I Became the Youngest Prince in the Novel

A chamber spacious enough to be considered a banquet hall, yet containing only the minimal amount of furniture required for living.

Ssshhh.

In such a chamber, there was a man, seated on an antique chair of black wood, flipping through a bookshelf.
The man’s eyes followed the words along the bookshelf without rest.

The First Emperor.

The Iron-blooded Emperor.

The World’s Ruler.

The Conqueror.

The Demon Emperor.

Black Star Emperor.

All of these were merely titles referring to a single man.

The forest of the fairies in the west.

The vicious beasts of the east.

Even the inexhaustible superpower in the north.

The true ruler of the world, who conquered all land on the earth except the demon realm with overwhelming might and momentum, consolidating them into a single great empire, ‘Agnes’.

Every being in the world worshipped him, feared him.

“That’s terrible.”

A low voice flew from the man’s mouth as he turned over the last page of the book.
The Chronicles of the Hero of Frosimar.
This was the title of the book that the man had been perusing; a book in the library’s bookshelf that coincidentally caught his eye, a hero novel that was continuously circulating around the world.

It was baffling how it even made its way into the Imperial Palace.

However, this book, depicting an era hundreds of years in the future, caught his interest because it spoke of an empire sharing the same name as his, Agnes.

Moreover, with realistic descriptions and detailed explanations, it truly seemed as though the book disclosed the future. 

In particular, the descriptions depicting the Imperial Palace and other areas were exceedingly meticulous, almost disturbingly so, as if the venues truly existed.
This only impressed him further. 

However, he was displeased by the ending.
Conventionally, novels narrating a hero’s saga ended with the demise of his fated nemesis, the demon king. 

This book, on the other hand, dealt with the hero’s failure rather than his success.

The hero died a tragic death without being able to eliminate the demon king, the world eventually perished at the hands of the demon king and his army.

The most decisive reason for this was the fall of the Empire.
Even in the midst of the world’s destruction, humanity and the empire were preoccupied with their own interests.
In the end, the hero ventured into the demon realm without any support from the fallen empire.

“I wasted my time.”

The novel was truly terrible, difficult to even consider ‘third-rate’, especially with the empire being destroyed.
After completing it, he was embittered by his memory that engraved every detail.

As if not wanting to worsen his feeling any further, the emperor immediately closed the book, a deep boredom and weariness filled his eyes.

Ever since the whole world has been in his grasp, it was a feeling that hung over him all the time.
There was nothing left for him to strive for.

“…”

The emperor’s eyelids gradually drew closer as he contemplated the “Chronicles of Frosimar’s Hero” before him with weary eyes for a brief moment.

* * *

A quiet palace with only a few beams of moonlight trickling in.

Tadat!1

An imposing old knight with righteous eyes and tightly closed lips was racing through the hallways of such a palace.

“Gasp, gasp!”

Rough breathing was flowing out of the old knight’s mouth unceasingly, as if it had already reached its limit.
No matter how old he was, he could have run for an hour alone, but on the knight’s back rested a single man who was completely still, as if devoid of life.

“How come… How come!”

The old knight’s eyes wavered as if he was unable to comprehend this situation.

Unlike usual, the palace shrouded in the darkness of the night was utterly silent.

But that shouldn’t have been the case.

At least it shouldn’t have been as eerily quiet as it was now, because the man who breathed precarious breaths on his back was the master of this palace and the prince of Agnes, the Great Empire.

“You mean to say that no one is guarding His Highness!”

Despite the fact that such a prince was being pursued by assassins inside the palace, his designated knights could not be seen anywhere in the palace, much less near the prince.
In addition, no magic barriers or traps were triggered when the intruders snuck in.

“…Fredo-nim? Who’s on your back?!”

At that moment, a maid2, who was checking the magic lamp that suddenly extinguished in front of her, turned towards the oncoming footsteps.
She made a puzzled expre