CH 1

Everyone has thought at least once:

“I want to become the protagonist of a novel.”

An absolute emperor who rules over all.

A swordmaster who faces tens of thousands of troops.

A great wizard who glimpses the truth.

A ruthless assassin who dominates the darkness.

The protagonists of the novels I’ve read were all attractive, so I sometimes thought I wanted to become the protagonist of a novel too.

Maybe I got tired of my life that seemed to go round and round like a gear.

The wind that I thought would pass by like a breeze began to visit me more often as time went by.

But becoming the protagonist of a novel is impossible. I wasn’t foolish enough to wish for it sincerely.

However, there was something.

There was no such thing as absolute impossibility.

When I woke up from my sleep, I was inside a novel. However, I wasn’t the protagonist I had desperately wished for.

Raymond Philias.

It was the name of the character I had possessed.

He was the villain who met a tragic end in the final part of the first novel.

But it was worth a try.

Because I know the “setting” of this novel.

***

The warm morning sun touched the man’s cheek. He opened his eyes while yawning, but furrowed his brows at the unusually blurry vision and the pounding headache that felt like it would split his head open. “Ugh, I don’t remember drinking,” he muttered. This was a hangover.

Instinctively, he reached out his hand as if searching for something. Then he realized that something was wrong. “Was my studio apartment this spacious?” There used to be a small table within his reach, but now there was nothing. “What’s going on…” As his vision slowly cleared up, confusion settled in. It was a large bedroom with flashy decorations, and there was a full-length mirror next to him.

The man moved towards the mirror as if possessed.

There was a chubby blonde Caucasian man with some extra weight in the mirror.

“Is that me?” He muttered to himself unintentionally, and then a voice came from beyond the door.

“Your Highness Raymond Philias, the Fifth Prince, are you coughing?” The young man’s voice momentarily startled him, leaving him at a loss for words.

“Am I Raymond Philias…?” Raymond mumbled in a low voice, his voice trembling.

There was no mistaking that name. No, he knew it all too well. “Am I the rogue Raymond Philias from ‘The Empire of the Dead’?” Raymond Philias was a character in a novel he often read, ‘The Empire of the Dead.’

He opened his eyes and found himself in the novel, but how? Why? He hadn’t even thought of such a thing.

There was something more important than that.

“Raymond Philias, the Fifth Prince, dies at the end of Volume 1. And it’s a very tragic death…” There was no description of how he died, but the sentence that stuck in his mind was that it was the most tragic death.

“The plan to exterminate the imperial family.” A huge event that explodes at the end of Volume 1, Raymond Philias dies there.

“Why am I in this body…….”

Why couldn’t he have possessed the protagonist instead?

His voice shook with irritation that was mixed with disappointment.

Just then, he heard footsteps coming from behind the firmly closed door. It sounded like there were several people, and it was quite noisy.

The sound was getting closer. Soon, the footsteps reached the door, and then they stopped. Instead, he heard people talking, but he couldn’t make out the content.

“Your Highness, this is Alex. Excuse me.” The door opened cautiously, with a voice that, for some reason, sounded very nervous and trembled uneasily.

A handsome servant walked in. He was dressed in formal attire and was smiling, but there was a hint of awkwardness and his gaze was shaking nervously.

Behind him, several knights in light armor with red cloaks also walked in.

Soon their gaze fell on Raymond, who was sitting in a chair, and they showed a common reaction.

Their eyes widened and their mouths hung open in surprise. Then they quickly realized it was rude and composed themselves.

“The prince is awake at this hour?” “He drank so much last night….” were the thoughts of the knights.

Alex, who was the responsible servant, was relieved to see Raymond’s clear eyes despite his heavy drinking the night before.

Prince Raymond usually had to be woken up several times the next day if he drank at night.

Of course, in the process, Alex, the servant in charge, had to endure Raymond’s irritated punches.

“Your Highness, how are you feeling?” Alex bowed respectfully and asked about his condition. Raymond, who was dazed, turned his head towards Alex.

“Did you say your name was Alex? And if you’re a servant for the 5th prince with the same name….” Raymond remembered some information about Alex from the setting book.

Alex Tiringer, the second son of the Tiringer Viscount’s family.

That was all he could remember at the moment. But he remembered that there wasn’t anything particularly special about this person.

“Your Highness?” When Raymond remained silent and only looked at him, Alex asked cautiously.

“Nothing happened.” Raymond replied. Information about court etiquette flooded his mind.

It was a part of the memories that Prince Raymond Phileas had.

“H-Highness….” As he frowned from a sudden headache, Alex was startled and stepped back, and the knights stepped forward. It was a familiar sight, like something they had seen many times before.

Raymond was dumbfounded, but he soon realized why they were reacting like that.

How much did I beat him up to get that kind of reaction?” Raymond was bewildered, but he soon found out.

One of the memory fragments mixed in with the rushing memories was related to Alex. “Insane.” Apparently, whenever he was bored, the old Raymand would grab a paddle and beat his servants.

Eventually, his servants were replaced several times, and eventually the son of Lord Tingger who was the weakest of the lot took over. Because of his lack of strength, he had been beaten so far, apparently had broken a bone the other day.

Since then, it seemed that a few knights accompanied him every morning when he was awakened. “Nothing will happen. Don’t worry.” Raymond said in the softest voice he could manage. Only then did the knights back off and Alex walked out. “I’m sorry.” “I’ll change.” “Yes, Your Highness.” The maids came in and helped Raymond change his clothes. Thanks to Raymond Philias’ memories, he was able to act skillfully when receiving the royal garments.

However, if there was one thing that bothered him, it was that the maids were too stiff when carrying the garments. “How much did he have to beat them for it to get this far…?” Raymond’s memories didn’t come flooding in completely, but judging from the maids’ reactions, it was clear that he had done something to them.

He was so infamous as a crazy prince in the novel that it was to be expected to some extent. “Ouch!” “I’m sorry! Your Highness!” While attaching the insignia to his uniform, a sharp needle slightly pricked his flesh.

The maid who made the mistake became pale at the stinging feeling and collapsed. Raymond was amazed by her reaction. “Was it really this bad…?” He sighed and lowered his head. Then one of the knights stepped forward urgently. “Your Highness! You must not kill the maid again this time! Please calm your anger!” “My goodness, he killed a maid before? How can such a rogue still be a prince?” The moment he thought that, a sentence from the setting came to mind.

“He was the worst rogue in the history of the royal family, but he was able to remain a prince because he inherited the blood of the imperial family who could handle ancient weapons.”

The worst scoundrel in royal history. But it’s not too late. It’s possible to change.

The stigma of being a scoundrel can be shed.

“What’s your name?”

The prince didn’t draw his sword for once. The maid’s eyes froze and the knights looked uneasy. It seemed that he would impose a greater punishment if he drew his sword right away.

They could only hold their breath as they watched the royal knights who seemed ready to step forward at any moment.

“S-Se-ria, your highness.”

Perhaps relieved that she was not immediately executed, Seria, who had been trembling a moment ago, showed a much calmer appearance.

“You seem quite surprised, go and rest. I’ve finished changing,” he said, picking up the red cloak the knight was holding and putting it on.

The royal knights were surprised that no tragedy had occurred. He felt their gaze on me. “I’m hungry. Alex, is breakfast not ready yet?” “Excuse me?” He asked if breakfast was ready. “I’ll have it, thank you.” He took the first step and Alex and the knights followed behind. Only Seria and two maids were left in the fifth prince’s bedroom. “Was that really his highness the prince? Can a person change this much in just one day?” “Isn’t this a sign that the world is going to end today?” Amidst the murmurs of the maids, Seria pinched her cheek slightly. It hurt. It wasn’t a dream. The fifth prince had changed.

***

The 5th Prince’s palace was quiet. It was when he was walking towards the place where breakfast was prepared that a man dressed in similar attire as Alex followed behind him and bowed his head. He walked calmly and spoke up. “Your Highness, the Emperor wishes to have breakfast with you.”

If it were the Emperor of the Phileas Empire, it would be Ronald Phileas. “The Emperor?” “Yes, Your Highness. If you refuse again, His Majesty will be very disappointed.” As the attendant spoke, Alex sent him a cold glance.

The attendant’s last words were his words. The attendant realized this and quickly bowed his head. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I overstepped.” “No. If His Majesty calls, of course I must go. Guide me to the palace.” “Yes?” Raymond’s response made the attendant doubt his own ears.

“Fifth Prince, who has refused the Emperor’s meal proposal for the past five years since the death of the 3rd Empress, is suddenly accepting it?” Although he conveyed the Emperor’s meal proposal, the attendant was surprised that he was met with an acceptance instead of the usual firm rejection.

“What are you waiting for? Guide me quickly. Shouldn’t I arrive before His Majesty?” The attendant doubted his own ears once again. If the man in front of him was not 5th Prince, he might have dared to ask again.

Fortunately, he managed to hold back the worst-case scenario, but it seemed that he couldn’t even read his expression. Raymond sighed inwardly. “Just how much of a scoundrel must he have been…?” In the novel, Raymond was an antagonist, but he wasn’t a significant character.

As with most novels, “The Empire of the Dead” focused on the protagonist, so there wasn’t much description about Raymond.

“I will accompany you to the palace,” said the attendant, moving first. Raymond followed closely behind, with Alex and three royal knights.

5th Prince’s Palace was located on the outskirts of the Imperial Palace, so it was a bit of a distance away. Therefore, they had to hurry their steps to make sure they didn’t arrive late for breakfast.

“How surprised will they be?” It was a strange reaction that occurred when the original personality of the 5th prince, along with the newly fused personality, had a small clash.

Although the Imperial Palace was vast, they were able to arrive at the palace quickly thanks to the carriage that was summoned.

The royal knights guarding the main gate of the palace murmured, “What’s going on… 5th Prince is here?” Their eyes widened when they saw the golden carriage with the 5th Prince’s emblem on it.

“I can hear you, you bastards,” he thought to himself, as the carriage was too high for the royal knights to see his face.

“There’s no problem,” and with the approval of the royal magician, the carriage carrying 5th Prince Raymond Phileas passed through the main gate of the palace.

As they watched the carriage disappear into the distance, the royal knights opened their mouths in disbelief.

“Do you know how many years it has been since the 5th Prince passed through the main gate of the palace?” “Since the Empress passed away, he has been holed up in the 5th Prince’s Palace, so it’s been more than five years, hasn’t it?” “Something’s not right.” “Maybe it’s just his whims?”

The subordinate knights spoke, and the senior knight raised his head, looking up at the sky.

“I hope so.”

***

Upon arriving at the expansive palace, Raymond reminisced about the palace’s memory as he got off the carriage. “I know a lot about the Philias Empire,” he thought. The Philias Empire was the only surviving empire from the ancient era that maintained a strict centralized system of government.

The royal bloodline had the ability to handle the Goshinbyung, an ancient relic, so there were many secret organizations dedicated to protecting the nobility. However, they no longer held much power in the current state of decline. “I don’t know everything,” Raymond thought, “but I do know about the secret settings and the opportunities that the protagonist will encounter, so I’m not worried.”

When he first read the novel and later stumbled upon the setting book, he had one common thought. “Ah! This author is a fanatic about settings.” He chuckled to himself. Ironically, the amount of setting information in the setting book was more than that of a single novel, and the series had only been serialized for three books.

“Royal Guards…” Alex’s surprised voice interrupted his thoughts. As Raymond looked up, he saw a man in a golden uniform leaning against the wall.

The shield that protected the royal family.

Even if he had the memories of the fifth prince, he had only seen him a few times