an unfortunate change in genre

Part 7

The original plot of the novel wasn't really all that great. It was honestly a wonder that Kim Rok Soo had become so invested in it to begin with.

It was probably because he liked the writing style and world building, even if now he cursed the lack of detail in the latter department.

A fantasy story about a prince and a princess who meet, fall in love, get married, and amidst all of that drama they have to defeat a secret organization run by a maniac who sets the continent on fire with war.

The title wasn't that interesting either. Although it caused Roksu more and more concern the more he thought about that stupid title.

He was familiar enough with the fantasy genre to know that the 'hero' was normally someone from another world and to Roksu's knowledge, he was the only person in this world that fit that description.

He had absolutely no intention of being a hero. The main couple had handled the situation just fine without any external assistance. There was no reason for him to get involved.

He'd just... tweak a few things so that his surroundings were safer and then call it quits.

That was his plan. Foolproof, right?

Roksu Henituse sat awkwardly in the sitting room with his elder brother and that scary butler.

Amongst the chaos of his recovery and Count Deruth's near constant doting this meeting had been delayed by about a week.

But now Count Deruth Henituse was in the capital assisting with the judgment of the guilty parties and there were absolutely no excuses left to avoid this.

Roksu might have indulged his father more than strictly necessary to avoid this exact situation.

Still, he was pretty confident he knew what to say to resolve this situation after a week's rumination. He was confident in his glib tongue and manipulative machinations.

That is until Cale finally spoke.

He looked far more composed than last week, which was a relief to Roksu who never wanted to see his brother so angry again in his lifetime. Ron had also calmed down as well. At least outwardly. Cale placed his tea cup onto the counter and addressed both parties with a statement that just about shattered all of Roksu's plans.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush because there's no point. I am not who either of you think I am. While I am Cale Henituse, I am forty years old and I regressed to my body from when I was eight years old due to a deal with the God of Death." Cale lifted up his tea cup, looking completely unperturbed by the bomb he'd just dropped. "Now that I've come clean, there's no reason for any secrets between us."

Roksu's pupils shook with surprise, although his outward signs of surprise were somewhat minimal otherwise. It was mostly because it had been so unexpected that Roksu was frozen with shock. He glanced up at Ron who looked unperturbed but Roksu could see surprise in his eyes as well.

"Ha..." Ron laughed mirthlessly. "...I knew there was something strange. This goes beyond my imagination though." His gaze sharpened as he looked down at his young master. "May I presume that the Young Master Cale is here because the future isn't a pleasant place to be?"

"That's a fair assumption." Cale said, aloof as anything in the world. "I want to stop that future from happening." Emotion shone on Cale's with an intensity that chilled the room. The hand clutching the tea cup shook with his fierce grip. "...I have to stop it."

Well, there goes Roksu's assumptions about the novel having an optimistic open-ending. He knew that was a possibility of course but he'd been quite hopeful that the war was dealt with neatly by the power couple.