I felt my body move.
A low creaking sound echoed around me, repetitive, like wood being strained with every sway. The carriage moved forward at an unhurried pace, yet each jolt made the pain spread further.
Everything hurt.There wasn't a single place that didn't burn.
I opened my eyes with difficulty.
The first thing I saw was the interior of the carriage. The dark wooden walls vibrated slightly, revealing that we were in motion. I was sitting, even though my body begged to remain still.
Across from me, Lygni occupied the opposite seat. Her eyes were closed, but her posture was far too rigid for someone who was truly resting.
Alert.Always alert.
I adjusted myself as best I could. Through the small opening of the window, daylight slowly faded, following the sun as it sank beyond the horizon.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice weaker than I expected.
Lygni did not open her eyes.
"We are heading to the territory your father granted you."
I turned my gaze back outside, silently watching the scenery pass. Open fields, dirt roads, long shadows forming as night approached.
"Where exactly is this territory?"
This time, Lygni opened her eyes and looked at me.
"At the border of our kingdom, Durendal, and the neighboring kingdom of Captania."
There was a brief pause before she continued.
"It is called Valenreach."
The name echoed in my mind.
Valenreach.
It didn't sound like a gift.It sounded like something discarded.
I leaned back against the seat, feeling the exhaustion grow heavier. Little by little, memories that weren't mine blended with conclusions I had formed on my own.
The former owner of this body had never had a good relationship with his father. Nor with his brothers. The disdain was evident, and yet… there were duties that had to be fulfilled.
Perhaps that was all he could receive.Not out of affection.But out of obligation.
A small territory on the frontier.Far from the court.Far from the center of power.
An inheritance that felt less like a right…and more like disposal.
I looked outside again. The landscape remained still, as inert as my thoughts. Silent fields, empty roads. Nothing that justified the growing weight in my chest.
And yet, my mind returned to that sensation.
The invisible touch.The threads.
It wasn't happening now — I knew that — but my body remembered. As if the memory had been etched beneath my skin. First, a faint brushing, almost imperceptible… then pressure, turning sharp, like invisible blades embedded in my flesh.
I shuddered.
What disturbed me most wasn't the pain.It was what I had seen.
For a brief instant, in that room, impossible lines had materialized before me. Translucent cords, unreal, twisting through the air as if they possessed a will of their own.
They came from nowhere.They simply existed.
I slowly turned my gaze.
Lygni remained seated across from me, unmoving, as if nothing in this world could truly surprise her.
"What was that I felt?" I asked.
She didn't open her eyes right away.
"What do you mean by 'that,' Your Highness?"
I leaned back more firmly against the carriage seat, searching for a position that hurt less.
"It was like… threads brushing against my skin."
Lygni opened her eyes.
It was a simple movement.Yet her attention had clearly shifted.
She observed me in silence for several seconds. Her face remained neutral, revealing no emotion — making it impossible to tell what she was truly thinking.
"What Your Highness felt was the Web."
The word echoed in my mind.
The Web.
"What is it?" I asked.
For the first time since I had awakened in that carriage, Lygni seemed genuinely focused on me.
"Your Highness never showed interest in such matters," she replied. "Why now?"
I didn't answer immediately.
An invisible force had been capable of crushing a man in the blink of an eye.Who wouldn't be interested?
But of course…Aether never cared.
What a waste.To live in a world like this… and ignore something like that.
I suppressed my irritation and put on my best indifferent expression.
"He told me that if I want to survive… I have to reach that level."
Lygni studied me more closely.
There was interest in her gaze now — subtle, but real.
"Well…" she said after a brief silence."The Web is a force."
Her voice remained calm, almost neutral, as if she were speaking of something too obvious to warrant emotion.
"Some describe it as a being. Others, as a concept.""Something that connects all of us."
She looked away for a moment, as if carefully choosing her words.
"Through it, one can align with nature.""Become part of it."
She looked back at me.
"And when that connection is formed… a human is no longer alone."
The sway of the carriage seemed to accompany each word.
"The Web grants power.""Not only to shape the world…"
There was a brief pause.
"But to strengthen the body.""And the mind."
Only then did the true scale of my situation become clear.
I had reincarnated into the body of a bastard prince.Ignored.Despised.
In a world where humans possessed abilities beyond common comprehension…the original owner of this body had never shown the slightest interest in them.
He did not seek the Web.He did not try to understand it.He did not try to grow.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
If even the world itself had reached out to him…and he chose to ignore it…
Then the truth was simple.
I had not reincarnated into a privileged position.I had inherited a mistake.
And now, it was up to me to decide whether I would die as he did…or survive despite everything.