The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

I don't know why this world is like this. How the World System works is wrong on so many levels but... The world administered by the World System was my new reality. I treated it as some role-playing game or some real-time strategy. But this was real life. Here my decisions really would change the outcomes, not only for me or the world I'm supposed to save, but for everyone around me as well.

And I wasn't even thinking about the consequences of my actions. Yes, I created a grand castle that should have been an impenetrable fortress, and then I neglected magic defences, endangering everyone who trusted me with their lives. I allowed myself to flow with the river of events while finding one excuse after another to not learn about this world slowly and properly. I just assumed too many things.

I assumed that everyone in this world had a low level. I assumed that saving this world would be easy. I assumed I was the smartest guy in the classroom. I assumed that Knyss group didn't need any help, and then they almost got killed by goblins. Because of my ignorance, I essentially ended up with two women who would die if I failed here. Because of my ignorance, the World System was warping things so that both their choices and mine became reality. I ended up with two wives, and realising this was like a cold shower that finally woke me up.

I was just lucky no one had to die to make me start thinking.

It was still the middle of the night, which was good. Let's do something right for once. Let's start thinking.

My body looked like it belonged to a demigod. I'm far taller than I was. Of that I am sure, even if I don't remember my own face. Eriar and the Angels gave it to me for a reason other than making two certain ladies happy. No. This body was naturally making others see me as a leader and was making them respect me. But this body was also forged for war, and I could feel its strength and endurance.

Yet, I had no combat skills. I needed to fix this as fast as possible. Despite having tremendous amounts of mana, I couldn’t use it to attack, protect, or heal anyone. Items that normally regenerate mana worked on me. However, it wasn’t even worth mentioning or worthy of exploiting for dumping mana into the vault for my upkeep costs. So I guess it was an option for my body to use some magic in combat. All these things needed to be addressed quickly...

"No! Leave me! No!!!" Irene's loud shout woke up Amber, but Irene herself was still sleeping, holding tight to my arm.

"Irene?" I delicately patted her head.

"She had this nightmare once before..." Amber's voice was full of compassion. I turned on the light a little and tried to wake her up.

"No!" Irene started trembling, covered in sweat.

When I managed to wake her up, she gasped for air and burst into tears. Amber, in the meantime, moved from her side of the bed and sat near Irene, who breathed heavily while crying her eyes out. I hugged her and tried to calm her down, but she just continued to cry.

"Hush Irene. You are safe. It was just a bad dream!" I told her, hoping that this wasn't a reaction to the fate I recklessly pushed her to. "It was a bad dream, Irene!"

"It was not a dream!" she cried through her tears. "They played with us like we were just toys! They defiled us one after another! We cried, and we begged, but they did it again and again! They laughed and kept raping us almost all night. And then..."

I understood immediately what she was talking about. Amber put her hand on my shoulder and I felt her powerless anger as she tightened her grip. Irene was still crying, hugging herself tighter to me as she nervously caught her breath.

"Those animals killed my friends who followed me! They defiled them!" she sobbed, softer now. "They defiled me..." she added, showing almost no emotion.

I clenched my teeth.

"Irene... Those monsters are dead. My knights killed them." I felt her grip tighten and heard Amber's soft voice.

"You are safe now, Irene. No one can hurt you in Avalon." Amber's faith in what she just said was almost tangible, steeling my resolve to correct all my previous mistakes.

"Amber is right, Irene. You don–"

"No! You must know this, my King." Irene cut me off before I could finish. "What they did to us... Was dreadful, and I often woke up at night, afraid that someone could abduct me from the safety of Avalon. And then... Then..."

I hugged her tighter, powerless to stop her tears. I should have brought some books about trauma and how to help people like Irene.

"I could have chosen differently when the Worlds Words gave options for what I wanted for myself. I chose a fate similar to the fate of Queen Amber. In every other of my four options, I would have managed to save Amber! But then I saw the option I was praying to have!" Irene surprised me with that. "If I decided to be yours, King Theon, I would never be able to leave Avalon for longer than one week! I know I'm selfish and unworthy, but..."

"But you wanted something more from life besides the safety of Avalon?" Amber asked with understanding, after taking a long moment of silence, during which Irene was afraid to tell this last piece of truth.

"I... Yes..." Irene, still lightly sobbing, looked at her with her beautiful eyes, which were bloodshot from crying. "How did you know?"

"Because I have chosen my fate exactly because of the same reason. I wanted something more from life than just running away, from town to town, eating whatever scraps I could find throughout the forests. Now, I never desire to leave Avalon, even for just one week," Amber explained without a smile, with eyes full of fear and flashbacks.

That surprised Irene even more. For a long moment, she was sitting in my arms in silence, looking at Amber. Earlier she had shouted in my face the answer I was almost too scared to ask about. She chose her fate from many other options, and that lessened the guilt I felt. I fixed myself on the bed and opened my other arm, inviting Amber who, with true happiness, snuggled herself into my side, allowing me to hug them both.

"I'm sorry." They looked at me without an inkling of why I apologised to them. "I was sent here to save, or at least fix, this world, and the only thing I did was create more chaos. I promised you safety, yet someone managed to infiltrate the prison. I'm also guilty of the heinous crime of being an idiot."

"What are you talking about, Theon?" Amber asked, shocked.

"Hush. I had to tell you this. Both of you." I looked at them. "Amber, as you know, I was reincarnated or my soul was thrown into this world after I made a deal with an Angel. I was born in a world that never had the World ... Words. I lived my entire life in... I think safety. I had a wife, children and even a grandchild. My world had only humans. There were no other races like Elves or Dwarves. We didn’t have any magic, but our technology was superior to anything I have seen here so far. We had machines that allowed us to fly through the sky. There were others that let us ride many times faster than any horse here in Avalon. Even the horses you first saw here were brought from my former home. All the wonders of Avalon originated from things we considered normal there. The baths, running water, lights, and all the little things you see and use all over Avalon almost surely originated from there. Even the food you eat came from that place. And then one day I died!"

Amber knew most of this story but she still was shocked. Irene looked at me in silence, almost holding her breath as I continued.

"Then, as I said, I made a deal with the Angels. In exchange for my help, they will secure a place in heaven for my family. And I agreed." Irene fixed herself and I felt she was nervous, but I couldn't blame her. "Then I met Eriar. Yes, Irene. The same Eriar whose Priestess you are. After a very short briefing, which was short because of me, I landed here. I should have listened to him. I should have asked many more questions. But rather than that, I assumed I would do great on my own. Or maybe for another stupid reason, I don't remember. I ended up here."

I breathed heavily for a moment, which Amber used to put her head on my chest before responding calmly. "And you saved me from the death that already reached out its hands for me, Theon."

"I... Yes... But instead of using this opportunity to actually learn anything about this world, I started building a fucking castle like there was no tomorrow! For what? To show this world how it's done? Just to show how you build a castle?" I sighed, ashamed of my childish behaviour. "And after that, I was not any better. It's because of me you both almost died back then! It's because I never upgraded Stella's spawner. She was unable to teach you properly. And while Amber maybe, just maybe you would have survived… but Irene, you would have died back then..."

I looked in front of me with an empty gaze. What should I do now? But I felt how Irene kept trying to sit comfortably, so I let both of them go. Amber fixed her nightgown and looked at Irene with a comforting smile.

"I... You don't have to worry, my King, about Queen Amber hurting herself if such a situation happens once more." She closed her eyes and put her hands together like in prayer but when she opened them I saw... "My King, when you gave me a True Name, time stopped and an Angel gave me this. It's an Angel’s Feather! It will protect Queen Amber! The Angel instructed me to ‘Tell Theon that he still remembers who he was and it's doing well’ but I... I don't understand..."

She stuttered and started pointing the Feather at Amber, who started laughing. Amber closed her eyes and showed Irene her own Feather.

"So that's why..." Started Irene and they both laughed, relaxing some before they hid their life-saving items. But I noticed that Irene's Feather was a bit different, as it belonged to a different armour set: the Saintess set. But that was not why I looked at her for so long.

"I still remember! I remember... And I'm doing well?" I shouted and raised my head towards the sky. "I'm so sorry for my arrogance! I'm sorry for the stupidity..."

"Thank you!" I hugged her, thankful she conveyed his message.

I then sat in silence for a moment before my memories book. I poured everything we talked about tonight into it. Amber looked at it questioningly.

"What are you doing, Theon?"

"I'm writing down all my memories in this book. I still don't know how my… our enemies attacked me and stole or erased my memories. If I fail to block their ability one day, I will forget everything. These books I wrote, along with all the people that surround me, are the last proof of my humanity."

I felt their terrified gaze on me in the silence that fell in the room. I smiled and raised my head.

"I will find the–" Amber and Irene kissed my cheeks at the same time while holding hands and leaning over my sides, as shining magic circles appeared behind them and under me. In the spots where they kissed me, I felt a strange tingling on my skin. They stopped their kisses at the same time and shouted. "SANCTUARY!"

I felt a strange warmth inside and felt... calm. All doubts, all fears, and all feelings of failure were gone. I felt like something I was not even aware of in my mind was banished away.

"You are not alone, Theon!" Amber said.

"Never again, our King," added Irene, still holding Amber's hands.

"Thank you." I thanked them simply. No other words were needed.

I stood up and opened the window to let the fresh air in. I understood now that I only used big words about their help while I only planned what I would do. My arrogance and haphazard decisions would be my downfall if not for Amber and now Irene.

"Something out there is destroying this world. I will find it..." I smiled warmly and looked at my Queens. "No, we will find it. And we will find out why they are doing this. I made many mistakes before and I'm still full of guilt and regret. But with the sunrise, we will start a new day. And then I will stop thinking about what I think is best. Instead, I will ask all the people of this world how I can help."

They looked at me with smiles and hope in their eyes. But Irene shivered and hugged her legs.

"My King... I..." she started, but Amber cut her short. "I'm no longer..."

"It doesn't matter anymore Irene, let go of that past. Now you are the Saintess of Avalon!"

"But I'm defiled and unworthy to be..." she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "To be a Queen."

I went closer and hugged her. "No Irene. Never say that ever again. You two are my Queens. I will take responsibility for my decisions that changed your fates."

•••

And oh yes, from now on, it was time to be responsible. Amber and Irene decided to take a shower before going to sleep once more, but I closed my eyes and started implementing changes.

"Stella!" I called my Faé scion.

"My King!" she responded, surprised at my use of our mental link.

"Prepare the magic defences of Avalon. This takes priority over your every other work. We must deploy protection against mind altering and memory destroying or stealing attacks as soon as possible. After this will come everything else. Can you do this?"

"Yes, my King." She answered back quickly.

"Then do it and report back often. I want to know the progress rate."

"As you wish, my King."

"Thor! Use mid and lower-level wolves to mark the locations of all monster dens in the area."

"At once, my King," my Fenrir responded with a snarl of readiness.

"Arani, gather reports about the situations in nearby settlements. Send eagles to find out about any problem that may trouble the local people."

I gave orders to my scions who were watching my mana. Two months. That is the time I have left to gain enough mana.

"Sebastian, I want you to capture every agent trying to infiltrate Avalon. Interrogate them and send me reports before we decide what to do with them."

"As you wish, my King"

Two months. That is all the time that I have now before I fail.

•••

I was standing on the balcony, and for the first time since I was sent to this world, I watched the stars. The night sky was obviously different, and I didn't see any known constellations. However, I was thinking about what Irene had told me. Such situations were always tricky and I should also have taken into consideration the divine and unholy aspects of this world.

First of all, I never liked such things in any book or movie I watched back on Earth. If you have anything to say to me, just tell me, don't use a proxy, no matter how trustworthy it is. However… a very big however, I must admit and quote that "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" approach... I sighed.

Irene received an Angel Feather, and although it belonged to a different armour set, everything else was almost the same as the feathers I received before I was sent to Eriar. What was important was the fact that Irene's title description clearly said 'the Arch Princess responded to the call of the Archangel and accepted to stay forever by the King's side' and helped indicate whose Feather it was.

I could only sigh once again while looking at the sky. You are not making anything here easy. However, I want to believe you helped me make this all a bit easier. Eriar told me he couldn’t guide me, but he never said anything about the Angels. I should simply be thankful for Angel's intervention and proceed with the plans I started making.

•••

"Mr. Knys, is it really all right for us to move here?" Sigismund looked around the big home, finding himself otherwise speechless.

"We had two buildings this big in the Town. When we looked inside for the first time, we decided to leave them for now. As you can see for yourself, it's perfect for the orphans. Besides, you already saw the Town and how big it is. It can easily hold even a few thousand people." Knys shrugged. "We can easily assign everyone else later to their own homes."

The Orc waited to hear anything from the Dwarf, but he was simply overwhelmed by the greatness of Avalon. He himself still was in awe of this place, so he could only imagine what the orphans and their caretakers would feel once they crossed the bridge to the Town.

"However... I think you should send your oldest kids to the guild," the Guild Master added after a short break.

"Why? You want them to explore the dungeon?"

"Yeah. With a little luck, they will acquire good classes. But before that, we should find Lanka and ask her if any kids could become healers. Clerics would be nice."

"But they are so rare..." sighed Sigismund. "Gods rarely bestow their blessings ..."

"Eriar is much different. We saw how Lanka changed from a Cleric to a Priestess. And trust me. She is more powerful than the bishop in the capital."

"Are you serious? She can't be more powerful than Justinian."

"Oh yeah? I never heard of the bishop using Greater Heal."

"Hahaha! No one can use Greater Heal," the Dwarven Lord laughed, amused.

"Lanka can." Knys shrugged once again. "And Lanka pales in comparison to Great Priestess Irene."

Sigismund looked at the Orc in silence, waiting for him to say it was all a joke but no. He was serious and that meant this place was much more amazing than Sigismund had suspected. The younger children were already sleeping in their wonderful beds after they bathed in warm water. Waiting on every bed was a change of clothes, a towel, and a bar of soap. They ate earlier during the party until they were full and even received sandwiches for night snacks from the King’s incredible cooks working in the King's Palace.

"Oh, and one more thing," Knys added. “We received word from the Palace that the King wants to meet with us in the morning."