'What's that light..?' I squint my eyes. The ray of light came closer.
I quickly closed my eyes. As my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I heard the cries of an infant fill my ears 'Ugh. Who's baby is crying this loud? And why won't its parents shut it up.'
"The prince has been safely born."
'Huh. What prince? Which crazy person is spouting such nonsense?'
I looked around the room to see a beautiful foreign woman holding me.
'Wait.'
'Holding me?!'
I tried to jump off her when my hands came into view. 'What's with these tiny hands?' I squint looking at them trying to figure out what's going on.
'No way.'
'DID I TURN INTO A BABY?!?!'
"His name shall be Riland Von Nuit," one of the figures in the room announced. He was dressed in such fancy clothing that I would think he was royalty.
'Wait did he just say Riland Von Nuit?'
That was the name of a side character in a novel I had read long ago. The first prince of the Leynwell Kingdom and the heir to the throne. The trashy crown prince that caused the destruction of his kingdom.
'No way I became that very same guy.'
"It suits him perfectly."
I turned in the direction of the voice to see a woman walking into the room. She was also dressed in what seemed to be the clothing of royalty.
"Congratulations Empress," she said, turning to the woman holding me. She walked over to the man who seemed to be my father and held onto his arm with a smirk on her face.
'....'
'What's with this weird atmosphere..'
The other figure in the room then stepped up, breaking the silence, "Y-your majesty, the empress needs her rest now."
Again, there was a weird atmosphere..
'What is wrong with these people? Having a lovers quarrel in the middle of childbirth!'
The two finally left the room after a moment of silence. How trashy, the king didn't even bother to check up on his wife. Now I see where Riland got his trashiness from.
I was picked up by the maid shortly after and drifted off as she carried me out of the room.
'What a weak body.'
-----
I was woken up to the feeling of someone patting my hair. I looked up to see who it was, turns out it was the lady who seemed to be my mother.
She was looking at me with a sad expression. But her face was really beautiful. I frowned at the sight of her beautiful face being disturbed with such sad thoughts. I reached out my hand and she looked suprised. "Ril, are you wanting a hug?" she asked as she smiled. She then picked me up from my cradle and put me on her lap.
"Oh, my lovely Ril, I love you so much. Your handsome just like your father".
I then again frowned at her words. I rembered my mother from the book. She was a really kind and frail woman that was the princess of a nieghboring country. My father only married her to form a peace treaty with that country. When she came here to Lindell, she wasn't treated with the respect she desveres. And it was all his fault. That man called my father. He brought in his mistress and made her his concubine. And although my mother was the queen, she held little to no power compared to the concubine.
My poor and lovely mother knew about the concubine and the king's schemes. After all, she was really intelligent and could outsmart them all if she wanted to. But to no avail, her kindness stopped her from becoming a bad person. She secured a future for Riland through careful planning and even sacrificed herself for her foolish son. The Riland from the novel didn't care for anyone but himself. Which led him to hurt a lot of people around him who cared about him.
As my mother sang me a luliby while patting my head, I made a promise to myself. That I will never allow harm to befall her. I will make sure that unlike the original Riland, I would play my cards right and the over the throne. No matter what it takes to get there. I have an advantage no one else in this world has. My memories from my previous life.