Year 876 of the Obsidian Empire
"Protect the Crown Prince! Everyone, hold your positions!"
The clash of steel was deafening, soldiers shouting, arrows whistling past my ears. My guards formed a wall around me, shields raised high, their eyes burning with loyalty. For a brief moment, I actually believed we could win.
But then boom.
Out of nowhere, a group of mages appeared, their chants weaving destruction into the battlefield. Fire, lightning, ice magic tore through my defenses like paper. One by one, the soldiers protecting me collapsed.
And me? The oh-so-glorious Crown Prince?
I couldn't even lift my sword properly before we were completely annihilated.
…That was it. My grand ending.
The last thing I remember of my past life was being surrounded by flames and thinking, Wait, this isn't fair!
Even now, I'm still pissed about it.
Why did so many people hate me that much? Enough to want me dead? Come on, I wasn't that bad… right?
Then, like a slap to the face, memories came back one by one.
First, that time I threw a massive tantrum at another prince just because he got first place at the Sword and Magic Academy's entrance exam instead of me. Yeah, I basically made his first year a living nightmare.
Second, oh right… that time I punched the disciple of an archmage. He only said one annoying thing, but hey, my fist moved before I could think.
Third, there was that tiny incident where I demanded Father build something near an allied kingdom's land, which uhhh ended up killing half their animals. They almost declared war. Oops.
I froze. My stomach dropped.
"…Oh."
So maybe I was that bad.
I sighed, dragging a hand down my face. "Ugh… I was a brat. No, worse. A full-blown scumbag."
Never mind, I'll just blame my brothers. They adored me way too much they literally gave up the throne just to make me the Crown Prince. But wait… doesn't that just make me sound even more like a spoiled brat?
"Arghhh!" I groaned, kicking at nothing. "Why am I like this?!"
"Kim Ah-yeon!"
My mother's voice rang through the house, calling me down for dinner. The warm smell of soup floated from the kitchen, dragging me out of my dramatic spiral. With a heavy sigh, I joined my family. Unlike my bloody past life, here I was just the youngest child in a family of five. Ordinary. Peaceful. Alive.
At first, I thought the whole "rebirth" thing was just my brain coping with trauma. I was conscious from the moment I was born I could hear voices, feel hands carrying me but I couldn't see. Everything was just… dark.
Weeks passed. My caretakers whispered, worried, but slowly I realized: babies aren't supposed to see clearly right away. Their vision starts blurry, just shadows and light. Still, mine seemed slower than usual.
Two months later, it finally happened. My sight sharpened, and for the first time, I clearly saw my new parents' faces. My new world.
And me?
I bawled. Loudly. Endlessly.
I cried so hard, I wore myself out and fell asleep like the tiny infant I was.
My parents were thrilled, thinking I was just a late bloomer. "Most babies focus at three to four weeks," they said. "Our Ah-yeon just took his time."
If only they knew. If only they realized their sweet, pretty baby boy was actually the reincarnation of a spoiled crown prince who got himself annihilated because of his own stupidity.
Time passed, and before I knew it, I was entering high school at a boarding school, no less. Coincidentally, the same one my brother attended. He was already a third-year by then, and yes, we were close. Very close. Honestly, he spoiled me so much that sometimes even I got annoyed at myself when my childish side took over.
My older brother, Kim Sunjae, and my eldest sister, Kim Soohee, were the main culprits behind my spoiled upbringing. My sister, especially she had this habit of dressing me up as a girl since I was little. Thanks to her, half the neighborhood thought I was a girl.
And me? Did I resist?
…Of course not. I loved being praised too much. Call me pretty, and I'd melt instantly. My sister knew exactly how to manipulate me with her sweet words. That's how she got away with endless dress-up games.
My brother wasn't any better. He went along with her schemes, playing "the knight" to protect "Princess Me." And my childhood friend? He always got cast as the prince. Poor guy didn't even argue he was too timid and shy. A cute, chubby little loner I met back in daycare.
That roleplay continued for years. Honestly, it was ridiculous, but… I secretly liked it. Then one day, just after sixth grade, my "prince" vanished. His family moved away, and shortly after, mine did too.
My father, Kim Teemin, had been promoted, so we relocated. Around the same time, my mother, Jung Yeji, opened a small restaurant. It flourished quickly, to the point my father eventually quit his company job to help her run it. (Not that it was a hard decision his company had been overworking and underpaying him for years. Good riddance.)
Our family wasn't rich, but we weren't struggling either. We had enough, and that was all that mattered.
When my sister graduated high school, it was my brother's turn. He entered the same prestigious boarding school as a freshman. At first, my parents hesitated about sending us kids to a school that required living away from home. But in the end, they agreed it meant fewer worries and more focus on studying.
Now, it was my turn.
The spoiled youngest, the so-called "pretty boy" my sister used to dress up, the bratty crown prince reborn into a perfectly ordinary family
…I was finally stepping into my own high school story.