CH 1

I have never tasted happiness ever since I was born.

My indoor slippers[1] went missing, my desk was scribbled on, and in extreme cases, I was severely beaten. Nevertheless, I couldn’t tell anyone that I was the type of person who would be bullied because I felt that if I told anyone, I would be admitting that I was in an unfortunate situation. It’s no surprise that I became a social misfit with a communicative personality and a pessimist after spending my school days like that.

“…You should go home today.”

“I’m sorry….”

I sighed after my superior clicked his tongue after hearing my apology. The room fell in silence, and my colleagues didn’t even try to sneak a glance at me, wearing looks as if they didn’t care at all.

“… Pardon me, I have to go now.”

There was no response.

Seeing this, I left the room immediately, wanting to escape this suffocating space as soon as possible.

My shoulders slumped pathetically as I walked from the office to the station. Previously, I wanted to tell my superior that I wasn’t the one who created the document in the first place or that I wasn’t in charge of it. However, someone pushed the blame on me, and I was later reported to my superior. A similar thing happened when I was a student. At the time, I was accused of being a criminal for breaking a vase that I didn’t even touch, and I was chastised by my teachers.

[Although I’m not particularly bright or attractive, I don’t consider myself stupid or ugly. Nonetheless, why do people despise me so much? What is the meaning of life? I’m in my 30s and have no idea what I want to do with my life, and I spend my days being afraid of people. I spend my days being scared of people. I want someone, even if it is just one person, to like me. I want to fall in love.]

I sighed loudly as I looked at my shadow under my feet when I heard a scream. I looked up from under my feet and saw the woman in front of me, her eyes wide open. As soon as I realized this, I received a tremendous impact from behind me, and my vision was immediately darkened by the orange sky of the evening.

“A car[2] has just crashed into the sidewalk!”

“Someone’s been run over!”

“Someone call the ambulance!!!”

Hearing voices in the distance, I muttered in my head, “Is this an accident?” However, my consciousness instantly snapped, with me not understanding what was going on.

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[My eyelids are heavy… and my head hurts. I wonder what time it is.]

I opened my heavy eyelids and turned to the side to look at the clock by the futon[3].

“Asher-sama, have you awoken?!”

When I turned to my side, I noticed an elderly woman standing beside me, looking at me anxiously.

“Hmm?” I froze in shock. ‘Who is this person? Wait, this is my house… My house?’

“Asher-sama, you are awake! When I heard you had fallen off a horse during horseback riding practice, my heart stopped.”

“…Horse”

“I must inform Angela-sama that Asher-sama has awakened.”

The older woman stood up and exited the room right away. At the same time, I was taken aback by the size of the room. ‘What should I say… There’s even a canopy over the bed and fluffy bedding…’

‘Is this a dream? …A dream?’

I slowly rolled out of bed, landing on a soft carpet.

‘It feels like a dream… huh? My vision seems to be a bit low. I also feel like my limbs have shrunk. Wait, even my voice sounds high.’

Noticing the large mirror next to the bed, I timidly stood in front of it. When I opened my eyes to see my reflection in the mirror, the person in the mirror opened his eyes and returned my gaze. When I looked in the mirror, I noticed that the person in front of me had a bandage wrapped around his head, with golden hair sticking out.

The person in front of me had jewel-like blue eyes, lips and cheeks lightly tinted pink, white skin, slender arms and legs, and so many golden eyelashes that I thought I could hear them every time I blinked.

‘An angel has arrived.’

It was the same angel I’d seen in a painting in my art class textbook years before when I was in school.

“Ah, that …….” When I extended my hand, the angel in front of me extended his as well, and our fingertips collided.

‘It’s a mirror. Yes, this is a mirror, which means that the angel in front of me now is myself.’

The door to the room opened with a bang as I was about to open my mouth and scream because I had no idea what was going on.

“Asher!!! Oh… I was so worried! You’ve finally regained consciousness!”

A beautiful woman with golden hair tied up in a bun and tears streaming down her face embraced me. I couldn’t breathe because I was buried in her ample breasts.

“Mother didn’t know what I should do since you didn’t wake up for a week! Waaah… Asher…”

“……Urgh!”

“Angela-sama! Asher-sama had only just awoken! Please refrain from hugging him so tightly!”

“Ara[4]! I’m so sorry, Asher.”

I was soon released from her arms, thanks to the older woman who quietly called out the beautiful woman from behind. I then stared at the unrivaled beauty in front of me. She, like the angel in the mirror, has shimmering golden hair, jewel-like blue eyes, and white skin. ‘She claimed to be my mother. Whose? Mine? No, not mine, but this body’s ’

“Asher, what’s the matter? Why are you being quiet? Perhaps, do you still feel sick?”

“Oh no, I’m…”

[I’m not sure what’s going on. This body’s name is ‘Asher,’ and he appeared to have fallen off his horse and been unconscious for a week. Is my consciousness currently inside this body after I wake up?

“…. my head hurts.”

“Ellie, fetch the doctor right away!!”

“Yes, Angela-sama!”

“And please notify His Majesty that Asher has awakened.”

“Huh? His Majesty? Why?”

“It’s natural for a father to be concerned about his child.”

Even if I tried to calm down, it didn’t work. I was perplexed by the inexplicable events unfolding before my eyes. ‘I’d like to think this is a dream, but is there such a real dream?’ I was taken aback.

‘Is this a reincarnation trope that I’ve only seen in novels? I think it is. I remember walking to the station from work on my way home. Then, something bumped into me and… What? Wait…’

“—Did I die?”

“What nonsense, Asher! Look at me! You must have hit your head really hard,…… poor thing.”

The beautiful woman in front of me cupped my cheeks in her hands and stroked them gently. Her eyes flashed with a piercing gaze just as I thought I saw sparkling tears fall from her moist eyes.

“The fool who accompanied you during the horsemanship is still being tortured, so don’t worry. I have beheaded the head of the horse that dropped you.”

The words that came from the beautiful woman in front of me made my body freeze.

“Torture?”

“That’s right, it’s only natural because he injured this precious person of mine. I won’t kill him until he wakes up and suffers the agonies of hell…” The beautiful woman’s words were quickly drowned out by the loud noise of the door being forcefully opened.

When I looked toward the door in surprise, a black-haired young man donned in a fully black military uniform walked towards me. The young man in all-black attire was tall, and I had to look very high up to see his face at my current height. Above all, the young man has black eyes that were colder than anything else.

“Asher-sama, it is great to see that you have woken up.”

“It’s rude to enter the prince’s room without permission!! No matter how much you are a national hero, this is unforgivable! ︎Black Knight Theodore!! “

“I apologize for being impolite, Your Royal Highness Angela-sama. But I’ve come to ask you to release my men.” The cold black eyes shifted to look at the beautiful woman before returning to me with contempt.

“Prince Asher, my men have been punished for as long as you have been sleeping. Now that you are awake, I hope you will release them as soon as possible from their punishment.”

“Asher! Don’t listen to such nonsense, it’s a great crime to even scratch the prince, and now that you’re awake, I’ll slit their heads off!”

I couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced events going on around me. The beautiful woman was yelling angrily at a young man called the Black Knight.

I died and reincarnated, and when I woke up, I was a prince of a country. Also, I was the prince who fell off his horse and was injured, and someone was tortured as a result.

I was perplexed because I assumed that God would normally take pity on my death and bestow upon me a cheat ability and a brief explanation before reincarnating. Although terrified, I mustered the courage to say something to the beautiful woman who was still yelling and the young man whose face didn’t twitch and was wearing a straight face.

“Well, Your Royal Highness Queen… Please stop the torture. Uh, Black Knight Theodore-san, please go help that person as soon as possible.”

The two people in front of me looked at me and remained silent. They were both frozen with the same surprised expression. It was as if I had said something strange.

“Asher… what do you mean? There is no need to call your own mother, Her Royal Highness Queen…. Theodore! Did you hear me!? Asher has hit his head so hard that he is unable to make sound decisions! Your foolish subordinates have still not atoned for their sins!! ︎

“…Prince Asher, thank you for forgiving my men. Excuse me.”

“Wait! Nobody has forgiven you!”

The young man left the room without listening to the beautiful woman’s words.

“Asher!! Why did you do that!!”

“…I’m fine. My head doesn’t hurt anymore…”

“That’s not the problem!! To forgive those who inflicted wounds on the royal family…!! If other people are forgiven even if they inflict wounds on you, more and more people will think they’re allowed to do foolish things on you!!”

“People who think that way…”

“And if you’re the same as usual…!!”

The beautiful woman looked at me with her beautiful brows contorted but quickly returned to a calm expression.

“No, Asher is safe and sound anyway. This evening, greet His Majesty in your own words at the royal dining table,” The beautiful woman slowly stroked his cheek and quietly left the room.

After being left alone in the room, I finally caught my breath.

The original “Asher” was gone, or perhaps, if this was really indeed a reincarnation, the original “Asher” might have fallen off his horse and died.

I was suddenly thrown into this world without any explanation. I didn’t have the usual face-to-face encounter with God in my reincarnation but considering my current situation, I could only assume this was the case.

My appearance is too beautiful in comparison to the circumstances of my previous life, and I even became a prince. My current situation tasted sweet when I thought about it. On top of that, the aforementioned queen or this body’s mother also worried about Asher and took good care of him.

In my previous life, I wasn’t the kind of person that people liked, but in this world, I wonder if Asher is a prince loved by everyone. I didn’t have words or explanations for myself because I hadn’t been blessed with the ability to be liked in my previous life, but this was a gift from God. Then I turned around and looked at myself in the mirror. My gaze was drawn to the reflection of an angelic boy with sparkling eyes.

“Ash-Asher… Asher Diaz?” Asher’s official name suddenly popped into my head. I tried to recall more memories of Asher, thinking that this body might remember them, but nothing came to mind after that.

‘Nope, too much going on, I’m tired….” I stumbled closer to the bed before collapsing.

‘I’ve been asleep for a week. It’s not a good idea to suddenly use my head,’ I reasoned.

Just like this, Asher or I soon fell asleep again.

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[1] 上履き(Uwabaki) = Students in Japan usually changed into their indoor slippers when entering inner premises of their school.

[2] No truck-kun this time. Only car-kun… LOL

[3] A bedding that usually spreads on the floor.

[4] An exclamation, like ‘Oh’