The villainess shall be mine

I was extremely confused by what was happening but no matter how much I pondered about it, such a long and vivid dream was bizarre even for someone in a comatose state.

It is unlikely for a dream to be this realistic because the dialogues between my new parents and the people around me were meaningful and clear.

'All of this can't be something that I created using my imagination, right?' I thought as observed the people around me.

Most of the time, they talked about things that I didn't know and used a language that I never heard before but curiously, I understood what they were saying as if I used this language my whole life.

Consequently, the only logical explanation for what was happening was because consciousness or maybe my soul transcended the realms of my world and reincarnated into a new body.

I didn't know how such a thing was possible and I didn't know what happened to my other body but because of my hobbies, I was familiar with this kind of situation.

'I read hundreds of webs and webtoons that had plots related to reaction but I never imagined that it would happen even though I thought that those stories were cool...' I thought, trying to come up with a logical explanation for what was happening to me.

I didn't panic and even had a positive impression of the situation, understanding that this was a chance surely because of that. 'I may be able to restart my life and probably with a slightly better-looking face,' I thought, 'so I will take advantage of this miracle rather than feel scared. I feel like the now or never line applies to this situation.'

It felt a little a bit childish as I talked to myself that way, feeling like I was some kind of character in a fantasy book but I couldn't help it.

'And I may even find a nice girl in this world,' I thought, knowing that these protagonists depicted in these popular stories that I read always aimed to be at the top of the food chain, to create a harem, become overpowered, and use their strength to impress thousands of women.

Compared to them, I felt like I lacked ambition and my goal seemed like a side quest but for me, what I was trying to achieve appeared to be harder than conquering the whole world.

'Well, maybe it's not that hard but I still think that I need to be more creative in my approach this time.'

Still, gathering information about this world was the first thing that I needed to do, and even though I was still three years old, I could understand all of the conversations around me because on the inside I was an adult.

I tried to process everything that I saw and heard but I didn't rush anything even if I made some findings.

'Putting my former life aside, I can tell that I am not on Earth anymore, but I could redo my life so I am fine with it,' I concluded, and from the pieces of information that I put together, I knew that my new name was Adam Von Kepalta and I was the son of Julius Von Kepalta and Marie Vyh Kepalta.

Julius, my father, was a level 5 Lord and had a whole planet under his jurisdiction. He was a middle-aged man with a handsome face and distinct aura. He seemed to be well-liked by the people around him and was described as a wise ruler that brought prosperity to his territory which was, I needed to emphasize this, a whole planet.

As for my mother, she was a very beautiful woman and had this aura of gracefulness and intelligence about her. She was very calm as a person and her voice was very soothing but she was also strict with her husband and was never afraid to voice her opinion or give appropriate advice when needed. In summary, she was a good wife and a caring mother.

During the few years after my reincarnation, I couldn't even move my body as I wanted to and even though it was embarrassing, my mother took care of all of my needs even though I was a 30-year-old man on the inside.

In the end, I just decided to not think about shame and pride at all because it was inevitable either way, forcing my mind to focus on different things.

Nonetheless, I was only a baby so I couldn't move around so all I could do was acquire knowledge passively. In other words, listening to the conversations of the people around me, filter the essential ones, and linking them together.

Apart from that, I ate a lot, slept a lot, and sometimes, I felt like my ability to think was slightly restricted.

*****

For a while, I spent most of the time thinking about what happened to me and about the things that I wanted to accomplish with this second chance, but I also learned this world's language, the universal common language, and the few popular languages that were used frequently.

Furthermore, I got used to my new body as I grew up, and when I had the body of a five years old boy, it was easier to move around.

'I don't look like my previous self at all though,' I thought, looking at my face in the mirror then existed the room where my mother was busy with other things and strolled across the hallway of the huge castle.

The castle, which was the most important building on the planet and also my new residence, had a huge library. There were countless written pieces inside of it, and as soon as I could move around, I began to search for more information by reading books and archives there.

After coming there every day during the last 2 years, I learned about the historical, political, and social aspects of this world little by little.

The people around me were surprised by this and thought that I was born a genius.

They weren't wrong in a way, but even so, I was 30 on the inside and my mind was more mature than the typical 5-year-old child, therefore, I decided to pay no mind to my father's bragging about how exceptional I was to the people around him and even to the envoy from different planets.

Time passed by and I continued my information gathering.

I was amazed by my ability to process information because it felt so easy, and at some point, I only vaguely remembered how I gathered so much knowledge already, but it was a good thing since I didn't have to remember the tiring part.

'Is this some kind of supernatural ability?' I thought.

As I read, I was astonished by what I discovered. The immensity of this world amazed me, along with the fact that many planets were populated by intelligent species, which were mostly humans, but there were thousands of different non-human species or mixed races too.

A considerable number of these planets were affiliated with the Holy Empire, the most powerful and influential organization in this world, which was closely connected to the Holy Church.

This was the very reason why I got confused with the era that I got reincarnated into at first because in this world, not all civilizations were advanced and even if they had spaceships, it was only because the Empire sold this advanced technology to them or helped them to build these ships.

Because of that, most of the planets that were newly acknowledged by the Empire were permitted to access advanced technology and to build spaceships or buy them, so even if their civilization was similar to medieval times on Earth, the technology was more developed.

'So this is the advantage of being able to communicate with other people in the vast universe.' I thought, realizing how valuable the information from the books was for a foreigner like me.

"Thousands of years had passed since that day when monsters first appeared, and the world changed dramatically," I said, reading one line out loud as I sat on a comfortable chair inside of the library with a history book in my hand.

Some eyes were fixated on me because this place was open to anyone as long they obtain authorization but I didn't have time to pay attention to these people so I continued to read.

*****

:::[Third person POV]:::

The totality of the land covered by the Royal Castle was equivalent to a whole city and the castle itself consisted of a few buildings which were majestic and connected.

This castle was the most important place in the capital and was named after Julius' family name Kepalta like the whole capital and the continent.

One of the buildings connected to the castle was the royal library of Kepalta and this enormous structure had millions of books and archives conserved within it.

The books and archives were displayed on huge bookshelves made of rare and durable wood that were neatly organized circularly but had enough spaces between them to move around easily. They were also categorized by name and date to make it easier for people to browse through the thousands of bookshelf.

At the center of the place, there was a relatively spacious space dedicated to reading, and comfortable chairs and tables were placed throughout this area so that people could read the book that they couldn't bring home.

On a certain day, people who were present in this area began to chatter among themselves, looking at a five-year-old boy holding a thick book and sitting on a chair.

The boy had smooth black hair and was dressed elegantly and his black eyes seemed to glow reddish as his full attention was focused on the book.

"Is that the young Lord?" Someone whispered to the person next to him.

"Yeah, he is here again today."

"He is only five years old, isn't he? But he reads almost a few hundred books every day, looking like he is some kind of scholar. Honestly, even I can't do that."

"Of course, you can't. I heard that the young lord is a genius and his highness is so proud of him. You need to see him boasting about the young lord to everyone he meets."

"Well, maybe the young lord will get the chance to attend the Holy Academy."

"Yes, that will be a great honor for us and he will surely manage to advance in rank when he takes other his highness' role."

"Hehehe, I can't help but look forward to the future of our planet."

"I agree with you."

Indifferent to all this chatter, Adam continued to be engrossed in his reading while people continued to look at him in awe.