Thin leaves, nearly transparent, adhered to the window, allowing the morning sunlight to softly and warmly permeate the room.
The entire room was filled with a heart-lifting fragrance of wood.
The cool breeze from the courtyard gently stroked his body, causing him to shiver, and he instinctively opened his eyes.
What caught his attention wasn't the European-style furniture oozing modernity in this room.
Instead, it was the handsome face reflected in the mirror not far away, the cool green eyes containing a trace of perplexed sleepiness.
It looked like he wanted to push people thousands of miles away, yet seemed harmless.
He raised his hand to touch his own cheek.
In the mirror, a green-eyed boy with black hair made the exact same motion.
"Where am I..."
Lanci murmured.
It seemed he had... transmigrated.
This familiar figure in the mirror was none other than a character from the new game developed by his company, "Thorny Lion Heart".
As the chief designer of the game, he had been participating in a company ceremony to honor a co-worker's mother when he felt the world black out as if he had lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in the world he was seeing now.
Meanwhile, a large amount of information flooded into his mind like a tidal wave, and he began to piece together his current situation.
Subsequently, his eyebrows furrowed deeper.
Because he hadn't transmigrated... into some infinitely potential hero or villain.
He had become a minor character from a spin-off of the game called "Talia's Rise", a character who had a very short lifespan.
This character named "Lanci" was good looking, wealthy, and not so smart - he wasn't particularly distinctive!
Because the significant character "Talia" was assigned to him, he also created all the characters in the Talia-related storyline, including "Lanci".
He never thought that he had become the insignificant Lanci now...
Well, at least, he drew Lanci to be extremely handsome out of professionalism.
Resting his chin on his hand, he couldn't help wondering.
"Why did this rich kid meet such a tragic end..."
Though he belonged to the art department, he did play the game and read some of the character's settings.
Soon, he remembered—
There was someone out for "rich kid Lanci's" life.
And that person was the protagonist of the spin-off and presumably a major villain in the game—Talia, the last princess of the Demon Race.
At this point in time, Talia had yet to rise as the Great Demon Clan, appearing as a destitute refugee girl while secretly possessing great power.
In order to survive in the Human Kingdom, she constantly disguised herself.
She would only explode in violent cruelty if incredibly pressured.
And in this spin-off story.
"Lanci" was the first human to anger Talia after her exile.
The spark that ignited the feud was "Lanci" hunting and killing Talia's servitor, the Dark Pigeon, which she used for scouting information.
When Talia tracked down "Lanci" two days later.
The noble son, not realizing the gravity of his actions, not only failed to apologize but also mercilessly mocked Talia, who looked like a beggar.
He even boasted about roasting her other servitors in an incredibly — fantastic barbecue party!
In the end.
Lanci, who had courted his own doom, was easily slain by Talia, a large sum of gold coins exploded from his corpse, and she stole an ancient artifact treasured by his family, the [Poem of Pity].
These obtained treasures became extraordinarily important venture capital on Talia's path to restoring the Demon Race's prosperity.
From a certain perspective, our Living Bodhisattva Mr. Lanci was indeed a tremendous benefactor to Talia.
"I don't want to be the top big brother on Talia's list——!"
Sitting on the bed, Lanci covered his head as if waking from a nightmare.
Stay calm.
Look on the bright side.
The situation isn't as dire as it seems.
Since he was well aware of the grudge between "Lanci and Talia", all he had to do was steer clear of it!
Just avoid angering this Demon Race lord, peacefully send her away from his territory, okay!
At this moment, in this brand new world.
Lanci felt a long-lost sense of motivation and vigor!
It must have been the blessing and reward for his law-abiding and good deeds in his previous life.
So, his wonderful life as a wealthy young man had begun!
Economic freedom, no more extras! Being rich and powerful, so dreamy!
Just as he was thinking this.
A slight knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Young master, are you awake? You asked me to wake you up early yesterday..."
Seems like she had heard the movement in the room, a faint female voice came from outside the door.
"I am awake."
Lanci replied, got out of bed, and almost tripped over a pile of wine bottles at the foot of the bed.
He paused for a moment.
That's right.
After his predecessor turned 16 and came of age last month, he started to develop a bad habit of drinking excessively.
As a result, his memories of the past month always seemed a bit fragmented.
It seemed like his predecessor often got drunk, went crazy with alcohol, and did silly things.
"Lanci provoking Talia" in the original plot, he wondered if he was drunk at the time.
It was indeed harmful to be a heavy drinker.
As Lanci sighed, he began to change his clothes.
As soon as he stepped out of the bedroom.
He noticed a maid standing by the door shivering in fear.
The maid seemed to be conflicted between completing the task assigned by the bad young master and fearing his thunderous scolding should she awaken him.
"Good morning."
Lanci spoke in a calm tone.
"Huh?"
The maid showed a surprised look and emitted a sound unconsciously.
It seemed like she was intending to judge Lanci's mood today.
She quickly recovered and hurriedly said to Lanci:
"Your father is already waiting for you in the dining room."
Lanci nodded.
He knew that his parents were alive. He was not an orphan.
However, they were busy with their business affairs and had adopted a laissez-faire approach to raising Lanci in recent years.
Even these days, his father coming home is, in Lanci's memory of his previous life, a rare occurrence.
Thinking about this, Lanci walked along the corridor of the mansion.
All the servants would recoil without exception, bow deeply, and then quickly leave as if escaping.
It seemed that his former self had often caused trouble for those around him.
Lanci sighed inwardly.
Although he didn't have too many memories of being drunk, his previous self would become irritable and recklessly throw things around when drunk. It was inevitable that the servants were afraid.
...
Lanci soon arrived at the dining room.
He saw that seated at the end of the long table was, a middle-aged man, Lanci's father.
"You're late again today."
His father didn't mean to reprimand Lanci, he was merely stating a fact.
"Sorry, I won't be drinking excessively anymore."
He no longer had a reason to self-destruct in the future.
Lanci was quite satisfied with his wealthy lifestyle.
He only had one goal in life—
To live a comfortable, stable, and peaceful life.
"Take a seat."
All the servants in the great hall were clearly astonished by Lanci's behavior.
After a slight pause, his father nodded in response.
"Okay."
Lanci looked at the lavish food on the table, which did not match his definition of breakfast, and took his seat.
For some reason,
He felt something was weird.
Subsequently, he unconsciously raised his head and stared at a dish in the center of the long table.
—What was served on the plate was a golden and crispy roast dove.
It had been evenly coated with a fragrant seasoning and even when cut, it retained a perfect form.
"This is…"
Lanci, with an odd expression, slowly raised his hand and pointed at the dove.
The more he looked at it, the more familiar it felt.
Without immediately responding, his father and the attendant in the distance looked at Lanci with perplexed expressions.
Today's Lanci, in their view, was rather strange, but overall, quite mild-mannered.
"This is the dove you brought back yesterday that the servants have prepared for today's breakfast, according to your instructions," his father said nonchalantly, raising his head to glance at Lanci,
"You got too drunk last night. Can't remember anymore?"
Lanci: "¿"
Yesterday?
The dove I brought back?
Lanci, who felt something was extremely amiss, hurriedly reached for an unfamiliar dish with his fork, attempting to maintain composure.
Despite the fact that the once roast dove was now unrecognizable.
Examining its shape and contours more closely,
Lanci became certain that it was the dove of the great demon Talia.
After all, Talia's Servitor was also drawn by him.
"Are you alright?"
Lanci's unusual behavior couldn't escape his father's eyes.
"I'm fine. It's the aftermath of heavy drinking. Alcohol is harmful."
Lanci smiled at his father and continued to eat his breakfast.
Catching a glimpse of Talia's Servitor's pitiful state, Lanci felt a fishbone stuck in his throat.
You really are a newborn, previous self…
Turning someone's Servitor into this state.
And then even thinking about mocking her.
She would kill you for nothing if she were the Demon King!
Lanci couldn't help but ponder whether there was still hope for the crispy and juicy dove in front of him.
The answer was no.
So then, the most reasonable thing for him to do now became clear.
He should completely destroy the evidence and cheer up, allowing his body to recover from the hangover.
So, he finally reached out and picked up the dove leg, put it in his mouth, took a bite off the salty and fatty crispy grilled meat, and just like that, the wonderful taste spread in his mouth.
Satisfying.
He would feed the bones to the dogs later.
...