Duke of the North Refuses the Villain Route

Prologue-The One He Chose.

He was asleep. A comforting warmth enveloped him, making him feel at peace.

Sometimes he'd wake and notice he was floating in the deep darkness, surrounded by numerous floating red lights. Sometimes he'd bump into the lights, which bounced softly away soon after. His mind could not work properly and drifted in and out. He did not know how long he was in that space. Sleep always came to him when he thought too much.

A long time later, he had enough sleep and he tried to force himself awake. When he did, he tried to remember what he was doing before getting pulled into sleep.

It was his day off from work. He had finally found the time to catch up on his novels. He was reading on his living room couch when—

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a yellow and blue light approaching him. Amidst the red lights, they were very difficult to ignore. As the two lights approached, he started to hear sounds from it.

They were having a conversation.

"...sure...this...choice?"

"...sure."

"Why...still...time?"

"Tired...repeat...life..."

"But...possession..."

"It's...fine."

As the two moved closer, the conversation started to become clearer.

"Do not worry about me, friend," a voice from the blue light spoke.

"Very well," the yellow light spoke. "If this is what you want then I have no choice but to respect it."

"Thank you."

The two lights paused in front of him, circling him a few times before eventually stopping. He was confused by their weird behavior. They were nothing more than balls of light, but why did it feel like he was being scrutinized?

"An interesting choice," the yellow light said.

"The only correct choice," the blue light said as it moved closer to him.

A thread extended from the blue light and came in contact with him. It was then that he noticed that he was made of blue light too. Except, he was brighter than the other.

"Hello," said the blue light. "I know that you have been enjoying your rest, but I'm sorry."

He was confused at the apology that came out of nowhere. What was the blue light apologizing for? It was his first time seeing it.

"I've chosen you to take my place," it continued. "All you have to do is live. In exchange, everything I have will be yours to do what you so wish."

He wanted to complain about why it was being purposely vague. What exactly was he getting into?

A chuckle came from the blue light. "I'm apologizing now because I won't get to later, and you won't remember being here," it said. It appeared that the blue light could read his mind. "Sorry for ruining your peace and pushing you into a world that's about to explode into chaos."

What did it mean?

When he thought he was going to receive an answer, he felt a tug from behind, pulling him away from the blue light. Just when he was about to lose sight of the blue light, he heard its voice once more. "Survive. Survive and thrive, Roran Valtoria."

The darkness started to stretch around him, the red lights turned into long lines as he passed with increasing speed.

As he reached the end of his quick journey, a domain of light exploded in his sight.

He started to fall sleep once more. As his consciousness drifted closed, he had one last thought.

Why did that name sound familiar?