Chapter 1
Chapter 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Young Master, Young Master Siel. It's time to wake up."
A sudden unfamiliar woman's voice rang out. What was going on? I was definitely hit by a car and died...
Why was I hearing the name of the protagonist from the novel my younger brother had only vaguely outlined?
"Young Master Siel von Kroitel, the Baron Excellency is calling for you."
When I opened my eyes, there stood a woman dressed in a maid outfit straight out of a comic book.
"Is this a dream?"
I pinched my cheek, and pain shot through my face.
Since I could feel the pain, it probably wasn't a dream.
>
So what the hell was this situation? Why was she calling me Young Master Siel?
The maid in front of me looked at me with eyes that said, What's wrong with this guy? and spoke.
"Young Master Siel, I'll help you change your clothes. Please get dressed and go see His Excellency."
...If I really was Young Master Siel as the maid said, did that mean I'd become the protagonist of my younger brother's novel?
I stood in front of a large mirror, and the reflection staring back was nothing like the me I knew.
A delicate, pale pretty boy who looked like he'd been drawn in a picture... This was me? I couldn't believe it.
With the maid's help, I changed clothes and headed to the baron's office to meet this character's father, the Baron Excellency.
The baron sitting inside the office saw me and greeted me with a bright smile.
"You've come, Siel."
Judging from how the maid had kept calling me Young Master Siel, this man must be my father.
"Yes."
And the baron, shedding his stern expression from moments before, looked at me with a beaming smile like he owned the world and said,
"A letter of acceptance from the Elaine Empire's Premier Knight Academy just arrived for you. Congratulations, Siel. The entrance ceremony is in a month, so prepare to depart in two weeks."
If this unfolding situation was the world from that guy's novel, then Siel von Kroitel's life started falling apart after he went to the academy.
The baron in front of me would follow an incompetent lord and meet ruin together in just a few years.
And I would get sacrificed in a rebellion inside the academy, branded a traitor, and stripped of my title.
If that happened, I'd live a miserable life in this other world and die.
"Haha, Siel... my proud son. You've always gone on and on about wanting to attend the academy, but now that the acceptance news has come, you're so overjoyed you're stunned, huh."
The baron continued congratulating and encouraging me, but I couldn't focus on his words.
Because my mind was filled with thoughts of how to survive without ending up like Siel from that novel.
So I clutched one side of my stomach like it hurt, grimaced, and said,
"I think I ate something bad yesterday. My stomach hurts. May I go to the bathroom for a moment?"
"Do that."
Then, in the bathroom, I pretended to relieve myself while I started sorting out my thoughts.
First, to dodge the death flag, I wouldn't go to the academy.
Next, using my modern knowledge, I'd develop this territory to the max and grow strong. That way, neither the baron nor I would have to face ruin in a few years.
Perfect timing, too—this world was like a parallel medieval Europe with no magic or fantasy elements, and my previous life had been as a grad student researching "how modern people survive after possessing a body in medieval Europe."
In other words, this otherworld was the perfect stage for me to shine.
So, to avoid the death flag, I said,
"I won't go to the academy."