All Chapters of Rain Over Wyndmere: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

One hour remained before the wedding.I sat in front of the vanity, scrolling through my phone. The photos of Corinne Whitford and me seemed to go on forever, and my chest still ached at the sight of them.None of the pictures showed anything overly intimate. All I had were countless shots of her looping her arm through mine, or her profile as she leaned against my shoulder with a bright smile.The rest were street corners in cities we had visited together, sunrises and sunsets we had watched, crowded subway we had squeezed into. Most of them had been taken casually, on a whim, yet in every single one her eyes gleamed as though they held starlight.I switched back to the message Corinne had sent half an hour earlier."Em, I'm sorry. I can't let Soren leave with regrets."It's just a ceremony for him, to give him his last wish before he dies. After it's over, you and I will still get married. You understand, don't you?"If this had happened before, if Corinne had asked me on our

I looked at Corinne and felt an unexpected flicker of amusement.Ten years together, and she had never truly believed me. Now, she treated my honesty as a tool for pity and an excuse for making trouble.Perhaps this was for the best. A farewell like this might make it easier to leave without looking back.That night, I slept in the guest room.Through the wall, I could hear the low murmur of voices from the master bedroom, soft and intimate. Every word was a death sentence for whatever we had been.I closed my eyes. The system's voice sounded again.[Emric, the remaining time is 18 hours, 56 minutes, 41 seconds.]On the morning of the third day, I woke just as the sky began to lighten.The guest room bed was hard and cold, nothing like the mattress in the master bedroom that Corinne and I had picked out together. Despite this, I had slept remarkably well, as though a weight that had hung over me for ten years was finally about to be lifted.I had just finished washing up when

The moment the light enveloped me, the noise of the modern world, the outlines of the buildings, and even the retreating car carrying Corinne, all faded rapidly from sight.The blare of traffic vanished from my ears and was replaced by howling wind, intertwined with the distant ring of clashing steel and the low murmurs of common folk.When I opened my eyes again, the polished tile beneath my feet was gone. In its place was damp cobblestone.In the distance, weathered fortress walls rose against the sky and banners snapped in the wind. People in rough-spun tunics hurried along the streets while vendors called out their wares. It was a scene both familiar and foreign, the homeland I had left behind.[System task updated: Temporal anomaly successfully repaired. The host has returned to his original timeline. Given the host's ten-year stay in the modern world and acquisition of modern knowledge, special authorization is hereby granted. All knowledge of agriculture, irrigation, mathema

Soren noticed something was wrong and leaned in with concern, reaching for her forehead. "Are you feeling sick? Do you want to go to the hospital?"When they returned to the guesthouse, Corinne claimed she was tired and went back to her room alone.She closed the door, leaned against it, and the tears she had been holding back finally fell.She did not know why she was crying. She was the one who had chosen Soren. She was the one who had called Emric unreasonable. So why did it hurt so much every time she thought of him? Why did it leave her feeling so panicked?She took out her phone and reached for Emric's name without thinking, wanting to ask if he had been eating properly, if he had been resting. She sent a message and waited, but no one replied.A wave of dread swept through her, sudden and consuming.She thought of the last things Emric had said to her. She thought of the way he had looked at her.Before this, she had always assumed he was fishing for sympathy. She had bee

"Emric... where are you? Please come back."Corinne began reaching out to Emric desperately, trying every way she knew. His phone was disconnected. Her messages would not go through. His workplace said he had resigned long ago. His landlord said the lease had expired and he had not renewed it.She even went to the police, hoping they could track him down. They searched every record they had and found nothing. There was no trace of Emric Langford anywhere in the system, as though he had never existed in this world at all.No one knew where he had gone. It was as though he had appeared out of thin air and vanished the same way.Soren watched her fall apart with quiet contempt, though his voice stayed gentle. "Corinne, maybe Emric just figured things out and moved on. Don't worry about him."Corinne shoved him away. The tears finally came.She thought of the boy she had found on a busy street ten years ago, dressed in strange clothes, wide-eyed and terrified. She thought of how clum