System vs Rebirth

"Is it true… Mother?" Noel widened his eyes in shock, staring at his mother who was supposed to be dead.

"Silly child." Leysha chuckled. "You don't have any problem talking but your body is still quite weak after eight months on bed, so wait here first. I'm going to ask the maid to bring you a nutritious meal and inform your father."

"Mhm." Noel nodded. "Thank you, Mother."

Leysha waved her hand and walked away, bringing the priest who seemed to have healed him.

He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at them. He didn't know why but everything seemed weird.

'Is everything truly my dream? But I have experienced everything in that dream, it feels so real. Isn't a dream supposed to be faster?' Noel narrowed his eyes. 'Or is this actually another dream of mine?'

Noel scratched the back of his head, wondering what to do. He closed his eyes and tried to make a connection with his spirits. As expected, because of his sleep, he wasn't able to be connected with Ardagan.

However, no matter how hard he tried to do it, Heisk also didn't come out either. 'As expected, should I try awakening Heisk again? Or Heisk is just a spirit in my dream? I don't understand.'

Noel scratched the back of his head with a long sigh. He didn't understand what was going on.

It didn't take too long for his father to rush inside with his mother.

"You're finally awake?" Count Ardagan looked at Noel and found him sitting on the bed. Without hesitation, he jumped to him and hugged him as tight as he could. "Good son, good son. You're finally awake."

"Mhm. Sorry for making you worry, Father." Noel made a sad smile. He still didn't know how to differentiate reality. In his supposed to be dream, he had many regrets that he wanted to do with his parents. But he couldn't do it anymore because they had died.

"It's fine. It's fine. I shouldn't push you with anything. You're a good and smart kid, so you should do everything in your pace." Count Ardagan's tone was filled with sorrow and regret as if he had done something wrong. However, Noel couldn't recount what happened.

'That's right. There is something I can test.' Noel got an idea to prove his existence. "That's right. Do you mind if we can talk, Father, Mother?"

"Talk?" Count Ardagan tilted his head in confusion before turning to Leysha to ask her opinion. They were just staring at each other, but they seemed to know what to do. Count Ardagan immediately smiled and nodded. "Sure. Let's talk."

When Noel opened his mouth, his stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.

*Grumble!*

"Ah?!" Noel looked at his stomach, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Oh my." Leysha chuckled. "You must be hungry. You should eat first. We'll hear you out after that."

"Mhm." Noel thought for a moment. "If you don't mind… can I ask Mother to feed me?"

"Silly child. You're becoming a spoiled brat." Count Ardagan sighed, not knowing what happened to Noel.

Noel looked at Leysha with a pleading gaze. "Can't I?"

Leysha's expression instantly melted. Noel usually relied on the maid to do things for him, but he never really asked her to feed him. She instantly agreed to Noel's request. "Alright, alright. Everything for my boy."

"Hehe." Noel made a big smile. It didn't take too long for the soup to come in. Because Noel hadn't eaten anything for so long, he needed to eat something light.

"Here you go." Leysha carefully scooped the soup with a spoon and blew it to make sure it wasn't too hot.

"Ahm." Noel happily ate his meal.

Seeing his appetite, Count Ardagan's expression mellowed a bit, knowing that Noel was alright. He asked, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Can't you let him finish the soup first?" Leysha squinted her eyes.

Noel gently grabbed her hand. "It's alright, Mother. Actually, I have been wanting to ask you something."

"What is it, dear?"

"Is it true that my father kidnapped you from your father?" Noel asked.

Leysha was startled that she almost dropped the plate. "You…"

"What do you mean kidnapped? I didn't do such a thing." Count Ardagan raised his voice. "I simply asked her hand for marriage… whether he agreed or not."

"…" Noel looked at him with a judging gaze as if telling him that what he meant by kidnapping.

Leysha was chuckling this whole time. It was truly funny to see his reaction. "Your mother wouldn't call it kidnapping. We love each other and have agreed to go through everything together."

"Mhm." Noel nodded.

"Still, why are you asking that kind of question right now?" Count Ardagan shook his head helplessly, feeling embarrassed by his reaction earlier.

"Well, that's because… Grandfather told me that you have a best friend… instead of normal friends."

In noble circle, one had to get many friends, forming relationship that could benefit the two houses. However, best friends were different. Best friends weren't formed by benefit, so Noel's question was clear.

"Best friend?" Count Ardagan instantly remembered one thing. "You mean Kevin?"

"!!!" Everything clicked in Noel's mind straight away. Kevin in his mouth was none other than Marquis Stargaze, Kevin Stargaze.

"Why do you ask about him? Now that I think about it, when did your grandfather said that? The last time you visited your mother's family was eight years ago… This year will be the ninth year."

"I was sleeping the whole time, right?"

"Ah, you mean you dream about your grandfather?"

"En." Noel nodded.

"Then, do you dream about your mother?" Leysha immediately came in to the conversation while pointing at herself.

Noel fell silent for a moment, thinking about what happened. He suddenly smiled and said, "Of course. In my dream, I did a lot of thing with Mother. Somehow I want to do it for real."

"Really? Then, let's do it!" Leysha's expression brightened. It had been a while since they did something together, so she thought it would be fun.

"What? That's not fair." Count Ardagan furrowed his eyebrows as if he felt jealous.

"Father too… In my dream, father worked so hard for the family, especially for me and Mother. I hope that Father can give me an opportunity to work together with you. I want to help you now."

Leysha and Luke Ardagan widened their eyes in shock, wondering what he had dreamed this whole time. However, another thought also came into their mind. 'Isn't the comma too good? It can change Noel this much.'