Steeline Dukedom.
Sari City, Steeline Castle.
17th December, 1000.
A young boy with golden blonde hair, green eyes, and snowy white skin, who was an exact replica of his mother, was walking down the hallway that connected the training grounds with the housing area of the castle.
He was saturated in perspiration and was dressed in a blue vest and black shorts even though it was the winter season, clearly signifying his great exhaustion after a rigorous training session.
Exactly!
You guessed it correctly,
It is me, Luke, heading into my room after finishing my daily workout regimen, which I completed earlier than usual because today is a special day.
Today marks the seventh anniversary of my birth in this world known as Arcedia, as well as the start of a new era, a new millennium for this world.
It was a very significant day for me, since it was the day I would meet my supposed future fiancée, AKA the first heroine, Selina Greenberg, who would be attending my birthday celebration tonight.
In the novel, Luke's bad luck also began on this day, after he encountered Selina at the party and instantly fell in love with her.
************
─Two hours later
After taking a shower and eating dinner, I was finally able to relax a little as I laid down on my bed in my room and got lost in thought.
In the last seven years, not much had happened, but at the same time a lot happened.
I was able to walk, run, and talk fluently by the age of one, and I could write and read before the age of two.
Although I understood the language from my previous life, I had to play the part of a child and show everyone that I was learning everything from scratch, which was even more difficult than actually learning English back on Earth.
As a result of which, word of the genius Steeline house's heir's intelligence and his ability to read and write flawlessly at the young age of two quickly travelled throughout the entire Steeline castle like a wildfire in a forest.
And for a mother who adored me and a father who treated me as if I were his most valuable treasure, discovering that their son was a genius was a dream come true.
Since then, my mother has personally taught me everything about a variety of topics, including history, geography, magic theories, etc.
I already knew a lot of the information from the novel, but learning it in greater detail helped me understand the world better and dispel many of my doubts.
Father also always kept me close by while he worked so that I could pick up something from how he did things, no matter how negligible it was.
Which resulted good for me as my father permitted me to browse through the Dukedoms' files when I asked about them on my fifth birthday.
Maybe he only intended to quell my curiosity, thinking that even if I were a genius, I wouldn't be able to comprehend the workings of the dukedom from the files and would eventually abandon them after getting bored.
But he was proven wrong as my interest grew with each passing day.
Father was pleased that I was interested in managing the family, which was a good thing because I was the family's future heir.
Many things that occurred in the novel actually made no sense at the beginning to me, but the more I lived in this world, the more I realised that there was a hidden reason—one that was not explicitly stated in the novel—behind all of the events that took place here.
When my father noticed my interest in the family business, he began to show me more and more files, and that's when I realised that there was a problem.
or many big problems.
Embezzlement of money, illegal slavery, various crimes against women, taking loans from the Royal family in the name of Steeline, etc.
All this work was done by people who were close to my father.
My father was depicted as a cruel, nasty, and evil person in the novel.
But tell me who has achieved success in this world without killing or scheming.
No one! not even the protagonist, Kevin.
However, unlike him, in reality, my father was a man who adored and cared deeply for his family and the individuals who worked for him.
But that was also his weakness.
Maybe he might not have been able to see it because the managerial and financial management systems at this time were not as developed, or he did notice them, but he thought of them as his own people and turned a blind eye to what they were doing.
I didn't know what the real situation was.
But, as a reader of the novel and someone from modern society, what I do know is that these people were filthy scumbags.
They were the leeches that were slowly sucking the lifeblood of our family from the inside.
Furthermore, they were not acting alone in this.
I saw a few references to the Greenberg family and how some of their members worked with members of our family on similar projects.
However, the Greenberg family had always gotten along well with our family, so I knew my father had no doubts about them.
Actually no, wrong! I can't blame my father.
Doing these things was commonplace worldwide because corruption exists in every kingdom, community, and empire—it is even present in the modern world, where police and government officials accept bribes despite everyone's knowledge of it.
Similarly, if done within limits, embezzlement, crimes, and corruption were common.
However, what these guys were doing was preparing a long and subtle trap for our family, because these people were aware that "it" was typical and common, and if they kept it subtle, they would be able to easily bypass the Duke.
These people were quite clever in their jobs, and if I hadn't read the book and known about what would happen, even I might have fallen for their tricks and ignored them.
"A bunch of filth, you just wait for me; I swear to god, I will eradicate your existence and let you and your family suffer for eternity."
However, I am aware that there isn't much I can do against them right now, but don't worry; many things will be clear after tonight.
Tonight I will officially start the countdown to their happy days.
"Ah! Water?"
Thinking about all these things made me thirsty, so I got up from my bed and poured some water from the jug into the glass.
Gulp!
And when I was drinking water from the glass, suddenly, a thought clicked in my mind.
What if it was also the Greenberg family's plan from the beginning to let Selina seduce Luke and make him fall in love with her with some dirty means, then later propose a marriage contract, and finally destroy and annex our family from the inside?
F*ck! Why did I never think about it?
"What a b*tch!"
My blood boiled as I cursed and gritted my teeth.
As the sudden possibility took root in my head, I threw the glass on the floor in anger.
Smash!
"Young Master Luke, is everything alright? do you need some help?"
Hearing the sound of glass shattering, my maid, who was standing outside of my room, shouted and asked me in a concerned tone.
"Yes, Daisy, my glass slipped and broke; please clean it up."
Hearing my command, Daisy, my beautiful and personal teenage maid, came inside and asked.
"Are you alright, young master Luke? Did you get hurt anywhere?"
"Hehehe, Nope! I am alright, see! The glass just slipped from my hand as I was thinking about something"
I extended my hand to her while chuckling after observing my adorable maid's concern.
After confirming that I was alright, Daisy quickly cleaned up the broken glass and took her leave after telling me to be careful.
"Such a cutie."
Well, atleast now I was calmed down because of her, and this even also served as a warning for me.
"I must control my emotions, or they will only cloud my judgement in the future."
Saying that to myself, I once again took a deep breath and thought about the issue at hand more calmly.
The novel didn't reveal much about Selina and Luke's past, but Selina's actions in requesting different critical information, property papers, and other valuable stuff from Luke, despite being from the Greenberg family herself, were obviously questionable.
And, while she justified it by saying that she just wanted to exact revenge on Luke in whatever way she could, her act of not even once properly terminating their engagement was a huge red flag.
Also, no matter how stupid Luke was or how beautiful Selina was, it doesn't make sense in a realistic world for someone to fall so deeply in love at first sight.
Even if the gods descended and danced in the streets, I could believe it.
But Luke falling so hard for Selina, and so naturally, without any outside influence, I'll never believe it.
"What a bunch of nonsense love at first sight, humph!"
Those are just fantasy tales where people say that they fell in love at first sight.
In real life, people are much more sensible, and no matter how much of a pervert Luke later became, he was just a 7 year old in the novel at this time.
For a 7 year old dumb Luke to fell in love,
Spit!
Its absurd! and, no matter how much I think about it, the most probable scenario is that maybe, even in today's party, there were some hidden tricks at play.
However, I was also not some dumb lamb waiting to get slaughtered.
I was a dragon that was cunning like a snake.
It was too early to go after the people who were working with Greenberg, because those people were my pawns in this game.
They had to play their part well in the future before I could send them to sacrifice themselves.
However!
"Selina Greenberg! If what I am thinking is true, then your end would definitely not be good."
I said this as an evil, sadistic grin appeared on my face.
"Status!" I ordered mentally. Ding! A 3D model of my body, floating next to a crimson-red, translucent, game profile-like screen, appeared in front of me. ──────────────────────── [Name: Luke Steeline] [Age: 7 years] [Race: Human] [Title: Destined Villain (EX), Anomaly (SS), Ruler of Light (S), Ruler of Darkness (S)] [Rank: Sword Apprentice (Middle Stage)] [Physical strength: 8] [Spiritual strength: 15] [Mana: 0] [Luck: 10] [Aura: 8] [Destiny Coins: 119] [Skills: N/A] [Techniques: Steeline Breathing Technique, Steeline Swordsmanship] [System Shop - Now Open] ──────────────────────── Since I first entered this Arcedian world exactly 7 years ago, a lot has changed on my status panel. My age is the first thing that has changed, followed by my rank, which is now Middle Stage Sword Apprentice. There are two types of ranking systems in this world. One is for Aura users who use aura to strengthen their bodies and wield physically lethal weapons. Second, for wizards who perfo
As I gazed upon the lovely full moon with its immaculate, cold beauty, sparkling with an endless number of stars in the black night sky of Arcedia, I had the impression that I was in a magical world, which I actually was.Even though I have grown quite accustomed to this world, there are still some things that are always able to catch me off guard, and I simply can not help but become engrossed in the mystery that hides behind them.Turning away my attention from the alluring silver moon that was visible through the window on the first floor corridor, I instead focused on the elegantly decorated white marble staircase in front of me.Though it was already dark, the entire Steeline castle was beautifully adorned with flowers, enchanted lights, and other opulent and magical decorations.The area around the Steeline castle gates was filled with luxurious carriages.The hall below was crowded, and although I couldn't see it with my eyes at the moment, I could tell the situation below from
"Today, on the auspicious day of my son's seventh birthday, I request that everyone bless my son for a happy and prosperous life. Please raise your glasses and take a sip for my son's great future."As if being sentimental about his paternal love for me, my father raised his glass of wine with a proud face and then, under everyone's eyes, emptied the whole glass in one sip."May my son have a life full of good fortune," he wished as he set the glass down.Watching my father's actions, the people below followed suit, and one by one, they raised their glasses and chugged down the whole drink in one sip like my father. Even though I was a little taken aback by their gesture, a feeling of pride and appreciation welled up in my heart.Following that, there was a major increase in the volume of the crowd's hollering."Happy birthday, Luke!""Happy birthday, young master Luke!""Long live, Luke!"........Naturally, our own relatives as well as the vassal families who served under our duked
"You all may already be aware that Luke is an early-stage sword apprentice. And I know it is quite surprising, as children are typically not permitted to train until they reach the age of seven."As my father took a pause in the middle, I flared up my aura for all the bigwits standing below to sense my rank.My aura suppressing ring was well hidden below my white gloves, so it wasn't a problem that someone would notice it and make weird assumptions.Woah!As soon as my aura spread, there was another commotion down below, but this time I could see that it was only from the side of our family members and some vasal families.The other guests, no matter how small or high their ranking, only had a superficial smile on their faces, and I could sense their scrutinising gaze and jealousy filled eyes.Although they smiled on the outside, I am sure they were cursing me to die inside because who would want the children of others, especially their competitors, to be geniuses?no one, at least no
Silence! A chill inducing, pin drop silence shrouded the hall. Crack! which was only broken by the splintering sounds of the silver sphere that could not withstand the force of my title for more than a few seconds. Crumble! turning into dust with a clattering sound like sand falling. Looking around the hall, I saw everyone dumbfounded, as if they couldn't believe their eyes. Taking this moment of silence as an opportunity, my father, who wasn't shocked as he knew the result years ago, announced the end of the title ceremony. "Today, I'd like to tell everyone that my son, Luke,'s title has been successfully awakened, which is an S rank, Ruler of Light." "This....!" His words made everyone come back to their senses, making them realise that everything happening in front of them was real. Impossible! Unbelievable! Nonsense! They all came to their senses after hearing my father's words, and as they did, some of the people who were sitting among them couldn't help but instinc
My left ear twitched slightly as soon as the spy charm was activated. It immediately muffled the surrounding voices, and a crisp, melodious sound of a female entered my ear. "I have added her blood to it; now all that's left is to make that boy drink it." When I heard the voice, I immediately recognised it as Stacey's, and the boy she was referring to was me. But I didn't know who she was talking to because after she spoke, there was a silence from the opposite side, as if the other person were in deep thought, and because the Greenberg family's members were in a group behind a column, I couldn't see clearly from my peripheral vision who Stacey was talking to. Actually, the spy charm also allows the user to view the person being spied from a third person's perspective so as to have a clear view of their surroundings, but since I have to close one of my eyes for doing that, which was inappropriate at the moment, I just focused on their voice as I knew that I would know about their i
Despite the fact that my mind was engaged in nefarious plotting, my exterior demeanour remained unchanged as I popped one meat-cheese ball after another into my mouth and slowly savoured their flavour.Do I even need to explain how melty, cheesy, and gooey these balls with a cheese filling that was flavoured with garlic and Italian seasoning were?All of this makes them really tasty!Some well-known dancers and singers from the royal capital, who had been booked especially for this night, took the stage and began their performance, adding to the evening's entertainment as the crowd got into the festive spirit, moving their bodies to the beat of the music and devouring the food with great gusto.However, the clear and crisp female voice that entered my ears from behind me captured my attention more than the performers on the stage or the cheese balls I was munching."Chloé, you are looking more beautiful than ever tonight."When I turned my head in the direction of the voice, I saw a s
"Okay, mom, but first please bring your ears here; I have something to say."As I agreed to my mother's eviction order that she gave me, I first gestured for her to bow down to my level with the excuse of telling her something important in her ears, and then quietly I gave her a kiss on the cheek."Muah!, hehehe... bye bye!"And before she could react, I instantly turned around and started walking away, towards an empty seat located slightly away from my mother's position."You kid...!"However, before I could even walk a few steps, I was instantly grabbed by my mother, who then gave me a few return kisses before allowing me to leave.And only then, I started walking again as I took my cheese-meat balls' plate from the table with me when some conversation between Stacey and my mother fell on my ears."He really loves you.""Of course, he's my son after all.""Gosh! If only Selina could be as obedient and talented as your son, even 10% of him would have made my life much easier."Heh!