PROLOGUE: THE DROWNING
The water was colder to touch than Kai had expected it.
He tried to fight against the current, as he could feel the weight of his clothes pulling him deeper into the lake's bottom, as it got dark quickly and he could barely make out the surface anymore. His lungs were hurting him from the lack of air, each desperate kick not helping at all to bringing him back to the surface.
This wasn't how it was supposed to end at all
One minute he was simply having a stroll in the afternoon at the lake.
There was a child who had wandered too far from shore. No one else had noticed him at all. It had been fear and a great need to save the kid that sent Kai running into the water. He'd reached the boy, pushed him toward the shore, almost getting himself out when he was suddenly dragged into the water by the receding waves.
*So this is dying*, he thought sounding eerily calm about it. *Not how I expected to go. Not that I had a plan, exactly.*
He began to lose consciousness fully when there was a blue light that seemed to start glowing out of nowhere.. It grew brighter, surrounding him like a cocoon. The pain of dying through lack of oxygen soon became a thing of the past as he felt nothing.
*Am I hallucinating?* He thought in his mind not sure he understood what was happening.
*[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]*
The robotic voice seemed to be echoing everywhere making it impossible for him to figure out where it was coming from.
*[CANDIDATE ACQUIRED. SCANNING COMPATIBILITY...]*
Kai tried to speak out but found out that he couldn't open his mouth at all. His body felt distant, disconnected like he wasn't a part of it anymore. Like the body has shut down but his mind was still conscious.
*[COMPATIBILITY ASSESSMENT: 87% MATCH. VIABLE CANDIDATE CONFIRMED.]*
*[INITIATING TRANSFERENCE PROTOCOL...]*
The blue light grew brighter, covering everything at once.
*[WELCOME, DESIGNATED VILLAIN #4721. YOUR SERVICE BEGINS NOW.]*
As Kai lost his consciousness completely, he had one final thought.
*What the hell is a designated villain?*
CHAPTER 1: THE TUTOR
Kai woke up on a bed, feeling the weight of the sheets on his body and the steady movement of a pendulum clock. His head was hurting him badly as he could make out a severe migraine as well as he took a look around the unfamiliar environment.
*Where am I?*
He sat up slowly, wincing at the sudden place as he tried to piece things together. This wasn't his apartment.
This wasn't any place he recognized at all and it clearly didn't look like a hospital VIP room.
*[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE. UNIVERSE 1 ACTIVATED.]*
The robotic voice from before was echoing in his head, causing him to clutch his head in pain.
"What the—"
*[WELCOME, VILLAIN #4721. YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED TO UNIVERSE 1: ROYAL ACADEMY OF ALDORIA. YOUR ROLE: COURT SCHOLAR AND TUTOR TO CROWN PRINCE LIAM ALDORIA. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: ENSURE VILLAIN ARC COMPLETION.]*
Kai staggered to his feet, his eyes moving all around the room for the source of the voice but not seeing anyone.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
[THIS SYSTEM COMMUNICATION IS PRIVATE. OTHERS CANNOT PERCEIVE IT. PLEASE REFRAIN FROM VERBAL RESPONSES IN PUBLIC SETTINGS.]
"Public settings?" Kai muttered,shaking his head, running a hand through the unfamiliar longer hair.
"I'm alone in a room I've never seen before."
[ACCESSING ROLE INFORMATION... TRANSFERRING DATA.]
Suddenly a flood of memories—not his own—rushed into Kai's mind. He gasped, falling down to his knees as he was filled with a lot of information he had no idea what to do with.
He was Edmund Blackwell, 25-year-old royal tutor to the orphaned Crown Prince Liam, last of the Aldorian royal line. Edmund had spent five years gaining the trust of the late king and queen before their tragic deaths in a diplomatic mission went wrong.
Now, with the prince only sixteen, Edmund held a lot of important influence over the boy's education and, by extension, the future of the kingdom.
He was also, apparently, plotting to kill the prince and take the throne.
"This can't be real," Kai whispered, examining his hands—younger, with elegant fingers stained with ink. "I'm a literature professor, not some backstabbing schemer."
[REALITY VERIFICATION CONFIRMED. THIS IS NOW YOUR DESIGNATED REALITY. YOUR PREVIOUS EXISTENCE HAS BEEN SUSPENDED PENDING SUCCESSFUL MISSION COMPLETION.]
"Suspended?" Kai struggled to process the meaning behind that word. "You mean I'm dead? Or in a coma?"
[TEMPORAL STATUS: INDETERMINATE. COMPLETE YOUR VILLAIN ARC TO RETURN.]
"And what exactly is my 'villain arc'?"
[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: ENSURE CROWN PRINCE LIAM ALDORIA AND PRINCESS ELENA OF VALORIA UNITE IN POLITICAL MARRIAGE. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: MAINTAIN VILLAIN ROLE UNTIL TERMINATION EVENT.]
"Termination event?" Kai didn't like the sound of that. "You mean death?"
[CORRECT. YOUR ROLE CONCLUDES WITH VILLAIN DEATH. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION RETURNS YOU TO ORIGIN POINT.]
Kai laughed, a bitter sound that echoed in the spacious chamber. "So I have to die to go home? That's your offer?"
[IT IS NOT AN OFFER. IT IS A DIRECTIVE. FAILURE TO COMPLY RESULTS IN PERMANENT DISPLACEMENT.]
A knock at the door interrupted the bizarre conversation that Kai was having as he immediately straightened up instinctively adopting the posture of the man whose life he now was in control of.
"Enter," he called, surprised at how natural and cold his voice sounded to him.
A young servant boy bowed low, after closing the door behind him.
"Lord Blackwell, His Highness is waiting for you in the study for his morning lessons."
Kai—no, Edmund now—nodded once as he waved him away.
"Tell His Highness I shall arrive shortly."
As the door closed, he turned to the big mirror beside his bed.
The face that stared back was handsome in his own way—sharp cheekbones, calculating green eyes, dark hair hair and a smile that was often seen as cruel rather than welcoming.
"Play the villain," he murmured to his reflection. "Die. Go home."
He straightened up right and made his way towards the wardrobe. If this was madness, it was well detailed though. If it was real...
Well he was always one to adapt to his situation quickly.