I never believed in reincarnation.Even less in regression.
To me, those things only existed in the novels I read late at night to escape my miserable life.
So how could I, Kim Ji-Ho, a twenty-one-year-old unemployed nobody with no future, possibly wake up in a body that wasn't mine?
And worse… why was this body so pathetic?
"Young Master Alexander! Young Master Alexander!"
The panicked voice of a young maid dragged me back to consciousness. She couldn't have been older than twenty. I must have looked completely lost, because she froze the moment our eyes met.
"Where am I?" I asked, still in shock.
She answered without hesitation, as if it were obvious."In the Imperial Palace of Solarya, Your Imperial Highness."
The Imperial Palace?Your Highness?
A shiver ran down my spine.Had I truly reincarnated?Or had I simply lost my mind after reading too many webnovels?
My vision blurred. Everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes again, the room was filled with people, servants, guards, attendants, standing stiffly in anxious silence.
Among them, one figure stood out immediately. Tall, elegant, almost unreal in appearance. His very presence commanded the room.
The man before me was my older brother: Aurelius Solarys.
Throughout the Empire, he was known as the Celestial Blade . A prodigy of the sword, a genius whose brilliance shone across countless battlefields. Yet behind this glory hid vices everyone whispered about: excess, drunkenness, and an addiction to carnal pleasure. A hero admired as much as he was condemned.
Without realizing it, admiration and disgust mixed on my face.
Aurelius noticed and offered me a confident half-smile.
"You've grown, my precious little brother."
At that moment, a violent rage tore through me.A fury that wasn't mine.A hatred rooted deep in this body's memories, not in my own.
Aurelius eventually left the room, his footsteps echoing down the corridor. Only once he disappeared did my muscles loosen. But the anger remained, burning in my chest.
I looked around. The servants were still there, waiting quietly.
"Leave."
My voice was colder, far colder, than I intended. They exchanged uneasy glances, then bowed and exited one by one.
The maid who had awakened me earlier hesitated, as if she wanted to check on me.
"You too. Leave me alone," I said, my tone as icy as a blade.
Startled, she bowed quickly and closed the door behind her.
Finally alone.
I needed to understand what had happened to me.
I stood and walked toward the window. That was when I heard it, powerful, rhythmic, almost deafening clashes of metal.
When I opened the window, I found myself looking down at the training grounds. Disciples swung their weapons relentlessly, striking, running, leaping, each movement sharp, precise, their blades echoing through the air like falling stars.
And beyond them, the capital of Solaria stretched endlessly. Its bustling streets, carved facades, vibrant markets… the whole city seemed alive, breathing beneath the morning sun.
A shiver ran down my spine.
I had truly transmigrated.I had been reincarnated.
Yet even faced with this breathtaking world, the hatred toward Aurelius remained, deep and immovable. It refused to leave me, as if it were part of my very bones.
So what was I supposed to do now?
Act?Wait?Or simply watch from behind the curtains of this magnificent city that seemed determined to make me forget my anger?
I didn't know yet.
But one thing was certain:I was a stranger trapped in the flesh of a broken prince.