Chapter 0
Thud!
A fairly heavy bag was thrown next to me.
At the same time, an orderly-looking old butler walked forward and spoke in a cold voice.
“……You are no longer a member of the Vade family.”
Um, what’s this?
I definitely laid down on my bed and comfortably fell asleep right after coming home from work, didn’t I?
Is this a dream?
“The bag contains the only belongings you are allowed to take from the Vade family.”
“Uh, excuse me. I have a question, sir.”
“Yes, please ask.”
Maintaining a businesslike demeanor, the old butler finally prompted me to honestly ask the question I had been holding back.
“Um… where am I?”
“……”
Instead of answering, the old butler looked at me with eyes full of contempt.
And then.
“Young Lord Karmon.”
Karmon?
Is that supposed to be my name?
“Nothing will change now. The fact that you have been expelled from the household remains unchanged.”
The old butler explained in a cold and firm tone.
He then took a step closer to me and continued speaking.
“The Marquis personally ordered your expulsion.”
“……?”
Listening quietly, I finally took a good look around.
A grand mansion, an old butler, and maids moving around.
The Vade family and the noble title of Marquis, and the name Karmon.
For a dream, this feels incredibly vivid.
“Okay, I somewhat understand that I’ve been kicked out of the family.”
After grasping the situation and nodding, I continued speaking.
“Can I at least know why I was expelled from the family?”
“Young Lord!”
The old butler suddenly shouted, seemingly unable to contain his long-suppressed anger.
“It’s far too late to feign ignorance now. Such a shallow trick won’t work anymore. Young Lord, it’s the Imperial Princess.”
‘Imperial Princess?’
Catching his breath, the butler continued.
“Even within the academy, which is free from status constraints, you attacked the Imperial Princess. Did you think you could simply brush off such a heinous crime?”
Wait a minute.
I attacked the Imperial Princess?
Wait, this seems awfully familiar…?
Karmon Vade. An incident with the Imperial Princess. And the academy?
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a sharp realization struck me like a bolt of lightning.
“Flaines Imperial Academy?”
“Yes, that’s right. The academy where you were expelled is Flaines Imperial Academy. Why? Are you going to pretend to remember now?”
“Wait a minute!”
I raised my hand, cutting off the old butler mid-sentence, and shouted again with a serious expression.
“Ah, just be quiet for a moment! Let me gather my thoughts.”
“……”
The old butler, with a ‘there we go again’ expression, closed his mouth. I quickly waved both hands, gesturing for him to calm down.
“Sorry, I just need to think for a moment… No, there’s no need for that. If it’s a dream, I just need to wake up.”
Mumbling to myself, I hesitated no longer and slapped my cheek hard.
Smack!
‘…Huh?’
A stinging pain spread beyond a mere twinge.
What? Why does it hurt?
Getting hit in a dream hurts?
‘Wait, just one more time.’
Smack!
Ouch, damn it. That hurts.
Smack!
“Why does it hurt so much?”
I must have hit myself too hard, as my eyes started to water. At the same time, I had a sinking feeling that something was terribly wrong.
“……”
No way.
“This isn’t a dream?”
Right, if it were a dream, it wouldn’t hurt this much.
If it were such a shock, I should have woken up by now.
‘Could this be reality?’
Seeing my dumbfounded expression, the old butler shook his head and muttered.
“Young Lord, no matter how much you harm yourself, nothing will change. No matter what you do…”
But I interrupted him again.
“Excuse me. What did you say my name was?”
Sighing deeply and shaking his head, the old butler answered expressionlessly.
“Haah, you are Young Lord Karmon.”
“No, I mean the full name.”
“You are Young Lord Karmon Vade.”
Hearing that name once more, I couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“Ha, is this for real?”
As he watched me, the old butler shook his head one last time and said,
“This concludes our farewell. May you be well…”
Thud!
With those words, the enormous iron door closed in front of me.
I stood there in a daze for a while, finally coming to a realization.
“So, I am…”
No longer Kang Hyunsoo, a thirty-three-year-old man living in 21st century Korea.
“Karmon Vade.”
That was my new name.
In other words, this was an entirely new world…
Right. I had fallen into the world of a novel.
