Morning dew slid down the palace windows.
Mirroring it, sweat ran from the Prince's temples, stinging his eyes.
He barely noticed it. His focus stayed on the woman standing before him.
She was beautiful beyond reason, yet she looked fragile. Her blue eyes were red from fear. Her black hair hung loose over her shoulders.
Was she a familiar person?
A stranger?
His head ached.
One strange detail struck the Prince—he could see clearly. He didn't need glasses anymore.
Suddenly, the room seemed to close in around him.
Cold stone walls. Tall windows. The unfamiliar weight of fine clothes on his body. Where was he? Who was he? A Prince?
New memories surfaced in the lake of his mind without warning, settling in as if they had always belonged there. Names. Faces. Rules. Expectations. Identity.
They were his memories now.
And he was no longer a man from Earth. He was now Sol Hailsworth.
Hailsworth?
The Hailsworth family was the rulers of the Hail Kingdom.
The family's head, the Emperor of the kingdom, was said to be a demigod—an unstoppable conqueror pushing into lands beyond the known world. His children were called heaven-chosen, each blessed with powerful abilities known as Sculptic Gifts, their beauty beyond that of ordinary humans.
And Sol Hailsworth was one of them.
The seventh son of the Hailsworth family. A prince, but not one treated kindly by others.
His mother had been imprisoned long ago, then banished. Her crime was said to be a fight against the Emperor himself, though the details remained hazy.
All he knew was that, because of her, Sol had grown up isolated from the other princes—kept at a distance, spoken to coldly, watched closely.
In fact, it often seemed as if he were not a part of them at all.
Though functionally he was a prince, that was only in name.
And today, the woman before him, Mirin, had brought a report.
A REPORT.
His head throbbed.
What report?
And who is Mirin?
Mirin belonged to him. She was gifted to him when he turned ten. Every royal child was given one person like her—someone to manage their daily affairs.
Mirin...
They grew up together, learned together. She was his, and she had served him faithfully ever since. And he loved her dearly.
Sol held his head, feeling it pound.
Then the report.
Thinking about it made a shock of terror run through him.
The report itself was short.
It was a death sentence.
Because of his mother's treason on the Volcan Plains, Sol Hailsworth was to be stripped of his royal status and executed upon the Emperor's return.
As mercy, Sol would be allowed to live freely within the palace until that day. As long as he did not attempt to leave, he was not imprisoned.
This was the Emperor's final kindness.
And also an announcement to the masses: Only the Emperor was allowed to punish his princes.
From deep within him, an unwitting echo of sadness bloomed.
Sol felt his heart ache.
Mother, oh mother, you truly became the death of me! First, you caused the Empire to watch me like I am a spy, then you made them castrate me, and now—hahaha, you've killed me!
Her treasons had destroyed his life among royalty.
All these thoughts flickered through him, then, the existential truth settled in.
He had transmigrated to the body of Sol, moving from Earth to this new, unknown planet. He was now the legitimate Sol Hailsworth—the Reclusive Prince.
And... even his memories had fused, both his earthly self and Sol Hailsworth becoming one.
Sol's face became full of complex emotions.
He didn't feel like himself from Earth, nor did he feel as if he were Sol.
He felt as if his identity had fractured, then been fixed forcefully.
Transmigration. Prince. Execution. Shitty parents. And he was castrated, without a working member down there!
FUCK! REALLY!
Sol was overwhelmed.
***
Sol didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up. He had fallen unconscious, and Mirin had taken him to his bed. Looking out the windows, the sun was already high up, heat radiating from it. He had slept for at least a few hours. And Mirin was nowhere to be seen.
Humph, she didn't even wait to console me when I woke up. He felt moody. I bet she is crying somewhere alone, she is always been like that.Just as Sol was falling into a mire of nostalgia and self pity—
DING!
[The Life Simulator has been successfully activated]
[SIMULATE IN THE MIND, ACHIEVE IN REALITY.]
A ringing sound halted his thoughts.
Sol no longer paid attention to his nostalgia or brewing identity crisis and looked at the flickering screen of light in front of him. It was gray in color, seemingly blending in with reality. An introduction of functions flickered, written in the language of the Hailsworth empire.
Am I seeing things?
He touched the screen with a weird feeling, it did not respond.
——
[Life Simulator]
(1). You can perform simulations of reality based on your plans to see how well they would fare.
(2). To initiate a simulation, you need Simulation Shards. Such shards can be collected from some people and from some places. Be on the lookout.
Above some people's heads, a golden mark would flicker. To obtain the Shard, a corresponding task must be completed. The higher the difficulty of the task, the higher the quality of the Life
Location Shards, on the other hand, can be collected by visiting certain locations and completing the Reality Map of the system.You can gain more control of the simulation with higher quality Shards.
(3) You can choose to keep one of the things from the simulation in reality: A skill you possessed in the simulation, an object you owned, or an abstract thing described by you that you owned. Or you can discard all the above choices and generate an Innate Talent based on the simulation.
(4) You will not have the Life Simulator in the simulations.
(5) If you find an Event Shard, you can collect an extra reward from the simulation. You can acquire Event Shards upon completing hidden obsessions of your own psyche.
---
Indeed, one who fucks pussies cannot be without a dick!
Of course, as a transmigrator, he got a cheat!
As Sol was reeling in thought, pondering about the possibilities, a brilliant map of the palace manifested before him. It spanned nearly 10 kilometers in size, filled with underground passages and segmented inner palaces. Even this map, having covered every place Sol had ever been to in the palace, were full of holes with uncharted territory. Those places were dark.
He blinked, then his face changed.
Life Shards and Location Shards? Simulation? Was this his cheat for transmigration?
Damn, then were all those transmigration novels actually not mere fantasy? He looked out the window, the sun looking further and further as time went on.
With such a cheat, can't he escape execution?
Yes he could.
Not to mention this cheat alone, he also had his own Sculptic Gift.
With both combined, wasn't his future limitless?
A knock came from his room's far end, breaking his fantasy. Sol whirled around, somewhat panicked. Has the Emperor returned already?
No, it must be Mirin.
Then, he composed himself and opened the door.
Unexpectedly, it was not Mirin.
It was Seraphina. The 3rd child of the Emperor.Sol observed the princess, feeling a profound emotion.
Red hair, violent temper, fire abilities—she was basically an arechetype often seen in anime. It was just that Seraphina was anything but a simple explosive woman. In fact, she is the opposite.
She was surgical. She was a schemer.
"Seraphina," he said, acting calm. "It's not like you to visit me."
Seraphina didn't smile. "Not like me? What do you know about me?"
Sol was stumped for a second.
"Your mother's crimes are unforgivable this time. I don't know what she did in the Volcan plains," she said plainly. "But you know the consequences of treason, right?"
Sol chuckled soullessly, shaking his head. "Of course I do."
Eradication of the entire bloodline was the norm.
"It's good that you understand. Treason is punishable by the death of one's whole lineage, and there is no going around it. Do you know why I am here?"
He frowned. "I do not."
"I am here to seal your Sculptic Gift. We don't want to see a dead man's vengeance happening, you see?"
Sol's face changed.
Sculptic Gifts!
This was the source of all magical powers in this world. And he, as the seventh prince of Hailsworth, also had a Sculptic Gift!
"What if I won't allow you to seal me?" he asked, voice filled with frustration.
Her eyes burned with fire. "Are you going to resist?" she asked. "Then we can quicken your execution."
He didn't reply.
A long moment passed.
As he looked at her, Sol's flesh hand morphed into a sharp blade. It was not that he wanted to fight her, it was just that Sol truly did not want his Gift to be sealed.
The clothes beside them, neatly arranged, burst into flames. Seraphina chuckled. The atmosphere itself became hot.
"You are no match for me," she warned. "And I don't want to spill family blood."
Sol did not relent.
"I can swear an Oath by the power of the First Brother not to use my power for vengeance," he said calmly. "I will not accept a seal."
This time, Seraphina's expression became cold.
Sol knew she wouldn't want that.
After all, the First Brother always tampered with the Contract to make it beneficial for him in some way or the other.
It was clear that she had come here early to avoid such a thing from happening at all.
She didn't want Sol to become another hand in that man's palm.
While inwardly, Sol sweated, feeling the strain of using his Gift.
Yes, he had used his Sculpted Gift by imagination alone and it felt tingly to experience such magical power. But he did not have actual training experience other than the memories from the dead prince. Even though their memories had become one, there was still some training needed before he fully reached his prime. And thus, he was sure he could not use much of his power at all.
And even if he could use his full power, he wouldn't be a match for Seraphina. After all, she was a Stage 3 Gifted and he was a mere Stage 1.Even this was a mere show of unwillingness.But Sol knew he had one advantage, this fight was not hopeless—no one other than the Emperor knew what his actual Sculpted Gift was.
Most people thought it was Body Morphing, but it was far, far, from that.
And he didn't want such a power to be sealed! He wanted to use it in the simulations to come!
Just as the tension reached a fever pitch, a calm voice spoke: "Seraphina, Sol, put down your blades."
Seraphina froze.
At some point, a hand rested above her shoulder.
A cold dread spread into her soul.
She turned stiffly to see a smiling face.
"First Brother…"
HOW? Isn't he busy with the mess Father left behind?
The man smiled. "I was busy, you see, but Sol's little servant came begging. She wanted me to come and sign a contract with little Sol."
From behind him, Mirin slowly caught up running, sweating, wheezing for breath.
She sighed in relief seeing Sol.
Sol grinned. First Brother smiled. Seraphina sweated.
And what happened afterwards was no surprise.
First Brother used his Sculptic Gift of Oaths and Sol was forced to vow three things.
He would not defy the Hailsworth Laws.He would not try to find loopholes in the laws to escape or enact vengeance.And he would help the First Brother do one thing if he is ever lacking human resources, as long as the one thing doesn't go against his own benefits.
All oaths will be valid until the day the Emperor returns.
Defy it—die.
Closing the door to his room after letting in a tired Mirin, Sol looked at the backs of the receding figures.
Both looked as calm as water now.
And above their heads were flickering golden lights. It was a pity that he could not touch them to learn what those lights represented.
He then turned to look at Mirin, her face wrenched with worry, her hand tightly holding onto his own.
And on top of her head was also a golden light.
[White Life Shard]
[Kiss her]
Sol unceremoniously leaned down and placed a peck on her lips.
He didn't go further, not wanting to shake the already shaken girl further. But even the softness of a peck on her lips lingered in his mind, unwilling to leave.
Mirin stood rooted to her place.
Sol chuckled and walked to the windows.
He looked far at the evening sun.
Heh!
[White Life Shard collected.]
He muttered in his mind, full of excitement at both the kiss and what was about to happen.
It was time to start the simulation!
Mirin recovered from her shock after a long time and came to sit beside him.
Both of them stared at the skies, their hands subconsciously interlinked.
Sol was finally calm.
INITIATE A SIMULATION!
[One White Life Shard consumed]