After dealing with Harvey's injuries, I introduced him to Lorelei and Corrie before settling him in one of the manor's rooms. With everything going on, the poor boy seemed overwhelmed, so I thought I'd give him a chance to take it all in.

I mean, I came out of nowhere and offered him a life-changing opportunity. He said yes, but I wanted to give him time to really think it through. What if he changed his mind later on? I doubted he would, but the possibility existed.

Regardless, even if he rejected House Sturm's sponsorship, I intended to support him to the best of my ability. I was the one who decided to interfere in his life, and I would take responsibility for my actions. If I left after I dealt with the bullies, that would've been one thing. However, now that I've come this far, I might as well see it through. Besides, my intuition told me that Harvey was worth the effort.

Mother said she wanted to found Clan Sturm. For that, we needed people. While Harvey wasn't a martial artist, and I didn't know if he could become one, I still thought that having someone like him around would benefit Clan Sturm. A Clan needed more than strength and martial prowess.

Of course, this was in the long term. Right now, Harvey was just a fourteen year old kid dealing with school. However, once he graduated, he would make a great asset for Clan Sturm.

After helping Harvey settle in, I looked for Kaylee's room and knocked on her door. I needed to have a frank conversation with my sister. The sooner this happened, the better. Otherwise, an unfortunate misunderstanding might occur.

When she first saw me earlier, Kaylee looked like she wanted to kill me. What if she decided to act on those feelings? Even if I survived, I doubted it would be a pleasant experience. Rather than drag things out, it was better to nip that potential problem in the bud.

However, I received no reply after knocking on Kaylee's door. I tried a few more times, but got no response.

"Kaylee?" I asked. "It's me, Gabriel. We need to talk."

Kaylee still didn't respond. However, just as I was beginning to think she wasn't in her room, I heard her voice.

"Enter." She said.

Feeling both relieved and apprehensive, I opened the door to Kaylee's room. It didn't look like anything special. Just a simple and serviceable room, albeit one fit for a House scion, with decent furniture. Kaylee stood next to one of the room's windows, which overlooked the front entrance of the manor, gazing out.

"I had a feeling that you would show up sooner or later." She said without looking at me.

She spoke in a pleasant tone laced with malice. Right. Coming here to clear the air had been a good idea. Otherwise Kaylee's anger towards me would have festered.

"Well, yes." I said. "I wanted to clear up any misunderstandings between us."

I took a step into the room, and then stopped. Something was amiss. I didn't see anything wrong or out of place, yet I felt like I was walking into a trap. Yet, no matter how much I looked around, I saw nothing.

"Oh?" Kaylee said. "Are you talking about the fact that you're an impostor possessing my brother's body?" She turned towards me with a look of absolute disgust on her face. "Isn't that right, Transmigrator?"

She said the word transmigrator in the same tone one would say the word filth. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd had trouble with transmigrators during the First Timeline. From what I knew, a lot of them were assholes.

However, I didn't respond to my sister right away. Instead, I looked around for the source of my unease.

"Well?" Kaylee said, sneering. "What do you have to say for yourself, impostor?"

Hmm, nothing so far. What if…? I looked up and saw an intricate runic circle drawn on the ceiling using a dark blue substance. Mana Ink. Wizards used it to create runic circles. While carving or engraving the runic circle was better, Mana Ink worked when time was short.

The Mana Ink still looked a little wet. Kaylee must have drawn the runic circle recently. However, given its intricacy, it must have taken her at least an hour. That meant she always planned on me coming here. If I hadn't come here myself, she would have lured me here somehow.

I didn't know what this particular runic circle did. While I had a bit of knowledge, this one was beyond my understanding. However, given Kaylee's hostility, I doubted it was anything good. That said, I doubted it would kill me. If nothing else, she had to worry about our parents.

When Kaylee realized that I had seen through her trap, her face twisted with anger. She spoke an incantation and formed a series of mudras with her hands. However, before she finished casting her spell, I interrupted her… By walking right into her trap.

The moment I did, a crackling sound filled the air as chains made of lightning erupted from the ceiling and wrapped themselves around me. They held me tight, preventing me from moving. I almost fell over, but managed to stay on my feet.

The moment the lightning chains touched me, pain coursed through my entire body. However, it was bearable. The lightning chains were powerful enough to cause pain, but not powerful enough to cause serious harm. As the descendant of a storm dragon, I had some resistance to lightning, so the lightning chains hurt me far less than they should have.

After getting used to the pain, I looked at my sister. Kaylee stared at me with wide eyes, as if looking at a lunatic, her spell forgotten.

"What are you doing?" She asked, flabbergasted. "Why did you step into my runic circle?" She gave me a mystified look. "Are you addled in the head?"

I shrugged, or attempted to. The lightning chains prevented me from moving my shoulders.

"Consider this my way of earning your trust." I said through gritted teeth. "Otherwise, I doubt you would believe me when I say that I'm not an impostor. I'm your brother, Gabriel Sturm."

Kaylee sneered.

"You must think I'm a fool." She said. "My brother died a long time ago. How dare you pretend to be him!"

She reached a hand out towards me and clenched it into a fist. The pain coursing through me intensified, eliciting a groan from me.

"I'm not pretending." I ground out. "I really am Gabriel Sturm."

The pain intensified even further. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. At this rate, I might actually die. I wracked my brain for anything I could use to convince Kaylee that I was, well, me. A memory, a phrase, something. Then it hit me.

"The vase!" I shouted. "Do you remember the vase?"

The pain lessened.

"What are you talking about?" Kaylee asked. "If this is some sort of trick, you will regret it."

"When we were kids," I said, "you accidentally broke a vase that belonged to our grandmother. However, I decided to take the blame so you wouldn't be punished. Father confined me to my room for an entire month because of this."

Kaylee's eyes widened.

"How did you know about that?" She asked. "Even I had forgotten about that incident until now."

"I told you! It's me, Kaylee!"

A beat of silence passed.

"Gabriel?" Kaylee asked. "Is that really you?"

"Yes! Now let me go!"

Kaylee didn't respond right away. As the seconds ticked by, I thought I failed to convince her. However, a moment later, the pain disappeared as the lightning chains dispersed into nothingness. I fell to my hands and knees, my body aching all over. Something warm dripped from my nose and splashed onto the floor below. Blood.

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My sister must've done more damage to me than I realized. Well, that was what I got for stepping into a runic circle drawn by an experienced wizard. However, it was the fastest way to convince Kaylee at the time, so the pain was worth it.

"Gabriel!" Kaylee shouted.

She rushed over to my side and pulled me to a nearby wall, using it to prop me up. I didn't need her help to move, but I wasn't going to push her away. This was all in the name of rebuilding our sibling bond.

"Are you alright?" Kaylee asked, studying me with a frantic expression on her face. "What am I saying? Of course you're not alright. I could've killed you!"

She reached into her robes and pulled out a medium quality Healing Potion. Without a word of warning, she opened the potion and shoved it into my mouth. Caught off guard, I managed to choke it down, though I still ended up coughing.

Still, the Healing Potion worked its magic. The pain receded. It didn't disappear completely, but it became negligible at this point.

"Here." Kaylee said.

She reached into her robes again and pulled out a handkerchief, which she used to wipe the blood off my face.

"There you go." She said, giving me a relieved smile. "All better."

With that, my sister sagged to the side. I caught her before she hit the ground.

"Kaylee, what's wrong?" I asked, feeling a little frantic myself.

Kaylee gave me a self-deprecating smile.

"Controlling the Heavenly Chains runic circle took a lot out of me." She said. "I'm out of mana. You would've broken free, even if I hadn't released you."

I stared at my sister for a moment, before I chuckled.

"You mad woman." I said. "Why would you do that?"

I took Kaylee and helped her sit next to me, so she could lean against the wall as well. After she settled in, she rested her head against my shoulder.

"I was so angry," Kaylee said in a quiet voice. "When I saw you walking around and thought there was some impostor possessing your body, it filled me with so much rage that I couldn't think straight." She paused. "I thought about killing you, even if it meant alienating myself from Father and Mother."

My blood ran cold. Nevermind. I underestimated Kaylee's ruthlessness. Note to self: never do that again.

"I guess I'm not the only impulsive one in our family." I said in a jovial tone, trying to lighten the mood.

Kaylee let out an amused snort. Neither one of us said a word for a while. We just sat there, basking in each other's company.

"Are you really Gabriel?" Kaylee asked, breaking the silence. "Or are you a transmigrator who inherited my brother's memories? If the latter, then at least a part of my brother lives on. I'll forgive you for that alone."

I sighed.

"It's really me, Kaylee." I said. "I don't know what else I can say or do to convince you. I mean, I already risked my life."

Kaylee didn't respond right away.

"Okay," she said, "I believe you. Just… How? How are you alive? You died, Gabriel. I saw your body. I attended your funeral."

I snorted.

"You mean in the First Timeline?"

Kaylee stiffened.

"You know about that?"

I nodded.

"Yes." I said. "Cally told me. I met her while I was in the Icefall region."

Kaylee made a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and laugh.

"Good," she said, "Cally made it. I was worried that she wasn't… Well, wasn't like me."

"She felt the same way. Send her a letter. I'm sure she'll be overjoyed to hear from you." I mulled it over. "In fact, why don't you invite her to Sturm Manor for the summer? Afterwards, the two of you can head to the Solarian Imperial Academy together. I know she's supposed to start attending this autumn."

Kaylee laughed.

"I may just do that." She said. "However, you still haven't answered my question. How are you still alive?" She paused. "And why do you seem so different from the Gabriel I knew?"

I looked at Kaylee. She lifted her head and looked back at me with fear and uncertainty in her eyes.

"When I died the first time, I transmigrated to another world and reincarnated with the memories of my first life intact. I lived there for twenty five years, before I died again and transmigrated back to Lumina. Again, with my memories intact. This happened after you and the others regressed, so I ended up returning to my old body." I gave Kaylee a wry smile. "So you weren't wrong in that I'm a transmigrator possessing your brother's body. However, this body was mine in the first place, so it all works out."

Kaylee stared at me for several long seconds.

"I want to believe you," she said, "but everything you just said is all so fantastical that I find it difficult to."

I snorted.

"Any more fantastical than regressing?"

Kaylee thought it over, before nodding.

"Fair point." She leaned her head against my shoulder again. "That's why you're different. It's been twenty five years for you as well."

I took Kaylee's hand and held it in my own. "Yes. While I adjusted to life in that other realm, I thought of you and our parents every day. I never stopped missing you."

"What about your family over there?" Kaylee asked. "If you reincarnated, then you must've had parents at the very least."

I sneered.

"They're not worth worrying about," I said. "I never considered those people my family."

Brandon Norwood's "parents" were nothing more than a pair of abusive alcoholics who should've never had children. The only reason why I put up with them was because I didn't have much choice in the matter. As soon as I met Teacher, I ran away from that place and never looked back.

"However," I continued, "there were those I cared about in that realm, people that I would've never met if I hadn't died the first time around."

A sense of melancholy and loss filled me. I missed my loved ones back on Earth. Damn it. Life was unfair. Why was I always separated from the people I cared about the most? If only there was a way to reach Earth from Lumina, and vice versa.

"You should've never died in the first place." Kaylee said in a menacing tone.

"In my defense, I was desperate at the time." I said. "I know it's not much of an excuse, but it's the only one I have." I paused. "Or are you talking about the people who conspired to kill me?"

Kaylee started.

"You know about them?" She asked.

"Yes, Cally told me. Kurt Traylor, Aleah Jeffers, and Kellan Sturm."

Kurt Traylor was the butler of Sturm Manor, while Aleah Jeffers was the captain of House Sturm's retainers. They also led two of House Sturm's vassal families. Meanwhile Kellan was an influential figure from one of House Sturm's collateral families.

"Filthy traitors." Kaylee spat out. "How dare they harm a member of House Sturm's main family! I made them pay for their crime in the First Timeline, and I'll make them pay for it in this one." Her grip on my hand tightened. "No. We'll make them pay."

I was beginning to grasp just what kind of person my little sister became in the First Timeline. Ruthless, vengeful, wrathful.

While I understood why she became like that, it still made me sad. Kaylee's life should've been full of love and happiness. Instead, she endured sorrow and suffering.

"While I would agree with you under most circumstances," I said, "I don't know if vengeance is the right choice."

"What?!"

Kaylee let go of my hand and moved to sit in front of me.

"Why would you say that?" She asked in disbelief. "Those traitors took advantage of your desperation and conspired to kill you!" She shook her head. "Even if we took our personal feelings out of it, those traitors harmed a member of the main family and interfered with House Sturm's succession. They deserve to die for that alone."

Huh. That was almost exactly the same thing I said to Cally when I first learned of this matter.

"I agree with you." I said in a heated voice. "Believe me, I am beyond furious. I ended up all alone in a strange world, far from home and family, because of those three. I want them dead just as much as you do, if not more so." I took a deep breath to calm myself. "However, we might need them to ensure House Sturm's survival. Cally also told me about what happened to our family."

Kaylee clenched her fists and looked away from me.

"We were betrayed." She said. "By the time we discovered the rot, it was already too late. The traitors attacked us from within while the demons attacked us from without." She sucked in a breath. "Father and Mother sacrificed themselves to ensure my survival. They died protecting me."

I reached over to grasp Kaylee's shoulders.

"You are not alone." I said. "Father and Mother are still alive. Not only that, but I'm here as well. Together, we can save House Sturm. We can save our family."

Kaylee looked back at me with her jaw clenched and nodded.

"If ensuring House Sturm's survival means letting go of my personal grudge, then so be it." I said. "At least for now." I gave my sister a grim smile. "We can always punish my murderers after we save House Sturm."

Kaylee returned my grim smile with one of her own.

"I think a good first step would be to have Father declare you his heir." I said. "That should put you in a better position to deal with the traitors. After that, we can go from there."

Kaylee gave me a concerned look.

"What about you?" She asked. "If Father names me as his heir, the vassal families and collateral families will call for your removal from the main family. They may even want you expelled from House Sturm altogether. The only reason why they haven't made a bigger fuss about it is because my position was still a little uncertain. Once that changes, there won't be anything holding them back."

Wait, was that why Father hadn't named Kaylee as his heir, even after it became obvious that she was the much better choice?

"Don't worry about me." I said. "Mother and I have a plan. We'll found Clan Sturm and disguise it as a collateral family."

Kaylee blinked at me in surprise.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, right. You don't know yet. I'm a martial artist. That's why I'm terrible at magic. I inherited Mother's talent for martial arts instead."

Kaylee stared at me for several seconds.

"What?!"

I grinned at her.

"We have a lot to talk about, little sis. Let me catch you up to speed."

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