Inei drifted in and out of consciousness for what felt like an eternity. His mind was a foggy mess, tangled between memories of a Tokyo rooftop and the searing pain of lightning. Through the haze, one phrase echoed over and over, not in his ears, but deep inside his mind, like a system notification he couldn't dismiss:
Ultimate Skill: Royal Authority acquired.
He didn't know what it meant. He was too weak to even wonder about it.
During the rare moments he was fully awake, the world was a jolting cart, the smell of a mule, and the grim face of the dwarven blacksmith, Aoki. The man was quiet, but not unkind. He gave Inei water and hard bread.
"Where...?" Inei tried to ask once, his voice a dry croak. It was the voice of a child. It felt wrong.
"Quiet, boy," Aoki said, his voice low. "We are going to a new place. A safe place. Just rest."
It was during one of these brief stops that Inei's world shattered again. He stumbled away from the cart towards a cluster of bushes, his new body weak and uncoordinated. As he turned, his foot caught on a root and he nearly fell, catching himself on his hands and knees.
Right in front of him was a large puddle of rainwater from the previous night's storm.
And in that puddle, he saw a reflection.
It wasn't his face.
Staring back at him was a young boy, no more than twelve years old. His skin was pale, his features soft and delicate. A shock of hair, white as snow, fell across his forehead. And most startling of all were the eyes—wide, frightened, and a brilliant, emerald green.
Inei froze. He brought a hand—a small, slender hand that wasn't his—to his face. The reflection mimicked the movement.
He blinked. The boy blinked.
A cold, terrifying understanding washed over him, colder than the puddle he was kneeling in. The explosion. The lightning. The strange words about mana and skills.
He wasn't just in a new world.
He was in a new body. The body of a child.
This wasn't his face. This wasn't his life. The reality of it hit him like a physical blow. He was trapped. He was Prince Carl. He was twelve years old. And he was utterly, completely lost.
He stayed there for a long time, just staring at the stranger in the water, the words echoing in his silent shock.
Ultimate Skill: Royal Authority acquired.
What did it even mean? And what was he supposed to do now?