Ch.11. World Peace? Who Cares About Such a Thing!?

“····It’s over already?”

The novel ‘The Youngest Son of a Brilliant Family’ concluded with its 500th chapter.

It’s known as a power fantasy novel where ‘Serion Lykus,’ born into a high-bloodline knight family, travels across continents defeating villains and monsters, but····

The more interesting element is that the female characters are half-insane.

Some lost their parents to villains as children and became murderous, while others have unique ways of loving the protagonist, and so on.

Should I say the protagonist suffered more from the female characters than from villains and monsters?

It had many absurd elements, but as someone who’s read many mass-produced novels, I found it quite refreshing.

‘Sigh····’

The protagonist being strong was good, but he got dragged around too much by the female characters.

He seemed inexperienced in romance, probably from spending too much time training.

That’s why even unsuitable women clung to him.

If it were me, I think I could have shaken them off····

Maybe it was difficult because they were too crazy?

That’s how readers typically are.

They tend to insert themselves into the protagonist’s role.

How many fantasies have they indulged in for self-satisfaction?

As I lay in bed trying to sleep with lingering regret, I couldn’t help but toss and turn.

Having followed this series since it began serialization, I’d spent about a year and a half with it, so the sense of loss was inevitable.

“Ah, I should just sleep!”

I’ll find another novel to read after work tomorrow, and as always, this deep lingering feeling will eventually fade away. With that thought, I squeezed my eyes shut.

*

“Young master, is today’s meal not to your liking?”

A white silk tablecloth covered the long dining table, with silver plates and utensils engraved with the family crest.

Only after putting a glistening lamb steak in my mouth did I realize that this situation was real.

“Hmm····it’s edible.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

When I woke up, I found myself in an unfamiliar space.

The antique furniture that looked like it belonged in medieval times, the canopy bed, and the vintage attire reflected in the full-length mirror left me gaping.

Moreover, the face wasn’t mine.

Silver eyes and quartz-like skin.

The appropriately refined features were so impressive that I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration despite my current predicament.

And then.

Before I could gather my thoughts, I was dragged to breakfast by a butler who appeared to be in his early to mid-thirties.

‘I should eat something first to figure out how to get out of this situation.’

Any other time, I would have stuffed my face with such luxurious food, but now was different.

I couldn’t even grasp what situation I was in or who I was.

Someone else might have grabbed the butler by the collar, demanding to know what kind of prank this was.

One fortunate thing is that I’ve read enough novels to have a vivid imagination?

I tried my best to assess the current situation with the intuition and composure I’ve developed throughout my life.

“Who am I?”

“····Pardon?”

The butler, looking perplexed by my question for quite some time, bowed his head.

“You are Young Master Selden Alphonse.”

Selden Alphonse····

Fuck!! Se-el-den Al-phonse!?

I secretly pressed the fork in my right hand against the back of my hand.

It hurt, as expected.

It felt like even the slightest hope had vanished.

Selden Alphonse—isn’t he an extra from the novel ‘The Youngest Son of a Brilliant Family’?

And not just any extra, but a villainous scoundrel who appears in the protagonist Serion Lykus’s first journey.

Despite the novel being 500 chapters long, I couldn’t forget him.

The protagonist gains two companions from this place.

‘Ugh····’

No wonder the butler and servants seemed uncomfortable—if I’m the disgraced scoundrel Selden Alphonse who was exiled by his family, it makes perfect sense.

“Why are you suddenly asking who you are? Has something happened?”

I raised my head at the sudden question and looked at the butler without much thought.

He flinched, breaking into a cold sweat.

How much of a scoundrel must I have been for him to be scared just by my gaze?

“Never mind that. How old am I this year?”

“I am thirty-two, sir.”

“No, not you—me.”

The butler opened his eyes wide, his expression saying, ‘Is this a new way of tormenting me?’

After clearing my throat a few times, I finally got the answer I was waiting for.

“You are eighteen this year, sir.”

“Then····this must be Imperial Year 325.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

According to the novel, the protagonist will arrive in two years?

I confidently placed my palm on the table and stood up to organize my thoughts alone.

“Thanks for the meal.”

Since it was obvious I had barely taken a few spoonfuls, the butler bowed deeply and spoke.

“If the food wasn’t to your liking, I’ll have something else prepared immediately.”

“I said it was delicious, didn’t I?”

“That’s not it····did you just thank us for the meal, young master?”

Were the butler and servants surprised not by the leftover food but by my expression of gratitude?

It seems they think I’m being sarcastic.

I pressed my throbbing temples firmly with both hands.

“I said I enjoyed the meal because you worked hard to prepare it. I’ll be in the study today, so don’t disturb me unless it’s urgent.”

“I understand. I’ll wait quietly outside the study.”

And so I entered the study.

Sitting down in the chair, I let out a long sigh that I had been holding in.

“Haaa····fuck.”

It would be fortunate if I returned to the real world like a lie tomorrow morning, but what if I have to continue living here?

On the surface, it doesn’t seem bad.

Even though this is a place of exile, the family isn’t lacking financially, so everything I need is available.

Just look at the butler and servants from earlier.

Besides, despite being a scoundrel, I was the apple of my mother’s eye.

According to the agreement with my father, if I stay quiet for two years, returning to the family would only be a matter of time.

If that happens, I could meet a beautiful woman befitting a noble family, get married, and live prosperously.

Without even looking, it’s a sweet life, so there’s no need to struggle through my previous life.

But what’s the problem, you ask?

In the novel, Selden Alphonse, two years from now at his coming-of-age ceremony…

Dies.

His body sliced to pieces by a blade.

And in an incredibly unjust way.

If it were a story where I die for committing a wrong, I could just avoid doing that….

Ironically, Selden Alphonse is set to die even if he does nothing.

At the hands of a character known as the “Murderous Lunatic” among the novel’s characters.

‘Luna Brillhart.’

As the protagonist Serion Lykus’s first companion, her eyes roll back in her head at the sight of villains.

In the latter part of the novel, she was much tempered by the protagonist’s decent personality, but once she snapped, no one could stop her.

But.

She wasn’t always a murderous lunatic from the beginning.

After her parents committed suicide due to borrowing money from a corrupt businessman, Luna Brillhart, who witnessed the scene too late, awakened.

After that, she assassinated everyone connected to the incident, even tangentially, and directed her final blade toward one place.

‘And that place is fucking me.’

There was no direct connection to the incident.

However, my crime was being incompetent enough to allow corrupt businessmen to run rampant within the family’s territory.

This is why it feels so unfair!

Having been exiled myself, who would I care about!

When I was a reader, I might have thought he deserved to die for being a scoundrel, but now it’s a completely different matter.

Finishing my thoughts, I raised my voice.

“Come in.”

Knock-knock-!

With the sound of knocking, Butler Padericks entered the study.

He bowed respectfully and then straightened up.

“Have you finished your contemplation?”

“Is there a servant named Luna Brillhart?”

“….Are you referring to Luna?”

“You heard me, so why are you asking the same question?”

Padericks rubbed his forehead and took a step forward.

“May I speak frankly to you, young master?”

“Go ahead.”

“It hasn’t even been three months since you promised Baron Byron Alphonse, your father, that you would stay quiet.”

“I suppose so. And?”

“Even for someone in the prime of youth, how could you possibly… with a servant… and one hastily recruited from within the territory due to staff shortages. If something goes wrong, it could lead to gossip.”

Haaa….

What the hell is this butler imagining?

Or is this something Selden Alphonse would actually do?

While I understand Padericks’ concern a hundred times over, my head is also hot.

How can I shed this image….

“Padericks.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“I have no intention whatsoever of doing anything inappropriate. I just have something to discuss with her, so call her right now. If you’re still worried, you can stay in the study with us.”

Though he still looked dubious, he seemed to think nothing would happen if he stayed, so he promptly summoned Luna Brillhart to the study.

“Y-Young master…. have I done something wrong…?”

Long yellow hair tied to one side reaching down to her waist, clear blue eyes.

She wore a maid’s uniform with white and black colors artfully matched.

The surprising fact was her timid expression, looking as if she might burst into tears if someone gave her a light tap on the head.

That’s right.

Luna Brillhart, described as a murderous lunatic in the novel, was trembling like an aspen leaf, completely terrified.

Moreover.

In the original work, despite being a murderous lunatic, she was described as having beauty that could enchant men, and that description was accurate.

With such feminine charm, it was somewhat understandable why Padericks was so alarmed when I asked to call her in.

“Are your parents still alive?”

“Pardon? Ah…. yes, both of them are alive.”

Originally, Luna Brillhart would lose her parents to a corrupt businessman, awaken, and gain power.

And with that power, she would travel the continent with the protagonist, making great contributions in defeating monsters and villains….

World peace?

Who cares about that!?

First, I need to avoid the imminent death right in front of me.

With gleaming eyes, I directed my gaze toward Luna Brillhart.

“Bring both your parents here.”