RTTFW CH 1.4

The book with the unfamiliar title, Emperor Fedrian, was the chronicle of an ordinary hero.

The protagonist, Fade, was born not in the Empire ruling the continent, but in the surrounding kingdom of Umt. Born as the sixth prince, he was treated as lowborn because his mother was a servant. His mother died giving birth to him, and Fade was abandoned in the forest due to the queen’s scheme.

“… Kingdom of Umt?”

Jaeyoon felt a strange sense of déjà vu at the word. He frowned at the name, which sounded familiar, but without much thought, he turned to the next page.

The protagonist, Fade in the book, survives with the help of Horman, the former commander of the royal knights of Umt. Later, he ends up visiting an elf village with Horman. There, he stays and learns various sword techniques and magic from the elves.

Fade, the hero destined to save the world, overhears a plot by the Umt Kingdom – the very kingdom that had cast him out – to attack the Empire. To stop them, he heads to the place where the events began: the Alcont Empire.

Yes, Alcont. It had been so long since he’d heard the name directly that it felt somewhat unfamiliar, yet it was an empire he could never forget. Wasn’t it the name of the world where Jaeyoon once lived as Ent Harbilta?

“… Just a coincidence, right?”

Jaeyoon’s heart pounded. The name Umt had already felt oddly familiar, but now it was blatantly Alcont. The persistent sense of foreboding, like warning signals constantly ringing, made him hesitate about continuing to read the book.

But Alcont?

Isn’t that the kind of empire name you’d find in any fantasy novel? It could be! Jaeyoon mustered his courage once more and opened the book.

Alcont, which he had come to find following his master’s dying instructions, was a prosperous empire rooted in the central continent, as befitting a great empire… An organization carrying out the secret orders of such an imperial family… They, the rulers of the underworld…

Jaeyoon was suddenly overcome by a sense of unease.

… Horman lightly patted Fade’s shoulder. As expected, it was exactly what one would expect from the domain of a shadowy, powerful family. The people were tight-lipped, and the streets were quiet. Fade quietly raised his head and gazed at the gloomy atmosphere of the great mansion.

“That’s the place.”
“Yes.”

Fade had finally arrived at the Harbilta family mansion, the very place his master had told him to go.

“Damn it… Fuck.” Jaeyoon couldn’t help but curse aloud.

Panicking for a moment, Jaeyoon reread the name over and over.

Harbilta. It was the family that his true identity, ‘Ent Harbilta’ – which now felt like a dream – was born and raised in.

Why the hell was this appearing now, here, in this novel?

Jaeyoon looked at the book’s cover in confusion, but nowhere did it list an author or publisher. Come to think of it, there wasn’t even a table of contents. It was simply divided into chapters following the flow of events.

It made no sense. A book with an unfamiliar name he was sure he hadn’t ordered, and within it, the name of his old Empire and his family name.

Jaeyoon’s heart pounded anxiously. What the hell was going on? Was this Omb’s scheme? A trick of the Gods? Was he… going mad?

Still, Jaeyoon forced himself to open the book again. He hesitated to read on.

Fade stared at the mansion with cold eyes… Ent Harbilta. He was infamous as the demonic pig Young Master of the Empire. He had tried his hardest to avoid getting entangled in his filthy misdeeds and incompetence.

“Huh??”

The rumor that he brought illegally purchased male slaves into his bedroom every night made Fade seethe with rage…

“Hold on.”

Ent Harvilt. He was sixteen years old. Rumors spread throughout the Empire that at sixteen, he was already addicted to sodomy and lusting after slaves.

“Fuck.”

In the end, Jaeyoon could only utter another harsh curse. Jaeyoon – no, the real Ent – had no idea how to express this shitty feeling.

“Damn… Crazy. Crazy bastard Omb.”

Why is there no temple in the Republic of Korea? It was probably because if there had been a temple, Jaeyoon would have blown it up by now, no matter what. Jaeyoon felt rage boiling up inside him.

The Alcont Empire had to defeat the wicked kingdom of Umt and protect this place. The Harbilta family was the most suitable foundation for that.

“No, why are you making my house the foundation?”

He must deal with Ent Harbilta, the thorn in the family’s side, and gain the Harbilta family’s trust and cooperation.

Jaeyoon slammed the book shut. Deal with? Deal with who? Ent Harbilta? So, me?

A sharp pain shot through the back of his head. He was so flabbergasted he couldn’t even speak properly.

His heart sank. He didn’t want to believe it, but if this was truly the story of the world he used to live in, then he, no, Ent Harbilta was… indeed a hopeless piece of trash.

Ent Harbilta, the incompetent youngest master of the Harbilta family, renowned for generations for its innate talents in both military and scholarly pursuits. His very existence was a thorn in the family’s side. As a child, he suddenly began showing signs of mental derangement and gradually descended into madness.

Screaming and causing disturbances as if his mind had completely snapped, his condition worsened day by day. He even attacked his own attendant, earning him a severe scolding from his elder brother, Bernil.

After that incident, Ent Harbilta shut himself in his room and refused to come out. The servants whispered among themselves, hesitant to approach him, and Ent’s condition only worsened.

When the rumors became impossible to contain, his father, Count Evant, thought sending him to the Academy might solve the problem and forcibly sent him there. But it had no effect.

At the academy, Ent raged and hurled abuse at the students. It was said that as the days passed, he grew so enormously fat that his mere appearance made the ground seem to shake. That was the infamy he earned at the academy.

‘A demon-like pig young master?’

Where on earth did such a disgusting nickname come from? Jaeyoon could only rest his chin on his hand.

After that, Ent wandered around other kingdoms, visiting illegal slave markets and committing the atrocity of buying slaves. That was the story.

“Oh dear.”

A groan escaped Jaeyoon’s lips. What on earth was this nonsense? Who was this pathetic villain, seemingly beneath even an extra’s treatment?

Ent could understand why the hero Fade in the book didn’t want his name associated with such vile deeds and incompetence.

“… What about Omb?”

Jaeyoon felt his chest tighten. More than anything else, that was the most absurd and incomprehensible part.

No, seriously.

Didn’t he call him his ‘beloved child’? If this was the child he’d dragged into this hellhole, then at the very least, the Ent Harbilta that was once Jaeyoon should be living in blissful happiness.

The image of Ent Harbilta living happily in his own world was slowly shattering in Jaeyoon’s mind. The Ent Harbilta who was supposed to be soaring with joy, bathed in the love of the empire’s God, a happiness incomparable to his own miserable existence, was nowhere to be found.

‘… Damn it.’

What the hell was the real Park Jaeyoon doing? Taking someone else’s body and acting like a demon pig Young Master? Causing trouble, committing evil deeds, and what was with the slaves? Did he even realize that wasn’t his own body?

“Haah…”

But Jaeyoon couldn’t resent or blame him. Hadn’t they said he’d suffered sudden mental confusion as a child?

When the real Park Jaeyoon became Ent Harbilta, he was merely six years old. Could a modern child, cherished and raised with love by a family who adored him completely, possibly handle being dropped into an unknown world overnight, without any explanation, and facing the Harbilta family?

Even he, who grew up within the Harbilta family, was so utterly confused. What could the little child Park Jaeyoon possibly have done?

The target of his rage wasn’t the real Park Jaeyoon. The problem lay elsewhere. With the God of Time, Omb, who had created this damnable situation.

‘Is that what divine love is?’

Possessing power to reshape souls across worlds, yet refusing to take responsibility for the souls sacrificed to his shallow ‘love’. Well, Jaeyoon himself lived in a world beyond Omb’s voice, so that was understandable. But Ent Harbilta wasn’t like that.

“…”

He wasn’t the only neglected soul. Jaeyoon felt like he wanted to cry if he could. But this emptiness and absurdity were beyond words, leaving him unable to shed a single tear.

Jaeyoon felt as if the last shred of faith he held had been shattered.

The real Park Jaeyoon had believed Ent Harbilta would be happy. He believed Ent was living a life filled with happiness, and for Jaeyoon, that belief had been one of the reasons he could endure the horrific days he had faced.

‘… How should I even describe this feeling?’

His heart pounded wildly. Deceived by God into coming to this dreadful world, Jaeyoon realized once again how foolishly he had trusted in God.

The happy face of Ent Harbilta, which had always remained in Jaeyoon’s mind like a talisman, was fading.