Taking deep breaths, he went back to bed and sat on it while digesting this massive information in his head.
"So, basically, I'm the fourth child of House Phoenix, which is a big shot in this Empire."
"My Eldest brother, Astreides, is a hero, the great General of the northern army."
"My second eldest, Moira, is the wife of the Duke of Nanjing."
"My third brother, Agnes, is a Tier-9 sorcerer and an elite of the Spirit Blade Mountain sect."
"And I, the last son, am a trash with nothing but good looks."
"The Emperor is my maternal uncle, and I was his favorite."
"And I have a notorious reputation for splurging money in brothels and gambling?"
"The f**k is this trope I was sent into…"
Then the memory twisted, and a new image flared in his mind.
A crimson scroll bearing the seal of the Dragon Throne. It was an imperial decree from his uncle.
Icarus was to marry the heiress of House Griffin, and he would enter her household as a matrilocal husband.
But Thea was no ordinary bride.
She was a seventh-rank martial artist and the only daughter of Grandmaster Kaelen Griffin, one of the strongest swordsmen in the empire.
With his guards, Icarus was on his way to Ashenford, and an ambush from assassins killed the original Icarus and his guards.
The pain in his skull only intensified further as his heart rate spiked up, and the tears automatically flowed from his eyes as he remembered the last words of his killer. "Is my whole family dead…" His hand was clutching his heart, feeling as if his breaths became heavier.
"What family… It's not my family… I… I'm Qin Wei… I'm not… I'm not Icarus… Am I? Who am I? Icarus or Qin Wei?"
For that one moment, Qin Wei suddenly lost the clarity he had a few moments ago.
As he was lost in his thoughts, the door creaked open.
A soft voice cut through the silence. "Young Master, are you alright?"
He turned sharply. "Hmm?"
A girl stepped inside, a maid in red-trimmed robes, not older than eighteen, but her eyes were quite cold. She charged in a hurry and caught him.
As she helped him to sit on the bed, Qin Wei asked, "Who are you?"
The maid replied politely. "This servant is Vanessa. The Family Head assigned me to look after you during your recovery."
"The Family Head?" he asked, furrowing his brows. "Am I at House Griffin?"
The maid nodded. "You were rescued and brought here by order of Lord Griffin."
With his elevated heartbeat, Qin Wei asked, "Was my family notified?" A brief pause later, he hesitantly asked again. "Is the House of Phoenix fine?"
At that question, the maid blinked her eyes in surprise as if she didn't expect him to know something about the tragedy. She sighed, shaking her head. "No, the Phoenix Manor was destroyed two days ago, in a beast horde attack. No survivors were left, but according to the reports we received, your father, Lord Phoenix's body, was missing. As the young master remained in deep state hibernation, their cremation procedures were completed in your absence."
"It's been three days?" He asked, widening his eyes in surprise. Strangely, the intense pain in his heart was reduced a lot.
"Yes. And you are currently resting in the Western Wing, reserved for honored guests." She paused. "Though I've been ordered not to let you leave this room. Lord Griffin also ordered me to inform you that the wedding will be two days after you wake up. Day after tomorrow at noon will be when the wedding takes place. Allow yourself to grieve for your family in the meantime. Following the customs, 12 days after your wedding, you may visit your family graves to pay respects to your ancestors."
He stared at her blankly as if he was saying, seriously. But in the end, he let out a sigh and leaned back lazily against the pillows. "Tell me… be honest, Vanessa… does anyone in the manor actually like this marriage?"
She hesitated a moment. But then her answer came without expression. "I'm afraid no one except for Lord Griffin."
Qin Wei blinked in confusion. "Lord Griffin likes this marriage? Why? I lost everything. I no longer hold any value to House Griffin."
Vanessa lowered her eyes and answered. "I'm not permitted to learn that answer Young Master seeks. Also, the Young Master cannot meet her before the wedding. You could only meet her tomorrow at the ceremony, unless Lord Griffin thinks otherwise." After a brief pause, she added. "As for the young master's value, he is a matrilocal son-in-law of House Griffin. That means the entire responsibility of your life will fall on House Griffin. So, the incident doesn't affect your value."
Qin Wei narrowed his eyes, "What if I don't want this marriage then?"
Vanessa replied, "It is a marriage fixed by an imperial decree. No one can break this marriage, neither House Griffin nor House Phoenix."
Qin Wei scoffed at her statement. "That's ridiculous. Marriage should be decided by the ones who marry, not the one sitting on the throne. I don't care about house rules or imperial nonsense. I'm not spending another day locked in this room. I'll go and meet her on my own."
He stepped off the bed and started toward the door as if he were confident no one dared to stop him.
Vanessa also didn't move at first.
But then, as fast as lightning, she grabbed his arm, turned, and slammed him back into the bed with surprising strength.
He hit the mattress with a grunt, stunned by her actions. The noble bloodline in his body flared up in anger. "You… how dare a servant lay…"
However, her expression didn't change as she interrupted, maintaining a cold gaze. "I was ordered to keep you in this room until the wedding. Whether by words or by force. Even if the young master is beaten up to near death, no one would blame this humble servant. So, I ask the young master to follow the orders." She straightened her robes and stood beside the bed like nothing had happened.
Qin Wei lay there, sprawled on the bed, in disbelief. Thinking a bit, he sat up slowly, stretching his shoulders.
"Alright, alright. I get it," he said, lifting both hands in surrender. "You win. I'll behave." Taking a pause, he then added. "But can I get a little privacy, at least? I need to check my body."
"Why?" she asked flatly.
He raised an eyebrow. "Because I was unconscious for two days. I want to check for scars, wounds… anything important. Surely you don't expect me to examine myself while you're watching?"
Her expression didn't change, and neither did she react at first.
Qin Wei then smirked a little, cocking his head. "Unless, of course, you want to look at my naked body. I mean, I don't judge. I'm handsome after all. But right now, I'm not in that mood, alright? You can come to the room in the night…"
Seeing that Vanessa still doesn't react to his provocations at all, Qin Wei made the assumption that she won't act against him unless he breaks the rules.
In order to test her patience skills further, Qin Wei got down from the bed and stared at her. "Alright, since you like to see my body so much, I'll entertain you then."
He let down the robes loose, facing her, and by the time there was only one garment on his skin, Vanessa's cheeks, previously marble, already turned a very visible shade of pink. At the last second, she suddenly snapped, spinning around. "You… P… pervert!"
"I'm reporting this to the steward!" she barked in a flustered voice, already rushing out the door.
"Lecher!" she called back before slamming it shut.
Qin Wei slumped back onto the bed with a smirk. "I transmigrated into the body of a damn pervert. What do you expect?"
But then he sighed, hanging his head down. Staring down at his hands, he muttered. "Earlier, I was momentarily confused by my identity, but now, it's clear again. This feels too long and too realistic; the heartache, the emotions, the memories… nothing makes sense anymore. I only plausible explanation I can think of is taking a page out of my novels. I died and transmigrated into this worthless body that lost everything overnight, with this…"
He raised his head to look at the glowing system interface floating above.
[Codex System – Active.]
[Tap to Open.]
He sighed and sat up again. "Alright, there's no moping about my death. No one is there to cry for me anyway. However, I still have siblings who are alive in this world. And I awakened this system to become strong. I have written so many fantasy novels. Now, I get to live in one fantasy world. Let's make the best out of this life. Three simple goals…"
His face hardened in determination as he continued to mutter. "One, become a powerful warrior. Two, destroy those bastards that destroyed Phoenix Manor. And three, become rich and enjoy all the luxuries of this world."
He closed his eyes, pressing his palms against his knees. "Alright, let's do this…" Slowing his breath, he clicked on Open.
*Ding!
[Congratulations. You are now a Registered Codex Overlord.]
[War God System Activated]
All of a sudden, a feminine and sweet voice, something that appeared robotic, filled his head.
"Uhh... what? Who is it?" Qin Wei looked around, his breath hitched for a second. "Are you the system's voice?" He asked.
*Ding!
[Hello, Host. My name is Aria. A quantum artificial Intelligence that accidentally merged with the Orb of Creation. By strange coincidence, I was latched onto the host's soul.]
The system continued to speak while the words continued to appear on the holographic screen.
[The host is found to be a writer with 25 fictional works to his name. Now, the host can experience those powers he created with the War God System.]
"So, I really died and transmigrated into a fantasy world? Wait. Did I transmigrate or reincarnate as Icarus, and just now, I gained the memories of Qin Wei from my past life?" He wondered aloud.
*Ding!
[The host cannot say that this is a fantasy world. This is a pocket dimension in the world of Terra—a parallel world of Earth, but yes, the host transmigrated into the body of Icarus while the latter had awakened the system prior to his death. The host and Icarus' souls were accidentally merged. So, the host is both Icarus and Qin Wei.]
"Okay… that's… a lot to take…" Qin Wei took deep breaths to control his elevated heart beat again.