"I can't take this anymore"
Alen had a perfect life—good at academics, sports, born into a rich family, admitted into a top university… Everything was going well for him until he got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Because of this, he spent months bedridden and in extreme pain. His life was ruined, and no money could save him.
Alen was in a pathetic state now—his hair gone, his body pale. His parents and sister were sitting beside him anxiously. His mother couldn't stop crying, his father was clenching his arms trying to act strong, but his eyes were red, and his younger sister still couldn't accept it and kept yelling at the doctors.
"Leah, stop yelling, it can't be helped," Alen murmured.
"Don't give up, dear. The doctors are trying their best—you'll be fine… I know you will, just d-don't lose hope," his mother helplessly cried.
"Well, I'm tired of this life now. Lying like this for a few more months won't make a difference anyway. I'm sorry for not being able to do anything."
"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault… It's our fault we didn't notice the signs earlier," his dad said.
"When I first got diagnosed, I didn't give up. I thought I would be able to beat it, but all these months really broke me."
"N-NO, you cannot go!" Leah cried.
"Shut up now, will you? I just wanna sleep now… quietly." He closed his eyes.
'How long has it been since I slept? W-Wait, where am I?!?'
Alen woke up in a completely new atmosphere. He saw a golden ceiling—he was in a massive room. A maid suddenly ran out after realizing he was awake.
Alen got up, his body now completely healthy. He quickly went in front of the mirror and… there he was—a tall, handsome man with golden hair. His body was much different now, his features dominating.
'Did I transmigrate into someone else's body?'
Suddenly, about 10 maids rushed in and bowed deeply.
"We greet the crown prince."
'The crown prince??? That explains the luxurious room, but did I transmigrate into the past then? And that too without any knowledge regarding the kingdom or my own family? If these medieval-era bastards realize that I'm different, they're surely gonna claim I got possessed and execute me….'
Following the maids, 2 young men and 3 young women wearing royal attire came inside. The younger ones wore expressions of… fear? They also bowed deeply.
"B-Brother, are you alright now?"
"I was so worried when I heard that you collapsed."
"How did you get injured? This isn't possible."
All of them flooded Alen with questions, and Alen didn't know what to say.
'They must be the other princes and princesses, but by observing the behavior of the maids and even my siblings, I can conclude that the original person was cold or probably even ruthless, as they clearly fear me. I can use this opportunity.'
He gave all of them a cold look, and the room, which was noisy, suddenly became quiet.
"How long has it been since I collapsed?"
"T-Three days."
Suddenly, a young and beautiful woman rushed in. She had auburn hair and blue eyes.
"Arthur! I came in as soon as I heard… I had been waiting at the palace for three days."
'Oh, so my new name is Arthur, hm… But who is this person? Another sibling? No, that can't be. She clearly is an outsider, and she even called me casually. Is that my lover?'
"I appreciate the fact that you all came to see me and also showed concern for me, but I have not yet recovered and would like to stay alone for a while. I'll ask you for details later on."
As soon as he said that, everyone except the auburn-haired woman bowed again, and they all left him alone.
'Sigh… I'm glad I have authority; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone so easily. But that makes me wonder—who even is this person? Is he some cruel bastard? Right, I should go to the library, and maybe I'll find out something about the kingdom with my knowledge of history.'
He asked a maid to escort him to the grand library, and he spent hours researching the kingdom's history and even found a few books about himself. After all that, he had one good news and one bad news.
The bad news being that he was currently in the Drakenhart Empire, a massive empire that spanned about 70% of the entire continent and had 4 grand dukes, 12 dukes, 38 counts, and numerous viscounts and barons under it. This meant that Alen was not in the past; instead, he was in another world.
Moreover, this was a fantasy world which had mana… His situation was similar to those novel protagonists he had read about. Everyone was born with a mana core; its strength would determine the person's strength. Its limit was mostly decided at birth, but severe training and hard work could bypass the limit. Mana was like an energy used by all—in fights and even in day-to-day tasks. In fights, swordsmen use mana to strengthen their bodies and make their swords much stronger, and mages use mana to manipulate or create elements and fight using those.
The good news being that while reading about the history, he unlocked quite a few memory fragments and learnt the identities of all those people that had come before. He also found out that he was the crown prince, Arthur Valerius Drakenhart, who is considered the strongest person in the empire at just age 24. He was born with a divine mark, which simply meant he was blessed by the God and naturally had monstrous talent. He soon started defeating top knights and fighters by age 10 and was able to tame a dragon by sheer willpower by age 15. He soon became stronger than his dragon and even defeated his father, the former strongest person and emperor, at age 20. He has achieved 10th tier in both swordsmanship and elemental control.
'Hah, so that's why they all feared me… I'm the strongest person in the empire.'
'But that doesn't mean I'll be able to live an untouchable and comfortable life… I was clearly injured three days ago, which should've been impossible. I don't remember anything about that incident, though, but could it be there are people stronger than me? If yes, then that's troublesome—they're clearly hiding in the shadows and targeting me.'
'I probably died in my last life, and there is no way back. I had mentally prepared myself that I would lose my family soon, so that's why I'm not that upset. But still, I have countless questions… How and why did I transmigrate into another world? What happened to the original Arthur? Someone considered the strongest had his soul disappear just like that? There has to be an explanation.'
'Regardless, I will not let this life get wasted. This situation cannot be resolved with strength alone… I need to understand my situation better and make a plan accordingly.'