Chapter 3
Chapter: 3
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 003
>Chapter Title: Became the Holy Imperial Family's Delinquent 3rd Prince. (2)
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>That should have definitely been the end.
* * *
‘What the hell is this...'
Why was he, whose very soul had been burned away, lying perfectly fine on a bed, chewing on porridge someone else was feeding him?
[Uhahahaha! This is hilarious! Are you a baby? What are you gonna do with that bib!]
'...It's a napkin, you bastard.'
And why was that Demon King bastard, who had solemnly sworn to burn his own soul, yammering away noisily inside his head?
Time rewound to a day earlier.
His eyes fluttered open to the feel of a damp cloth wiping his forehead, and a middle-aged woman in splendid attire gazed at him, tears in her eyes.
"Mores! My baby! Do you recognize your mother?"
"Oh! Your Highness! You've finally come to!"
Sungjin blinked in bewilderment amid the fussing crowd.
An antique, ornate room. Attendants providing the utmost care.
At first, he thought it was the afterlife.
He realized something was seriously off when a familiar voice echoed in his mind.
[Hey, quit spacing out and snap to it! Still half-asleep?]
This rowdy voice—could it be?
'...Demon King?'
[Oh, so you recognize this great one! You had your eyes shut so long, I thought your soul was totally wrecked. As you know, Gehenna's hellfire burns like nothing else, right?]
Why was this guy...?
Did that mean he hadn't finished him off completely?
[Whoa, whoa. Calm down and relax. You need to stay sharp right now. Your soul's still settling in unstably. We barely got into this body—if you're not careful, you could get bounced right back out.]
What the hell are you babbling about?
If Gehenna's hellfire and my fists weren't enough, I'll erase you again anytime.
Sungjin ground his teeth and tried to sit up, but he flopped back down helplessly. The people around him panicked and held him back, but more than that, his body felt strangely languid and heavy.
Breathing was hard. His limbs were too heavy.
"Mores! What's wrong? Baby, are you hurting anywhere?"
"Your Highness! Please just calm down a little..."
Let go! That Demon King's still alive! I need to kill that bastard...
[...Hey, your blood pressure's spiking hard? You'll die again right after coming back to life. Deep breaths! Yeah? Inhale—exhale. Inhale—exhale.]
What bullshit is this Demon King spouting! And why are these people holding me!
Let go! Let go!
"Cough!"
His neck suddenly throbbed, and the world spun before his eyes.
"Mores!"
"Your Highness!"
The people's frantic cries faded away, and darkness swallowed him.
Sungjin came to again after a while, still lying in the same place, surrounded by the same people.
And that damn Demon King's voice was still there, from who-knows-where.
[Wow, I thought you had a nasty temper, but you're on another level.]
'You... bastard...'
Grit.
As Sungjin ground his teeth ferociously, the Demon King hurriedly continued.
[Whoa, sorry, sorry. No more mean words, okay? Just calm down. Let's talk, talk. That's good, right?]
'What? You bastard?'
Their conversation seemed a distant prospect.
Yet Lee Sungjin, who had vented his rage so explosively it seemed he might kill himself from it, surprisingly calmed down in less than half a day.
He learned that the Demon King's flesh had already been completely incinerated, with only a fragment of his soul left like dregs.
No point getting mad at a guy who was just a voice.
He swallowed his anger and quietly listened to the Demon King's explanation.
After the final battle, Gehenna's flames had annihilated both the Demon King and Sungjin's body, but for some reason, they hadn't harmed Sungjin's soul much and had simply fizzled out.
Perhaps because the hellfire had evolved faster than expected, allowing a bit of his soul to survive—the Demon King said this in a matter-of-fact tone.
[My noble soul was mostly burned away, yet yours is intact. I have no idea why.]
"......"
[Anyway, that's how it is. I've lost almost all my power and status. What's left is just the remnants of my core personality, I suppose.]
The point was, he could never return to being the mighty Demon King of old.
'Then why not just fuck off somewhere? Why yap in my head?'
The Demon King sighed at Sungjin's curt retort.
[It's not that simple. You think I haven't tried? I can't escape. The holy energy around here makes it agonizing if I try to stray even a little from you. It's a terrifying pain that crushes my very essence. If time passes like this, the remnant of my soul might vanish completely.]
'Conclusion reached. Just disappear cleanly. Simple.'
[You bastard! Would you do that? Huh?]
Of course Sungjin wanted to erase even that remnant soul without a trace.
But how do you kill something without form? He couldn't summon Gehenna's hellfire right now.
Lee Sungjin had a tendency to charge ahead without looking around when he had a goal, but he wasn't so stubborn as to chase the impossible.
Once he accepted the situation, he realized the yammering guy might actually be useful. A former Demon King would know a lot, after all.
The Demon King, who had awakened a day earlier than Sungjin, had already swiftly gathered info on this new world and Sungjin's situation.
By directly contacting others' souls and peeking into their memories—efficient stuff.
Thanks to that, while lying in bed receiving devoted care, Sungjin quickly grasped his current state based on the Demon King's chatter.
According to him, this was a world in a completely different dimension from Earth or the demon realm.
[We're super lucky. We could've scattered into the void, but we flowed into the main material world instead.]
Main material world?
[The upper dimension. At least a couple levels above flame-worlds like Sigurd 34 Earth or Gehenna.]
'Flame-world? What's Sigurd 34 Earth?'
The Demon King clicked his tongue.
[Wow, such a barbaric Earthling. You don't even know your own dimension's name. Your kind has no concept of dimensions at all? Should've seen it coming when you charged at death like that. Wow... you ignorant savages.]
Sungjin regretted leaving the Demon King's head intact. At least he could smack him before the snark.
Sensing the ominous vibe, the Demon King's soul shivered.
His soul being felt so directly was kinda creepy.
[Harsh. You're really stingy. We're soul companions now...]
'...Shut up!'
Anyway, this upper-dimensional place was the Holy Empire Delcross.
A nation ruled by the Holy Emperor, blessed by the Lord God across generations, with many kingdoms and grand duchies under its sway—a mighty empire.
The current Holy Emperor was the 17th, and the biological father of this body.
In other words, Lee Sungjin was now a prince. That explained the extreme deference.
[Your name now is Mores Kline. Third prince, fourth child of the Holy Emperor, turning 15 this year...]
'Child?'
[A notorious delinquent.]
His mother, First Imperial Consort Elizabeth Assein, was the daughter of the lofty Assein Grand Duke—one of the highest-born consorts in the palace.
She stood tall even before the Holy Emperor or Empress, convinced her son, inheritor of the noblest blood among the imperial children, was destined to be crown prince.
That expectation soon twisted into excessive education fervor and emotional attachment.
Fortunately, Prince Mores had tried to live up to it in his childhood.
Not exceptionally outstanding compared to his siblings, but steadily acquiring imperial prince qualities.
But around age seven, he started snapping for no reason, gradually turning into a total good-for-nothing.
Cursing maids and servants, committing random violence. Smashing dishes and objects for fun, tormenting his escort knights relentlessly.
Mocking and insulting teachers during lessons, skipping classes altogether after a few scoldings from his consort mother.
The Demon King gleefully recounted the delinquent prince's dark history, as if airing Sungjin's own dirt.
'For info gathered in just a day, it's awfully detailed. Can I trust this?'
[Hah! This is prime intel I extracted directly from surrounding souls. You couldn't gather this much quality stuff in a lifetime alone. Be grateful.]
'......'
After that, the prince's life plummeted.
His refined manners vanished; he grew deathly lazy about moving.
He even quit swordsmanship lessons, which he'd somewhat enjoyed, lounging in bed all day, gorging on snacks nonstop.
No one knew why he'd changed. They speculated the young prince had quietly suffered intense stress from following his ambitious consort mother.
Years passed, and the noblest prince became a grossly obese, foul-tempered pig who rolled around more than walked.
[Then he suddenly collapsed.]
The incident happened four days ago.
Mores, who had eaten well and gone to bed normally the night before, spiked a mysterious high fever at dawn and lost consciousness by afternoon. No signs of poison, symptoms unlike any disease.
Skilled imperial physicians swarmed him, but he wouldn't wake.
The Holy Emperor set aside state affairs to visit; the consort kept vigil all night in tears.
Four days after the fever started, it was Lee Sungjin—not Mores—who awoke in this body.
'So where's the real Mores's soul?'
That was Sungjin's biggest question. He'd involuntarily possessed someone else's body, and even without spiritual knowledge, this felt abnormal.
If they'd hijacked a healthy person's body, causing harm to the original owner—that would be serious.
But the Demon King's response was underwhelming.
[Dunno? When I woke up, there was no other soul here besides us. Probably died from the fever already?]
So they'd timed it perfectly into a body that had just died of illness.
'What if we leave?'
[Why? Wanna go? Soul-less body would probably die on the spot.]
'...Is there a way out?'
The Demon King's reply was ruthless.
[Sure. Just die.]
'......'
Lee Sungjin looked unsettled.
Unexpectedly reviving wasn't a bad feeling.
When facing death with the Demon King, he'd known annihilation was inevitable, gotten drunk on destroying the demon realm—minus some unburnt trash remnants—and figured that was enough.
But now that he was awake, his past life of endurance, hardship, and deprivation hit differently.
A life of grinding himself down to destroy the demon realm, to fight.
Sungjin's past couldn't be called happy, even kindly.
So what now? Did he deserve to live a new life in someone else's body?
Could he see this miraculous chance as recompense for his unhappy past?
As Sungjin pondered, the oblivious Demon King nagged from the side.
[Anyway, so what if you're a pig? You're the son of the empire's highest authority. Wow, congrats. You hit the jackpot.]
Right, that was another problem.
Sungjin swallowed a groan, eyeing his bloated body sprawled on the bed.
Even lying down, the protruding belly blocked his view; thick limbs so fat the joints barely bent.
Just shifting made him short of breath and exhausted—not mere fever aftereffects.
Of all bodies, this pathetic one. Recalling his old muscle-bound frame, Sungjin sighed.
'Is this really a good thing...'
That was what had happened over the past day.
And now, Lee Sungjin lay on the splendid bed, a pretty napkin around his neck, force-fed porridge by Elizabeth Consort like a baby bird.
"Come on, Mores, one more ahh~."
Mortified to death, Sungjin reluctantly opened his mouth again at the doting consort's face.
The Demon King's laughter exploded in his head, nearly choking.
[Puahahahahaha! I'm dying! You're killing me with laughter! Uhahahahaha!]
That bastard—I'll erase him someday.
Sungjin roughly swallowed the porridge and stopped the consort from scooping more.
"Uh... Mother? I'm full now. You must be tired—no need to feed me anymore."
"Mores..."
The consort gazed at her son with a wistful expression, then bowed her head, dabbing tears with her lace-trimmed sleeve.
"Yes, it really hits me now—your memories aren't fully back. You've never called me 'Mother' even once."
"Uh, um..."
So damn awkward!
He'd vaguely said his pre-illness memories were fuzzy to avoid suspicion, but every exchange with the consort made Sungjin's heart race, fearing she'd see he wasn't Mores.
As he floundered for a reply, the Demon King, who'd peeked into the consort's soul memories, whispered a hint.
[She says he always called her 'Mama' or something formal like that.]
Ugh, whatever.
Unable to say it, Sungjin could only reply,
"...I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for? You had such a vicious fever. Even His Majesty personally intervened, yet it wouldn't break—I was beside myself with worry something terrible had happened."
The consort elegantly adjusted her sleeve and gently took Mores's hand.
"I'm just overjoyed you're healthy and awake, my child."
Her soft, warm hand touched his; Sungjin struggled not to stiffen. Pretending to be her son felt profoundly guilty.
Her real son was already dead, soul gone, and she couldn't even mourn him.
But he couldn't very well say he was another soul possessing Mores.
No one would believe it, and if they did?
They'd exorcise him on the spot? And if his soul really got booted?
He had no huge attachment to this extra life, but didn't want such a dramatic suicide either.
"Still, getting sick had its upside. My child sitting quietly with his mother like this—what a rarity."
"Hahaha..."
You crazy delinquent Mores. How badly did you treat her for her to be this happy over something so small?
Lee Sungjin could only smile awkwardly.