Chapter 1
Chapter 1
I was a mere villager, how did I end up reincarnated as a tyrant prince?
Imagine this. You wake up one day to see a pure white ceiling above you and suddenly come to the realization that you have suddenly recalled the memories of your past life. Doesn’t that happen often?
Yeah no, it most certainly does not! There’s not even a 1 in 10,000 chance of that happening to someone obviously.
But then, how the hell am I supposed to explain what I am experiencing right now?
——out of nowhere, the memories of my past life began to rush and flow inside my head.
And above all, the me of that life was not even a noble, let alone royalty. Just a simple villager.
That said, perhaps that life was a far happier one than the one I have now.
After all…….I doubt I ever had to be stuck at the verge of life and death after getting poisoned in that life.
“!?! Prince Rudolf has come back to his senses!!”
“Hurry! Someone hurry up and call the doctor!!”
Ahh man, why is everyone so loud..
Perhaps because of the effect of the poison, I was unable to even speak up, let alone move my body or get up.
I closed my eyes once again, and began to ponder the situation I was currently in.
Right……..while attending a party at the Imperial Palace, I drank a cup of fruit juice that I received from one of the maids and then suddenly began to puke blood before losing my consciousness.
I’d love to narrow down the culprit but there were so many possible candidates that it was basically impossible.
All that said, amongst them all the most likely candidates are my three elder brothers………the first prince “Fredric”, the second prince “Oscar” and the third prince “Robin”. This was almost certainly a ploy from one of those three.
Well, for me to die here was impossible anyway, and I should be able to live for at least another 10 years or so.
Why am I so confident of that?
Well, that’s very simple.
——-because this place, is the world of the past, specifically 300 years before my previous life.
In my past life, I was just a ordinary villager that spent day to day working hard just to make ends meet.
He was poor and boring man but, even that ‘me’ had a book that he loved to read.
It was a story that detailed the events of this era in the form of an Epic poem, called [War Records of Wilhelm].
It told the tale of how the great hero, Wilhelm Von Svalier destroyed the ‘Baldyk Empire’ one of the great nations of the west and then………formed the country that past me lived in, the Svalier kingdom.
A childhood of slowly building strength while enduring the unreasonable demands and actions of the Imperial family, a youth of having a romance with the [Lady of Ice] who never opened her heart to others, and then came the third and final act, the story of how he brought the Bladyk Empire to ruin and then birthed the Svalier kingdom.
And as for why a mere villager treasured this book so much? That was because his first love really loved the romantic tale between Wilhelm and his lover the [Lady of Ice]. That was it. A very simple reason.
Basically, he wanted to attract the attention of his first love by finding a similar interest.
He begged the priests in the church to teach him how to read, and then fully consumed the book many, many times…….to the point where he could recite every word by heart from beginning till end, finally allowing him to have a decent conversation with that girl.
…………but in the end, I was rejected and that girl ended up marrying some trader from the neighbouring village.
W-well, who cares about my past life now?
And so we come to the main villain of that story. The tyrant prince that forcibly stole that [Lady of Ice] from the hero Wilhelm and made her his queen, the one who committed so many evils that the words [Emperor of Tyranny] became his title the world knew him by, and in the end his life ended by being assassinated by that very same noble lady.
That’s ME. The fourth prince of the Baldyk Empire. Rudolf Fürst Baldyk.
Well. If you’re wondering just how evil I really became, to start with, when I turned 18, I had all three of my older brother assassinated, and then also murdered my own father, Karl Fürst Baldyk, to usurp the throne.
The time period where Rudolf ruled was recorded in history as the [Era of Red Winter] where the common people were always suffering and struggling while he lived in the most lavish and extreme luxury.
He didn’t think even for a moment about the people suffering and dying every day, and even laughed about it like a evil villain. Or at least, that’s how it was written in [War Records of Wilhelm].
But, if I were to consider my current situation, I can’t help but think that this was simply an unavoidable result.
Rudolf’s mother was of low social status and only became queen due to her youth and beauty earning her the love of the emperor who made her his mistress.
Probably, even right at this moment she was still using her body to put the emperor in a good mood.
Ignoring me, her own son, who was on the verge of death from being poisoned.
On the other hand, from the point of view of my three elder brothers who had all inherited the most noble and esteemed blood from both their parents and were legitimate children, a bastard child like me was nothing more than a hindrance.
After all, if even a bastard child like myself got recognized as a rightful prince, it was going to cause even more problems during succession.
As a result, a poisoning like today had taken place.
And so, before recalling my memories of past life, I was a child that was loved by no one, and only had enemies aiming for my life surrounding me. It was only natural that perpetual doubt and suspicion would take root in his heart, and out of desperation, he would end up becoming completely evil, arrogant and defiant in the face of such adversity.
But……..I can’t let that happen from now on.
If I leave things as is, 10 years from now, I would end up getting assassinated by the noble lady that I forced to become my queen.
……..no, even if distanced myself from that noble lady, there could be many other possibilities that may appear as well that could result in my death. And besides, as long as my three older brothers are still alive, my life was always going to be in danger.
Then the best thing I can do is to quickly escape from this Imperial Palace, and gain true freedom.
Then……..
“Prince Rudolf, how are you feeling……..?”
“Ah……….ugh………..”
I tried to answer the doctor who was taking my pulse but my mouth struggled to form words.
Part of it was of course that the poison had dulled my senses slurring my words, but also, my throat simply felt extremely dry.
“………far from full recovery. It’s too early to say you’re out of danger, so please continue to rest like this.”
“………………”
Since it couldn’t be helped, I signalled with my eyes to the doctor who was shaking his head.
Behind the doctor were the servants who were standing there, observing me. I’m sure they were going to go out and report to the real culprits, my brothers and the queen about my condition.
The doctor and the servants exited the room, and once again I was alone in my room.
Personally speaking, I preferred this a lot more.
“Ah………..ughh………..”
It’ll be fine. I know my own history.
I won’t make the foolish mistake of repeating it all once again.
Now then………let us begin.
—–the battle to escape away from this muddy, rotten, horrible Imperial Palace. The battle for my life.
ToC I Next Chapter
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