Chapter 1 — Reincarnated into a Novel
Chapter 1 — Reincarnated into a Novel
Translation: Godtl
The night she drowned for the first time in her life at seven years old.
Lelia realized she had been reincarnated into a novel.
When she fell into the water, she truly thought she was going to die.
Fortunately, a child nearby saved her, and the priests frantically infused her with divine power.
She woke up spewing water like a whale.
The priests tried to take her to the infirmary, but Lelia desperately insisted she was fine and returned to her room.
After hurriedly washing with warm water and changing clothes, she shivered uncontrollably.
She hadn't died from drowning, and her secret hadn't been discovered. Relief washed over her at this miraculous fact, but her body kept trembling.
Barely managing to crawl under the blankets, she curled up like a rock and fell asleep.
And the next day.
The priests came to her room again.
They were at a loss in front of her, having just woken up, fearing this incident might become known to her home country.
"……."
Lelia stared blankly at the priests and recalled the dream she had last night.
In the dream, her past life appeared.
In her past life, she was a patient. A terminally ill person lying in a hospital bed, just waiting for the day she would die.
For such a patient, there wasn't much to do while lying down all day.
'Reading novels and playing games were all I had.'
She repeated the tedious cycle of reading romance novels all day and playing games.
Then one day. The death she had been waiting for finally came.
At the moment of death, she felt a trace of freedom along with fear. And she prayed.
If she could be reincarnated, she asked to be reborn into the alchemy game she played called 'Alchemy Lottery.' She begged earnestly.
It was a nonsensical prayer, but her wish to be reincarnated was essentially granted.
'But why into a novel?'
If they were going to grant her prayer, they should have done it properly...!
Instead of the game protagonist, she was reincarnated as a character in a novel.
From the moment of birth until now, the life she lived was no different from the original story's flow.
The reason this is speculation is that not all the days she lived were recorded in the novel.
Her role was a supporting character, not a major one. She was even supposed to die midway through.
Even if she didn't think her life was special, she never imagined she was a supporting character in someone else's novel.... She felt betrayed by life.
Displeasure came first, but the next emotion she felt was relief.
'Is it fortunate that I found out in advance?'
She was seven now, so she still had quite some time before her death.
"Um, Crown Prince Leo. Are you really alright?"
"…Ah."
She, who had been dazed, turned her gaze to the priests who were still hesitating.
The priests were terrified. The crown prince was already rumored to be frail. For such a crown prince to nearly die.
If this fact became known to the high-ranking priests, they would be as good as dead.
Lelia cleared her throat and spoke.
"I'm fine, so please leave."
"Ah, understood. But if you need us, please call us anytime."
The priests glanced at her, bowed their heads slightly, and left.
Left alone, Lelia looked around the splendid room interior.
Until yesterday, it was a familiar place... but perhaps because she realized her past life, it felt strangely new.
'Still, reincarnating into a novel.'
Remembering her future in the novel, her mood turned unpleasant again.
Someone arbitrarily decided my future! And in such a trivial manner at that.
'I don't want to die again.'
She lived and died as an incurably ill patient, and now she's supposed to die at a young age? She absolutely couldn't die!
Anyway, avoiding death wasn't difficult. In the novel, she died after slipping and falling into the imperial pond.
If she just doesn't go near the pond, that's that.
Yes, it will be fine!
'But....'
If there was one problem.
Currently, she was here in this divine neutral zone under the identity of the crown prince.
Pretending to be a man, deceiving everyone.
In truth, Lelia had not come here because she wanted to.
The vast continent of Drakanea, boasting an enormous size.
On this continent existed five empires with long and storied histories.
In the distant past, a dragon that had slumbered for ages awakened. As a result, countless monsters appeared and attacked people, and humanity seemed to begin walking the path of extinction.
At that time, those who defeated the dragon and saved the world were the Holy Emperor, leader of the Kreuz Church, and five knights who had received the divine oracle.
Since then, the Kreuz Church took deep root across the continent, and the five knights each established their own empires and began to rule the land.
The Holy Emperor shared the dragon's magical power he had absorbed with the five knights, forming a blood alliance with them.
It was a solemn oath wherein each empire would worship the Kreuz Church's doctrine as the state religion and answer the Holy Emperor's call, while the Church would support and guarantee the authority and legitimacy of each empire's imperial family.
The Kreuz Church established 'Kreuz Sanctuary,' a divine neutral zone, at the center of the five empires, dispatching priests to each empire and exerting influence throughout the continent.
The Holy Emperor did not involve himself in secular territorial matters, but he absolutely would not tolerate the complete replacement of the imperial bloodline ruling an empire.
Thus, the five empires maintained a balance of power while keeping each other in check under a subtle tension, and until now, they had preserved peace under the protection of the temple.
However, a few years ago.
At the edge of the continent, a Mad Dragon's egg appeared. A volcano erupted, and unknown dark magical power boiled around it. Due to its influence, ferocious monsters began to awaken once more.
People were seized with anxiety. This was clearly an omen that the terrible event recorded in ancient texts would repeat itself.
'And it actually is repeating...'
The Kreuz Church tried to destroy the egg before the Mad Dragon could hatch, but it was utterly impossible.
The ancient texts also stated that the Mad Dragon's egg could not be destroyed by anything.
'There is only one way. To fight the dragon directly once it hatches.'
The temple realized it could not solve this matter alone. Thus, the current Holy Emperor, based on the oath, summoned the emperors of the five empires. After the meeting, the five empires began to gather a subjugation force in advance by combining their strength.
According to the ancient texts, there were still several years remaining before the dragon's egg would hatch.
So they sought to prepare for the battle with the Mad Dragon in advance, even if just a little.
Additionally, apart from gathering the subjugation force, the temple summoned young imperial family members and nobles from each empire.
'Gathering these kids, what exactly are they trying to do...'
Anyway, this place where Lelia had come was precisely the training academy in the neutral zone prepared by the temple.
'Well... it doesn't seem like they're expecting a hero to emerge from among these children here...'
Still, they were future leaders who would lead the five empires in the years to come. There was probably some intention to foster friendship in advance.
So that when the Mad Dragon appears, the five empires could combine their forces without pointing swords at each other.
'In short, it's essentially a camp for fostering friendship.'
Of course, it was also a form of surveillance and hostage-taking.
But why was Lelia present in this place...
It was precisely because of the 'real crown prince.'
Lelia was of imperial blood, but her situation was little different from being an invisible person.
The circumstances of her home country, Auraria, were somewhat complicated.
'It was quite a mess over the emperor's throne.'
The second son, coveting the throne, killed the eldest son and seized the imperial seat.
Lydios, who became emperor through rebellion, established his son Leo as crown prince and strove to bring the country under his control.
However, the neighboring countries' view of an emperor who ascended through rebellion was not favorable, and even the internal gaze was not kind.
The emperor always feared that his son might be assassinated. The crown prince felt the same way.
'That coward...'
The crown prince was a coward and an incredible hypochondriac, so everyone believed him to be frail and sickly.
In reality, he was robust enough to send Lelia flying with a single kick.
Then what was Lelia's true identity?
She was the daughter of Princess Iris, the youngest imperial princess who had watched the throne battle between her two older brothers.
The princess had fallen in love with her guard knight and given birth to a child, and that was Lelia.
'Unfortunately, the princess died not long after giving birth to the child...'
Lelia, the daughter of the deceased princess.
Amid the great chaos of the throne battle, she was as good as a forgotten member of the imperial family.
Lelia, who lived in a small tower at the edge of the imperial palace, lived quietly receiving only the food that a few maids brought her.
'Even that they didn't take good care of, though...'
One day, while she was living quietly like that.
Lelia was abruptly dragged before the Emperor.
"Hmm, I see... So you're my niece? That fool Iris actually bore a daughter."
"……."
"Still, you happen to be around the same age as our Crown Prince. What a fortunate coincidence!"
Lelia could only blink, not understanding what was happening.
"I mocked and cursed Iris so much for falling in love with some lowly commoner knight... And now Iris has given me a gift like you. Hahaha!"
The Emperor was in a situation where he had to send the Crown Prince to the neutral zone at the Temple's request.
Whether to receive a priest with healing powers greater than a mage's, or because of the watchful eyes of neighboring nations who disapproved of him having forcibly taken the throne—he could not refuse.
However, he could not send his own son.
Even now, there were many factions within the empire who resented him for pushing aside his older brother and seizing the throne.
In fact, the young Crown Prince had once faced assassination threats.
An Emperor who would sacrifice even his own son without blinking would never send his child to the Holy Neutral Zone in this situation.
Of course, with priests and holy knights guarding the place, it would be safe, but one never knew. Nowhere in the world would be safer than his own embrace.
He could only rest easy keeping his son by his side.
"Is it true this child lived alone in the tower?"
The Emperor asked the maidservants.
These were the ones who had been bringing food to Lelia. A servant who had presented a solution to the Emperor, who was troubled by the problem of having to send the Crown Prince, had brought them.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Lady Lelia moved her residence there when Your Majesty built the Empress's villa."
"Hmm."
The Emperor searched his memory. He had once repaired the castle where his dead younger sister lived and given it to his wife.
'So she's been living in the place she was chased out of all this time. Good, very good.'
The Emperor laughed inwardly and asked.
"Who else knows of this child's existence?"
"No one but us, Your Majesty."
This was true.
The child's birth mother, the Princess, was dead, and the number of people who died during the Cataclysm was enormous. Most who knew of young Lelia's existence had already passed away.
"I see... How fortunate. Very fortunate indeed."
The Emperor approached right before the small, thin girl's face.
Though she smelled unwashed and filthy, he paid it no mind and examined her palm.
"You are certainly of Iris's bloodline."
The imperial family of Auraria are born with markings on their palms.
This was true of all imperial families across the Five Empires. They were marks engraved through the covenant between the first Emperors and the Saint Emperor. Though the patterns differed slightly between empires, since dragon's mana was the foundation, they could never be replicated through magic or sorcery.
The Emperor grinned as he looked at the young girl.
'Since all the children my brother sired are dead, the only young imperial blood remaining are my son and this child.'
Moreover, this marking was the best proof of imperial lineage.
An imperial whose existence no one remembered. Even if someone did remember, they would assume she died during the Great Upheaval.
'With a marking that cannot be forged, no one at the Temple will be able to doubt.'
For the three years this child stays in the neutral zone in his stead, he can keep his young son hidden under his shadow and guarantee his safety.
Unless assassinations dared to infiltrate the Holy Neutral Zone and kill this child, but that would be unavoidable.
'Still, it's not my son dying, so it doesn't matter.'
Having thus decided to send Lelia in the Crown Prince's stead, the Emperor killed all the servants and maids who had brought her.
From that day forward.
The Emperor began instructing Lelia repeatedly.
"You must never let anyone discover that you are a girl. Do you understand?"