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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
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Everyone has probably thought at least once, “I want to be the protagonist in a novel.”
An Emperor who reigns supreme.
A swordmaster facing thousands of soldiers.
A great wizard who glimpses the truth.
A ruthless assassin who controls the darkness.
The protagonists of the novels I read were all captivating. So sometimes, I thought to myself that I wanted to be a protagonist too.
Perhaps I was tired of my life running like a cog in a machine.
The fleeting desire I thought would pass by began to visit me more frequently as time went on.
But becoming a protagonist in a novel was impossible. I wasn’t foolish enough to truly wish for that.
However, nothing is absolute.
When I woke up, I found myself inside a novel. But contrary to what I had desperately hoped, I was not the protagonist.
Raymond Philios.
That was the name of the character I had possessed.
He was a villain who met a miserable end at the end of volume one of the novel.
But it was still worth a shot.
I knew the “setting” of this novel.
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Warm morning sunlight touched the man’s cheek.
He yawned and opened his eyes. However, he frowned at the unusually blurry vision and the pounding headache assaulting him.
“Ugh, I don’t remember drinking.”
This was a hangover.
Instinctively, the man reached out as if searching for something. Then he realized something was off.
‘Is my place this big?’
There should have been a nightstand within reach, but now there was nothing nearby.
“What the…?”
As his blurry vision cleared, confusion set in.
“Where am I?”
It was a lavishly decorated large bedroom. There was a full-length mirror next to him.
The man moved toward it as if entranced.
In the mirror stood a plump Western man with golden hair and an average build.
“Is this me?”
The moment he unconsciously voiced his thoughts, a voice came from beyond the door.
“Your Highness Raymond Philios, did you cough?”
He was momentarily startled by the young man’s voice.
“Am I Raymond Philios…?”
The man, Raymond, muttered softly. His voice trembled.
This name was unmistakable. No, he knew it all too well.
“Am I the rogue Raymond Philios from ‘Empire of the Dead’?”
Raymond Philios was a character from a novel he often read, ‘Empire of the Dead’.
He woke up in a novel but how? Why? Those thoughts didn’t come to mind right away.
What mattered more was this fact:
‘Raymond Philios, the Fifth Prince, dies at the end of volume one. And it’s very miserable…’
The details of how he dies weren’t described. But he remembered that it was noted as one of the most tragic deaths.
‘The plan to wipe out the royal family.’
At the end of volume one, there is a massive incident where Raymond Philios dies.
“Why did it have to be this body…?”
Wouldn’t it have been better if I had possessed the protagonist instead?
His voice trembled slightly with rising annoyance.
Eventually, he sighed in resignation and flopped down onto a nearby chair.
At that moment,
he heard footsteps approaching from behind the firmly closed door. It sounded like multiple people and quite noisy.
The noise grew closer until it stopped right in front of the door. Instead of footsteps, voices echoed through but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“Your Highness, it’s Alex. Excuse me.”
For some reason, there was an anxious tremor in Alex’s voice as he carefully opened the door.
A handsome attendant walked in. He wore formal attire and had a smile on his face, but there was an awkwardness about him as his gaze darted around nervously.
A few knights wearing light armor and red cloaks followed behind him.
Their eyes quickly landed on Raymond sitting in the chair and they all reacted similarly.
Their eyes widened in surprise and their mouths dropped open. Then they quickly realized their rudeness and hurriedly composed their expressions.
‘The prince is awake at this hour?’
‘He drank so much yesterday…’
Those were the knights’ thoughts.
‘Thank goodness…’
Alex glanced at Raymond’s clear eyes despite his hangover from last night and felt relieved.
Prince Raymond would usually require being woken up dozens of times after drinking at night before finally getting up.
Of course, during that process, Alex, the attendant, had to endure Raymond’s irritated punches several times.
“How are you feeling today, Your Highness?”
Alex politely bowed his head and asked about his condition. Lost in thought, Raymond turned his gaze toward Alex.
‘Did he say Alex? If he’s an attendant to the Fifth Prince named Alex…’
Recalling something from his memory about Alex, he soon remembered some details about him:
Alex Tiringer, second son of Baron Tiringer’s family.
That was about all he could recall for now. But he remembered that there wasn’t much special information about this character either.
“Your Highness?”
Seeing Raymond only glance at him without speaking made Alex cautiously ask again,
“It’s nothing.”
“That’s good to hear. Will you change your clothes right away?”
Information about royal etiquette flooded into his mind—some memories belonging to Prince Raymond Philios.
“Y-Your Highness…”
As he frowned slightly due to another headache, Alex jumped back in surprise and stepped back while knights moved forward instinctively.
Their behavior seemed very familiar—like something they had seen often before.
‘How much did he hit them for them to react like that?’
Raymond felt incredulous but soon understood why they were acting that way.
Fragments of memories rushed in mixed with his thoughts; one of them involved Alex directly:
‘This is insane.’
In his past life, Raymond seemed to have taken pleasure in hitting his attendants whenever he felt bored.
As a result, his attendants were frequently replaced until finally ending up with Tiringer’s second son, who had no strength whatsoever, taking over as his attendant now.
Because Alex lacked strength, he had merely endured all this time; apparently just recently, his bones had been broken too.
Since then, it seemed like several knights accompanied him every time they came to wake him up each morning now.
“There’s nothing wrong with me; don’t worry.”
Raymond spoke in as soft a voice as possible. Only then did the knights step back cautiously while Alex moved forward again.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“I will change my clothes.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Maids entered to help Raymond change clothes. Thanks to Raymond Philios’s memories, he could act skillfully while being assisted with changing clothes.
However, what bothered him was how overly stiff and tense the maids were while serving him.
‘How much did he hit them for them to act like this…’
Although Raymond’s memories hadn’t fully come back yet, judging by their reactions—it was clear that he had laid hands on them too at some point during his past life as well.
After all, it was noted in the novel that he was famously known as a rogue prince; so some degree of expectation made sense here too.
“Ah!”
“I-I’m so sorry! Your Highness!”
While fastening the insignia on his uniform, a sharp needle pricked his skin slightly.
As he winced from the sting, the maid who made the mistake dropped to her knees in fear. Raymond couldn’t help but feel incredulous at her reaction.
‘Was it really this bad…’
He sighed and shook his head. At that moment, one of the knights hurriedly stepped forward.
“Your Highness! You must not kill the maid again! Please, calm your anger!”
‘What? He has killed a maid before? How can such a rogue still be a prince?’
As that thought crossed his mind, a line from the setting flashed in his memory.
‘The worst rogue in royal history, yet he remains a prince due to his bloodline that can wield ancient weapons.’
The worst rogue in royal history.
But it wasn’t too late. He could change.
He could shed the reputation of a rogue.
“What’s your name?”
Surprisingly, the prince did not draw his sword. Alex’s eyes widened in surprise, and the knights exchanged anxious glances.
They probably thought he would refrain from drawing his sword only to deliver an even harsher punishment instead.
Seeing the royal knights ready to step forward, Raymond couldn’t help but swallow hard.
“I-I’m Seria, Your Highness.”
Perhaps relieved that she wasn’t being punished, Seria appeared much calmer than she had moments ago when she was trembling in fear.
“You seem quite startled; go and take a rest. The change of clothes is done, after all.”
As he finished speaking, he grabbed the red cloak held by one of the knights and draped it over himself.
The royal knights were wide-eyed with shock that no tragedy had unfolded.
He could feel their gazes on his cheek.
“I’m hungry. Alex, is breakfast ready?”
“Y-Yes?”
“I asked if breakfast was prepared.”
“I-I will serve it.”
He stepped forward first. Alex and the knights followed behind him, leaving only Seria and two other maids in the Fifth Prince’s bedroom.
“Is this really the Fifth Prince? Can a person change so much in just one day?”
“Is this a sign that the world is ending today?”
Amidst the maids’ whispers, Seria pinched her cheek slightly. She felt pain. This was not a dream.
The Fifth Prince had changed.
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The Fifth Prince’s palace was quiet. As they walked toward where breakfast was prepared,
a man dressed similarly to Alex approached with his head bowed. He calmly matched their pace and spoke up.
“Your Highness Raymond… The Emperor wishes to have breakfast with you.”
If it’s Emperor Philios, then it must be Ronald Philios.
“The Emperor?”
“Yes, Your Highness. If you refuse again today, His Majesty will be very saddened.”
As the attendant added this, Alex shot him a cold glare.
The attendant’s last words were unnecessary. Realizing this, he quickly lowered his head again.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. It was inappropriate of me.”
“No need for that. If His Majesty calls for me, I should naturally go. Lead me to the main palace.”
“Y-Yes?”
The attendant doubted his ears at Raymond’s response.
‘The Fifth Prince who has refused the Emperor’s invitation for five years since Empress died suddenly is…?’
Although he had delivered the Emperor’s invitation, he expected another firm refusal today as usual; instead, he was taken aback by Raymond’s sudden change of heart.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and lead me there. Shouldn’t we arrive before His Majesty?”
The attendant once again questioned whether he heard correctly.
If the man standing before him wasn’t truly the Fifth Prince, he might have dared to ask back.
Fortunately, such a worst-case scenario didn’t occur; however, it seemed like he couldn’t hide his expression either. Raymond read the attendant’s face and lamented inwardly.
‘Just how much of a rogue was I…?’
In the book, Raymond was indeed an antagonist but not a particularly significant character.
Like most novels, ‘Empire of the Dead’ focused on its protagonist rather than Raymond; thus there were few descriptions about him.
“I will escort you to the palace.”
The attendant moved first. Raymond followed closely behind him along with Alex and three royal knights accompanying them.
The Fifth Prince’s palace was located on the outskirts of the royal castle; therefore, it was a bit far away. They had to hurry their steps to avoid being late for breakfast time.
‘How surprised will they be?’
This was a strange reaction resulting from a minor clash between Raymond’s original personality and the new persona that had taken over due to possession.
Although the royal castle was vast, they quickly arrived at the main palace thanks to using carriages as well.
The royal knights’ eyes widened in disbelief at seeing the golden carriage adorned with the Fifth Prince’s emblem.
“The Fifth Prince is going to the main palace?”
“What on earth is happening…?”
The royal knights guarding the main gate whispered amongst themselves. They seemed to try lowering their voices but…
‘We can hear you clearly.’
Since their carriage was higher than expected, they couldn’t see Raymond’s frown from inside it.
“There’s no problem.”
With approval from the royal magician, the carriage carrying Prince Raymond Philios passed through the main gate of the palace.
Watching as it disappeared into the distance, royal knights opened their mouths with expressions of disbelief.
“Do you know how many years it has been since the Fifth Prince passed through this gate?”
“Since right after Empress passed away five years ago when he locked himself away in his palace.”
“This is unusual.”
“Maybe it’s just a whim?”
At one knight’s comment, an older knight shook his head and looked up at the sky.
“I hope so.”
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Upon arriving at the spacious main palace, Raymond recalled memories from his setting book as he stepped down from the carriage.
‘I know quite well about Philios Empire.’
Philios Empire: A nation maintaining an extremely centralized system of governance and is known as the only empire that survived through a great war ending ancient times.
There’s a setting that states members of royalty can wield ancient relics like the Golem.
Thus there were many secret organizations established to protect royalty since ancient times; however, they had lost much power over time due to decline now.
‘I can’t claim I know everything.’
Still, since I knew all about secret settings not mentioned in novels and opportunities that protagonists would gain later on—there was no need for concern.
One common thought I had when I first read this novel and later stumbled upon its setting book was:
‘Ah! This author is an absolute setting junkie.’
I thought that way. Amusingly enough, just looking at how lengthy its setting book was already exceeded volume one of this novel—even though only three volumes had been serialized so far!
“A R-Royal Guard…”
Lost in thought during this moment, I heard Alex’s surprised voice. I looked up to see a man wearing golden robes leaning against a wall with a mask on his face.
A shield protecting royalty.
Even recalling memories of being with the Fifth Prince didn’t provide many instances where I actually saw them in person before.
