A Peculiar Guest
Two years ago.
The day Vergil first woke up in this world, it wasn’t a beautiful goddess, nor was it the princess who greeted him.
“Sir Vergil?”
It was a blonde man with regal features and crimson eyes as bright as rubies.
He had the kind of handsome face that noble families mass-produced, refined, elegant, and incredibly punchable.
Vergil frowned.
“Who the hell are—wait, what happened to my voice?”
The sound that came out of his mouth was completely unfamiliar.
His original voice was already on the deeper side, but this was even deeper.
It clearly wasn’t his, and on top of that, he had no idea who this blonde man was.
“Sir Vergil, you must get up. The Imperial Family is coming to pick you up.”
“Pick me up? And why do you keep calling me Vergil?”
“It’s your name, is it not?”
“Huh? No, it’s—”
He stopped.
Vergil.
The name was somehow familiar.
He searched through his memories, and piece by piece, the absurdity of the situation fell into place.
The more he looked, the clearer it became.
‘I’m inside the novel…’
Once he accepted that fact, it didn’t take long for him to realize who the blonde man was.
‘Noah Johannes von Liebert.’
A young man from the Liebert duchy.
The protagonist of the novel.
The future husband of the Imperial Princess, Anneliese Sibylle von Friedeberg.
“Are you the Knight they say will be serving me soon?”
A few hours later, Vergil finally met the princess in question.
Apparently, Vergil Eichel Streiber served under the Liebert duchy.
After participating in a tournament and emerging victorious, he had caught the attention of the Imperial Family.
As a result, they had sent word to the Liebert household, offering to purchase his services as a personal guard for the princess.
Of course, such details were either omitted from the novel or glossed over entirely, since they happened long before the prologue even began.
Nevertheless, from that point onward, Vergil had served the Friedeberg family.
* * *
“I see. So you have once served the rulers of the human race. That is quite assuring to hear.”
While Vergil chopped firewood, Seris stood on the porch, listening intently to his recounting of events.
“So how did you come to rule the north, then?”
“Hold on. There is a misunderstanding I need to clear. I do not rule the north.”
Chop——
“Then what?”
Chop——
“I am in exile.”
Seris blinked at his words. Her expression was already naturally aloof, which somehow made her reaction even more peculiar.
“…That is not very reassuring to hear. Did I make a mistake?”
“As you said, you don’t have much of a choice. And you don’t get to complain either. I’m in exile, but you’re being hunted. That makes you even more of an exile than I am.”
Dusk began to settle. The sky dimmed into shades of violet as the temperature rose.
The two returned inside the cabin. Vergil placed the gathered firewood under the stove.
The flames flickered to life as heat began to spread through the room.
Seris rested her chin on her arms over the table, watching him move around the cabin.
Vergil glanced at her.
“This reminds me. Are you not bothered by the heat?”
“Is that meant to be a stereotype?”
“Can’t you just answer?”
She sighed, as though he were the unreasonable one.
“No, I am not bothered by it. In fact, I quite like it. My kind does not feel anything in the cold. The heat, however, is different. It is quite… noticeable.”
“Sounds like you like it.”
Vergil added a few more pieces of firewood.
Moments later, a knock resounded from the door.
Vergil’s expression hardened instantly.
“Go. Hide.”
Seris didn’t need to be told twice.
The moment the knock echoed through the cabin, she had already moved out of sight.
Vergil took one last glance toward where she concealed herself, then turned toward the door.
“What?”
“Hi, it’s been a while, Sir Vergil.”
“......”
Vergil blinked once, then twice. His face froze in disbelief.
Then he shut the door.
Bang——
Of all the people who could have appeared at his doorstep in the frozen north, at the exact moment he was hiding a fugitive Ice Dragon, it had to be him.
A muffled voice came from outside.
——Sir Vergil? Did… did you just close the door on me?
“I did. So go away. How did you even find me?”
——It’s not hard to track your movements, Sir Vergil.
“Go back home, Lord Noah.”
Outside the door was the previous lord he had served long before joining the Friedeberg family.
Noah Johannes von Liebert, the protagonist of this world.
Of course, it would be him. If the antagonist was a schemer, then the protagonist, to counter such a fox, would naturally be a fox as well.
Vergil cracked the door open again, only enough to see Noah’s annoyingly bright expression.
“I came all the way here. Are you not going to let me in, Sir Vergil? Are you going to pretend the moments we shared mean nothing to you?”
“......”
‘I don’t even remember spending any moments with you!’
That was the truth. He had arrived in this world with none of the original Vergil’s memories.
Vergil narrowed his eyes at Noah.
“How did you find me?”
“You’re quite sneaky, you know that? Wandering in and out of the Empire as if you weren’t officially exiled.”
“.......”
Vergil clicked his tongue.
Of course, Noah would notice something like that.
To gather supplies he couldn’t get in the village or the forest, Vergil had no choice but to step into Imperial territory from time to time.
And despite his sentence, there were still people who believed he had committed no crime.
Some guards he had naturally become close with, a few immigration officers who looked the other way, and even a handful of merchants who still traded with him without question.
Those connections allowed Vergil to slip in and out of the Empire without drawing attention.
Or so he had thought.
Noah chuckled, tilting his head.
“You didn’t actually believe you were going unnoticed, did you, Sir Vergil?”
“...So? Are you here to punish me?”
“My, how bold. Unfortunately, I prefer women, Sir Vergil. But if that is where your tastes lean… I could make some arrangements.”
Bang——
Vergil closed the door in his face.
——Please open the door. I was just joking.
Vergil rubbed his forehead, already feeling a headache forming.
Noah Johannes von Liebert, the protagonist of this world and the Empire’s celebrated hero.
He was also the future fiancé of the Imperial Princess, who was meant to die.
Yet despite the gravity of his role, he still behaved in that same irritating and overly confident demeanor as Vergil remembered from the novel.
——I have something important to tell you.
Vergil let out a long breath and opened the door again.
“Make it quick.”
“Firstly, I’m to be engaged with Lady Annelise.”
‘That bitch.’
Vergil’s expressions barely changed.
“And you’re telling me this, why?”
“You liked the princess, did you not?”
“......”
Vergil fell silent.
To deny it outright would be a lie.
Back then, there had been a subtle warmth between them, or at least he believed so.
It was ironic to think about now, but whatever feeling he had held did not come from his own imagination.
It had come from the Princess herself, through her small gestures and the subtle advances she made that convinced him she felt something in return.
He had truly believed she liked him.
In those days, the world truly felt like a romance fantasy, and Vergil had allowed himself to believe in it.
Of course, he had been a fool.
He met Noah’s expectant gaze.
“No.”
“I thought as much. I’ve done my own digging, you see, and I believe someone was out to get you, Sir Vergil.”
“Is that why you’ve been stalking me?”
“Stalking is such a crude term. Let’s just say… observing?”
Vergil’s stare flattened. Noah only smiled wider, as if proud of his choice of wording.
“Regardless, my point stands. Someone clearly framed you. None of the facts add up, and the Princess’s behavior before your exile was suspicious at best. But once we get engaged, I’ll be able to move freely.”
“.......”
“Let me help you, Sir Vergil.”
“Why?”
“I owe you at least that much. If you hadn’t been there for me, the Liebert family would have lost its only heir.”
Vergil narrowed his eyes.
Noah spoke with full sincerity, but Vergil had no memory of ever saving him.
Still, if the Liebert duchy held him in high regard because of the original Vergil’s actions, then it was a fortunate advantage he had no intention of discarding.
‘I don’t remember doing that… but it benefits me, so I won’t complain.’
Noah looked at him for a moment before lowering his head in a polite bow.
“Well, I’ll be on my way. Be well, Sir Vergil. And if possible, consider attending my wedding. I can help you sneak in.”
“......”
“There are still many things I must look into. But once I learn anything, I’ll contact you again.”
“Don’t.”
“I’ll contact you again.”
With that, he turned around and walked off into the snow, leaving footprints that slowly disappeared under the falling dusk.
Vergil closed the door and let out a long breath. Peace returned for all of three seconds.
A cold voice came from behind him.
“Who was that?”
“A lord I used to serve.”
Seris stepped out fully from her hiding spot. Her eyes were sharp with the same instinctive caution she’d shown the first time they met.
“That man is suspicious. It is best you avoid him for the foreseeable future.”
“You got all that from hiding under a table?”
“No. I can sense it.”
“Sense what?”
“I thought the magic lingering in your body was peculiar. But the moment that man arrived, I confirmed it.”
“......”
“The traces of magic all over you. They carry the same signature as his.”
