Let me tell you something about my previous life.

Before I became Wilthelm-Nikolas Altair von Atlantasia, Emperor of Atlantasia… I was once an ordinary guy who went by the name of Amanokawa Makoto.

And yes, I am Japanese

Quite contrary to many tropes, I am not an office worker who got hit by a truck.

I was a primary school teacher. That career path became clear to me since I had to help raise my rambunctious nephews. My brother ghosted us after falling into depression when his wife died from cancer and left us to raise the toddlers. Though I could understand his problems, I was ticked that he just left his responsibilities to me. I was still not satisfied even when I smacked him with a cast-iron skillet when he finally returned after 10 years.

Ah! I digress.

Well, as a way to destress. I maintained hobbies and interests since I was a kid. those hobbies included anime, light novels, manga, and MMORPG games.

I guess to sum it up, I was an Otaku.

I wasn't hardcore where I hang posters, collect figurines, keep a body pillow, or even cosplay. I guess I'm the milder type, the one who likes to read manga, watch movies, and play games on his computer type.

I especially loved isekai and the world rebuilding/historical-fantasy genre. I was also a bit of a history buff. I often read and watch historical documentaries.

I just didn’t expect that all of those things were to happen to me though. Something did happen, well not to me but to people I know, when I was in middle school but that’s also another story.

So how did I wound up reincarnating here in this world?

Well, I was driving back home after attending a friend's wedding over in the next prefecture. It was kinda raining heavily and it was hard to see. I was driving down a cliff-side road near the sea when a bus was coming right me at a sharp turn! To avoid it, I swerved, lost control, and went over a cliff into the sea below.

The next thing I knew, I woke up as the 13th Prince of the Atlantasia Empire.

What a way to end a life...and start a new one.

That being said, the question now is how did I rise from being the 13th Prince to the seat of the Emperor?

That's because despite being the 13th Prince, I was the only son born between Emperor Francys V and Empress (now Dowager Empress) Alixandra. By the succession laws, I was the first in line to inherit the throne.

My birth had displaced the then most-likely candidate to the throne, my half-brother Wolthalm. You probably heard how he had turned bitter after losing his chance to be the next Emperor and that he hated me so much that he orchestrated a rebellion leading to the Bloody Night Incident.

But that was not true at all. But now you all know the truth that he had been set up by Stahlin.

All of it was Stahlin's scheme.

That schemer was a piece of shitty work. I admit though, he was quite brilliant as he managed to worm his way into snagging the seat of Prime Minister. He earned my father's trust by being a competent man while at the same time masking his crimes and pinning them on his political enemies.

But he had a more nefarious goal.

While orchestrating the Bloody Night Incident and the assassination of my father from the shadows, Stahlin “protected” me from all this as I was integral to his plans.

Even my current life’s birth was a result of his machinations. He took advantage of the problems of others. In this case, my current life's parents, the Emperor and Empress.

You see, like all fantasy noble settings, my parents were in an arranged marriage agreed upon by both my grandparents. My paternal grandfather, the “previous” previous Emperor, Wilthelm VI, and my maternal grandfather, Archduke Fyrdinand of the Wyndsyr House were both dear friends. Traditionally, princes' and princesses' childhood companions were the ten Archducal Houses and other high-ranking noblemen from Count Rank above. So it was not that surprising.

They got it in their mind to unite their distant families. Technically speaking, due to the marriage tradition, it was a perfect fit that nobody opposed.

To cut the story short, it was an arranged political marriage.

Those types of marriages are less successful than ones born out of mutual love. While my father was civil out of obligation, my mother did harbor feelings toward him. She tried to be a supportive and loving wife and Empress. Sadly, he was too preoccupied with work to consummate the marriage. I heard he went to check documents on their wedding night rather than sleep with my mother. If not, he spent time with his concubines and often slept with them to ahem* “relieve” some tension which resulted in my siblings’ births.

My mother, despite her gentle and kind personality, has gained a reputation as a woman who couldn’t satisfy her husband.

Taking advantage of this, Stahlin secretly spiked an aphrodisiac in their drinks during a courtesy night they had to spend together, and bam...I was the result. My father probably felt betrayed by the incident believing that my mother had fallen low to such desperate means. (Whose faults was it in the first place, you punk?!) Now, one could’ve said that the Empress had an affair and had me but three things completely proved my legitimacy.

First, Empress Alixandra was never without female knight escorts and was always busy with public duties that had too many witnesses to say otherwise.

The second and the most obvious proof is that I was born with white hair and gold eyes. They were the physical traits that proved I was a direct blood member of the Imperial Family. Every blood descendant of the Imperial Family had those two physical characteristics.

Let's go back to how the marriage was a "perfect" match" in my grandparent's eyes. The Imperial Family had rather strict marriage customs. The Emperor/Empress could only choose their consort and concubines from amongst the Ten Cadet Branches. This is to ensure that the bloodline would remain “pure” and would keep the inherited physical traits of the royals (white hair and gold eyes.) If you want to have a chance at the throne you must marry from the Archducal Houses. Yup, we mixed the old marry your cousins because they had royal blood tropes here.

The Archducal houses can marry other nobles so it pretty much defeats the purpose. A load of bull. Ever heard of genetics?

Ah, that science doesn't exist here yet.

But Princes and Princesses who had no interest in power must renounce all claims to the throne before they can marry into other houses. They can still marry into the Ten Cadet Branches but should they find love or partner outside the Archducal Families those said families must be of count rank and above.

The other option is that they could join the church or remain single less they are given Ducal Titles of their own for great accomplishments and can start their line.

Anyhow, I inherited the Imperial Traits. And for some reason, it always seems to be the case for every child of the monarch to have these traits since the founding of the Empire ten thousand years ago, which probably cemented the basis for it. No one has questioned it.

Then, there's the last and the most important proof of my legitimacy,

The thing that plays a central role in all of this: The Heart of Atlantasia.

I'm talking about the jewel mounted on the Imperial Sceptre I was carrying earlier. The same thing that Stahlin had been trying to get his hands on earlier. It only reacts to those who have the bloodline of the First Emperor. It would shine like a star when directly touched by them. Then a magical mark in the shape of a ten-pointed star, the Crest of the Imperial Family, would appear on our bodies. Naturally, when I was made to touch it, such a mark appeared on my hand.

With these proofs of legitimacy, the succession was changed to me as the throne is supposed to go to the most legitimate successor born from the Imperial Couple (who is yours truly). If I were given an honest choice, I’d rather be abandoned and live in the countryside. ‘d then go on adventures in my favorite fantasy setting than run a country.

Before I was born, the 1st Prince, Wolthalm, was the best candidate: good-natured, brave, compassionate, and intelligent. He was the perfect package and ideal ruler. Even though he got superseded, he was truly a nice and loving big brother. He was the one who kept rescuing me from our other half-siblings who kept bullying me to the point of nearly killing me. He told me often that he was happy that I was born since it gave him freedom from inheriting the crown and that he would like to support me instead. I would’ve withdrawn my right to the throne in his favor if only I had the chance...

I couldn’t say the same with some of my siblings and stepmothers. All of them had varying ambitions to attain the throne. I later found that these ambitions were cultivated in them by Stahlin through his subordinates secretly placed as their aides. Typical, palace drama where concubines upstage each other and the Empress. They naturally saw me as a threat. The 11th and 1wth Princes bullied me at every chance they got.

This all came to a head when Stahlin enacted his nefarious plan.

He staged the infamous Bloody Night which he “suppressed'' to make himself look like a hero. However, that event led to my father, the Emperor, alongside some of my siblings and several nobles who were Stahlin’s political opponents assassinated. (I didn’t feel sorry when I found out that those bully princes were casualties during the Bloody Night Incident.)

Brother Wolthalm had received word to find rebels invading the Palace.

He had tried to stop the rebellion only to be met with rebels he had never met before cheering for his accession to the throne and saying they are answering his call to stand with him so he can seize the crown. Before he could get an understanding of what was happening or even clarify that the thought never crossed his mind, the Imperial Guard led by Stahlin and the Army had arrived to quell the uprising and captured him as the perpetrator.

Stahlin then enacted a sham investigation that pinned the blame on Wolthalm. As you saw from the memory earlier, he disguised himself as Wolthalm. He also planted evidence on several prominent noble houses that supported Wolthalm. This caused their demise and solidified Wolthalm’s execution.

It was a scandal that shocked the country.

And he didn’t just stop with Wolthalm and his supporters. The whole Empire was thrown into a civil war for succession.

With my father dead, I had ascended as the next Emperor but due to my youth, I didn't have full power.

My surviving siblings, Imperial Cousins, Uncles, and Aunts who survived the initial massacre took the opportunity to plot assassinations aimed at me and each other to cull the competition and seize the crown. I was protected through Stahlin’s safety measures as I was an integral piece of his plan. Through other machinations of his, he managed to catch them red-handed and arrested my relatives as the masterminds which resulted in their respective executions. Otherwise, the assassinations at each other had succeeded.

A few of my relatives weren’t interested in the throne but were exterminated by Stahlin simply because they had a “right” to the throne. Stahlin orchestrated the fall of the Cadet Branch Houses of the Imperial Family one way or another. They were the next in rank to the Imperial Family and had a massive influence that he sees as a threat to his power via me.

The Archducal House of Rhomanof, Woltham’s maternal family, was already wiped out for “colluding” in the attempt to usurp the throne. As for the rest of the other Cadet Branch Houses, he got rid of them by either executing them for some trumped-up reason or assassinating them. Only the House of Bohrbon was safe because Stahlin’s son Napolyon was the current Archduke and also streamlined his daughter as my future marriage partner (ugh).

To sum it all up, in just a year, all known main blood-line members of the Imperial Family and the Cadet Branches to the second degree were exterminated, and thus, I ascended to the throne unopposed at age eight.

If people are wondering why nobody has raised a question about this...well, imagine yourself spouting being pro-Jew in Nazi Germany. I don’t think you’d get far without being exterminated.

Now, my mother and Stahlin were supposed to rule in regency due to my minority.

Even though she was the Dowager Empress, my mother had secluded herself. She knew everything pointed to Stahlin and was very sure he caused all this mess. Sadly, she couldn’t do much since she had little influence in the court.

Also…she had another good reason but I'll get to that.

So Stahlin ruled alone.

The regency period was anything but good.

Rampant corruption in the government, heavy taxes, terrible poverty, extravagant selfish spending, extreme caste system, racial discrimination…yeah, pretty much the Empire has nearly fallen into a dystopian society.

Stahlin ruled the Empire with an iron fist while enjoying all the luxuries he wanted.

So where was I in all this?

Well, I was immediately taken away from my mother to live in the Main Palace for my “protection.” I was often left in the care of maids who aren’t even doing a good job, tutors with way too high expectations of me, and that governess who practically beat the crap out of me for even the littlest of things. Stahlin lets it slide because he was her cousin. Birds of the same feather flock together, it seems.

Though it would be because he aims to break my spirit and make me a weak-willed child who can’t say no to him. What’s more, he kept feeding me with a potion that left me mentally susceptible to manipulation.

All of which was to turn me into a puppet that will obey him.

…or at least that’s how he thought.

Let me remind you that I am a reincarnated person who knows a thing or two about this world. It just so happens that I regained my past life’s memories on the same night as the incident. If there was a God out there, wouldn’t it be better for me to recover my memories sometime before that major event? Nonetheless, there I was at the cusp of all these. II have been undermining him in the shadows.

Steadily preparing for when I became a full-fledged Emperor, I would cut him down.

Now I’ll be honest, I wasn’t just doing this out of retaliation for what he did to me and everyone else in the Empire.

It was also out of fear of what was bound to happen.

This story was not mine but belonged to another.