Blood sprayed across the concrete.
Gunfire thundered.
Leone Valente — the man feared as the Devil of the Underworld — staggered back as a bullet punched through his chest.
His vision blurred.
His men were falling one by one.
Someone had betrayed them.
Again.
A shadow stepped out from behind the burning car.
His most trusted lieutenant.
Or so he thought.
"Sorry, Boss," the man smirked. "The throne needs a new king."
Leone spat blood… then laughed.
"King?" His voice cracked like breaking stone. "There is only one king."
Bang.
A final shot pierced his skull.
Darkness swallowed him—
—no pain, no sound, only silence.
…
Until a scream.
Not his.
"Prince! The prince has fainted!"
Leone's eyes snapped open.
He wasn't on asphalt.
He wasn't bleeding out.
He was lying on polished marble inside a golden hall.
Dozens of nobles stared at him like he was filth.
Someone whispered, "Useless prince. Even fainting during the succession ceremony…"
Another snorted, "He should be stripped of the title."
Leone sat up slowly.
His heart was beating.
His wounds were gone.
His hands were smaller, younger.
A memory slammed into him.
He wasn't in his own body.
He was inside the body of… a prince.
A pathetic, bullied, politically forsaken prince.
Perfect.
A guard sneered down at him.
"What's wrong, Your Highness? Too weak to stand?"
Leone smiled — cold, slow, deadly.
"Oh? You want me to stand?"
He rose, eyes sharp as razors.
"Fine."
He grabbed the guard by the throat.
Gasps filled the hall.
In a single smooth motion — something no "weak prince" should be able to do — Leone slammed the man into the floor hard enough to crack stone.
The nobles froze.
Leone rolled his shoulders, voice dripping with mafia arrogance.
"Let me make one thing clear."
His gaze swept the hall.
"In my presence… no one speaks unless I permit it."
Silence.
Fear.
Shock.
A familiar sensation surged in his mind —
—his old instincts, his old ruthlessness.
He was back.
But this time?
He had a kingdom to conquer.
A trembling servant whispered,
"Y-Your Highness… the king demands your presence…"
Leone smirked.
"Good," he said. "Let's see who thinks they can take my throne."