7 Years Later
Daniel, once known as William before his rebirth, stood in the middle of a sprawling garden, the air heavy with the scent of blooming roses. The velvet petals shimmered in the pale moonlight, casting soft shadows across the ground. Owls perched silently in the surrounding trees, their golden eyes watching from the darkness as the sky stretched out like an endless black canvas.
"It's been five years since then…" he whispered to himself, his voice barely cutting through the stillness of the night. His breath formed soft clouds in the cool air as he shook his head, trying to dispel the weight of his thoughts.
In these five years, he had learned so much about this strange new world he had been thrust into. From the moment he had opened his eyes, confusion clouded his every thought, but now, after years of observation and learning, things were finally starting to make sense. He understood more about this place—about his family and the strange customs his mother had once casually mentioned.
And with those discoveries came an understanding of his father's behavior, a puzzle he had slowly pieced together.
Apparently, this world was one where everything familiar had been flipped upside down—especially when it came to gender norms.
The very essence of masculinity and femininity had been reversed here, creating a society that was both foreign and unsettling to Daniel. In this world, men were expected to be chaste and demure, reserved in matters of intimacy. They were prized for their innocence and purity, virtues traditionally expected of women in his old life. Meanwhile, women were bold, unashamed in their pursuit of relationships, their roles as initiators of courtship and passion.
And that wasn't the only thing that had changed.
Here, women were born with stronger bodies, naturally muscular and physically superior, while men had frailer, more delicate constitutions. Daniel could hardly wrap his head around the sheer reversal of it all.
"A matriarchy?" he mused quietly, though it wasn't quite that. While women held an undeniable advantage due to their biological strength, society hadn't completely devolved into female rule. But, given the way things worked, it was hard not to see how women naturally rose to positions of authority, dominating both the social and political landscape.
Naturally, this meant men occupied a lower status in society. They were viewed as more suited to staying at home, obedient to their wives, who served as the breadwinners and protectors. Men were expected to take care of the household, to serve quietly while their wives sought glory outside.
And then, as if all of this wasn't enough of a shock, Daniel had learned something even more remarkable: this world possessed magic. Real, tangible magic.
Each person was born with the potential to have a magic rune, which would determine their affinity with one of the elements—fire, water, wind, or earth. But these runes were rare, especially for men.
As if the world's unfairness to men wasn't already apparent, it also extended to magic. Men were born less frequently with rune abilities, while women had a much higher chance of possessing one. Women, with their inherent physical and magical advantages, held nearly all the cards in this world.
He had learned that this imbalance had driven some parts of history to madness. There had been dark times, when fanatics, obsessed with having strong daughters, would kill male children at birth. The practice had nearly driven the male population into extinction at one point, a haunting legacy that still lingered in the shadows of society.
Though laws had since been passed to prevent such atrocities, these events had led to a subtle shift—ironically raising the status of men to some degree. With fewer males being born, their rarity had become something of a commodity. Society needed men, after all—without them, there would be no future generations.
Now, women fought for more than just land and power. They fought to win the favor of handsome, rare men, viewing them as valuable prizes in their conquests. And though society had made efforts to equalize the status of men and women, the dynamics at home remained unchanged. What happened in public and what happened behind closed doors were two very different stories.
Daniel stood in the lush garden, gazing out over the manicured roses, but his heart was heavy. Despite the beauty around him, a deep melancholy lingered. He had been born into a noble family, a position that granted him certain privileges, but it also came with chains of its own. Every day was a reminder of the expectations placed upon him.
The Empire, the sole ruling body of this land, was vast and powerful, controlling all the territories where vampires like his family lived. Yes, vampires. In this life, Daniel had been reborn as one of them, a creature of the night, marked by their signature long, pointed ears and their thirst for blood. He was the son of a Countess, an aristocrat of the Empire, which meant that not only did he bear the burden of his gender, but he also carried the weight of his family's noble bloodline.
Being the son of a vampire Countess came with daily lessons, endless etiquette, and the constant reminder that, as a man, he needed to behave with utmost decorum. His upbringing was strict, suffocating in its rigidity, but he had learned to smile through it, to act the part that was expected of him.
But not everything was bad news. There was one shining light in the otherwise bleak existence of his new life.
Daniel had been born with a magic rune.
Unlike most men, whose frail bodies often led them to live lives of weakness, Daniel was different. His strength was unusual for a male, on par with an average woman's. He might not be the strongest, but he was far from the fragile boy everyone expected him to be.
The exact nature of his rune was still a mystery. That would be revealed during his Awakening Ceremony, which was fast approaching. At seven years old, he would finally learn the truth of his magic affinity.
But the mere fact that he had a rune already made him more valuable than 99% of men. His mother had been ecstatic when she found out. He still remembered the way she had jumped for joy, her smile brighter than he had ever seen it.
Since then, she had become his shadow, guarding him fiercely. He wasn't allowed to wander freely. Every little scrape or bruise sent her into a panic. She had become overprotective, fearing that anything might harm her precious son.