The Axis of Evil (1)
At first, I rubbed my eyes several times, wondering why there was a model of a crow sitting there. But the creature was still tilting its head, its black eyes glittering. My vision was clear, and the bird remained sharp and distinct. Once I was certain that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me and that it wasn't a model, I had no choice but to sit up on the plush bed and look around. A luxurious room, though a bit worn, came into view—one that looked far larger than my entire apartment.
"...Where am I?"
"Caw!"
The crow cried out as if replying to my mutterings. What on earth was this thing, and why was it staying so still when a human had been shouting just moments ago? Half-curious about the strange crow and half-determined to check outside to see where I was, I got out of bed and approached the window. But I was forced to halt by the unfamiliar face faintly reflected in the glass.
"...Huh?"
Sharp, upturned eyes that gave off a fierce impression, and a somewhat youthful face caught between boyhood and adulthood. Was he around twenty? Unfortunately, this wasn't a case of me growing younger. The only things we had in common were black hair and black eyes; it was the face of a complete stranger. It looked strangely familiar, but it was definitely not the face I saw in the bathroom mirror every morning. Nor was it my face from when I was younger.
I hesitantly touched the face reflected in the window. My hands moved according to my will, and my facial muscles responded exactly as I commanded. It was undoubtedly my body now, yet the sheer cognitive dissonance of seeing someone else's face move left me utterly dumbfounded. In the end, the conclusion I reached was:
"...Should I just faint?"
However,
"...Caaaw?"
My plan was foiled, the tension drained from me by the crow behind the glass, which cawed as if replying to my monologue. Dumbfounded by how it completely ruined the gravity of the moment, I stared at the bird.
"Caaaw! Caaaw!"
The creature, letting out a screech that sounded like a slaughtered pig, even began to flutter its wings as if excited about something.
"Can you actually understand me?"
"Caw!"
It gave a prompt, reply-like response. To think I was in someone else's body, bonding with a crow. If something that could never happen in reality was taking place, there was only one logical answer.
"It's just a crazy dream."
Tap! Tap!
At my hollow mutterings, the bird replied by tapping on the window again. Its intention to be let in was clear, and its determination was absolute. Even so, I had no intention of opening the window. No matter how much of a dream this was, I didn't want to invite that kind of absolute chaos inside.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap-tap!
But when it realized I wasn't going to open it, the creature began to strike the glass even more furiously. This wasn't just a funny crow; it had a nasty temper.
Rattle. Rattle.
If it had just been noisy, I would have ignored it. But when the ancient window frame, bearing the full weight of time, began to shake under the assault of its beak, I had to throw up my hands in defeat.
"Shh! Damn it, alright, stop it."
Even in a dream, my ordinary citizen's instincts couldn't bear to watch an expensive-looking structure get damaged. I had no choice but to open the window. As if it had been waiting for this exact moment, the bird flew into the room. Then, it naturally perched on my shoulder and rubbed its head against me.
"Are you a pet kept by the owner of this room?"
But there was no sign of a cage or any pet supplies anywhere in the room. Deciding that keeping a wild bird in such a luxurious room was a bad idea, I extended my arm out the window to release the now-calmed creature. The crow didn't seem at all afraid of my attempt to nudge it off, simply staring back at me quietly.
Knock, knock.
"Caw?!"
Startled by the sudden knock, the hand I had extended to gently nudge it away clamped tightly around the bird's neck instead. The crow thrashed in panic, and startled by my own reaction, I quickly let go. I couldn't be entirely sure, but it felt like the bird was cursing me out with its eyes.
"Uh... that wasn't intentional."
I offered my calmest apology to the panicked creature, but the crow gave me a look filled with utter betrayal before taking flight and soaring away.
"Ugh."
Before my guilt toward the bird could even fade, a faint pain registered on my finger. Blood was trickling from a scratch caused by the poor creature's frantic thrashing. The problem was...
"Why does this hurt?"
The pain was far too vivid to be a dream.
Knock, knock, knock.
Before my confusion could clear, the persistent knocking pressed in on me. In this sudden, bizarre situation, rational thought was hard to come by. Why did it hurt? Was I really a person with such a vivid imagination? Absolutely not. Suddenly, an ominous thought flashed through my mind: what if all of this was real? The sense of reality, which had been faint until now, suddenly gripped me with an iron fist.
This is a disaster. I'm currently trapped in a stranger's body. And now, I'm about to expose this state to someone else. Should I just tell them the truth? Would they even believe me? If I were in their shoes, I'd think the person had lost their mind. I had no guarantee the person outside wouldn't think the same. Furthermore, although this body was quite tall, the face looked so young I doubted he was even an adult. It would be a mercy if they just dismissed it as the lies of a rebellious teenager seeking attention. What if they immediately tried to commit me to a psychiatric ward or put me on heavy medication?
When I didn't reply, the person knocking identified himself.
"Your Highness. It is Sein."
He sounded like a young man. But... Your Highness? Was he talking to me? Was I actually a prince? If not, his parents had an incredibly grand sense of naming. Even as these thoughts raced through my head, the man outside spoke again, as if determined not to give me time to think.
"I am coming in."
Then came the sound of his hand on the doorknob. I hadn't expected him to just barge in without an answer, forcing my brain to spin at top speed. Right, let's pretend to be the owner of this body first and buy some time. That was definitely better than immediately announcing that I wasn't this boy, but a twenty-eight-year-old office worker from some far-off place. Having made my decision, I leaned against the window in the most natural posture I could muster, feeling like a death row prisoner awaiting execution. A cool breeze blew in from outside, drying my cold sweat. At this moment, I found myself envying the crow that had flown away to escape this complicated mess. Damn it, if only I could fly away like that bird.
It was just a silly, idle thought. Like wishing for teleportation while squeezed into a packed subway car—not a genuine desire, but just a bit of silent grumbling.
It happened in that exact instant. A sudden heat welled up from deep within my stomach. It was... well, a sensation I had never experienced in my twenty-eight years of life. A warmth starting from my lower abdomen wrapped around my entire body like a warm, viscous liquid. It was a feeling so mesmerizing, like being a fetus cradled in a mother's womb, that I briefly lost myself in it. But it vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving me hollow. As if it had all been an illusion. What was that just now?
Click.
Still dazed by that fleeting sensation that felt like an eternity, the sound of the doorknob turning snapped me back to reality. Right, I have to deal with this guy first. The door swung open, and a tall man strode inside. I braced myself to put on the performance of a lifetime. Since the owner of this body didn't seem to have a particularly friendly face, I furrowed my brow to match.
"My goodness..."
Contrary to my expectations, the original owner of this body must have been a gentle soul who always wore a smile. Otherwise, there was no way the man entering could look so utterly horrified. His face twisted in sheer disgust.
"What is this?"
His reaction suggested he had noticed something was off about me. Hearing the anger laced in his voice, I immediately shifted gears, relaxing my expression to explain myself. I opened my mouth, aiming for the calmest tone possible.
—I am not a strange person.
"Caw! Ca...w?"
But instead of a human voice, a harsh caw tore through my vocal cords. Panicking, I tried to speak again.
—No, I mean, I'm not the kind of person who just caws at people upon meeting them.
"Caw!! Caw!!"
But only more caws came out, utterly ruining my credibility.
"To think they'd manage the room like this..."
Muttering with a scowl, the man approached me.
"Shoo! Get out!"
I had thought he was tall, but as he drew closer, he wasn't just tall—he was absolutely colossal. Ah, no. It wasn't that the man was giant. Only then did I realize that I had shrunk. He flailed his arms to chase me away, and sitting on the window frame, I instinctively flapped my wings and flew a lap around the room. Before I could even process the shock of flying, I had to dodge the man, who was now aiming a rolled-up piece of paper at me, and escape out the window. The brief glimpse of myself reflected in the glass before I fled was...
"Caw!!!"
...unmistakably a crow.
This was the shameful yet highly educational record of my first day of possession, a secret known to no one else. I say educational because it was through this ordeal that I finally understood my situation. That day, trapped in the body of a crow, I had to fly around the area until nightfall, struggling to control my bewildered form. Thanks to that, I managed to eavesdrop on the conversations of the guards patrolling the Imperial Palace, and I spotted the three circles drawn on the national flag fluttering high above. When night fell, I sat for a long time beneath the three distinct moons shining in the night sky. These clues were more than enough for me to draw one undeniable conclusion. I had transmigrated into the world of my favorite fantasy novel, Dark Header.
A little over a week had passed since I transmigrated as the Seventh Prince in this novel's world. I had waited, hoping I would naturally return to my original world, but my body remained unchanged. Surprisingly, no one noticed that I was a completely different person. In fact, they didn't even seem to care. They merely carried out my order to let no one in except during mealtimes. Thanks to their indifference, I was able to calmly, slowly, and thoroughly come to terms with my situation.
I walked across the now-familiar room and looked into the mirror on the wall once more. Black hair, black eyes, sharp upturned gaze, and a scar cutting through his left eyebrow that was only visible if one looked closely. This body was undoubtedly the Seventh Prince of the Abaran Empire, Ran Abaran.
"Damn it, of all people..."
A sigh escaped my lips. Of all the options, I had to be the seventh. Not the first, second, or third, but the seventh prince. The one treated the worst among all the siblings, with an awkward age to boot. The current Emperor had quite a few children, so I wasn't even the youngest. I had gone from being an only child to suddenly having a horde of siblings, but I wasn't happy at all. Because within three years, most of them would be dead anyway. Some of them would even die at the hands of the protagonist. Yes, unfortunately, we were the axis of evil.