Sulien Von Wald

"Young Master, you must listen! If the Duke finds out about this, he will have you locked in your chambers!" The older man's voice was laced with urgency as he stood stiffly in the dimly lit hallway, his posture tense with worry.

The young man before him, draped in a dark cloak, merely chuckled. "Relax, Lin. As long as you keep your lips sealed, I won't have to deal with that headache." His tone was light, but the sharp glint in his eyes showed he knew the risks all too well.

Lin, the loyal butler who had served the household for decades, exhaled heavily. No matter how much he tried, reigning in this reckless young master of his was proving to be an impossible task.

"Young Master, I shall take my leave and wait in your chambers," Lin said, bowing deeply. "Please, for once, don't get yourself caught. And, above all, return unharmed."

The young man smirked, pulling his hood up to obscure his face. "Geez, you worry too much. I'll be fine." With that, he took a step back, his figure blending into the shadows before vanishing into the night.

Lin watched until the last trace of his young master disappeared into the forest. He pinched the bridge of his nose, suppressing a weary sigh.

"Three days." He muttered to himself. "In three days, he is supposed to step into the Academy as an instructor, yet here he is, sneaking out like a street rogue. Ever since that incident… he's been more troublesome than ever."

With another deep sigh, he shook his head and turned away, rubbing an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "What have I done to deserve this suffering?"

---

Meanwhile, deep within the forest…

Perched atop a large boulder, a man sat in silence. The wind whispered through the trees, rustling the leaves overhead. The dense canopy allowed only faint moonlight to trickle through, casting fragmented shadows across his tired face.

He exhaled slowly, his breath misting in the cool night air. In the distance, the faint howl of a beast echoed through the forest, yet he remained still, lost in thought. The weight of the night pressed down on him, heavy with unspoken burdens.

It's already been a week and a half since I arrived in this world, yet it still feels unreal.

Over the past few days, I've been adjusting well, at least as much as I can. But communicating with this body's family remains awkward. I grew up alone, without parents or siblings to rely on. But here, in this world, the first people I encountered were the Walds, Sulien's family.

Meeting them for the first time left an impression I wasn't prepared for. From the Duke—this body's father—to my older and younger siblings, each one carried a presence far more significant than the novel ever described. In the story I read, the only member of the Wald family mentioned was my eldest brother, Aloysius. Yet now, I was surrounded by people I never even knew existed.

And then there's the matter of my condition. This body—the one I now possess, had been in a vegetative state for nearly a year. The memories buried within it told me why: an ambush. Sulien had been on his way home after a long and victorious war when he was ambushed, leaving him comatose ever since.

Suddenly, the pieces of the novel's mystery began falling into place. In the book, the Duke was relentlessly searching for a cure—an obsession that eventually led to the downfall of the Wald family. Now, I understood why. He wasn't just looking for a cure for some vague illness. He was searching for a way to bring me back.

"Anyway..." I stood up and looked behind me. A large, towering beast loomed over me, its massive fangs bared in a snarl, hostility twisting its already hideous face.

Without hesitation, I raised my hand, and in an instant, a short sword materialized in my grip, its blade gleaming under the dim light. The beast lunged, but before it could reach me, I stepped forward, slashing in one swift, precise motion. The cold steel tore through flesh, and with a final, gurgled growl, the monster collapsed, lifeless at my feet.

System Notification: Experience points cannot be acquired beyond this level.

A glowing blue panel flickered before my eyes, its words clear and unmistakable. I furrowed my brows.

This… wasn't in the book.

The novel I read back in high school never mentioned a system like this. No level-ups, no stat windows. Nothing. And yet, here it was, floating in front of me alone. No one else seemed to notice it.

I had even mentioned it to Lin, my butler, hoping for some info, but he only gave me a concerned look and dismissed it as hallucinations from my long coma.

I let out a sigh, shaking my head. No use thinking about it now.

Wiping the blade of my short sword with a clean cloth I had brought for disposal, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. But the moment I glanced down, a sharp wave of disgust slammed into me.

Blood.

Thick, dark monster blood had splattered onto the edges of my shoes, soaking into the fabric. My stomach twisted at the sight. It wasn't the gore that disturbed me. I had already fought and killed enough creatures in the past week to get used to that, but the mess. The feeling of filth clinging to me made my skin crawl, an unbearable itch I couldn't scratch.

My fingers twitched with the overwhelming urge to take off the shoes and throw them away right this second, but I clenched my jaw and forced myself to resist. I needed them if I didn't want to walk back barefoot. Just the thought of stepping on dirt and unknown substances without protection sent another wave of anxiety through me.

With a controlled exhale, I pushed down the discomfort.

Just endure it until I get back.

Tightening my grip on my sword, I took one last glance at the towering beast's corpse before turning away, quickening my pace.

With his face dark and completely devoid of emotion, he strode back to his chamber, his steps quick and deliberate. The moment he entered, he headed straight for the bathroom without a second's hesitation.

Butler Lin, standing near the doorway, greeted him with a calm, knowing tone. "I knew you'd be back right away, Young Master. I've already prepared your bath."

The steaming water filled the room with a faint, clean scent, but his young master didn't acknowledge the butler's words. Instead, he peeled off his bloodstained clothes with mechanical precision, his expression unreadable.

Lin observed him silently, his heart heavy. Where did this compulsion come from? He remembered a time when the young master wasn't like this, when he was carefree, untamed, even reckless. But now… now he couldn't even bear a speck of dirt on his skin.

Perhaps it was the war. Lin couldn't begin to imagine how much blood his young master had seen, how many times his hands had been drenched in it. If anything, this obsession with cleanliness wasn't just a quirk, it was a desperate need, a way to erase the invisible stains that no amount of scrubbing could truly remove.

As the young master stepped into the bath, Lin turned away, suppressing a sigh. War changes people in ways we cannot see…

***