As soon as I was possessed, I realized it.
That I was f*cked.
To be precise, the moment I saw the wretched appearance and the pale blue-grey hair that looked faded reflected in the full-length mirror, I realized.
I had merely gone to sleep and woken up, but I had become Edom Rivan, the youngest son of a Count in a Romance Fantasy novel I had read to the end just before falling asleep.
The problem wasn't the status of being the youngest of a noble family, but Edom Rivan's position within this household. The seat at the very end of the table, an existence excluded from conversations, a human called "him" instead of by name. Among his brilliant siblings, Edom was always the standard for comparison, and he always stood on the lacking side.
The eldest son was a sword genius.
The second daughter was the flower of high society.
The third son was the top student at the Magic Academy.
And Edom?
A pathetic villain who dies screaming while obsessing over the female lead.
In the original work, the Count's family didn't treat Edom as a person even before he darkened and caused trouble. Even though he had the rare talent of Summoning Arts, they didn't even give him a chance to learn it properly.
Rather, the siblings only mocked him constantly.
Swordsmanship and Magic.
In an era where only those two genres were treated as orthodox, things like Summoning Arts were treated no differently than Voodoo curses.
"What are you going to do with that kind of magic? Open a circus? Puhaha!"
"Don't disgrace the family name for nothing and just stay quiet."
Indeed, there were cases where Summoners lacking combat power worked in circuses.
In many creative works, Summoners are a respected class, but perhaps because the Summoner's position in this Romance Fantasy was the main villain's signature skill, the treatment was incredibly harsh without limit.
Anyway, the original Edom used that power fittingly for his setting.
He became a third-rate villain who summoned cute beasts to buy the female lead's favor, or spat out threats when rejected.
The ending was obvious.
Abandoned by the family, and an exit that is erased forever from the story.
The problem is that right now, I am that pathetic character.
I sighed looking at the mirror. There was no one in this house to protect me. My siblings only treated me with persecution and scorn, and my parents consistently ignored me as if they didn't even have expectations in the first place. In the center of the Romance Fantasy stage, I was a piece whose defeat was already confirmed.
Even if I gave up obsessing over the female lead, Edom's position in the family wouldn't change, and it was obvious I would wither away in the blood-drying cold wind.
Since I was treated like leftovers with no right to choose, let alone decide anything.
So there was one option.
Escape from the Romance Fantasy, escape from the family.
Fortunately, the original work didn't leave me with only useless knowledge. The Northern War that appears in the mid-to-late stages. The flow of that war which was consumed only as a background device for the main couple, the starting point, the timing of betrayal—I knew it all.
When my thoughts reached that point, Summoning Arts looked different.
Not specialized for buying favors or making threats, but perhaps useful in war.
Scouting summons, supply transport, field treatment, camp guarding.
Just doing this much would surely skyrocket my value on the battlefield.
The battlefield isn't a social club for nobles who insist on orthodoxy.
Because there is no high or low rank in the means of survival and victory.
Immediately, I packed my bags at dawn when no one cared.
My siblings didn't know I was leaving, and even if they knew, they wouldn't have cared.
Rather than living and dying as the Count family's leftovers for the rest of my life, it was better to stand out by being active in the bloody battlefield.
I can just leave the Romance Fantasy story to the protagonists.
If I disappear, the female lead will be happy too.
Since the persistent obstacle is gone, progress with the male lead will move rapidly.
The siblings might feel briefly regretful that their toy has disappeared since the incompetent guy who was an eyesore is gone, but that will be it.
Even if I think about it a hundred times, it is for everyone's sake.
Thinking that, I slipped out of the mansion overnight and headed to the Helvid Northern Territory, where the Northern War would break out.
For survival.
For romance.
For success.
"…Damn, it's f*cking cold."
Sniffle.
To the Helvid Northern Territory.