The first light of dawn filtered through the frost-tinted windows of Frosthold Manor, casting silver streaks across Alden's room. He lay on his back, eyes wide open, heart still racing from what had been anything but a normal dream.
No. Not a dream.A reminder.
Alden blinked slowly. The mental static from the night before had faded into clarity. And now, nestled somewhere between his thoughts, was a presence — not intrusive, but undeniably there. Sharp, patient, ancient.
"...ASTRA? You still there?"
◇ Acknowledged. Query received. I am operational. ◇
He sat up, running a hand through his silver hair. "So this isn't a weird fever dream. Good. Or terrifying. Maybe both."
◇ Clarification: Partial system integration confirmed. Synaptic relay stable. ◇
"Right. So... you're a system. From a mecha. In a magic-based fantasy world." He paused. "How exactly does that make sense?"
◇ Current explanation: Inconclusive. This unit's long-range protocols activated in response to host's soul resonance. Full background incomplete. Restoration in progress. ◇
◇ Sync Rate: 0.43% and rising… ◇
"You don't know why you're here either."
◇ Affirmative. Partial awareness initiated upon host neural link. ◇
Alden leaned back against the carved wooden headboard, gazing out at the snow-covered horizon. Frosthold's towers shimmered beyond the glass. Below, the guards were likely preparing the training yard for morning drills. Cassy would be bouncing off the walls.
"I have a thousand questions and you're glitching on the answers. Lovely." He hesitated. "...Can I ask something simpler?"
◇ Query open. ◇
"How does it — how does Asterion look?"
There was a silence, not in the room, but in the space behind his eyes. Then—
◇ Transmitting mental construct. Initial visual representation generated. ◇
And the world vanished.
For a split second, Alden saw nothing but light — not blinding, but pure. It parted like curtains, revealing a towering figure standing beneath a shattered sky.
His breath caught. For a heartbeat — he was staring at divinity.
It was colossal — gleaming white armor adorned in golden filigree, each plate honed to brutal perfection. Dark underlayers pulsed faintly with energy, like veins of starlight running through obsidian muscle. From its back stretched metallic wings, each blade-feather sharper than swords and longer than lances.
Its face was serene, horned like a crowned warlord. Beneath its feet, a ruined city — or was it a battlefield? — sprawled in silence.
It was not just a machine.
It was a god.
A weapon built not for conquest, but for judgment.
Then it vanished, like the image had only ever existed in the space between breaths.
Alden gasped. His fingers clutched the sheets.
"Holy stars… that's mine?"
◇ Unit Asterion. Evolutionary architecture. Current form: Phase 9 of 10. ◇
"It's like if a divine relic and a Gundam had a child and taught it to fly through suns..."
◇ Cultural reference unclear. Contextual humor detected. ◇
"Good. You're catching on."
He sat in stunned silence for a long moment. The sheer scale of it — not just the machine, but what it meant — began to settle in his chest like gravity.
He wasn't just some side character breaking the story.
He was carrying something no one in this world could comprehend.
A mecha. A system with no place in fantasy. And somehow, it had chosen him.
The scent of honeyed bread and snowberry preserves pulled him from his thoughts.
Time to face the real world.
He dressed quickly, trading his nightshirt for a fur-lined tunic and dark leggings, and padded quietly through the hallways toward the dining chamber.
The family breakfast at House Snowblaze was a ritual — quiet, disciplined, and elegant, like everything else in the duchy. Yet despite the noble formality, warmth lingered like fire beneath frost.
As he entered, Cassy was already at the table, stuffing a piece of toast into her mouth while pretending to listen to Seraphina discuss upcoming etiquette lessons.
"Morning, Al!" she waved with her free hand, mouth full.
"Swallow first. Then wave," Alden said, sliding into the chair beside her.
Alaric looked up from a document he was reviewing and gave Alden a firm nod. "Good timing. We dine together."
"Of course, Father," Alden replied smoothly.
He was quiet during the first few minutes — not out of discomfort, but reflection.
Looking at each of them… it hit differently now.
Seraphina, his mother. In the novel, she had been a faint outline — the wise duchess, barely involved. But here she was, her eyes crinkling with laughter when Cassy recounted yesterday's spar. Her voice had a melody to it when she spoke, always measuring tone and meaning.
Alaric, the cold Duke, had been portrayed as rigid and distant. But this morning, when Alden nearly knocked over his tea, his father simply reached out and steadied the cup with one hand — no scolding, no glares. Just a quiet, reassuring gesture.
And Cassy — she'd never even had a full arc in the book. A prodigy who shone brightly in the academy, then faded from the page too early. Until appearing in the war with the demons.
Not here.
Here, she grinned like an imp, kicked him under the table when he was too quiet, and whispered, "Still brooding about your loss yesterday?"
"No. I was thinking about how to crush you next time."
"Hah! You'll need divine intervention."
He smirked. "Working on it."
Seraphina raised an eyebrow. "No divine dueling at the table, children."
"Yes, Mother," both replied in unison.
Alden's gaze lingered on them as he took a bite of buttered bread. The realness of it all was overwhelming — this was more than fiction now. These weren't background characters. This was his family.
His new reality.
As breakfast wrapped up, Alden quietly excused himself. He walked back through the halls, mind spinning with a thousand thoughts. Once in the privacy of the study, he closed the door and whispered, "ASTRA, you still there?"
◇ Active. ◇
"Why do I feel like this isn't just a story I entered anymore?"
◇ Because it isn't. Narrative divergence confirmed. This world—Elarion—shares coordinates with source material, but significant deviation has already begun. ◇
"So the world has changed because of me?"
◇ Causality is uncertain. However… your presence was not part of the original structure. This may be… a parallel version. ◇
Alden rubbed his temple. "Fantastic. I broke canon and physics."
◇ Not broken. Unwritten. ◇
He looked out the window again.
In the distance, the sun had risen fully, its rays glinting off the frost-clad towers of Frosthold. Somewhere beyond that horizon, the future waited.
And above it all… among the stars…
Something stirred.
Waiting.