Theodore's voice roared across the sun-dappled palace garden, raw with fury. "You cannot do that!" He stood rigid, his cheeks flushed crimson as he pinned Grand Duchess Vivian Olssen Everwood with a glare sharp enough to cut glass. She was his fiancée his anchor in a world that had already cast him aside.
"You have to love me!" he demanded, his tone cracking into desperation. "You cannot just abandon me too! Can't you just give me another chance? Can't you look at me the way you look at him with love and affection?" His words spilled out in a rush, each one laced with the fear he'd buried deep for years. I was here first, Vivian. I loved you first. You belong to me. Only me. His chest tightened, a cold knot forming as he thought of his father's rejection. She can't leave me. Not after Father cast me out. Without her, I'm nothing just a former prince with no title, no home, no purpose. He fell to his knees, begging her not to break their engagement, begging her to return the love he'd poured into her for so long.
"I loved you with all my heart, Vivian!" Tears pricked his eyes, his voice trembling. Does she even remember our walks in the rose gardens, when petals stuck to her hair and she laughed like the world was perfect? The promises we made beneath the stars, swearing to stand by each other forever? "How can you love that bastard when I am still your fiancé?"
Whispers rippled through the garden. Maids huddled behind hedges, nobles exchanged knowing glances everyone watched, gossiping in hushed tones. But Theodore didn't care. Let them talk. Let them judge. She's all that matters. He crawled forward, desperate, reaching for her hand. The moment his fingers brushed her skin…
Vivian recoiled as if burned, her honey-brown eyes narrowing into slits of pure disgust. That look it's like I'm a pest she can't wait to swat away. Did I ever mean anything to her?
But Theodore refused to stop. "I will be obedient, Vivian," he pleaded. I'll change. I'll be whatever she wants quiet, compliant, invisible if I have to be. "I will be the proper consort you always wanted. Please, just give me another chance! I promise, I won't do anything bad. I promise… Vivian, I promise!" His voice shattered, tears streaming down his face as his knees gave out, and he collapsed onto the cold marble ground. The chill seeped into his bones, matching the emptiness in his chest. This is it. If she leaves now, I'll fade away into nothing.
"Please… You're the only one I have left. My father has abandoned me… I have no one else. Please, don't abandon me too, Vivian."
Vivian turned her back, never sparing him another glance. "My engagement was set with the prince of the Sarano Empire. You are no longer the prince, Theodore." Her voice was cold, final. "So naturally, our engagement ends here." With that, she walked away, her gown sweeping across the marble as she disappeared into the palace.
"No... you cannot, Vivian...!" Theodore's tear-filled blue eyes reflected only pain. She's gone. And I'm alone just as Father wanted. But why? Why did she choose him over me?
• •• ••• ••• •• •
Wow… That was insanely cringey. How could he beg for love when the woman wouldn't even spare him a glance? Does he have no self-respect? It doesn't sound like pure love it's teetering dangerously close to obsession. Ugh… And why the hell do I remember those lines from that cringey web novel so clearly? I mean, I forced myself to read it out of boredom while waiting for a seminar to end, doodling on my notebook until the pages were covered in scribbles. Sigh…
Since I woke up in this world, Theodore's memories keep popping up uninvited, flooding my mind when I'm trying to nap or suck on my rattle. Can't I at least sleep in peace? …Wait. Something feels weird. Why do I feel wet? Oh no. Did I just…?
"Wahhh! Wahhh! Wahhhh!" I screamed, my tiny lungs working overtime.
"Ugh. Not again! Did you pee again?" a voice groaned, laced with irritation. An annoyingly ugly face loomed over me one of the maids assigned to my care, her brows furrowed in contempt. She grabbed me with rough, calloused hands, manhandling me like a sack of potatoes. Imagine a helpless kid being tossed around like that; I literally wanted to gouge her eyes out. "I can't believe I have to keep changing your diaper," she snapped, yanking the soiled fabric away with more force than necessary.
Excuse me? I'm a freaking baby! If I could change my own diaper, do you think I'd let you subject me to this embarrassment?! I pissed, so what? I fumed silently, my tiny fists clenched. The maid let out an exasperated sigh. "It's done. Now don't wet the diaper again." She sounded like she was scolding a pesky stray animal, not the prince of the Sarano Empire. The audacity of this woman is off the charts. I should say something. I should stand up for myself. But… I wish I could. Besides, I'm too lazy. I'm literally a baby.
Instead, I focused on the more pressing matter: food. Before she left, I needed to make sure I got fed, or I'd be stuck starving again something I refused to endure after the hunger pangs of my past life. So I let out another round of loud, dramatic cries. "Wahhh! Wahhh!"
"What now?!" The maid's voice snapped like a taut string. Lady, what do you think? I'm hungry give me food! This foul-mouthed maid was really getting on my nerves. I wailed louder, doubling the volume to make her eardrums ring, my face turning red with effort.
Another maid, busy sweeping the marble floor with a worn broom, glanced over. "He must be hungry. Feed him some milk."
"Sigh… seriously. Since he was born, he's been drinking the whole palace's milk." She rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath.
I blinked. Excuse me? Is that my fault?! How do you expect a kid to survive if he doesn't drink milk? And… I am the prince of this palace. I have every right to drink as much milk as I want, even if it empties the royal dairy. I let out another ear-splitting wail, just to piss her off further.
"Wahhh! Wahhh!"
The maid let out a frustrated sigh and shoved a bottle into my mouth. "Here… now keep quiet." Hmph. That's what you should do, lady. Feed me and clean me that's your job. I latched onto the bottle, feeling warm, creamy milk slide down my throat. My tiny body relaxed instantly. The milk was surprisingly tasty rich, smooth, and perfectly tempered. At least she knows how to prepare it without adding any weird substances, unlike the burnt porridge I used to get in the orphanage.
This is fun. I have to do nothing just drink milk, let them clean me, and scream when I want attention. Except for the humiliating butt-cleaning and constant complaining, everything is perfect. No expectations. No responsibilities. Just me, my milk, and my dramatic cries. I could get used to this.
But then… my past life as Theo Davis… ugh. A total nightmare. I worked tirelessly at a job that barely paid enough to cover rent, let alone food. I was a corporate slave, buried under mountains of paperwork and late-night overtime, rewarded only with empty "thank yous" instead of proper paychecks. What did I get in the end? Nothing. No achievements, no praise just more work piled on my desk. When you're good at your job in a toxic company, the only "achievement" you earn is a reason to quit. I'd forgotten if I was human or a robot by the time I collapsed at my desk, dead from overworking. What a pathetic way to go.
And now? Now I'm here a baby, not just any baby, but a prince. No work, no deadlines. Just milk and naps. Yes. This is the life. When I died, I was thankful, thinking I'd finally get to rest, free from the endless grind.
I was an orphan in my past life. The orphanage lady said I'd been left by my mother at a hospital right after I was born, wrapped in a thin blanket with no note. How could they say she "left"? She ran away, bro. Abandoned me. What a great mom sarcasm intended. The hospital staff sent me to an orphanage, where I grew up in a cycle of adoption and abandonment, repeating until I was sixteen. Each time, I'd hope for a forever home, only to be cast aside again. At sixteen, I ran away, unwilling to face another round of being taken in and cast aside, foolishly believing I could survive on my own with nothing but a backpack and a few dollars.
I washed dishes at greasy restaurants, my hands raw from the hot water, and took part-time store jobs to pay for school. Some days I had money left for food; other days, I went hungry, surviving on stale bread or leftover scraps from the restaurant kitchen. No one offered me a meal, no friends shared their lunch. (Guess that's a perk of being an orphan note the sarcasm.) To get a scholarship, I studied relentlessly, pulling all-nighters in the library and balancing it with exhausting part-time work. After graduating, I landed a job at a flashy company that was kind only to new hires, showering us with compliments and small gifts before turning cruel once we settled in, demanding more work for less pay. Then I died, my body giving out from exhaustion.
And now I'm a prince. I didn't realize it at first how could I, as a baby who'd just opened his eyes, surrounded by unfamiliar faces and opulent surroundings? I was in shock until I realized I only had to lie there and be cared for, my every need met (well, except for the rude maid). But I wondered why my parents never visited. Then one day, I overheard two maids talking right in front of me, not caring if I understood. According to them, my mother was a maid who'd slept with my father while he was drunk, got pregnant, and died from premature delivery after giving birth to me. My father, the emperor, refused to acknowledge me as his son until recently, when he needed an heir to secure his throne. In my past life, I was abandoned; now, I'm motherless and unwanted by the man who sired me.
That's right I'm a weak baby. But forget that. The important thing is: I'm no ordinary baby. I'm the prince of the Sarano Empire. That's when it hit me… Shit. The only ticket to my grandiose life, and why did I have to be reincarnated as the villain Theodore Van Voughn Sarano from the novel The Duchess Loves to Spoil Me? It was a cringey, overly cheesy story where a cold grand duchess falls in love with a village boy, who doesn't realize her identity until she's already head-over-heels for him. He finds the courage to pursue her, overcoming his humble background, and she showers him with affection forgetting she has a fiancé waiting.
That fiancé was Theodore… and now, that's me. As usual in such novels, where the male lead's rival is unhinged, Theodore was consumed by jealousy and obsession. He plotted endlessly to humiliate and torture the village boy, compiling a long list of wicked schemes: spreading rumors about his parentage, sabotaging his business deals, even trying to have him arrested on false charges. In the end, his own kingdom turned against him, disgusted by his cruelty, and his father who'd never cared for him banished him from the royal family, stripping him of his title and wealth. How did he die? Poisoned and tortured by his confidant, so-called friend, and personal knight the novel's second female lead, who'd secretly been in love with the village boy all along. Sigh… What a ridiculous way to go.
Anyway, that's how the story is supposed to unfold. So now, what should I do? Change my damn fate? Be a good prince, avoid and chase away the second female lead to avoid death? Prove my worth to my father to gain his attention and a chance to be love? Nooooo… I'm not going to do anything. I'll let the story flow, sitting idly with warm tea and butter cookies, watching the drama unfold from the sidelines. Why? Because we all die eventually. Better to swallow poison and die peacefully than to alter fate and deal with the bothersome butterfly effect who knows what chaos I'd unleash? Also… I'm too tired. I have no energy to fight, no desire to prove myself to anyone. I'm toooo lazzzyyyyyyy…
My life goal is simple: sit back, relax, enjoy the kingdom's beautiful scenery rolling green hills, crystal-clear rivers, and blooming gardens and die at the right time, without any pain or drama. Let the hero have his happy ending. I'll just be here, sipping tea and eating cookies.