After possessing the 2nd Prince Khalid De'l Urchtdorf, Lee Hyun realized that he had entered a fantasy world where everything he could never imagine is possible to happen.
Even now, he can't believe that he's facing the hideous-looking beast in front of him that he had never seen in his world and never actually dreamed of seeing.
'What in the world?! '
'This is no beast but a demon!'
Lee Hyun was surprised, but his expression didn't change. Just like a doll without a soul, he was simply standing in the dense part of the forest with the two armored guys beside him, preparing for a counter attack with their gazed fixed on the mounstrous beast that had them cornered. The tension hung grip in the air as they both held the weapon in their hands tight yet unsteady.
"This is far from what I expected."
He looked at the sky after hearing the terrifying growl of the rabid beast.
Every step the beast has taken, it turns the grassy field into a cold pile of ice.
"FRIGUS."
Reinhardt murmured.
Frigus was a type of monstrous demon beast that was covered in precious jewels and beads. It had the elegant features of a deer but displayed a sharp fangs, claws, and fur that shine like glass. It made him confused that the beast that meant to prey in frigid realms was dwelling in the swiltering mountain area of summer.
"Uh! Just how did things go like this?"
(A week after Lee Hyun possessed Khalid's body.)
"Milord, we are humbly happy that you've finally awakened. For half a year, we thought that we would never be with you again!"
The lithe guy who looks like he's in his 20s with eburneon short side emo bangs and pair of clear hazel-looking eyes spoke.
"Erwin! Watch what you say! You are in front of his Highness!"
Scolded by the big-built guy beside him.
"I apologize for his ignorance."
He kneeled as he begged for forgiveness.
Though Lee Hyun just looked at him with his mirk-piercing glaucous eyes that made him sweat bullets.
"You…"
He pointed.
"The guy with a weird haircut."
"Ye-yes?"
"How old is this boy?"
He pointed at himself, his expression was serious that conveyed the intensity weight of his words.
"Perhaps? Milord...doesn't remember a thing?"
It made him roll his eyes.
"Answer is what I needed."
A silent plea for help flickered in his eyes hinting towards the armored guy while he knelt on the ground, deliberately avoiding Khalid's intimidating gaze that already dug a hole on his face.
"AHEM!"
He clears his throat as he continues to speak.
"Milord, it seems that you are experiencing an aftershock from the war that must have given you an inferior impact in your memory."
"On behalf of that, please let us introduce ourselves."
He demanded as he took off the armor on his head.
Revealing his face, his looks were like a man in his 40s with a long black hair around his waist and a tall masculine figure that perfectly suited his tan skin.
He then looks at Khalid with his calm grayish eyes, which are like ashes in the furnace.
"I am Reinhardt Levista, the commander of all your knights!"
He claimed as he introduced himself full of confidence.
"The guy standing in front of you is Erwin. He was the same age as you, Milord. You are currently 5,876 years old, you just turned in the last month of autumn."
Lee Hyun was startled as he stares at his reflection on his armor, wondering if he possesses an old-age pensioner who looks like a toddler.
"Hmm...for quite an age, i supposed to have already kicked the bucket."
He murmured softly as he took the bayonet from Erwin, gliding his fingers over its cold metallic surface.
"Milord! You mustn't!"
He dusts off himself as he stands right in front of him.
"I beg your pardon, but you're only 23 years old!"
"Far too young to be talking about dying!"
Lee Hyun's jaw dropped along with the bayonet as if he were stabbed in the back while Erwin explained everything that had happened. After battling on the front lines, he had drained so much mana that it reverted his body back to a child and leads him to a coma for half a year.
As he could hardly comprehend the weight of Erwin's words, he was left in disbelief hearing his stomach unexpectedly rumbled. The sudden sound made the two face flush, catching them off guard by the surprising turn of events.
"Since your worries have been answered, then there's no point for this conversation to last any longer."
Reinhardt then walked right outside the tent to prepare for their feast, leaving Erwin to accompany him.
'This is unbelievable.'
'How could this twig be so frail? In my past life, I was able to survive being starved for a month with nothing.'
Lee hyun though, tightly clenching the sheet beside him.
A week has passed, and the same cycle has repeated. All he has done is eat and stay at the shed under the tree while the two of his knights train themselves near the pond.
After the fearful battle, All his knights who bravely fought valiantly at his side had perished, leaving the three of them as the sole survivor of the harrowing war.
As he watched them from a distance, Lee Hyun, who was now living on the body of the empire's traitor, couldn't help but to looked at the pond while stares at the beauty of his new body.
"Tssk!'
He sneers, frowning his brows as he watches the two train under the hot, blazing heat of the sun. Visciously looks at them as if he were throwing daggers from a distance.
"What a nuisance."
He muttered as he remembered the pridian weeks that flashes before his eyes.
--------
"Well, will you look at this?"
Lee Hyun was in his own world doing eccentric things that he seemed to enjoy. He was looking underneath his old baggy clothes that were led by Erwin while scanning his body.
He felt a little chill when he saw swords instead of pearls.
"So it was a boy!"
He pervertedly thought while he was left inside the old, cramped tent as the two were busy preparing for a feast.
"Milord, the food is ready-
Erwin face flushed in red, blocking it with his hands, avoiding to look at Khalid's messy appearance.
"Ah! I've been caught."
He dropped the neckline of his shirt, and walked straight towards Erwin while his long ash-silver hair swayed by the wind, making his messy and revealing clothes that were too big for him to made Erwin freeze on his feet.
"Mi-milord! You can't! You-you musn't!"
Erwin stuttered as he couldn't seem to move by Khalid's seductive appearance.
"Hey! Erwin."
Khalid stood in front of him, staring right through his eyes with his chin resting on his fingertips.
"Ye-yes?"
Erwin tried to respectfully look at him with a serious expression, but he could not conceal the visible blush on his face, just like a freshly harvested tomato.
"What do you think of this body?"
Khalid asked wearing a straight face that made Erwin faint in shock.
After the incident, Erwin could not face Khalid without a thousand continuous apologies.
"Milord?Is something bothering you? You're mind seemed so occupied lately."
Reinhardt has been calling Khalid's name for a while, but they didn't get a response. He was in his own world before he came back to his senses, looking at them with his intimidating, cold-piercing eyes.
"What?."
He replied in a monotone voice.
Reinhardt's eyes widen as he hears his stomach rumble.
His face flushed red.
'Damn! I hate this body!'
Khalid thought, while Reinhardt just smiled as he called for Erwin.
'Now, what?!'
He looks at them talking to each other from afar.
"I trust you, Erwin."
Reinhardt whispered as he tapped his shoulder.
"Milord, we will do the hunting."
"I'm going…"
Before Reinhardt could barely finish his words, Khalid left them too stunned to speak.
He couldn't quite grasp the turmoil within himself. Hyun had always been self-centered, focused solely on his own worries and desires. Yet, when it came to these two, an unfamiliar emotion welled up inside him—one he was reluctant to acknowledge.
They stood before him with their gazes lingering on his flushed cheeks, the silence stretching between them like an unspoken bond. In that moment, he felt vulnerable, exposed. The emotions he fought to suppress created an awkward tension, leaving him both embarrassed and uncertain. Their understanding looks pierced through his defenses, and while he longed to voice what he felt, the words remained trapped in his throat, unexpressed yet profoundly felt.
"Tssk! There is nothing to do here!"
Khalid clicked his tongue when he saw them smile. He quickly turned his back to them unable to look at their unwell complexion, especially Erwin's skeletal figure, which was like a kite precariously poised to be swept away by the slightest gust of wind.
Heavy footsteps can be heard as they enter the dense part of the forest. It always made him so worried every time the wind blew, fearing that it would take Erwin away, but to be surprised, he looked fine. He thought maybe he was being too guilty about nothing, but still, he couldn't blame anyone but himself for seemingly act like a human garbage disposal that made the two so busy that they couldn't take proper care of themselves.
"Milord…"
Erwin called, facing Khalid with a serious expression written on his face.
"Promise me one thing. Whatever happens, run and never look back."
Erwin pleaded with Khalid without knowing that he was different from before, or rather, that he wasn't the master they once knew.
'Even though his voice sounds sincere, isn't he just trying to say that I should save myself and leave them?!"
'HA! Who are you to command me?!'
Khalid's face gloom.
"…. Milord?"
"AH~…."
Khalid can't understand his emotions anymore. He knows that their amity is for the real owner of the body, but it is too much for him to feel furious. No one was ever so kind to him in his previous life. Although his power and presence enough could petrify them but on the inside, their hands were so itchy to kill him and get his position. He knows that if the two were to find out that he isn't their real master, they will surely turn their backs too.
Lee Hyun closed his eyes as he flipped his bangs. He sighed.
'I shouldn't have this kind of emotion.....yet...'
"Milord!"
"Khalid! Your highness!"
Reinhardt's voice echoed through the trees as he called out for him nearly a hundred times as soon as he notices the pile of beasts emerged from the shadows, surrounding the three of them in the heart of the forest, where spiky thatch grass clawed at their legs. The once serene forest had turned into a trap, the whispering winds now felt like sinister chorus of nightmire.
In that moment, Reinhardt knew they had to fight or flee, but uncertainty clouded his mind, making the choice feel impossibly heavy.
"Milord! While Erwin fights the frigus, I'll find a way for you to escape!"
Trap in a dire situation where neither of them had enough mana nor energy to protect Khalid made his anger tick like a bomb that was about to explode.
'F*ck! Stop it! Just stop it! Stop being nice to me! '
His thought was puzzled. Every words of worry coming from them stoked the flames of his anger that wanted to burst out of his body.
"Milord! We beg you! Please... please leave us!"
"Leave before it's too late!"
Reinhardt voice was thick with urgency as he fixed his gaze on the looming beast.
It's as if he was ready to even sacrifice their lives to their Lord, who was possessed by other souls.
"Damn it! Just who are you to command me?!"
Khalid is furious. Although he doesn't want to be attached to both of them, he can't just simply leave them to die and be preyed on by the group of beasts as they're the only people who he could possibly relay on right now.
Their eyes widened in shock like it was the first time they heard Khalid cursed in range with his mouth.
"But-But Milord!"
"Do you think I'll just stand by and do nothing like an idiot?!"
He exclaimed, drawing the bayonet he had stolen from Erwin, ready to charge at the beast. But just as he took a step forward, his legs gave out beneath him, turning to jelly as if he had lost all his strength on his body. Before he could hit the ground, Reinhardt caught him just in time. leaving Erwin on the fierce battlefield.
"Milord! That's enough! You're hurting yourself!"
Reinhardt urged, holding him gently, but Khalid slapped his hands away with anger flashing in his eyes. The intensity of his gaze was intimidating, as if he was born prepared to face the chaos ahead.
'Yun….Hyun. You have to... survive...'
A familiar voice rang in his ears, making him lose control of himself that even the big built body of Reinhardt wouldn't be enough to stop him.
"Shut! Shut up!"
He screamed.
"HA! This is it. I've had enough."
He wipes off the dirt on his chin as he licks the bottom of his lip.
With the bayonet in his hand, he aimed for the eye of the frigus as it lunged at him.
Khalid noted the frigus razor-sharp claws and impressive agility, but he brushed aside his concerns, deftly avoiding its attacks.
Each time the frigus struck, the ground beneath them turned to ice, yet Khalid skillfully avoids it all, finding a perfect time to charged back.
Because of the rays and heat of the sun, the thick ice that covers the fur of the frigus slowly melts, and that is where Khalid find a perfect oppurtunity to kill the beast. He stabs them right through their stomach with no hint of mercy as the purple-ish liquid flows out into the beast's body. It was all thanks to the sun that made their fur soft and easy to pierced, but they probably dead by now if they were to fight them in the cold realm.
Khalid leaves the two in shock as he draw a smirk on his face.
"Uh! You have no idea how many bones I've broken in this body!"
Khalid bragged, feeling extremely proud of himself.
He had been secretly training his new body to the point that he had fractured and broken some of his bones and ribs without telling the two, as they had forbidden him to train with them because of his fragile condition. However, his stubbornness drove him to continue, enduring the scorching fever and aches from his body every night.
The fierce battle continued, with his flat, long sword, Erwin stepped back as he charged all of his energy on the sword. It lit up a blue aura as he swung it in the air, which cut the beast's body into pieces, while Reinhardt used his ability in his big ax to run towards the beast, gradually avoided them all while swinging it on their midriff.
"1…2..3..4….5…..11"
Khalid throws the frigus bodies in the same place as he counts them one by one, and then sits on top of it like it was his throne while wiping off the blood on his face and then gently cleans the bayonet he stole on Erwin, watching the two catch their breath as they fight the remaining beast.
"Huff! Huff! Mi-milord...please don't worry about us...we-we can handle this!"
They both claimed, looking like pale corpses from exhaustion.Reinhardt had even lost the strength to wield his axe, nearly falling flat to the ground, while Erwin's swords bore cracks along their edges.
'Yeah~ sure you both can."
He rests his chin on its palm as he sits on the frigus body, crossing his legs.
'Hmmm? Let's see. 30 minutes have passed. But they only killed seven beasts. Are they doing their job properly? '
He arrogantly thinks.
"Hey! If you can't finish the job, then I'll help!"
Khalid exclaimed, but he froze as his eyes widened, sensing someone watching them from afar.
A smirk crept across his face as he followed the gaze without informing the two.
Not far from their battle with the frigus, the creature that had been observing them hid carelessly in the bushes, fully aware that it was being tracked.
"I'm all alone now. Show yourself."
Khalid's voice was calm yet cold, persueding the unknown creature to reveal itself.
*Birr...*
The gentle rustling of the bushes and the sound of falling leaves filled the air as Khalid stared coldly at it.
"Pfft! What a joke?!"
He chuckled.
When they arrive at the foot of the mountain, a view of a small town can be seen from a great distance.
"Huff! Milord! We've made it!"
Erwin exclaimed, panting.
They successfully killed 21 frigus in total where they could probably sell on the market in a high price.
"Say, Reinhardt, how much money do you think we can get from selling this beast?"
"If I'm not mistaken, we could probably get around 250,000 gold shillings."
Reinhardt stated as he gladly explained everything to Khalid about how the beast was priced based on its skin, type, and use.
"Uhm...Milord, it's not for me to say, but you should be careful next time."
He spoke as he handed the mask that was similar to a deer.
"It will be dangerous to reveal yourself for now."
"Ha! Just what kind of crime has this guy committed?"
Khalid was amazed as his eyes observed the town. The clothing of the people was rather old and classic, and the buildings and houses were made out of cement and brick, which was different from the world he used to live in. But out of all of them, what amazed him the most was the different figures and appearances of people. Some had bunny ears and features like beasts and animals. It was the first time he saw something so unreal, like a dream.
Lee Hyun didn't want to believe it at first, but whenever he felt the broken bone in his ribs, it just brought him back to his senses.
"Oho! Look at this harvest!"
A short, stout man who resembled a dwarf exclaimed in joy as Reinhardt placed the beast on the table, where he began to dismantle it.
On the other side, Khalid's attention was caught by the boutique shop window, where he stared intently at his reflection.
'Khalid De'l Urchtdorf...'
He placed his hands on the glass.
"Am I worthy to live freely in this life?"
He mumbled, not taking his eyes off his reflection.
The mask was merely a wall to hide his emotions, yet the profound loneliness and aching sadness within him, along with his soulless expression seeped through, exposing an emptiness that no disguised could hide.
"Milord! is there something wrong?"
" Is the mask uncomfortable?"
Erwin run rushed at him, who was supposed to be negotiating with the butcher, but because he was just a commoner, he was raised with poor education and a lack of knowledge, and when it comes to money, losing it is almost one of his abilities.
"Ah. It's nothing."
Khalid smiled, though the warmth of his expression remained hidden behind the mask.
"If I were to live your life... would I ever know the joy of a happy ending?"
He pondered softly as he walked toward his two loyal knights with a faint smile painted on his face.