The palm full of calluses and scars was nowhere to be found.
All that remained was a hand so soft it didn’t even look like it had ever held a sword—or even a pen.
It didn’t even look like it had been exposed to much sunlight; it was so pale that the bluish veins showed through.
And it wasn’t just the palm.
From the bones to the muscles, nothing matched his former body.
They say that when a coma is prolonged, the muscles atrophy, but this wasn’t a change that could be explained by that alone.
This felt more like his head had been severed and transplanted onto another body.
‘Don’t tell me…’
At the sudden thought, Jake jolted and quickly looked around.
Right next to him was a small handheld mirror, so he immediately grabbed it and looked at his face.
“…!”
In the mirror, instead of the scruffy-bearded mercenary, there was a blond boy with his mouth hanging open.
Not only had everything except his head changed—even the head had changed!
‘But this face feels oddly familiar.’
“Young master? What’s the matter all of a sudden?”
The boy beside him tilted his head, seeing Jake so bewildered.
Jake steadied his breathing and asked him.
“Who is my father?”
“Huh?”
“My father. Whose son am I?”
What he really wanted to ask was whose body this was, but he couldn’t pose the question like that if he wanted to play along.
He figured that, if he asked it like a silly question from someone who just woke up, he might deduce his identity without raising suspicion.
Even so, the question must have seemed strange, because the boy hesitated for a long time before answering.
“Well… isn’t His Excellency the Grand Duke Sigmund, the pillar of the realm?”
At such a clear response leaving no room for doubt, Jake clutched his head.
He finally remembered who the owner of this body was.
‘Lucian Valdeck.’
The third son of Grand Duke Valdeck, one of the emperor’s closest men.
And the boy who had died at sixteen years old—fifteen years ago, when Jake was still a gate guard at the castle.
***
“Well…”
A disbelieving laugh escaped Jake’s lips as he processed the situation.
It was shocking enough to have come back fifteen years after death—but to do so in someone else’s body?
He felt confused, but at the same time, he wondered if this wasn’t a chance to change his life.
No less than noble blood—and of a grand duke, no less.
For Jake, who had never overcome his lowly origins and had only known the bottom, this was a stroke of unbelievable luck.
‘And I like this face, too.’
Jake looked at himself again in the mirror.
He was a bit thin, but by conventional beauty standards, it was a striking face.
Any girl in the neighborhood would faint just from seeing him pass by.
He used to think he’d give anything to be handsome for just a day, and now that wish had come true.
“Hehehe.”
“Young master? Are you truly all right?”
“Uh-huh, yeah, I’m fine.”
At the words of the young servant, Hans, Jake cleared his throat and got up.
In any case, he had no particular attachment to his old body.
Aside from his blood, even the only family he had left—his father—had already passed away in that time.
With no blood ties left, there was no reason to return to that body.
Since things had turned out this way, he planned to live as Lucian, the third son—not as the mercenary Jake.
Although, later on, he would have to find out what had happened to his original body.
“First, let’s go for a walk. After lying down for so long, my body feels heavy.”
“Huh? But you should rest a bit more…”
“No, I don’t think lying down will help. I need at least some fresh air in the garden.”
For now, the first step was to understand his surroundings.
Jake—no, Lucian—stood up with Hans’s support.
After tidying up a bit and stepping into the garden, old memories flooded his mind.
‘I used to pass through here quite a lot too. I came as part of escort duties, so I never had time to enjoy the view.’
Thinking about it now, he had worked quite a long time for the Valdeck family.
After leaving home, he started as a guard and spent ten years here.
If he hadn’t taken the fall for his superior’s embezzlement and fled, maybe he would’ve risen even higher.
Of course, even then, as a commoner, he could’ve only reached captain or centurion at best.
“…Why is everyone acting so weird now?”
“Weird?”
“They’re all staring at me.”
Every time Lucian moved forward, gazes landed on him from all directions.
Servants working in the distance, guards—even their eyes followed him.
Some even stopped working outright and openly stared at him.
It didn’t seem to be just admiration for a handsome face.
“Well… this is the first time you’ve come outside in a year.”
“What? A year?”
“To be exact, a year and two months.”
“I didn’t go out all that time?”
“No, you didn’t even leave your room.”
“…!”
Now this was insane.
He knew the original owner of this body wasn’t very outgoing.
But more than a year without even stepping outside the room?
No matter how comfortable everything was, that seemed excessive.
‘No wonder I’ve been out of breath.’
At first he thought it was illness from how thin he was, but in the end, it was just a complete lack of exercise.
At least it was lucky he hadn’t gotten fat living like that.
Losing weight is much harder than gaining it.
‘Actually, thinking about it this might be convenient.’
Over a year without leaving his room.
In other words, almost no one had had the chance to observe him.
Even if he changed his personality or lifestyle, no one would likely notice.
The only exception would be family.
‘Now that I think about it why didn’t his family come for him either? If a son locks himself in for over a year, shouldn’t they drag him out, even by force?’
Lucian knew well the temperament of the current grand duke, Sigmund.
An incorruptible man, incapable of compromise, and a loyal servant of the emperor.
Far from corruption—but also strict with duty and discipline.
He had a harsh military temperament, and treated even soldiers who complained without mercy.
And he had allowed his own son to stay locked away without interfering?
‘That’s strange. That’s not like him at all.’
While thinking all this, his body began to falter.
He hadn’t walked much, but this frail body was already exhausted.
Lucian sighed, about to head back to his room.
“—Third young master.”
Someone called out from behind.
When he turned, he saw an elderly butler with a now-graying beard bowing his head.
Even though it had been a long time since he’d seen him, he knew instantly who it was.
‘Head butler, Edwin.’
At the appearance of such an unexpected figure, his body instinctively tensed.
In his youth, Edwin had arrived as a hostage from an enemy family, but over time, he had become the trusted right hand of the current grand duke.
They said his influence was so great that he could even weigh in on matters of succession.
In fact, in his previous life, Jake had seen the grand duke’s sons go tense in front of him.
“It’s been a long time. Are you well?”
“…Yes, though my body feels a bit heavy, I’m fine.”
While answering the greeting, he shot a sideways glance at Hans.
Asking with his eyes if he had any idea why the butler was here.
But Hans didn’t catch the signal and stood there stiff as a board.
There was no choice but to improvise without any info.
“By the way, what brings you here? I don’t recall you looking for me recently. Has something happened in the family?”
“Hmm.”
Being practically the grand duke’s right hand, his tone naturally became respectful.
Edwin’s eyes gleamed briefly at Lucian’s calm demeanor.
But it lasted only a moment.
Soon returning to his usual expression, Edwin smiled and shook his head.
“It’s nothing like that. The house of the grand duke is at peace, so you needn’t worry.”
“Then, what’s the reason…?”
“His Excellency the Grand Duke requests to see the third young master.”
“…!”
***
Lucian slightly tilted his head while glancing sideways at the man in front of him.
Sigmund Valdeck, the current head of the house of the grand duke.
Although his beard was beginning to turn white, there wasn’t a hint of old age in him.
He had the presence of a lion capable of tearing apart any beast with ease.
His aura was so fierce that just standing in front of him made your skin tingle.
The grand duke, staring intently at Lucian with sharp eyes, spat out a brief phrase.
“Despicable.”
At that voice full of disdain, Lucian blinked.
Where had that come from all of a sudden?
“Have you finished your little performance?”
“Huh?”
“I heard you put sleeping pills in your mouth, just enough not to die. Quite the precise dosage you calculated.”
What was he talking about?
Not understanding a thing, Lucian glanced around in confusion, but the grand duke’s tone only grew harsher.
“That was the best plan you could come up with after locking yourself in your room for over a year? You managed to get me to summon you, so you won that round. But you lost far more than you gained.”
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
“I was planning to watch how long you’d keep using your mother’s death as an excuse to act like a child, but enough is enough. I thought time would make you come to your senses, but I was a fool.”
Lucian’s eyes flew wide open.
He was finally beginning to understand how things had played out.
‘The grand duke had four sons, each from a different mother. When I worked here, only the third son’s mother had already passed away.’
Since this body had also died young, he had thought maybe it was a weakness inherited from the maternal side.
But now he saw that wasn’t the case.
The third son, feeling the grand duke’s attention drift away after his mother’s death, had started a kind of protest.
Shutting himself in his room without coming out had been, in truth, a desperate cry for attention.
And when he got no response, even after a year, he resorted to sleeping pills.
‘Of course, since it was a protest, he didn’t intend to die—but with a body like this, taking sleeping pills up to the lethal limit is a sure death.’
The third son’s mistake was not understanding the condition of his own body.
A lethal dose is calculated based on a healthy person.
But taking it with a body that, after a year in isolation, runs out of breath just from walking a bit?
That was like boarding a one-way cart to the underworld.
In his past life, he had heard that he died from an accident—he never imagined there was a story like this behind it.
‘Damn it.’
Understanding the situation, a sigh escaped on its own.
The original owner of this body was more pathetic than he had thought.
Grand Duke Sigmund was the man closest to the emperor and the head of a great house.
A central figure in imperial politics, where invisible knives and hungry hyenas were everywhere.
Naturally, his view of children who tarnished his reputation could not be lenient.
And yet, instead of forging himself like a lion cub, he threw nothing more than a cheap tantrum.
“Fine. You’ve gotten what you wanted, so if you have something to say, say it all now. I might not see you again after this.”
The grand duke’s cold words made Lucian react immediately.
To the untrained ear, it sounded like he was simply going to keep ignoring him—but the tone was anything but normal.
At worst, he could be planning to dispose of him right then and there.
Sending a useless son to a border region or forcing him into a monastery wasn’t uncommon among nobles.
If he let his guard down, the entire opportunity he’d just been given could vanish because of the old body’s stupidity.
‘No choice.’
At this point, there was no other path.
Even if it meant taking a risk, he had to face it head-on.
Lucian straightened his previously inclined back and, looking the grand duke in the eyes, spoke.
____
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