"Mhm~"
Tanaka rubbed his eyes and let out a groan. There was a faint trail of sunlight on his body that appeared between the gaps of the curtains.
Wait…curtains?
Tanaka's eyes burst open and he quickly sat up from the bed looking at the curtains with bafflement.
"What on earth? Where am I?!"
His windows had blinds, not curtains.
Glancing at the rest of the room, Tanaka's sleepiness instantly disappeared and his mind properly awakened. There was a faint pounding in his head similar to the kind of pounding one had after a night of drinking.
However, his headache was the least of his concern.
"This isn't my room!"
He blurted out the obvious.
Shifting out of the covers, he swung his legs over the side of the bed expecting to hit the tiled ground only to stop in mid-air.
"Eh?"
He glanced down at his legs and another wave of shock ran through his veins.
"Why are my legs so tiny?! Why are my hands so tiny?!"
His body had shrunk. Considerably.
'This…This has to be a dream,' the rational side of his brain thought. The other side was starting to theorize his current predicament.
Biting his bottom lip, Tanaka descended the bed and hastily made his way over to the large body-length mirror in the corner of this luxurious room. He had to see from himself if what he thought was truly what had happened.
"Holy crap…"
Raven-colored hair, fair and pale skin, and a sickly yet cute appearance, the dazzling boy in the mirror stared back at Tanaka.
For a brief moment, he was stunned speechless.
Who was this beautiful boy?!
Certainly not him!
Stepping back from the mirror, Tanaka held his head and massaged his temples. Everything was too shocking for him to process immediately. If he was correct in his assumptions, he had somehow obtained every otaku's dream and transmigrated to another world.
Judging from his nightwear to the design of this room, he was certain the world he'd somehow entered was one of those historical-themed ones and he was in the body of a noble's child.
'But what if this was one of those lucid dreams? Or maybe some hallucination? Yes, I can't be too quick in accepting my situation. Perhaps I'll just wait around for a while and maybe I'll wake up back in my old world.'
However…
...
"It's been a week already," Tanaka stared at the garden with a slight twitch in his eye.
He had patiently played along in this body for an entire week thinking he'd somehow wake up from this dream and return home but…
'This is definitely not a dream. I really transmigrated!'
His new name was Francis Taron. He was currently the youngest son of Lord Taron, the Prime Minister of this kingdom.
Tana-Francis buried his face in his palms and sighed.
'I know I wished to travel to another world but I just blurted that in passing! I like technology and proper bathing and toiletry systems! I don't actually want to come here!'
Oh, how he regretted every complaint he uttered about his old world.
Compared to this underdeveloped place, he much preferred living in the sweet technology-filled city with his precious video games.
"Young Master, is everything alright? Should I call a physician?"
Seeing her master's distress, Francis's assigned maid started panicking.
"Stop worrying Emily. I'm fine," Francis said with a cute (fake) smile.
"A-Are you sure? If you're sic-"
"Nope. I'm perfectly alright," Francis immediately cut her off. He waved his hand dismissively and she reluctantly returned to her position.
Francis then took a sip of his honey lemon tea and ate a cookie before delving back into his thoughts.
'So far, the only thing I know about this world is that it's undeveloped and outdated compared to earth. This place definitely reminds me of those historical fiction stories and the building designs and clothing designs are similar to those ancient European ones.'
Swallowing the sweet cookie, Francis quickly made a decision.
'The first thing I must do is gather as much information on this world as I can. Sadly, there's been zero sign of my golden finger so I'll just have to assume that I won't receive one.'
He didn't want to proceed with the hope of one day receiving some sort of cheat like all other protagonists in his situation.
That was too risky.
'The family library is a good place to start,' he thought.
A week in this world had given him enough time to explore the mansion and memorize the different hallways and routes. It had also given him enough time to observe the people around him and get a hang of how things normally operated in this place.
As such, he knew that right after his morning tea came his nap time during which Emily would temporarily leave her post to go to the kitchen. He planned to take that opportunity to sneak away into the library unnoticed.
The reason why he had such a close watch on him was that Francis was a sickly seven-year-old known for having a frail body.
Before Tanaka's soul took over his body, Francis was a child often confined to his bed being too weak to venture outside.
However, after Tanaka arrived, his body recovered from whatever illness he had.
When Tanaka heard this originally, he was still keeping to his assumption that this was all a mere dream and blurted out some random bullshit saying;
"While I was asleep, I suddenly met a glowing person who said he would heal me and make me all better."
That was a lie he'd made up for fun.
However, the reaction he received was completely unexpected.
"Our God! Our God Kronos has healed the Young Master!"
The servants of the household coupled with the physician began kneeling and singing praises to some deity.
It was an advantageous coincidence.
Francis was grateful to his self from a few days ago. At least now, people wouldn't question his strange behavior. They'd just think that Kronos guy or whatever had something to do with his change.
But then again, since Francis was often confined to his bed, not many people actually knew his personality other than Emily. Even then, Francis hardly spoke so it was hard for her to converse with him properly.
If there was anything strange so far, it was the fact that not a single family member came to visit Francis - even after his 'recovery'.
'If there was anything I wanted, it would be this body's memories.'
Memories would've made things much easier for Francis. If he knew the history of this body and the original owner's family, he would be able to predict the safest and most beneficial way to navigate himself in this new form.
Though his body and appearance may have changed, Francis still remained 'Tanaka'. A gloomy introverted game addict with a distinct dislike for human interaction.
Honestly speaking, if his family was deliberately isolating and neglecting him, Francis would be more than pleased.
"Less attention, more freedom.," is what he believed.
But, before he began investigating his family matters, there were more important things he needed to take care of. Namely, he still had to increase his knowledge of this world and its workings.
When Emily finally exited his room, Francis stayed in bed tucked under the covers for a full ten minutes before finally venturing out.
His memory recalled the directions he needed to take to reach the mansion's library and he easily found his way through the empty hallways.
Ensuring there was no one else around, Francis scanned the corridor before turning to the grand doors in front of him and hesitantly pushing them open.