Chapter 2
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Marquis's Grand Prince (1)
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"Mmm."
I woke up feeling refreshed and not the least bit tired, which could only mean I'd slept in.
"What time is it..."
When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. The sensation on my back was strange, too. I'd fallen asleep on a hard electric heating pad, yet what was this fluffy softness I felt beneath me?
"Are you awake, sir?"
"Huh?"
A woman I'd never seen before suddenly appeared before me. She was a beauty with blue hair and porcelain skin. Unusually, she wore a butler's uniform and carried a sword at her hip.
"Uh..."
"How is your body feeling?"
She spoke while I was still stammering in confusion.
"Huh? My body?"
"Hm."
Hearing my words, the woman flinched and frowned.
"I will call for the priest first."
"W-Wait!"
The woman paid me no mind, said what she needed to, and promptly left the room.
"Who was that woman? And where the hell am I?"
I sat up. In my studio apartment, the first thing I'd see would be a rusty drying rack, but what greeted me instead was a large, full-length mirror.
"What the..."
The bearded man I was used to was gone. In his place, a portly young man who looked to be in his late teens was staring back at me from the mirror. When I raised my right hand, the young man in the mirror raised his left.
"Hahaha, it's a dream. I should go back to sleep."
Unable to accept this reality, I was about to lie back down when the door opened. Two men and the woman from before walked in.
The middle-aged man in front wore the unflattering attire of a medieval nobleman, and the old man behind him was dressed like a foreign clergyman I'd seen on the news.
"So, the one who's dragged our family name through the mud has finally awoken?"
The middle-aged man glared at me and began shouting the moment he entered.
I hadn't done anything but wake up here, so I saw no reason why this man should be saying such things to me.
"Ho ho, Lord Marquis, the Grand Prince has only just awoken. Perhaps you should postpone the punishment."
"Tsk."
The man called Marquis clicked his tongue and continued to glare at me with cold eyes.
"Still, for someone who was beaten unconscious, you aren't seriously injured."
As the old man spoke, he placed a palm on my body. I felt a mysterious sensation as something warm flowed into me.
"Your mind has stabilized, and your wounds have mostly healed. It is a relief."
"A relief? It would've been better if he'd just died..."
The Marquis's eyes held a chilling coldness, as if he truly meant his wish for my death.
"The remaining injuries will heal naturally, Lord Marquis."
"You have done well, Priest Alio. You may leave."
"Yes. In that case."
The priest gave the Marquis a polite bow and then exited the room. As soon as he was gone, the pressure emanating from the Marquis intensified.
"Attacking your fiancée? You're worse than a beast!"
"What?"
Was he talking about me? Did I attack my fiancée?
"I thought I'd misheard. You damn brat!"
"You're nineteen this year. Isn't it time you came to your senses?! How long will you continue to live like such a scoundrel! Even your youngest brother has awakened his aura, yet the eldest son hasn't even done basic training, let alone awakened his aura, and has only gotten fat!"
"I cannot cover for you forever. The Lox House has a long tradition of the eldest son inheriting the title. But I cannot pass the title to you as you are now. If you were to inherit the Lox title in your current state, our ancestors would rise from their graves and beat me to death."
"You'll be the first to break the Lox family tradition. Just wonderful! Isn't that just great!"
The Marquis spewed his tirade like a machine gun before I could even get a word in.
"As soon as you've healed, go to that girl and offer her a sincere apology."
"That girl?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you? Go to Ilia and apologize properly! If you fail to earn her forgiveness, know that it will truly be the end for you!"
"...Yes."
It felt incredibly unfair to apologize for something I didn't do, but I figured it was all just a crazy dream anyway, so I simply answered, "Yes."
"Hm?"
Surprised by my answer, the Marquis's eyebrows shot up. But he quickly returned to his cold, stern expression.
"Do not disgrace the Lox House any further. Yuren. This is your last chance."
Yuren of House Lox... Did he just call me Yuren Lox?
"I'm Yuren Lox?"
"What?"
The Marquis looked baffled, tilting his head to stare at me.
"What are you talking about now?"
"Then you're Willington Lox?"
As if possessed, I muttered the Marquis's name that had surfaced in my mind.
Smack!
"Gah!"
I suddenly felt a dull impact on the back of my head. The Marquis had approached without my noticing and smacked me upside the head.
"This scoundrel now dares to speak his own father's name so freely."
The mental shock was far greater than the physical pain of being hit.
Shaking my head to clear it, my eyes met those of the portly young man in the mirror again. The fatty was gaping, rubbing the back of his head where he'd just been hit.
"Ah..."
My mind grew hazy, and my eyes began to close.
"Yuren! You brat! Yuren!"
Hearing the Marquis's urgent voice, I lost consciousness. No, I let it go.
"Mmm..."
When I opened my eyes, I saw the same pristine ceiling from before I fainted. Even after passing out and waking up, I hadn't escaped this place.
"You are awake, sir."
The beautiful woman from before appeared in my sight again. I felt like I knew her name. No, I did know it.
"Arin?"
"Yes, Grand Prince."
"Haaah..."
I buried my head back into the pillow and closed my eyes.
"I will change the wet towel for you."
Arin removed the cool towel from my forehead and replaced it with a fresh, cold one. The ice-cold sensation jolted my body awake.
"By any chance, am I lying here because I got beaten up by Ilia after making a move on her?"
"Why are you suddenly speaking so formally?"
When I asked in a formal tone, Arin looked at me with confusion in her eyes.
"Then... uh, I mean, I got knocked out by Ilia, right?"
"That is correct. You attempted to assault Lady Ilia here, were beaten all over your body, and lost consciousness."
Arin answered without a hint of hesitation, her voice devoid of emotion.
"Well, shit. I'm fucked."
The curse I'd been holding back slipped out before I knew it.
"Young Master?"
"It's nothing. Haaah..."
I now had a firm grasp of my situation.
I didn't know how it had happened, but it seemed I had entered the world of a novel I wrote. And not as the protagonist, but in the body of a villain who gets killed by him.
To briefly describe the Yuren Lox I'd possessed, he was an irredeemable scoundrel who had no fear of the world.
He had no talent and no ability, yet he refused to put in any effort. In contrast, his greed was boundless. The only thing he had going for him was the prestige of being the eldest son of the Marquis Lox.
This Yuren's role was to rely solely on that prestige, lose his fiancée to the protagonist, get beaten to a pulp while trying to get revenge, and then die a lonely death in a back alley.
"Phew."
Even if I managed to twist the original story and survive my encounter with the protagonist, many future hardships, like wars and monsters, would still threaten my life.
There was only one way to survive in this uncertain future.
I had to become strong as Yuren Lox. However, there was a huge problem with getting stronger.
The Yuren I'd become was an insignificant extra, so I couldn't remember if he had any talents at all.
"No. It's fine. There's still time. I'm sure it'll work out somehow."
I calmed myself. Since Yuren was currently nineteen, there was still time before he would meet the protagonist or before various major incidents occurred.
If I made good use of the settings and hidden opportunities I knew about, I was sure I could find a good way forward.
Most of those opportunities and items belonged to the protagonist and other main characters, but who cared? I had to save myself first.
As I was entertaining these positive yet despicable thoughts about stealing the protagonist's boons to survive, I tried to get out of bed.
"Whoa, whoa!"
Thud!
Forgetting about my suddenly massive body, I moved as I normally would and rolled right off the bed.
"Ugh!"
"Are you alright, sir?"
Wincing more from embarrassment than pain, I looked up to see Arin looking down at me, her expressionless face tinged with pity.
"Huh?"
But her expression wasn't the important thing. I was seeing something that shouldn't have been there.
A small, translucent window had appeared next to Arin's face, where there should have been nothing.
Name: Arin
Traits: Swift Sword lv2, Clear Mirror, Still Water lv1, Aura Adaptability lv1
Favorability: 0 (Neutral)
"What is this..."
To get a better look, I closed and reopened my eyes, but the small window next to her had vanished.
A moment ago, I had fallen off the bed, felt embarrassed and pained, and winced. That was it. I didn't remember doing anything special.
"No way."
I deliberately furrowed my brow, forcing a wince. And just like that, Arin's information, which had disappeared, became visible again.
"It's back!"
This information window only appeared when I frowned and squinted my eyes.
"Grand Prince?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
"You are acting very strangely today."
"I guess getting beaten up messed with my head."
"..."
Spouting some nonsense, I calmly reread the information window that had reappeared. From Arin's perspective, my staring must have been unsettling, but she remained expressionless.
Name: Arin
Traits: Swift Sword lv2, Clear Mirror, Still Water lv1, Aura Adaptability lv1
Swift Sword was a trait that allowed one to master the art of swordsmanship that prioritized speed to its absolute limit. Clear Mirror, Still Water was an observational trait that granted an unshakeable mind, allowing one to analyze opponents.
Aura Adaptability was a trait specific to aura that sped up the rate at which one could gather and activate it.
These were high-grade, combat-specialized traits, unbefitting a butler. But Arin was a swordswoman personally trained by Marquis Willington. Though she held no title, her martial prowess already surpassed that of an ordinary knight.
Favorability: 0 (Neutral)
Favorability? This wasn't some bishoujo dating sima gal game, for shortso I had no idea why I was seeing a favorability rating.
On top of that, I couldn't understand why the value was 0 and neutral. Considering all the things Yuren had done, it should have been below -100, digging its way to the center of the earth.
Now that I had a rough idea of what my eye's ability was, it was time to send Arin out and check my own status.
"Arin."
"Yes."
"I'm still not feeling well. I'd like to be alone..."
"Understood."
Arin said nothing more, gave a slight bow, and left the room.
"Please..."
This strange eye might work on me, too. If so, I could find out what traits I possessed and what I was capable of.
"Phew..."
I let out a sigh, then scrunched up my face and squinted.