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Chapter Text

Isn’t it a rule of thumb that something is wrong when you open your eyes and see an unfamiliar ceiling?

That’s what happened to Ryu Gunwoo. He fell asleep looking at the leaky ceiling of his room and his cheap, hard mattress, but when he woke up and opened his eyes, all he saw was a luxurious canopy of gold and hanging silk, while he was in the softest bed he had ever slept in.

Ryu Gunwoo knew right away that something was wrong.

He had been a little drunk last night—just a little.

But Ryu Gunwoo was sure that his drunken habits weren’t barging into a noble’s bedroom—if he guessed correctly.

Feeling more like he was poisoned than drunk, Ryu Gunwoo got up and limped to find a mirror. Only to see a blond figure with amber eyes staring back at him.

“Shit!” he cursed loudly as he fell down in shock.

Who was this? This didn’t look like the body he had had for the past 29 years of his life. Panic began to creep up on him.

There was a loud knock on the double doors that seemed to be the door to this luxurious bedroom.

“Your Highness, are you awake?” a male voice was heard along with the opening of the door, revealing a familiar figure.

‘Bae Sejin? Then, ‘Your Highness’?’

His brain immediately spun quickly in the midst of panic. Bae Sejin was previously the heir of Count Lee before his father was involved in the casino establishment case which was a crime in the kingdom. After shocking the nobility by reporting his own father regarding the establishment of the casino and deciding to return to his mother’s family, he who was a librarian at that time was glanced at by the prime minister and assigned to be the crown prince’s butler.

Which meant that this frail body with blond hair and amber eyes was the body of the Crown Prince, Park Moondae.

Ryu Gunwoo needed his alcohol now.

Nagging immediately came to Ryu Gunwoo in the form of the Crown Prince’s butler.

“Your Highness, why did you get up from your bed? You were just poisoned a few days ago so you should be resting and not getting up without calling anyone.”

There was so much for his brain to process that Ryu Gunwoo remained silent as Bae Sejin helped him back to the luxurious bed again.

So he possessed the Crown Prince’s body? Then where was the real Crown Prince? Was the Crown Prince also possessing Ryu Gunwoo’s body? If so, then it would be a precarious situation, because he doubted the Crown Prince would be used to his poor life.

And how did they switch bodies?

There were so many questions in his head, but there was one question he had to ask so as not to raise suspicion.

“How long have I been unconscious?”

“It’s been five days, Your Highness. Luckily you woke up before the founding festival started, so we can avoid the problem of you not attending the celebration later.”

Wow, was this a pretty strong poison considering he only woke up after five days?

Wait.

“The founding festival? Isn’t it autumn now?” Ryu Gunwoo remembered that yesterday he had just swept the fallen leaves in his yard. How could the founding festival that was supposed to be held in summer be moved to autumn?

Bae Sejin looked at him as if he was insane, “Are you still half-conscious?”

Ryu Gunwoo was stunned, “What date is it now?”

“June 15th, midsummer. And in case you forgot, it’s Prime Minister Shin’s fifth year of rule.”

For a moment Ryu Gunwoo wanted to faint again.

It was clear that before he fell asleep last night, it was October 8th, mid-autumn, and Prime Minister Shin’s eighth year of ruling the kingdom in place of the Crown Prince who was deemed unfit to lead a kingdom.

Did he turn back time like in those wizard legends?

Chapter Text

After eating his breakfast, Ryu Gunwoo calmed down and tried to accept his new identity.

Even though he had been living in a state between wanting to live and not wanting to live, Ryu Gunwoo still didn't want to die a miserable death due to the assumption that he was an evil wizard who took over the Crown Prince's body. So it seemed that from now on he had to make sure that people wouldn't suspect him.

If Ryu Gunwoo remembered correctly, Crown Prince Park Moondae was described as having a weak personality. Uh, would this be the same as his personality?

Ryu Gunwoo leaned against the headboard and banged his head in the process.

There were so many things he had to think about now.

Then what excuse should he use now so as not to be suspected because Ryu Gunwoo didn't even care about the condition of the royal capital in this period before.

"Sejin...," Bae Sejin frowned, "...hyung?" his frown disappeared. A question mark was written on his face.

Okay, he managed to guess that Park Moondae had a close relationship with his butler. If Park Moondae's personality was as he imagined, maybe he had a dependency on his butler.

But there was no way Ryu Gunwoo could imitate Park Moondae’s personality without being suspected. Well, he had been bad at imitating things since he was a child anyway. So instead of taking this route, Ryu Gunwoo would take the one that would make him less suspicious, although some people might still suspect him.

“I think my memory is a bit hazy now.”

Bae Sejin didn’t seem surprised, “I called Priest Seon. He’s been struggling to cure you for the past few days. Luckily the worst side effect Priest Seon said didn’t seem to happen to you.”

Did Park Moondae know this Priest Seon? And if switching bodies as a result of being poisoned wasn’t the worst side effect, then what was?

“Priest Seon Ahyeon had just been serving you when you were poisoned, so you probably haven’t met him before.”

Ryu Gunwoo nodded his head, “Can hyung tell me what happened after I was poisoned?”

“Although this is not the first time you have been poisoned, but you who have not woken up as usual have caused Prime Minister Shin to dismiss your previous personal knight and priest, and replace them with Priest Seon and a new personal knight, Lee Sejin, the youngest son of Marquis Lee.”

“… were they punished?”

“Yes, and Prime Minister Shin also knows who the perpetrator is, although it seems like we still can’t punish him now.”

“Who?” Ryu Gunwoo was impressed that they were able to find the perpetrator so quickly, but what did he mean by ‘can’t punish him now’?

“You really forget a lot of things, huh.” It seemed that Bae Sejin had predicted this situation, “it was your fiancée’s family.”

“Fiancée?!” Ryu Gunwoo accidentally voiced his confusion out loud. It was clear that even though he was isolated from the outside world, he still knew that Park Moondae would not have a fiancée for the next three years.

“Not officially, but from what I heard the late King made a marriage agreement between you and your cousin when you were both still young.”

Park Moondae’s cousin?

“Sorry, I think I forgot a lot of things.” Ryu Gunwoo grimaced. He hoped that Bae Sejin wouldn’t suspect him.

Bae Sejin didn’t seem bothered. “That was expected as a side effect as Priest Seon mentioned. Anyway, it seems like I have to remind you a lot of things from now on.” Bae Sejin then continued, “Your fiancée is Lady Park Minha, who is your cousin and the only daughter of the late King’s younger brother, your uncle.”

So it was his own uncle who poisoned Park Moondae? And they haven’t been able to punish him yet? How exactly does Prime Minister Shin work? Ryu Gunwoo felt like he was going crazy now.

“But we’re not officially engaged yet?”

“No,” a knock interrupted their conversation, so Bae Sejin decided to end the conversation, “I will explain the rest to you step by step. For now, it seems like Priest Seon has arrived.”

“Your Highness, Priest Seon and Knight Lee would like to visit you.” A voice was heard from outside announcing the arrival of Park Moondae’s visitors.

“Oh, it seems like Knight Lee has also come to greet you.” A bad expression crossed Bae Sejin’s face for a moment, making Ryu Gunwoo have a rough guess about something.

The moment Bae Sejin gave his consent and the double doors opened, Ryu Gunwoo saw light—not in the literal sense.

‘Just from his appearance, people probably want to worship him.’

He had already figured out which Priest Seon was without Bae Sejin mentioning it. With the radiant appearance of his golden hair and pure-looking light brown eyes, he was like the representation of an angel himself.

Meanwhile, the knight entered with a tense face.

‘Are they on bad relationship?’ Ryu Gunwoo glanced at Bae Sejin’s expression that briefly looked bad from the corner of his eye.

“I greet the Sun of the Kingdom, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I am Lee Sejin, will serve you as your personal knight.” The greeting of his new personal knight quite impressed Ryu Gunwoo with its firmness.

“I-I greet the Sun of the Kingdom, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I-I am Seon Ahyeon, will serve you as your personal priest.” It was quite surprising for Ryu Gunwoo that the incoherent greeting came out of the angelic Priest Seon Ahyeon, but he tried to look unshocked. Maybe he could ask Bae Sejin later.

After that, Ryu Gunwoo was examined by Seon Ahyeon at Bae Sejin’s request and explanation of the Crown Prince’s behavior since he woke up, while Lee Sejin watched the entire process tensely.

“His Highness’s condition has improved, b-but as I expected the poison left side effects on His Highness. Fortunately the worst side effects that I-I expected did not occur.”

Ryu Gunwoo was curious, “What’s the worst side effect besides death?”

Seon Ahyeon looked hesitant and trembling before he apologized, “I-I’m sorry Your Highness, the worst effect is that you will lose your mind.”

‘Damn Park Moondae, how did you survive all this in the past?’

“Are the side effects incurable?” Bae Sejin asked, which was answered by Seon Ahyeon shaking his head.

After Seon Ahyeon said his goodbyes and left, the atmosphere between them became strangely tense. Ryu Gunwoo glanced at Bae Sejin’s expression, which was quite good compared to Lee Sejin’s expression, who had looked very tense since earlier.

“When will you start your duties?”

“Now.” Lee Sejin’s expression looked even more tense when he answered Bae Sejin’s question.

“Your Highness, do you have something to say to Knight Lee?” The direction of the conversation was thrown to Ryu Gunwoo who was honestly still confused, but he just shook his head and decided to ask later after all his thoughts were well organized.

Bae Sejin who received Ryu Gunwoo’s shake of his head gave Lee Sejin an order, “Okay. You can go to the front room.”

Lee Sejin had a mixed expression as he left.

‘Is that why?’ Ryu Gunwoo finally vaguely remembered that the location of the casino run by Bae Sejin’s father and several other nobles was in the territory of Marquis Lee, who was Lee Sejin’s father. Could that be why their relationship seemed bad?

Bae Sejin started to clean up the rest of his breakfast as he spoke, “If you need anything, you can call me by pulling this bell rope—” he referred to the rope hanging beside the bed, “—or you can also call Knight Lee who is in the front room.”

“Wait, what about our previous conversation?”

“You need to rest, so I’ll continue later.”

Bae Sejin left with the food cart, leaving Ryu Gunwoo with all his thoughts that he needed to reorganize.

“Damn.” Ryu Gunwoo cursed under his breath as he banged his head against the headboard again.

If it was really 3 years ago, then Park Moondae was probably only 20 years old, Ryu Gunwoo was 26, his parents had just died last winter, and Ryu Gunwoo had just moved into his current house at the end of last spring.

‘At least the condition of the house would be good enough for Park Moondae now. But I doubt the younger Park Moondae would have much survival experience.’

But how could he go back in time and switch bodies with Park Moondae, when they had never met before?

‘Damn!’

Ryu Gunwoo had to find a way to meet Park Moondae as soon as possible.

Then it seemed like it would be difficult for him to survive as the Crown Prince. The late King and Queen had long since passed away, the reins of power had been in the hands of Prime Minister Shin for five years, and it seemed like his uncle was also eyeing the throne judging by Bae Sejin’s words about Park Moondae being poisoned frequently.

Referring to Bae Sejin's words, it seems that Prime Minister Shin is protecting him, but can Ryu Gunwoo believe that? Most of the nobles in this kingdom also doubt Prime Minister Shin's loyalty even though he has proven to lead the kingdom well. That also includes him. Moreover, Ryu Gunwoo has never met Prime Minister Shin.

And lastly, he has long left the noble life if counted from his previous life. How can he carry out his duties as Crown Prince?

The side effects of being poisoned still made his body feel tired even though Seon Ahyeon had cured him earlier. Amidst the fatigue that came, Ryu Gunwoo thought that this time he should start studying again.