Chapter 1 : Chapter 1
Chapter 1. Did I Get Something Wrong Right After Transmigrating?
When Xiao Yan opened his eyes, his first thought was whether the hospital ceiling had somehow turned green.
Instead, what greeted him was a strip of brilliant golden sunlight cast across the floor through the gap in a set of deep-blue velvet curtains embroidered with intricate silver patterns.
The air was filled with the scent of some expensive incense.
“Mm...” Xiao Yan let out an indistinct groan and instinctively rubbed his face against the pillow.
This feeling was unbelievable. It was ten thousand times better than the pathetic pillow he had used in the hospital for three years, the one that had already caved in at the middle.
So comfortable... my ass. Wasn’t I lying in a hospital waiting to die?
Wait... the hospital?
Memory surged into him like a tide—or rather, it felt as though two sets of memories were fighting inside his head.
One belonged to an ordinary college student from Earth named Xiao Yan, who had blacked out after staying up late grinding away at his thesis and had ended up in the hospital.
The other belonged to someone named Eli Black, the illegitimate son of one of the six great marquises of the royal domain in the Kingdom of Orlando.
The Black family marquis’s... bastard son.
“Hss...” Enduring the splitting headache, Eli jerked upright and looked around.
The bedroom was large enough to ride a horse through, and the carved oak furniture gleamed with a warm, mellow sheen.
Oil paintings of grand war scenes hung on the walls. Though there was no fire in the hearth, the brass grate had been polished until it shone.
Everything was exquisite, luxurious, and brimming with the flavor of another world.
“Good grief...” He rubbed his still-foggy face and muttered to himself, his voice hoarse with sleep.
“I transmigrated? And I started as a noble? ...That doesn’t sound too bad?”
As a modern soul thoroughly seasoned by web novels, Eli’s ability to adapt was exceptional.
Just as he was sinking into fantasies of a splendid aristocratic life, the wooden door to the bedroom, inlaid with the Black family’s black raven crest, was lightly knocked.
“Young Master Eli, are you awake?” a steady voice came from outside.
It was the butler, old Sebastian.
“Ah, yes, I’m awake. Come in, Sebastian.”
Eli quickly straightened up, doing his best to imitate from memory the former owner’s perfectly aristocratic, faintly careless manner of speaking.
The door swung open without a sound, and the old butler entered.
He wore a sharply tailored black tailcoat, and his silver-gray hair was combed straight back without a single strand out of place. He was the very model of a noble household butler.
Behind him followed two meek, downcast maids dressed in plain servant gowns.
“Good day, Young Master Eli.” Sebastian bowed slightly.
“Today is your eighteenth Name Day. Your brother and Lady Livia are already waiting in the Dawn Hall.
Please bathe and change at once, and attend the family’s morning council on time.”
There was not a trace of extra emotion in his voice. He was merely stating an established procedure.
“A coming-of-age ceremony?” Eli blinked.
Right. Eighteen—the dividing line for the children of nobility.
By the usual pattern, an illegitimate son like him was definitely being sent away. Some little city in the south? A hot spring estate?
A useless official post, an annual stipend, and early retirement!
Sunbathing, enjoying the scenery, admiring pretty girls... perfect.
Carrying rosy dreams of his future life, Eli changed under the maids’ care into a fitted deep-blue velvet formal suit, with silver embroidery at the cuffs and collar.
The figure in the mirror looked the part well enough, his black hair neatly arranged.
His blue eyes shone brightly with anticipation for the future.
“Thank you, Miss Serena... ah, yes.”
After saying that, he marched off in high spirits behind the butler.
He left behind a thoroughly astonished maid named Serena.
Under Butler Sebastian’s guidance,
Eli walked through the magnificent yet faintly cold corridors of the Black marquis estate.
Portraits of generations of ancestors hung upon the walls, each gazing at this young illegitimate son with either severity or scrutiny.
......
The Dawn Hall, true to its name, was one of the best-lit halls in the estate.
When the tall double doors were pushed open by the attendants, the bright morning light nearly dazzled Eli’s eyes.
The enormous crystal chandelier scattered dazzling brilliance even in daylight.
The long conference table had been fashioned from a single piece of wood marked with strange natural grain, polished smooth enough to reflect a person’s face.
It was already filled with people.
At the seat of honor sat Kaelus Black, Eli’s eldest brother and the current heir to the Black family.
As the family heir, he wore a more formal black suit.
His features were handsome, and pinned to his chest was the raven emblem that symbolized the family’s identity.
At the moment, he was looking down at a document before him, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the tabletop, as though his mind was elsewhere.
To Kaelus’s right sat Eli’s legal mother, Lady Livia Black.
She wore an iron-gray high-collared gown, and at her neckline was pinned a uniquely shaped hawk brooch.
Her hair was twisted into an impeccably neat chignon, revealing a smooth and full forehead.
Her posture was flawless, her chin slightly raised, her eyes calm and without ripples.
When Eli entered, her gaze fell upon him with perfect precision. Not even a single muscle at the corners of her mouth seemed to move.
And yet the invisible pressure—and... disgust?—was so clear that it felt almost tangible.
Below them sat the important vassal knights under House Black.
They wore surcoats or formal attire bearing the crests of their respective houses, and their expressions varied.
There was an elderly knight with graying hair and a stern face;
a powerful lord in the prime of life, sharp-eyed and calculating;
and several young knights about Eli’s age, their gazes filled with either curiosity or scrutiny.
The entire hall was solemn and heavy. Even the air seemed frozen in place.
A little uneasy inside, Eli struggled to maintain outward composure and, following the etiquette in his memories,
walked to his seat near the far end of the long table and sat down.
Across from him, with several seats between them, sat his second brother, Royce Black.
At the moment, Royce was idly toying with an exquisite gold pocket watch.
When he saw Eli sit down, he only flicked up his eyelids for a moment and curled his lip.
“Ahem.” Kaelus cleared his throat, and his low, penetrating voice shattered the silence.
“Gentlemen, the main matter for today’s morning council is Eli’s coming-of-age ceremony and the arrangements for his future.”
His gaze fell once more upon Eli, and for some reason that look made Eli’s heart tighten.
Lady Livia finally spoke. Her voice was as cold and emotionless as her face.
“Eli has come of age. According to family tradition and the customs of the kingdom, it is time for him to contribute to the future of House Black.
Affairs in the royal domain are complex, and what they require are experienced core members.
The western frontier is in need of fresh blood to open it up and to display the kingdom’s authority and the family’s glory.
I believe that is the best place for a young man to temper his will and win new lands for the family.”
The moment her words fell, an almost imperceptible stir ran through the hall.
The vassals below exchanged glances. Some showed the understanding of those who had expected this all along.
Some had a faint trace of sympathy in their eyes, while others curved their lips in poorly concealed schadenfreude.
“Pfft—cough, cough, cough!” Across from him, Royce suddenly choked on the red tea he had just swallowed and broke into a violent coughing fit, his face flushing bright red.
But he quickly realized where he was, forcibly suppressed the cough, and merely stared fixedly at Kaelus, one hand in his sleeve seeming to clench tight.
In the end, it was an old knight who rose and broke the deadlock.
“No offense intended, Lady Livia, but this is a matter of great importance. May I ask whether the marquis is aware of it?”
“Of course, Sir Armand. This is Leon’s will as well,” Lady Livia replied blandly.
Sir Armand nodded in acknowledgment and said nothing more.
“My mother’s proposal... is appropriate to the times,” Kaelus said slowly.
“The kingdom is currently implementing the Frontier Edict, encouraging young nobles to serve the realm. Though the western frontier is dangerous, it is also a land of opportunity.
Eli... as a member of House Black, ought naturally to shoulder this responsibility.”
He lifted his head, and at last his gaze turned fully toward Eli. In those blue eyes surged an exceedingly complicated emotion.
“Therefore, by decision of the family, Eli Black is from this day forward invested as a Frontier Knight of the kingdom.
May you live up to the family name, expand the frontier for the kingdom and for House Black, and establish meritorious deeds.”
Countless gazes converged upon Eli.
Eli opened his mouth, only to find his throat so dry that no sound came out.
He looked at these faces before him—familiar, yet unfamiliar. He looked at this hall, glittering with gold and jade yet colder than ice.
All his dreams of an easy life, all his retirement plans, were smashed to pieces in that single instant.
In the end, all the words in his heart turned into one bewildered question, abrupt enough to shatter the dead silence.
“Ah... ah??? Me... me?”