Chapter 5 : Signs of Premature Onset

Cellos Abalan.

He was a kid two years younger than me, and though our mothers were different, we were brothers.

Though it didn't seem like he thought of me as his older brother.

He also appears in the same scene as me a few times in the original work.

Because that kid is also an extra villain.

As you can tell from him taking a seat close to me, who was sitting at the very end of the table because I have no Manis, he belongs to the side with little Manis.

“You lowly thing, you weren't taught well, and now you can't even understand what's being said?”

Whether he felt ignored because I was lost in thought and didn't answer, the kid's way of speaking became rough.

“Ah, my apologies.”

I recalled that Ran was mostly intimidated when he was with that kid, so I offered a simple apology first.

How long has it been since I apologized for something I didn't do?

But whether my apology wasn't to his satisfaction, the kid's eyebrow shot up.

“Are you crazy?”

Perhaps because the 8th Prince was still 2 years younger than in the original work, he was a bit more hot-tempered than his description in the novel.

Still, what a relief.

That he seems to get better.

Thinking that, I felt a bit more generous.

After all, wasn't there a 28-year-old man sitting inside me?

If he's 17, he's a first-year in high school.

I was willing to play along with a high schooler's tune to some extent.

“What, abandoned by even your vermin-like mother, I see you didn't even learn how to apologize properly? If you're an insect bastard, you should bow your head deep and beg like one.”

……I was always curious what it would feel like to have a younger brother, so this is what it feels like.

It's f*cking annoying.

“It's f*cking annoying.”

The 8th Prince's eyes widened, and his face became as reddish as his hair color.

Seeing his face, the probability that my mumble was too quiet for him to hear seemed low.

My new half-brother seemed to have good hearing.

Damage control, I need to do damage control.

Words to soothe my good younger brother who was worried about my upbringing as soon as we met…….

“……I'm relieved that at least my younger brother's ears are working fine.”

I confess, both in the modern world and now, I have a bit of a talent for getting on people's nerves.

***

Whether he was flustered from hearing an insult from his half-brother, who usually couldn't even open his mouth in front of him, the 8th Prince was frozen solid.

It was a pretty shy reaction for someone who had just thrown out a parental insult out of the blue, so I stared at him blankly, and he soon seemed to come to his senses, making a fierce expression as he slammed the table and stood up.

“You bastard……!”

I was aware that I'd gotten a bit choked up, hearing someone talk about 'upbringing' for the first time in 10 years.

But I didn't want a bigger commotion here.

Until now, it could have just looked like the 8th Prince rebuking the 7th Prince, as usual.

I sighed and tried to calm the kid down.

Fortunately, that kid in the novel dies later than me, so I knew a lot about the 8th Prince.

“Siblings should get along well.”

But before I could open my mouth, a soft voice cut between me and the 8th Prince.

My gaze and the kids turned to where the voice had come from.

It was a beautiful woman accompanied by two ladies-in-waiting.

With her voluminous blond hair, she boasted features so splendid that she stood out even among the beautiful imperial family members.

She met my eyes once, threw a glance toward the 8th Prince, and then passed by our seats.

“You shouldn't show such a disorderly sight in front of His Majesty, the Emperor, you know.”

The gentle voice brushed past me, sitting, and the 8th Prince, standing awkwardly.

She, with her noticeable long, slightly yellowish-blond hair, had a way of speaking as soft as her voice, but it didn't seem to sound that way to the 8th Prince.

“M-My apologies. Imperial Princess.”

The kid, his face instantly pale, bowed his head and quickly sat down.

I looked at the 8th Prince, who had quieted down as if frightened, for a moment, then scanned the table, which was made of blue rock and now almost full.

It wasn't as difficult as I thought, because almost everyone treated me as if I didn't exist at all.

With nearly twenty blonds sitting there, the already splendid interior looked even more luxurious.

The most noticeable thing was, as expected, the seat of honor at the opposite end of the table.

In the seat second to the left from the head seat, which seemed to be the Emperor's, sat the woman who had unintentionally frightened the 8th Prince just moments ago.

She was the 1st Imperial Princess, as expected.

In that case, the man sitting in the first seat to the left must be the 1st Prince, and the person sitting across from that man must be the 3rd Prince.

And the good-natured-looking man sitting across from the 1st Imperial Princess is the 2nd Prince.

As you can tell from that seating arrangement, and from me and the 8th Prince sitting at the end, they aren't simply seated in order of age.

The closer the seat is to the Emperor, the closer the hair is to wheaten-blond, nearing white.

It's not like they're puppies sorted by fur color, so I wondered what this was, but it all has meaning.

This is because, in this world, the stronger a person's Manis is, the closer their blond hair is to platinum blond.

It is ordained that only the imperial family has such light-blond hair.

In other words, commoners cannot have powerful abilities, even if they die and come back.

Except for our black-haired protagonist, that is.

The 7th Prince in the original work is not the protagonist, and he has black hair, not blond, so he is the only one among the siblings who doesn't have Manis, and all this mistreatment stems from this.

It's something I, who lived a 28-year life far removed from such fantasy elements, cannot understand.

Because as long as a person has a healthy body with all four limbs, life finds a way to be lived.

“His Majesty, the Emperor, arrives.”

At the attendant's solemn voice, the restless hall became so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.

The Emperor entered the room with slow steps.

Dressed in dark red formal attire that looked like a military uniform at a glance, he had a youthful face and a sturdy physique unbelievable for a man over 60.

However, his eyes that looked like they had seen everything in the world and his gestures, full of annoyance, proved that he was by no means as young as his face.

“Everyone, be seated.”

To us, who were standing with frozen expressions, he waved his hand once as if annoyed, and sat down.

In front of him was placed a stone slab in the shape of a triangle with rounded corners.

That thing, placed so that its corners were pointing toward the Emperor and to each side of the Emperor, is the core of this ritual.

This blue plate, about the height of an adult man's palm, had a mystical glow, different from the smoothness of the blue marble table.

“Let's begin at once.”

Fortunately, the Emperor seemed to like swift work, as he lightly raised his right hand to signal the start of the ritual.

“In one hand, glory; in one hand, faith; at the end of two clasped hands, no return.”

The Emperor's low voice resounded through the hall.

It's not something like a magic spell.

They are words the first Emperor left before he died, just a tradition passed down in the imperial family.

It didn't have much meaning in the work either, so I just thought the author put it in to look cool.

Seeing it in front of my eyes like this, it feels different again.

The Emperor, his eyes as dry as mine, slowly placed his hand on the corner of the stone slab.

It looked as if he was injecting something, and at a glance, it also looked like he was just pressing down gently.

Woooong.

The stone slab, which vibrated greatly, began to glow blue.

Presently, a bundle of shimmering light haze burst out from the very center of the stone slab.

The mass of light, as thick as a large tree, spread out like a vine, covered the table, and extended to a distance that almost reached me at the end seat.

When the light spread no further, the Emperor removed his hand.

The bundle of light vanished like mist.

At the beautiful sight that made one lose one's mind, everyone seated looked at him with a face of wonder.

That extraordinary-looking stone slab the Emperor just placed his hand on is the ancient artifact, Prasa.

It is one of the few artifacts left by the first Emperor.

When Manis is injected, it measures the caster's amount of Manis.

And the reason the people of the imperial family hold this ritual at least once a month is for this measurement.

To be more precise, it is to solidify the hierarchical relationship of power.

The amount of Manis indicates the magnitude of power.

The person with the most Manis becomes the next Emperor.

Anyone sitting in this place can put their hand on the Prasa and display their Manis in front of everyone.

After the two people sitting on either side of the Emperor place their hands and finish their measurements, anyone can step up.

But mostly, there are no challengers, so the ritual ends just like that.

This is because everyone in the imperial family has their potential Manis measured once when they turn 12.

The ranking determined at this time is rarely overturned, even after becoming an adult.

Well, if you dig through the records, there might be exceptions.

Otherwise, it's an extremely exceptional case, to the point where you can't even find it.

Simply put, this ritual is a tradition that is good only in appearance.

In words, it's said that anyone has a chance to try, but in reality, it is a declaration in front of everyone.

Of who is the person with the most powerful strength.

For the one who will become the Crown Prince, it becomes an event to solidify their position, and for the Emperor, it becomes an opportunity to show that he is still going strong.

“Oh, today you are especially amazing, Your Majesty.”

As the afterglow of the immense power faded, someone far away, either the fourth or fifth, barely offered a word of admiration in a trembling voice.

Though the Emperor lightly ignored it.

It certainly seemed to be a more amazing sight than what was described in the novel.

Did the light reach the end of the table like this back then, too?

While I was wondering, the turn soon passed to the 1st Prince, who was sitting to the Emperor's right.

He is currently the most likely candidate for Emperor and uses powerful water Manis.

He placed his hand on the other corner with a confident expression.

Woooong-

The blue table shone brightly, just as it did for the Emperor.

I was gradually getting bored, so I folded my arms and watched the scene.

The 1st Prince, as he is now, probably can't produce as much power as the Emperor yet.

Probably enough to pass the halfway point of the table…….

“Kuk!”

“Brother!”

The beautiful spectacle everyone had anticipated could not be created.

Bright red blood just flowed from his nose, spread down his chin, and messed up the blue table.

The red blood flowed without stopping.

The 2nd Prince, who was sitting right next to the 1st Prince, didn't know what to do, then shouted toward the outside.

“Hey! Is anyone out there!”

At that urgent voice, the attendants who were on standby rushed in.

The inside, which instantly became a mess, lost its solemn atmosphere and was filled with the murmuring sounds of both the imperial family and the attendants.

“Dammit…… Cough! I'm fine, so all of you back off!”

“Brother, still, a doctor……”

The attendants had to stand back awkwardly at the 1st Prince's irritated gesture.

People exchanged flustered glances or covered their mouths with their hands and watched this.

But I am confident that among all these people, no one was as stunned as I was.

In the moment when everyone was confused, only I understood exactly what had just happened.

The 1st Prince will die soon.

Spewing blood from his whole body.

The start of the original work has been moved up by 6 months.

***

The night's ritual ended anticlimactically like that.

After urgently sending the eldest to the 1st Prince's Palace, it was no longer a situation to proceed with any ritual or anything.

The Emperor, who had been watching the situation with a straight face the whole time, just left his seat, leaving behind only the words that this was it for today.

I also headed to my old bedroom with hurried steps.

It was strange.

It shouldn't be like this.

Currently, Ran is in the body of a 19-year-old who has not yet had his coming-of-age ceremony.

The start of the original work should have been 1 year later.

If things had gone as they were supposed to, the 1st Prince would have had a nosebleed in the middle of the ritual, just like today, half a year later.

After that, the situation steadily turns for the worse.

Until then, it was as good as deciding who the next Emperor would be, because the 1st Prince's Manis was higher than the rest of the siblings, but with that incident as a catalyst, a bloody wind began to blow in the Imperial Palace.

It is the prelude to the fight for imperial power that had not been revealed above the surface, and the first page of the original work.

That has been moved up by 6 months.

Has only this one thing been moved up?

Or has the entire timeline been moved up?

A period of 6 months is enough time for a human to change and grow.

But what if only the 1st Prince's death was moved up, and the rest is the same?

What if the protagonist is not yet sufficiently prepared to stand against the imperial family?

……What if the protagonist is defeated in the fight against the imperial family because of this?

No, that's one thing, but if the timing of all other events has been moved up…….

Goosebumps ran down my back.

It can't, just that cannot be allowed to happen.

If he loses…….

I entered the room roughly in my anxiety.

Not long after, two servants knocked on the door to help me change my clothes.

I didn't wait for them to come in and opened the door at once.

“All of you, get out. I'm going to rest from now on, so don't let anyone into the castle until tomorrow morning. I'll make both the person who enters and the person who let them in beg that they'd rather be dead.”

The two, pale as sheets, stammered that they understood and fled the spot as if running away.

“Hoo……”

I had to calm down.

What has already happened cannot be undone.

That is the same, even in the world of a novel.

I slowly turned off the lights in the room, one by one.

Fortunately, I am an avid reader who has read the novel from beginning to end over 100 times.

I might even be the person who has read [Dark Header] the most in the world.

There will be many things I can do.

I looked around the quiet room once and slowly headed toward the window.

Besides, don't I have one more ability outside of the settings?

Although it's not cool at all, it's a useful ability for me right now.

Outside the window, I could see the old, deserted laundry area and the lush trees growing in the imperial family's hunting ground far away.

The old room given to the 7th Prince had landscaping that was a mess, but thanks to that, there was no one who paid attention to this side.

I closed my eyes and wished, just like that day.

That I wanted to fly in the sky.

Presently, the warm energy, which was now a little familiar, enveloped my whole body.

I spread my jet-black wings and went out the window.

Sensing that my leisurely life in the Imperial Palace was now completely over.

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