlive the plot's schemes and establish a multi-century dynasty, he had to secure at least the Sovereign Rank (Tier V), guaranteeing at least 600 years of existential survival. Failure meant returning to the status of a short-lived human prince, or worse, facing the humiliating Scapegoat Sacrifice the plot demanded. His survival was tied not to mercy, but to absolute, monstrous progression.
The solution was already within him.
The solution was already within him: his [Trait].
Every mage possessed a Trait, a unique, defining quality of their magic. But Aureus's, the unified [Sacred Aetheric Conduit], was the monster-maker. It was a single, perfect expression of the Light Element that inherently granted three supreme abilities: the Solar Coherence to shatter defenses, the Aetheric Dissonance to counter the Demon threat, and the Regal Regeneration to nullify exhaustion.
These powers, flashing through his mind as weapons ready for use, were the ultimate cheat code against the plot. But these were still latent. He needed to unlock them. He needed to start maximizing his Mana Recovery Training immediately, forging his soul into a perfect, efficient engine of power, discreetly, before the conservative Royal Mages could slow him down with outdated protocol.
…
Aureus's mind was still reeling from the systemic shock of the amalgamation, the seamless, terrifying merger of fan knowledge with latent prodigious genius. He had achieved an unprecedented level of cold, strategic clarity, yet his actions were still governed by the physical limitations and customs of a four-year-old Prince. His primary task was securing the core emotional asset and political linchpin of the Solaris line — Princess Celestine Solaris.
Just then, a gentle knock preceded the entrance of the Royal Nanny, who ushered in the reason for Aureus's sudden preoccupation with political strategy.
"Your Highness, Princess Celestine has awoken from her nap. She insisted on seeing her older brother."
Celestine, a toddler barely two years old, shuffled in, with her movements slightly clumsy, she was the epitome of royal innocence. Her hair was of the lightest silver-blonde, and her eyes, wide and clear blue, held the natural innocence that made her the perfect foil, and eventual target, for the protagonist in the plot of "The Saint-Veridian Scion".
Aureus watched her approach. Celestine was more than just a sister; she was a symbolic extension of the Light Element lineage and the political future of Solgrad. The protagonist thrived on rescuing and redeeming lost souls, mainly beautiful and powerful girls.
Celestine's plotline dictated that she would eventually feel isolated and misunderstood by her formal, political family, making her vulnerable to the protagonist's 'righteous' sympathy.
But with Aureus here, he would ensure that isolation never manifests.
He reached out a small, steady hand. He immediately discarded the idea of simple, fraternal affection.
He would implement the Doting Strategy — a deliberate, relentless, years-long campaign of intense, familial-surpassing love designed to create an unbreakable emotional fortress.
He would fulfill every emotional need, every desire for protection, and every craving for absolute devotion, leaving no emotional space for Valerian Aetherus, the protagonist, to occupy.
Celestine, unused to such focused attention from her busy older brother, toddled closer, her tiny fingers latching onto his silk sleeve.
Aureus did not offer a childish grin. The knowledge of the adult Ryan, now merged with the prodigious prince's mind, caused his small features to settle into a look of serene, focused intensity. He was visibly exerting effort just to hold the expression, avoiding the clumsy movements of a four-year-old.
He leaned down slightly towards his sister. "Celestine…" he whispered, his small voice imbued with an unmistakable, resonant quality that made the Royal Nanny shiver.
He gently cupped her face, his amber eyes holding a searing, possessive devotion that felt profoundly unnatural.
He then added, with the simple yet absolute conviction of his light element, "Remember…"
"No matter what happens. I will always be here."
"I will always be here you. My dear sister."
The impact on the Royal Nanny and the attending maid was instantaneous. They froze, recognizing the weight of his declaration.
Their shock was rooted in the deviation from the norm, The First Prince was usually detached, focused on books and lessons, and offered his sister little more than a customary pat.
But now, he was offering an unyielding, personal vow with the serene intensity of a royal blood. They saw not a child speaking, but the Light Bloodline itself announcing its deepest, purest bond.
The words confirmed their belief in the young prince's unparalleled purity and genius, misinterpreting the intensity brought by the knowledge of the merged adult soul.
Celestine, however, felt only the intense warmth and security radiating from him. Aureus's purest light element inherently projected a subtle, continuous radiant warmth, a fundamental characteristic that made his mere presence incredibly soothing and addictive. She gurgled happily, reaching up for a hug, a simple request Aureus readily complied with.
He lifted her easily, holding her close to his chest. He maintained the embrace, consciously projecting the immense, stabilizing power of his latent Regal Regeneration. This was not just energy; it was an invisible, soothing wave of purified mana that unconsciously settled all anxieties within her, making her feel utterly secure, utterly safe.
'The protagonist thrives on crisis and chaos. He earns loyalty through manufactured sympathy.'
'I will give Celestine neither crisis nor sympathy to earn. She will only know the feeling of being protected by an absolutely strong older brother and the unique comfort of my Light.'
'I will use this connection to passively boost the purity of her own Light affinity, ensuring her loyalty is tied not just to emotion, but to the feeling of absolute power and security only I can provide. By the time Valerian arrives, her heart will be an impregnable fortress, sealed by my love and the knowledge that I, and only I, am her ultimate protector.'
He continued to stroke her silver-blonde hair, the seeds of possessiveness and absolute devotion were now being sown.