Adrian was puzzled.
Who was he now?
Adrian Sterling or Valerius Thorne?
Adrian Sterling had been an orphan.
He had struggled with poverty his entire life.
With his determination and ambition, he had managed to study, while working day jobs and doing any other small task he could find.
He was often ridiculed and bullied, especially because he was a brilliant student, and aced his exams despite his daily struggle with extreme poverty.
While other kids played, he washed cars, trimmed lawns, or cleaned up garbage.
Then, he would work at a grocery shop in the evening. He studied whenever he could find time between his work.
With such grit and dedication, he continued to ace his exams and eventually earned a degree in Business.
After that, he started a startup with a classmate.
His classmate was wealthy and invested all the money.
Adrian was the co-founder who did most of the work.
And he did a lot.
Within a year, their startup became a Unicorn, and was making huge profits.
But, unbeknownst to Adrian, his partner became jealous of his success.
Despite being the co-founder, Adrian had become the face of the company.
His partner cheated him, and Adrian was back on the streets. Adrian was born into failure. He died a failure.
And then there was Valerius Thorne.
He was the son of Lord Elmsworth Thorne.
Their family was one of the richest families on the continent, and the rulers of the City-State, the Republic of Veridia.
Valerius was the person Adrian, the failure, had always dreamed of being.
Adrian decided he would embrace being Valerius Thorne, the person he had always wanted to be, and live his dream life.
He slowly fell asleep while thinking about these things.
The morning sun's golden rays fell on Valerius's eyes, waking him.
His mother was beside him.
Unlike Adrian, Valerius not only had generational wealth but also had loving parents.
What more could he ask for in life?
He sat up in bed, feeling refreshed.
His headache was gone.
He felt that he had regained all his knowledge of this world and his family.
Lady Seraphina woke up as Valerius moved.
Noticing her waking up, Valerius wished her good morning.
Lady Seraphina smiled and returned the greeting, then suddenly gasped.
Her eyes widened, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Sir Kaelen Strong and Elara Monez had also woken up.
They rushed to her and asked what was wrong.
Lady Seraphina simply said, "He... he spoke..."
Now it was their turn to be surprised, "Are... are you sure, my lady?"
Eldred Alsnow also woke up amidst the commotion and heard everything.
To confirm it himself, he bowed and said, "Good morning, Young Lord! Are you feeling well?"
"Good morning! And yes, I am. Thank you for asking!" Valerius replied.
Apparently, all four of them were astonished to see Valerius not only speak but also form a coherent sentence, without any hesitation.
"Come, my son, let's go see your father and wish him good morning as well!" Lady Seraphina said excitedly, and took Valerius's hand.
Valerius followed his mother.
The maids and servants gave them strange looks as mother and son hurried through the hallways, looking rather dishevelled.
Lady Seraphina knocked on the door of Lord Elmsworth's room, only to find that he was in his study, talking to his cousin.
Suddenly, a flood of memories entered Valerius's mind, as if he were recalling his past.
Cassian Thorne: a deceitful man, and Lord Elmsworth's cousin.
Valerius remembered that this person treated him kindly when others were around but bullied him when they were alone.
Valerius realized he had always been afraid of Cassian.
This felt a bit surprising, as Adrian, his former self, was never afraid.
He wasn't strong or powerful, but he was resilient.
Even when bullies used to beat him until he bled, he would maintain eye contact with them, his spine erect, for as long as he could.
His resilience and unwavering attitude had eventually caused the bullies to leave him alone.
Valerius was surprised why he felt fear of this man now.
Lord Elmsworth and Cassian were having a discussion in the study.
As Seraphina burst into the room, Elmsworth gave her an angry look, "What is the meaning of this sudden interruption?" he demanded.
"Our son, Valerius, he has recovered, and..." Her voice choked with excitement and tears, "...He has spoken!"
Elmsworth was silent for a moment, then coldly asked, "How old is he, Seraphina?"
"He is just eighteen!" Seraphina replied calmly.
She understood the direction this conversation was taking.
"A child who has been a brainless, mute burden, a complete disgrace to House Thorne, has started speaking after eighteen years, and you expect me to rejoice! Really?" Elmsworth roared.
Cassian tried to say something to calm things down, but Seraphina raised her hand to stop him.
Seraphina bowed to Elmsworth, "Have a good day, Lord Elmsworth. And forgive me for disturbing your important meeting with such a trivial matter. I will take my leave."
Valerius also bowed, "Have a good day, Lord Father. Have a prosperous day, Uncle."
And they walked out.
Elmsworth and Cassian stared after them as they left the room.
They couldn't believe what they had just seen and heard.
This could not be the same Valerius they had known for the past eighteen years.
As Valerius walked through the hallway, he could hear the feminine laughter in his mind, repeating the words he had heard before:
"...And perhaps you will soon face your first regret for making that wish!"
He now understood what she meant.
He did not like the idea of a twenty-four-year-old man trapped in the body of an eighteen-year-old.
To grant his wish, the mysterious beings had taken his soul and returned it to his body eighteen years later.
In the meantime, with minimal control, his body had acted like a stunted, awkward, senseless idiot for eighteen years.
He also realized the reason for the pain he had felt the day before.
When his soul returned to his body after eighteen years, all his memories from that time were uploaded into his brain, causing information overload and intense pain.
However, this made his life even more challenging.
He could still hear the feminine laughter ringing loudly in his ears.