Gentle moonlight pierced through the window, the cool night wind softly rustling the curtains. Shadows stretched lazily across the walls, giving the space a quiet, almost unreal calm.
The room was decorated with exquisite furniture. At the center of it all stood a massive bed, draped in fine sheets that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.
On top of that bed, a figure slowly opened their eyes.
Auron stirred.
He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, his movements sluggish, his body heavy with drowsiness. His head throbbed faintly, as if he had slept for too long or not enough. He blinked again and again, trying to make sense of his surroundings as his vision gradually cleared.
'Where am I?'
His eyes wandered around the room. Everything felt strange.
Yet at the same time, it all felt familiar, like a place he had lived in for years but somehow forgotten. The contradiction made his chest feel tight.
'Wasn't I was about to get crushed by something...?'
The memory surfaced suddenly, sharp and clear. He remembered the looming shadow above him. The unbearable weight. The sound of wood and metal collapsing.
'Ah...! It was a piano!'
Before he lost consciousness, he had been about to be crushed by a piano.
But strangely, Auron didn't feel much when he recalled it. He didn't remember much except him feeling weight at the back of his skull, then intense pain then nothing...
Another memory followed.
In that memory, he hadn't died. He had simply lost consciousness.
He remembered servants panicking, maids carrying him carefully back into his room, their voices anxious as they laid him onto the bed.
"Hm?"
'But wait! How did I know that? Wasn't I supposed to have been crushed by a piano? Then why did I faint instead? And more importantly why did I remember both?'
Auron's breathing grew shallow as his thoughts tangled together. His vision wavered, the room seeming to tilt slightly. A dull ache spread through his skull, pulsing with each heartbeat.
Two completely different types of memories were colliding inside his mind. They didn't blend. They clashed. Each felt real, complete, and undeniable. He couldn't tell which one belonged to him and which one didn't.
'Is this some sick dream?'
Confusion turned into nausea.
His stomach churned violently, he felt like vomiting.
He slouched back against the bed instead, breathing heavily as he pressed his fingers against his temple, trying to steady himself.
It felt like he was trapped inside a fever dream.
Reality warped. Time blurred. His thoughts became sluggish and distant, as if submerged underwater.
And before long, his eyes rolled back
And he passed out.
=====
The next morning arrived quietly.
Auron woke up to the gentle chittering of birds outside the window. Warm sunlight streamed into the room.
Auron sat up.
His face was calm and extremely handsome. His breathing was even. His posture was relaxed. Yet something about him had clearly changed.
His eyes no longer carried the heaviness from before. Instead, they held a sharp, unfamiliar clarity. He was calm, alert, and deeply focused.
Auron had reached a critical realization.
He had reincarnated!
Or rather, calling it reincarnation wasn't entirely accurate. He had reincarnated long ago but only now had he awakened the memories of his past life.
The confusion, the clashing memories, the fainting… all of it suddenly made sense.
And another dangerous realisation was that the world he had reincarnated into was eerily similar to a novel he had once read.
As that realization settled in, a cold weight pressed against his chest.
And as for himself in that novel, he was a trash emperor.
A tyrant who exploited his people. A ruler who killed anyone over even the slightest offense. An emperor whose name inspired fear rather than loyalty.
His fiancées, who were supposed to be bound to him by soul contracts, eventually found a way to sever those bonds. They chose to stand beside the novel's original protagonist instead.
That same protagonist used the opportunity to overthrow Auron.
One of the women ascended the throne and became the ruler of the empire, while the protagonist gained control over the empire as a whole, along with the recognition, admiration, and love of the people.
Auron felt his jaw tighten. Familiar feeling of the Curse of Extreme Pride acting up stirred at the back of his mind.
A deep, burning rage rose within him, sharp and unfamiliar, carrying resentment that didn't feel entirely like his own. His hands clenched at his sides, his nails biting lightly into his palms.
But he didn't let it consume him.
He took a slow, steady breaths.
The anger receded a bit.
Auron was sure that he was consumed by the curse and that's why he was like that.
"A measly curse taking control over me? Haha~"
Auron laughed, slow and dangerous, his anger flaring up again. His eyes burning with quiet fury.
He not angry because his finances could betray him. Nor he was at the protagonist.
He was angry at himself. For letting a mere curse consume him. His pride felt wounded. He felt like ripping his pathetic future self into pieces.
'Was I that hopeless!?'
His fury continued to rise. His emotions were being amplified by the Curse of Extreme Pride. He knew but he couldn't help but wanting to break something.
'Right... it was that bastard wasn't it? I will rip you before I massacre those demonic bastards...'
Huff
He knew that he had been when he was nine. Because of the Curse of Extreme Pride, he didn't tell anyone. Till this day, no one knew.
Auron was seeing red from rage before everything tilted and he lost focus. He slouched back, breathing heavy and sweating.
'Argh...! I really need to do something about the curses. But nothing is coming to mind because I'm too damn angry!! I will think later.'
Auron slowly got up and went to the bathroom to splash some water to calm down. He came back and got into bed again. Calmer then before.
Auron then decided to look into his Progression bar.