I am going to die.

The cool night breeze, the light from the half moon peeking out, and my senses from having lived an assassin all whispered the same words.

I shall soon die.

I looked around at my surroundings.

There were many paths in the garden, between the shrubs that looked as soft as wool.

But there was no path to life. There was only the path that reeked of death.

"Raon."

I raised my head upon hearing a voice, one that weighed heavily on my heart. A middle-aged man with what looked like white frost combed into long silvery hair stepped into view.

It was him.

Derus Robert.

Like a morass of death, the enormous garden billowed death into the air due to the presence of a single man—the head of House Robert. 

"Yes."

I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.

"You have shown a competence that befits your title as the leader of the Shadows. The family has grown even faster thanks to you moving behind the scenes."

"I merely did my job."

I did not pretend to be happy or otherwise. I bowed my head like an emotionless wooden doll.

"But Raon…"

He began softly.

"Do you think that a Shadow needs freedom?"

Derus reached out his hand. His shadow extended its hand across the ground as well.

"It is enough for a Shadow to follow its master's orders. Thoughts, emotions, feelings are unnecessary."

"That is correct."

"Why did you act on your own, even though you knew that?"

Derus' voice sharpened, becoming cold, and tightened around my heart.

"And you even broke your indoctrination."

Goosebumps formed along my spine. I bit down on my tongue to hide my surprise.

What?

I had not spoken or acted differently than before, and I had not the slightest idea how he found out that the indoctrination had lost its effect.

"Speak. When, and how, did you break the indoctrination?"

At that point, it was clear that he already knew everything if he was acting like that.

"How did you find out?"

I bit my lip and raised my head.

Indoctrination.

It was how House Robert controlled the assassination team called 'Shadow'. 

They abducted or bought young children and, after killing off their emotions, indoctrinated them and used them as assassins for the rest of their lives.

I too was indoctrinated, but was able to get rid of the dreadful shackles in a strange turn of fate.

"Because you were preparing to escape the clan."

Derus continued leisurely.

"I put two leashes on all of the assassins of Shadow, including you. The first one is indoctrination, and the second…."

"Ugh!"

A scream burst from me before I even registered the extreme pain. It was as if my lungs and heart were being sawed through.

"Rage Worm. The insect placed in your body is gouging your heart out at my command."

"R-rage Worm…."

Rage Worm was the worst black magic, the type that could even discern a slave's emotions.

It seemed as if Derus had used the Rage Worm to become aware of my plan to escape House Robert.

"I-it's not enough to put on a facade of justice, you even went so far as to have fed me Rage Worm? You disgusting bastard!"

"It's not disgusting. It's called being thorough. And you did actually break the indoctrination."

Derus smiled, the warm gaze that he showed in public on his face.

"There is a saying that every human lives while wearing a mask. It's just that my mask is a little thicker and more special when compared to others."

"Derus Robert..."

I clenched my teeth. I raised my body, stifling the heart-splitting pain.

I could not die without doing something.

I was abducted at an age that I do not even remember properly, and was raised to become an underground hunting dog and assassin for House Robert.

I had lived, forgetting all emotion and feeling, and only coincidently managed to break free from the indoctrination.

I had thought that I could finally live according to my own will, but it was not the key to my prison but the shackles of death that met me.

What sort of sin had I committed that forced me to live like a dog, I do not know.

Damn it!

A reddish water filled up the dried-off well of emotions. It was a rage that I had never felt before.

"You can stand in that state?"

Derus' expression wavered a little.

"I will not meet my end in disgrace."

I grasped the sword at my waist.

My senses, which had detected my death, had not changed since I stepped into the garden.

I will die here.

If I was meant to die anyway, I would not go down without a fight. At the very least, his arm… No, I would at least create a wound and die.

"Aaaargh!"

I unsheathed my sword, the concentrated aura exploding.

At that moment…

The blade stretching out broke in half.

Click.

I heard the sound of the necklace around my neck falling to the ground.

The world spun as Derus' cold eyes and the moon flipped upside down.

Ah…

That's when I knew. My head had been cut off by Derus' sword.

However, the assassin's sword is not all that meets the eye.

The frightening aura hidden behind the broken blade flew towards Derus' face.

"How vulgar."

Derus waved his hand as if annoyed. The final attack went out like a flame at the light gesture, as if he were swatting away a fly.

As expected…

Derus was a warrior said to be the strongest in the continent. It was expected that I would be unable to win.

For he was strong, and I was weak. It could not be helped. 

Yes… It… can!

The rage that had begun to spread from the bottom of my heart boiled up like lava.

It was unfair that my entire life had been toyed with by Derus, and it was a painful shame that I could not complete the 'Ring of Fire' that I had obtained by fate.

I could not die that way.

God, or even the Devil was fine.

As the rage—the desire to tear Derus' mask off and slit his throat at any cost—engulfed my whole body, my world ceased in red.

* * *

As the rage—the desire to tear Derus' mask off and slit his throat at any cost—engulfed my whole body, my world ceased in red.

* * *

"Hmm…."

Derus Robert brought his right hand up and frowned.

'I definitely blocked that.'

There was a small wound on the back of his hand, even though he had perfectly cut off the final sword attack from that piece of trash.

It has been years since he last had an injury that drew blood.

'Ridiculous.'

That man had broken from the indoctrination on his own, endured the torture of the Rage Worm, and had even left an injury on Derus' body.

It was disconcerting, wondering what happened to the hunting dog raised to be an expendable object.

'Only…'

Raon was now dead. Though he went against common sense, there was no need to bother with him any longer.

"Clean it."

Soldiers hidden in the shadows of the garden rushed out and moved towards Raon's body the moment Derus turned his back.

Blink.

Raon's necklace, sunk deep in red blood, emitted a bluish light, but there was none who could see it.

You have been chosen by .

will descend upon your body… Your body has died!

Error…

* * *

Reincarnation.

A fantastical notion that many believed to exist, but at the same time many did not believe in.

Raon did not believe in rebirth either.

He had been indoctrinated his whole life, and when he broke free from it he was busy with preparations to escape House Robert. As such, he did not even consider such absurd thoughts.

He thought that death was the end.

However…

"Sunshine, look here!"

A beautiful lady, with red eyes and soft golden locks that flowed down over her shoulder, shook the blue-coloured baby rattle.

"There is also a red one!"

She held out a red-coloured one in her left hand as well.

Rattle!

Though he wrinkled his face at the sound of the rattles hitting each other, the blonde lady did not stop her shaking.

"Aboo."

Raon gave a soft sigh and reached out for the baby rattle.

"Yes! Come this way!"

The blonde lady breamed broadly and shook the baby rattle more excitedly.

There were two things in his field of view. A pair of arms, chubby like sausages, and a lady shaking the baby rattle.

'I still can't get used to this. These arms are my arms, and that lady is my mother…'

The lady's name was Sylvia. Though it was still pretty unbelievable, he had reincarnated into that lady's child whilst retaining the memories of his past life as an assassin.

He had naturally regarded it as a dream at first.

He thought that everything would be over after he got some sleep, but he never seemed to awaken from this strange dream, no matter how much he slept.

And so the days had dubiously passed to become one hundred days, and it was only then that Raon accepted the fact that he had, in fact, reincarnated.

"Sunshine! Over here!"

"A-woo!"

When he slowly crawled towards the baby rattle, Sylvia stepped back little by little.

"Yes! A little more!"

Raon followed Sylvia as he crawled and reached his hand out towards the rattle.

"Aboo…"

But his body could not endure the weight of his heavy head and started leaning towards the right.

"Oh!"

Sylvia flung the baby rattle away and threw her body towards Raon, embracing him in her arms.

'She's quick.'

Her body was very fast. Though he could not detect aura, it seemed that she had acquainted herself with some appropriate martial arts.

"Were you surprised? It's alright. It's fine."

Sylvia patted Raon's back.

"Ooh."

Raon shook his hand. Her patting did not stop although he showed that he was not at all surprised and all right.

"My Sunshine, shall we go see the flowers?"

Sylvia walked over to the window and opened the curtains whilst carrying him. The warm sunlight shone gently, like a soft cotton blanket.

'How can she still call me Sunshine…?'

'Sunshine', as Sylvia called him, was not his actual name. It was a baby bump name.

It was the head of house who had to come and choose his name, but he appeared to be terribly busy and Raon had yet to see a sign of him.

Thus, there was no choice but to be called by the baby bump name 'Sunshine', even after more than a hundred days had passed.

'Whew…'

Raon looked about, still in Sylvia's arms. 

The room was wide enough to be able to run around in, the walls had a luxurious sea-coloured wallpaper, and there was magic lighting hanging from the ceiling that lit up, even at night.

He could not determine much, for his body was a baby's and slept more than twenty hours a day, but one thing was certain.

This was a wealthy family, and one with quite the reputation at that.

'Not bad.'

A rich or powerful family was preferable over a normal one in any case, now that he had been reborn.

'I need to take revenge.'

The horrifying feeling of having his neck chopped off by Derus was still vivid in his mind.

He had thought that all his feelings had been worn away while being raised as an assassin. His memory before death must have been intense, for his rage and thirst for revenge clearly remained. 

'But I should not be impatient.'

Raon breathed deeply and calmed his emotions.

He knew nothing about where he was, or what his position was, as he lived exclusively within this room.

It would not be too late to make preparations for revenge after getting a grasp of the situation.

The most important virtue for an assassin was patience, and he had once been the best of the assassins.

He could rein in his feelings and thirst for revenge any time.

'Also…'

He had obtained the 'Ring of Fire' in his past life through some fate, which was said to be the most powerful skill that could be attained by a swordsman one thousand years ago.

If he were to master the 'Ring of Fire', it might be possible for him to kill Derus Robert not by assassination, but even by facing him head-on.

He would have to endure and endure again for that day to come.

'Anyway, I am starting to feel a little sleepy again…'

He felt drowsy in Sylvia's arms, under the warm sunlight.

A baby's body was inconvenient in many ways. He really had not spent a long time thinking, yet he was already falling asleep.

"You sleepy, Sunshine? Let's go to bed, then."

Sylvia slowed her patting on his back with a smile. It was just as he was dozing off and his neck was falling backwards that…

"Lady Sylvia!"

The door opened without a knock, and Sylvia's maid entered the room.

"The-the head of house is on his way!"

"My father?"

Sylvia widened her eyes in shock at the maid's words.

'Father?'

It appeared that the head of house was not his father, but his grandfather, since she called him father.

"I-I shall have to get ready…"

"It is too late! He is already outside!"

"Oh dear!"

Sylvia and the maids became very flustered, tapping their feet repeatedly.

Clomp.

There was the sound of footsteps outside the half-open door, which sounded stiff enough to make one's body shrink.

'Who is the head of house?'

Raon stealthily opened his eyes and turned his head towards the door.

An old man with red eyes and radiant blonde hair smoothed over his forehead approached. Sylvia and the maid trembled at the sound of his overbearing footsteps.

'Ah…'

The passage of time slowed down the moment he saw the old man's eyes. It almost felt as if his surroundings were blurred by his overbearing presence.

"F-father."

"Is this the child?"

The old man stopped in front of Sylvia and pointed with his chin, frost in his gaze.

"Oh, yes."

Sylvia nodded her head heavily and held Raon out to him.

'Ah…'

Raon's round eyes grew wider. As he looked right into his face, he felt as if he had seen him before.

'Blonde with red eyes. An old man with cold features, as if surrounding himself with a sheet of ice… Oh!'

A thunderbolt struck his small head.

Glenn Zieghart, the Destructive King of the North!

The family was referred to as the apex of the continent, and its leader was looking down at him.

A small gasp of surprise escaped his small mouth on its own.

It seemed that he was reborn into the most powerful family in the continent.