Lord Darkwoods.

Lord Darkwoods.

The voice seemed both distant and near, causing Leonel to quickly scan his surroundings in search of its source.

Taking a closer look at his surroundings, he realized that he had remained rooted in the same spot ever since he had obtained the ring from the king. And now, someone stood before him, attempting to capture his attention.

Snapping back to reality, he rushed towards his grandfather, hoping to disprove what he had seen.

However, his worst fears were confirmed. His grandfather's lifeless body had started dissipating into thin air. It is customary for dead demon bodies to dissipate into thin air after their death.

"Leonel! Leonel!" He heard the voice again, urging him to wake up. As his mind thought about the reason for this sound and also grieving about his grandfather's death - his only loving family, he felt himself being pulled from his surroundings.

"What!" Leonel exclaimed to reality. Waking up from his dreams, only to realize that he was not in front of any dead demon nor was he in the royal court. Rather, he was in a cold, dark, gloomy room and he continuously heard his name being called.

If whatever he saw in the dream was real, then they were the memories of the initial owner of his body. Then, why had he felt so attached to him? Why did he feel all the pains the young boy was feeling? Why did it feel like it was all happening to him?

As his thoughts were swirling, he heard his name being called again, followed by other words and a clicking of keys.

"Do you perhaps plan to stay here forever?"

"No!" Leonel quickly replied. He stood upright from the floor and somehow he was able to get to the entrance of the room even though everywhere was dark.

It seemed as though the original owner of his body had always been locked in the room considering the high familiarity he felt with it.

Leonel stepped his foot out of the dark place to receive the light of the lamp in the hallway on his skin.

"Who are you?" He asked the demon with a little horn-like form on his head before him. The dream or rather the little bit of memory he remembered made him know the identity of the creatures he saw; they are demons.

The noble demons are considered the most beautiful among the demons with only little horn-like forms on their head while the worst of the demons are those with the worst mutated forms - some take the form of snake-like head, monsters,or worst goblins.

This made him know what is standing before him but not who.

"Really? You are asking who I am, did the guards hit you that hard?" The demon asked.

"Guards? Well…I can't say…." Leonel tried to refute the statement but before he could even complete his sentence, he was dragged by his hand by the demon as he led him through the hallway.

.

The duo had been walking for a while and the demon had dropped his hand for some time. Only then, did he notice that the supposed human he had come to get decided to honor the snails and perform in their footsteps.

"Well…walk, will you?" He shouted behind him as soon as he realized the situation.

"Perhaps if you had given me food to eat instead of having your guards lock me up, I would have the strength to walk," Leonel replied, his frustration evident in his voice. He dragged his feet on the floor, unsure if he felt some kind of restriction in this room.

Because the feeling he got when he was outside of this demon kingdom was quite different from what he was currently feeling inside. When he was outside, he had heightened senses, strong bones, and huge strength. He knew he could go on without eating for days, but the things he had done are now showing.

He felt so weak and starved that he believed he could swallow a cow. 'Just give me the damn food,' he cursed under his breath as he walked on, not even realizing that the demon before him had stopped until his head collided with the demon's back.

The demon turned his face and stared at him intensively. His scrutinizing gaze made Leonel a little self aware.

'Is he discovering something? Should I be worried about them knowing that I'm not their prince? Do I even need to worry about that? Is this like a real video game? If so, is he a NPC?' he wondered.

"Did the guards hit you that hard?" the demon asked again. "You are behaving strangely."

"Yes, they hit me really hard, but apart from that, I'm very hungry," Leonel replied. He tried his best to act natural, and he didn't really know if he did, perhaps the spectator before him would know.

"Am I acting strange?" he asked.

"Yes…I just said so. Well…maybe you are hungry just as you've said," he said, "but don't worry, you'll eat when we are done here."

"Done where?" Leonel asked.

"Where I'm taking you," he replied and then turned his back to him and continued walking.

Leonel also shut his mouth and followed in his footsteps.

Very soon, they were out of the dimly lit hallway of the room he was locked in, which he remembered to be his room. The place he was led to is one of the rooms in the demon palace.

The palace is quite strange, and for the past seventeen years, since the original owner of this body had been living here, Leonel couldn't find any memory of his to find a link to the palace. He doesn't even know much about it. What a boring life he had lived…

'Well…don't worry, I'll live well in your stead now,' Leonel silently thought.

Again, he felt a shadow in front of him. 'Not again,' he thought.

As he raised his head, he was met with a flick on his forehead.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" he exclaimed, his face red in annoyance. He doesn't even remember when last he had a beating until he recently came into this strange world after his accident. His loving father never once raised his hand at him except his voice.

'Why is his finger so damn strong? Is he trying to convince me that I'm not dreaming? If that's it, there's a fucking better way. I could have pinched myself if I needed it.'

The demon's eyes widened in shock as he said, amused. "You? I'm certain something is wrong here."

"What the hell?" Leonel cursed straight up at the demon, sending glaring gazes towards him. He had expected the fool to at least tell him a little sorry so that his grieved heart could relax but instead, he was on about noticing some abnormalities with him.

'What gave him the right to think he could do that and I wouldn't say anything?' he thought angrily in his heart, but he knew that he couldn't say anything else again. Even his reaction to the flicking of his forehead, he needed to clarify it.

After calming his heart, he raised his head to look at the stupefied demon.

'Well… he truly does look surprised. Is the initial owner a simp?' he thought.

"Well, you caught me off guard, it's just my reflex action," he explained.

The demon looked quite contemplative, and Leonel honestly didn't know what he was thinking, but he was very sure he didn't like the look. 'Just say whatever damn thing you want to say, would you?' he thought.

"I don't know what is wrong with you, but we are going in now, and you need to behave yourself," he said and then turned his back to Leonel again.

It was after he said this that Leonel realized that they were standing in front of a huge door carved with golden and black paint and drawings of dragons and snakes, with the black color being the color underneath used as a prep and the gold color placed on it as a design.

'Well, is the fun finally beginning?' he squealed happily.

The grand door opened before them, and the guards standing in front of it announced their arrival.

"Lord Darkwoods and Prince Leonel,"