Chapter Text
Seishiro Nagi was not known for his humility—or his motivation. As a male Alpha with an important family name and extraordinary talent, he was often showered with envy masked as admiration. Not that he cared. If there was one thing Nagi truly excelled at, it was conserving energy by dodging responsibility. His motto: Why work harder than necessary when life is already such a pain?
So, he went for the easiest job he could get away with: becoming the head librarian at the King’s library, all thanks to his father’s Duke status and position as the King’s cousin. While Nagi occasionally had to train with the knights, most of the time, he simply napped in his office.
The idea that he could ever go out of his way to ruin a family, abandon an Omega, or father a child he didn’t care for? Ridiculous. Nagi avoided unnecessary drama. Thinking about such things was exhausting, and he had far better activities in mind—like napping.
One day, while lazily practicing with his favorite spear, “Choki”—a weapon he liked for being cheap, deadly, and requiring minimal effort—Nagi tripped, hit his head, and promptly blacked out. As humiliating as it was, he half-hoped to sleep through whatever headache would follow.
Instead, he found himself trapped in a vivid, painfully dramatic dream that made his reality seem like heaven in comparison.
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In the dream, Nagi wasn’t himself. He was an invisible entity shadowing Neo, a skinny Alpha boy scraping by in the slums. Neo lived a rough life in poverty but was protected by his loving mother, who taught him everything he knew. By the time Neo turned sixteen, his mother’s health had deteriorated, forcing him to work tirelessly to feed them both. One day, Neo returned home to find his mother dead in bed and under the pillow was an old, tattered diary revealing the truth: his father was the reigning king, Seishiro Nagi.
Neo’s mother, Reo Mikage, had been a hardworking and determined Omega who once belonged to a wealthy merchant family. Reo’s life had crumbled because of Dream-Nagi—a version of himself so ambitious and ruthless that it left Real-Nagi baffled. Dream-Nagi had manipulated Reo’s love, wealth, and influence to fund his schemes for power. When the king nearly caught on to his plans, he used Reo’s family, the Mikages, as scapegoats.
The merchant family was executed as traitors. Reo, pregnant and heartbroken, barely escaped with his life, clinging to the hope that Nagi would one day come and save them.
But Dream-Nagi, utterly shameless, abandoned them to chase greener pastures.
Left to fend for himself, Reo had no choice but to disguise his identity. He cut his hair short, dirtied his face, and blended into the slums, doing everything possible to avoid notice. Life in hiding was brutal, but Reo endured years of hardship and humiliation, working tirelessly to protect and provide for his beloved son, Neo.
But the strain took its toll.
After reading the diary, Neo’s grief turned to fury. Swearing revenge on the tyrant who had destroyed his mother’s life, Neo’s hatred awakened dark magic within him. He clawed his way out of the slums, infiltrated the royal court, and slowly dismantled Nagi’s regime. Through cunning and latent magical power, Neo seduced, schemed, and gathered allies to bring down the king.
The revenge tale was equal parts thrilling and horrifying. Neo eventually faced Nagi in a climactic battle and killed him.
But victory brought no peace. Surveying the wreckage, Neo realized he had become the very monster he despised. Consumed by guilt, he ended his own life.
The kingdom ceased to exist, swallowed by the neighboring realm.
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Nagi woke up in his bedroom in the middle of the night, blinking slowly. “What the hell was that?” he mumbled, dragging a hand through his messy white hair. He considered going back to sleep, but the details of the dream lingered annoyingly in his mind.
“Too much effort to think about it,” he muttered and promptly rolled over, intending to forget it entirely.
---
A week later, Nagi was summoned by his father, the aging prime minister. The old man looked unusually smug, which meant trouble. Nagi considered faking a headache but decided it was too much work.
“You’re getting married,” his father announced, sliding a contract across the table.
Nagi slouched in his chair, barely glancing at the papers. “Pass.”
His father’s smile tightened. “You’re to propose to Reo Mikage,” he said firmly.
“Reo who?” Nagi asked, scratching his head as if the name might jog a memory.
“Reo Mikage,” his father repeated, annoyed. “The son of the richest merchant in the kingdom. His dowry will cover our debts. An Omega. He admires you, apparently. Use that to seal the deal.”
The name Reo tugged at something in Nagi’s memory. A merchant’s son. An Omega. Could it be the same Reo from his dream? The thought made him frown—not because he cared, but because it sounded like trouble. Sighing, he decided to deal with it in the laziest way possible: he’d sabotage the proposal.
---
When Nagi arrived at the merchant’s estate, he shuffled in with all the enthusiasm of someone dragged to a chore. He was prepared to deliver a decisive rejection and be on his way.
But when he saw Reo, he froze.
Reo was stunning. His delicate features glowed with quiet confidence, his violet eyes sparkled with warmth, and his smile was brighter than anything Nagi felt prepared to deal with.
Before Nagi could say a word, Reo rushed forward, clasping Nagi’s hands. “I knew you’d come for me!” Reo said, his voice brimming with emotion. “I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.”
Nagi blinked. “Uh… we’ve never met.”
Reo’s smile faltered but didn’t fade. “Not officially, no. But I’ve admired you from afar. You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a mate.”
Nagi’s first instinct was to extricate his hands and run. But Reo’s smile stopped him. This wasn’t the broken, tired Reo from his dream. This was someone full of hope and genuine admiration—for him, of all people.
Something twisted faintly in Nagi’s chest, though he tried to ignore it.
Before he could collect his thoughts, Reo’s father appeared, beaming with approval. A pen was shoved into Nagi’s hand, and before he could protest, the marriage contract was finalized.
Nagi stared at the signed papers, baffled. He had planned to sabotage this. How had things gone so wrong so quickly?
As Reo led him inside, gushing about their bright future together, Nagi muttered under his breath, “What the hell is going on?”