In a lush night illuminated by the pale moonlight, one could hear laughter and multiple voices coming from the castle. The castle, outshining the moonlight by illuminating everything far and wide, drowned the surrounding silence with its festive atmosphere.
Inside, the banquet hall was decorated with tapestries, paintings, and ornate furnishing of the highest quality.
The nobles were dressed in their finest and most elaborate attire to showcase their wealth and social status. Just the fact that the Duke Lionel invited them to his banquet uplifted their social status by a dozen times.
"Will we get to meet all three new Lions today?"
"Maybe? I heard that the Wallowing Swordsman and Ice Princess have returned after negotiating with neighboring kingdoms. If so, we will see all the three heirs today itself."
"What about the Duke and Duchess?"
"Them too!"
"It will be my first time watching the strongest Swordsman of our Swordsmith Empire, the sole Empire on Kamera Continent! I wonder if Duke Aries Lionel—"
"Hushh! It's Duke Aries S Lionel. Don't get the name wrong."
"But–"
"Hushh! Hushh! Are you a country bumpkin? The Duke recently inherited his master's name, and the last person who spelled his name wrong lost his tongue!"
"Ehehe, this is my first time here. It hasn't been long since I inherited my father's estate, so there's much I don't know."
The 2nd noble's eyes glinted at the words 'not long ago' and 'much I don't know'. He spoke while hiding his greedy smile.
"Let me guide you in that case!"
"Can you? That will help a lot!" The 1st noble was almost jumping in happiness, not knowing he was in the company of a wrong person. "Do you…uhm…know why the Duke is having a banquet?"
Giving him a long hard stare for a few moments, the 2nd noble answered.
"To select his heirs for the Rite of Passage." The 2nd Nobel continued to speak before he could also question the Rite of Passage. "The Empire is searching for talents to send an expedition for the recently discovered 3rd continent, Spirit Continent."
"Thank you for telling me everything. I am Jae-sung Gildart." The blue-haired noble smiled back in politeness.
"That's a unique name."
"Haha, I get that a lot."
The hall was filled with similar talks about the recently discovered continent, and the three heirs of the Duke.
Amidst all, the banquet table was the focal point of the room. It had exactly five empty seats. Two for the Duke and Duchess, and three for the heirs.
Tok— Tok— Tok—
Silence engulfed the chattering hall as the sound of footsteps came from the top of stairways.
The Duke continued his descent. His steps radiated strength and confidence, with a powerful aura that demanded attention. His blonde hair and his beard similar to a lion's mane further accentuated his rugged and regal appearance, giving him an imposing and almost mythical presence.
Behind him were the duchess and the three heirs.
Among the heirs, the silver, snow-like hairs of the young woman and her perfectly sculpted figure drew the attention of almost every male in the hall.
At the same time, the gazes of women were ensnared by a young man and his lively appearance who walked beside the Ice Princess.
Finally, at the end, was another young man who strode forward lethargically. Ironically, although he had silver hair similar to his mother and elder sister, nobody was paying him any attention.
His appearance was entirely different from anyone in the banquet hall. His sunken cheek highlighted his weak constitution, while his twig-like limbs were shaking continuously as he walked.
The family settled on the table.
"Greetings and welcome, esteemed guests.
Today I, Duke Aries S Lionel have invited all of you as a member of the nobility. I have been entrusted with great responsibility from the mighty crown, that is to choose the heir who will oversee the Rites of Passage.
This toast is for the discovery of the new continent and prosperity the Great, his Majesty!"
"Cheers!"
"Toast!"
"Let's drink all night!"
"All night~ All night~"
The crowd drank their drink in one gulp as a form of respect to Duke, however…
Clink—!
Clank–! Clank–!
"Ac…kkk..ggh.."
The third heir suddenly dropped his drink and clutched his throat. Making weird noises, he fell and white foam escaped his mouth.
Silence
No one moved a muscle. They couldn't believe what they had witnessed.
"Who…." An oppressive presence spread into the hall, windows cracked, the furniture started creaking, everyone forgot to breathe and their bodies froze under the murderous gaze of the strongest man on the continent. "Did this?"
Gulp—
The nobles who were conversing happily moments ago glanced suspiciously at each other, fear evident in their gazes.
Before the nobles knew, the Ice Princess and Wallowing Swordsman were standing at the two exits, to stop anyone from escaping.
'Duke might not care about that trash, but this was a public assassination! He won't let the murder go, or it will stain the Lionel Family name!'
'Lionel Family holds their pride as their most important possession! The assassin must have prepared to die if they dared to kill an heir of the Lionel Family in their banquet itself! '
'Shit! Why did I come here?! What if Dukes kills everyone here in rage!?'
'If I'm going to die anyway, I should declare my love for the Ice Princess!'
Fear leads to irrational decisions. Decisions one won't make normally. But it seemed the night of surprises had yet to end.
Someone shouted.
"The third heir! He is alive!"
The third heir's body twitched. His silver hair, that had been dirtied from the cuisine placed on the table, was slowly turning black.
"Haaaaaah! Haaah! Haah!"
Under the shocked gazes, the third heir opened his eyes while hungrily devouring the air. Wiping the white froth, he scanned his surroundings with a calm gaze. An eerily calm gaze.
"Sol, are you… alive?"
A tear fell from the duchess' eye.
Raising his head, the black-haired young man looked at the duchess with unfamiliar eyes and slowly nodded.
"Yeah, I—"
"Kyaa! It's black hair!"
"A fiend has possessed the third heir!"
"He used black magic to come to life!"
"It's a devil!"
"I love you, senorita!"
A commotion erupted at the transformation of his hairs. The crowd was shaking intensely as they stared at him.
Suddenly, the third heir grabbed his head as if he was in intense pain and closed his eyes. His eyes were moving rapidly behind the eyelids.
"Silence!"
A single command from the Duke brought the crowd under control, again.
"Sebas, bring Sol to his room."
A butler appeared from the Duke's shadow and bowed. He helped the third heir – who had lost consciousness — and brought him away.
The Duke turned back at the crowd.
"Do not think for one instance that I will let anyone leave until I find the culprit!"
He roared angrily, however, his true thoughts were different.
A smile was threatening to break into face as he replayed the scene of 'his' third son's black hair.
'Your Majesty Solomon, finally you have awakened.'
———————
Pushing the windows open, I bathed in the gentle embrace of dawn. I then stood in front of the mirror inside my bedroom and gauged my reflection.
A young-man with black hair greeted me. He had sunken cheeks and a ghostly pale complexion. Needless to say, if someone told me this young man was on his deathbed, I would agree with you in a heartbeat.
Coincidentally, this young man was me.
'Of all kinds of hair colors, it had to be black.'
In this world, a person's hair color generally matches their personality. Naturally, black hair wasn't much appreciated and was mostly associated with dark magic, ill omens, and taboos.
It had been 3 days since I regained my memories.
When I first opened my eyes, I found myself in the middle of a banquet. However, back then, the memories of 18 years of my current life had suddenly rushed into my head and I fainted.
Later, I found that someone had poisoned my drink, but the culprit had yet to be caught. The healers were surprised that I could survive the potent poison in my drink.
In the past 3 days, I made a lot of discoveries.
There was big news, Big news, BIG news, and B.I.G news.
Let's start with the big news.
I was in the World of Magic and Swords and there were exactly 177 days left for 'Coalescence', the merging of all surviving worlds.
How did I know this?
It was thanks to the two lines appearing at the corner of my vision.
Time Remaining for Coalescence: 177 days left ||
<
'Five more minutes and I can finally see my status.'
Melione wasn't with me when I woke up. I looked around the mansion but didn't find her. I could feel the general direction of her location and that she was in good health, but that was all. We had yet to get in touch with each other.
The Big news was my identity in this world.
I was Sol Lionel, the third heir of the Dukedom of Lionel – one of the two Dukedoms of the Swordsmith Empire, the sole Empire on the Kamera Continent. The other two continents were the East Continent, and the recently discovered Spirit Continent.
My father was Aries Lionel, the strongest man on the Kamera Continent and a peak Saint rank. The elder sister, Ice Princess, and the elder brother, Wallowing Swordsman, were also among the powerhouses of the empire.
Although I was the son of a concubine and my biological mother was dead, I lived my life while enjoying my privilege as a Lionel.
I was born with a golden spoon in this life…
'As if I can say that!'
This brings me to the BIG news.
Spirit Continent, the new Continent where every kingdom and Empire are sending their expeditions, is inhabited by …uhh…Spirits.
The highest ranking spirits were called Daemons and numbered 72.
…And, my four family members were all possessed by Daemons.
There were 5 spies of the King of Spirit Continent, [Magic God, Solomon] inside the Lionel House! And I killed him!
I grabbed my head and crouched while writhing in agony.
'I need to run away.'
My – 'Sol's' – body hadn't been possessed by any Daemon. Clearly, I was left because I was the vessel of Solomon to descend on this Continent without leaving his throne.
'I can bet they think I am Solomon, thanks to my black hairs!'
The Daemons possessing my family had yet to realize that I wasn't Solomon, but the gig would be up at any moment.
Daemons were hardcore fanatics who would do anything for Solomon. It wasn't wrong to say I had one foot in the grave the moment they came to know about Solomon's death… and whole body in the grave when they identified Solomon's killer.
They wouldn't be able to get in contact with the Spirit Continent due to geographical limitations and mana storms, even so there could be something else that might give my identity off!
Lastly, the B.I.G news.
…There was no Sol Lionel in the novel. The Duke Aries had only two children.
Either Sol died in the banquet originally or Solomon possessed Sol and left before Jae-sung hunts down the Lionel family.
Yeah, the B.I.G news wasn't the absence of Sol in the novel. It was the fact that the person who betrayed Jae-sung in his first timeline was Wallowing Swordsman, my elder brother, who had been possessed by a Daemon.
Though, Jae-sung wouldn't know about Daemon possession until much later in the novel, and by then he would've hunted every Lionel.
The one who told Jae-sung about the possession was Solomon.
Ding!
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<
'Sigh, let's check my status first. I need to know my capabilities before coming up with a plan.'