Normalization
"A familiar ceiling."
I muttered those words with great difficulty as I forced my eyes open. Or rather, it felt like something I should say.
But then a voice came from what I thought was my empty room.
"Of course it is~ You'd be used to it by now."
"Gah! Mother!"
It was a familiar voice, but it still startled me. And the fact that someone who hadn't shown her face once amid all her busyness was suddenly right there beside me doubled the shock.
"Is everything okay with work?"
"No need to worry. And I'm not so busy that I couldn't even peek in when my son was sick."
"I see."
"I'm sorry. About your guard knight, and the goblin subjugation too."
"It's not a big deal."
"Hehe. At your age, Kyle was such a crybaby and a spoiled brat. Our second son is so mature."
"Yeah..."
I didn't know much about Kyle, so I just brushed it off vaguely, but it must've looked like worry in Mother's eyes.
"Ah, right. You wouldn't remember your brother Kyle."
"Yes, that's correct."
That was the setting. Though I'd possessed Kasian Valenvalt, I had none of the original Kasian's memories, so I played it off as amnesia. Luckily, no one suspected a thing.
They were all too busy to even know what the real Kasian was like anyway. Workaholics didn't begin to cover it.
To steer away from the topic, I changed the subject.
"By the way, has my brother still not come back?"
"Not yet. Should I send out knights to look for him?"
They were the ultimate laissez-faire parents. Mother pondered it for a moment before murmuring softly.
"He grew up to be a total wanderer. Was it our parenting?"
I had nothing to say to that. Truth be told, I didn't care if Kyle wandered off or not. And parenting issues? Nobles always had those anyway.
"Ah, keeping a sick person chatting like this is cruel. I'll get going. Call for me if it hurts."
"Thank you for coming."
Mother started to leave but paused at the door. I looked at her curiously, wondering if she had more to say.
"Oh, right! The guard knight issue—I handled it properly. Everyone who insulted Squire Kalia Crisia, from the trainees to the squires who've been backing Rona Scott since her trainee days, all dismissed. Even those connected to them got disciplined. Good, right?"
I was a little surprised. A squire was talent that even lesser nobles would kill for. It took decades to train one, yet they'd cut them loose in an instant. I couldn't help widening my eyes.
This is the margrave's power.
That overwhelming arrogance, as if another squire could just be made. The decision to sacrifice family strength showed just how heavy the price was for insulting Valenvalt honor and my judgment.
It was the moment I truly felt the immense authority and ruthless order of those called the lords of the North.
Just to be sure, I asked,
"What about the ones hanging around Rona Scott? Did they get properly punished?"
I was asking about those even more cowardly than Rona—maybe even worse. The bystanders and enablers who hid behind the strong and mocked and insulted Kalia without stepping up themselves.
Mother paused, as if rummaging through her memory. With Rona Scott drawing all the fire as the ringleader, it was probably hard for a great noble like her to recall every little hanger-on.
"Ah! Those kids too. We classified them as co-conspirators and excommunicated them along with Rona Scott."
Her voice was calm, but the weight of it was anything but light. "Excommunication" from the family meant social death, beyond mere discipline. Those cowards who sneered from the shadows would end up in a pit far more miserable than the Kalia they'd scorned.
"Then rest easy for real."
Mother opened the door and left, as if she'd delivered everything she came to say.
I stared blankly at the familiar ceiling, thinking.
What I'd done wasn't pointless. I could've just told my parents now and had it fixed. But that wouldn't do. It wouldn't solve the root problems.
So I'd acted myself. And the margrave lived up to the title—things normalized the instant the issue was recognized.
Still, moving on my own had been the right call.
I tore my gaze from the door Mother had left through and settled into a comfortable position.
The romance fantasy mother I'd seen in a while. Busy with laissez-faire parenting as default, but she did worry about her kids.
Kyle—my brother—still hasn't come back, huh.
I tried recalling Kyle's arc from the webtoon, but nothing specific came up. Kasian was a lead, but among the male leads, he had the least screentime. Not much personal detail.
Plus, Kasian was portrayed as the epitome of a northern margrave—quiet, solemn, few words—which made him seem even more distant.
And honestly, I never cared how the heroine or male leads ended up, so I'd skipped those parts.
Someone might ask what I was even reading a romance fantasy for if I ignored the romance. I'd proudly say: the villainess's looks.
Humans are drawn to beauty on a primal level, right? But I regretted it now. Who knew I'd get sucked into that flashy webtoon world because I binged it like an idiot for the visuals.
Possessing Kasian Valenvalt wasn't terrible, though. As the second son, no inheriting the margrave title—the best part. Graduate the academy, snag a barony to keep noble status, pretend to support my faceless brother while living easy.
Mushy, no-work romance fantasy life, here I come.
But first, graduate the academy properly. That was far off, and academies were hotbeds of incidents. I'd need to prepare.
Reality wasn't the story—heroes might not save me. I had to grow enough to protect my own circle.
And the biggest issue: the Order Society. Their ideology was twisted, and they were a pain to deal with. But the real kicker? I had zero clue about the latter half of the story.
The villainesses I'd seen were just mid-bosses. I dropped it right there—damn it, possessing a novel I didn't even finish.
Should I have checked spoilers occasionally?
I really had rotten luck. Stuck suffering in a romance fantasy when others got sweet love troubles. Why was I plotting life-or-death fights?
"I just want to live easy..."
I murmured to myself, but my voice faded emptily into the room's silence.
Yeah. Graduate the academy first. That'd let me live free.
I set academy graduation as my goal.
That's it for today.
The academy incidents? Future me, years stronger, would handle them. Right now, I just wanted rest.
There's the heroine and male leads. It'll work out. Why else are they protagonists?
But I'm one of the male leads...
I let out a deep sigh and buried my face in the pillow. The soft touch should've eased my fatigue, but it just made me more tired.
Facedown like that, the sensation right before collapsing after the duel suddenly resurfaced.
My unique ability went berserk again, huh.
The Empire was too rigid about this. Unique abilities wouldn't manifest without self-awareness, but once realized, they could surge out regardless of will.
Teaching control early to kids awakening young like me made sense. But I got their side too.
From tutors and library tomes, uncontrolled unique ability rampages had plagued history since ancient times. Kids lacked focus and emotional control, so blocking awareness prevented accidents altogether.
Even if you noticed like me, without grasping the essence, output was weak. Uncomprehended abilities degraded into diluted forms.
I get it logically, but it sucks when my body's drained.
The unknown power swirling inside, devouring my stamina—it was way more unpleasant than expected.
Trying to rest, but my mind wandered again. I cleared my head for real sleep.
Kalia's situation... no, later. Later...
Whether from lingering daze or exhaustion, I stared blankly at the ceiling until my eyes slowly drifted shut.