Chapter 1

It felt like a dream.

In my younger days…

A father who was suspicious if I really was of his blood, and a mother only known from a portrait who died on the same day I was born.

An elder sister whose name was known for her beauty not just in our household but across the continent, and the second child of the family that loved to bother me.

I remember it all.

The days when I abandoned the name ‘Jack Valantier’, became a swordsman, and condemned the continents, passed through my mind.

It was confusing enough to make me wonder if this is currently a dream or that had been a dream.

The two felt so real.

Am I dead?

Am I really dead?

Perhaps this was just my whole life flashing in rapid succession.

I slowly touched my face as I stared at the mirror in front of me.

The scars that used to be on my face were gone and were instead replaced with baby fat.

Sigh…

“This makes no sense…”

It’s been an hour or so since this weird occurrence happened.

And that’s why this makes absolutely no sense.

In the Second Continental War which I started, I was the victor, a ruthless killer, and a monster among monsters.

With my only goal being revenge, I overthrew the Tulcan Empire that dominated the continent, and killed all living beings that were named ‘Tulcan’.

I had always succeeded in gaining victory.

I had accomplished all I needed to and was satisfied.

That’s why I accepted my approaching death.

I no longer had a reason to live.

And so my heart stopped beating.

I had definitely felt it stop.

However, what in the world happened?

“It’s not black magic and it doesn’t seem like an illusion either. Did I really…go back in time?”

A boy with short, black hair was reflected in the mirror.

This was how I looked when I was 14.

A weak and feeble boy, who hasn’t lost his baby fat yet, patted his cheeks and murmured, “How is this possible?”

And then came the dawn of the first day I returned to the past.

* * *

The Marquis house of Valantier from Teslan Kingdom was a respectable family and a loyalist, supportive of the existing power in the kingdom.

I was the third and last child of the family.

The youngest child in a family with the title of Marquis*.

PR/N: aristocratic title

The position of a Lord* was one where you could enjoy riches and power for almost all of your life, as long as you didn’t get too greedy.

PR/N: addressed to those with aristocratic title (except for a few titles)

That was common knowledge. However, this wasn’t so for the Valantier house.

“So there was a rose garden here.”

Rose garden.

It’s a building located on the side of the main building of the Marquis house.

The garden is surrounded by a lot of roses and looks beautiful on the surface, but that was all just a disguise.

It’s considered as a place of exile.

It’s a place with the purpose of completely disconnecting the youngest child from the outside world, without a guardian or a family to support him.

Although it is called a place of exile, it is not such an unfamiliar place to me.

I plopped down onto the entrance of the yard and looked up at the skies.

Clear weather and blue sky.

The harmonious atmosphere was enough to warm my heart.