'James... James... Wake up...!' (a faint female voice)

James awoke with a shout as his hoarse voice echoed throughout the wide stone room, as he lay on a massive bed with a canopy above him. As he looked around, he saw a beautiful yet unfamiliar room, which resembled a room of some royal household.

Rubbing his eyes to make sure he was still not sleeping, he blinked twice and once more looked at his strange surroundings.

'Was not I supposed to be... dead?'

... was the first thought that crossed his mind, but realizing that he was still breathing and seeing just fine, he thought, perhaps someone had rescued him moments before his death, and right now he was in a hospital.

And with each passing second, he realized that this was not the case as he realised his surrounding didn't match of a hospital at all.

'Why?'

"What happened to me?"

"What...! This isn't my voice."

Looking at his hands and touching his face, James realized his skin had become too pale and smooth. As he frantically got up to find a mirror,

"guh..."

Stumbling a couple of steps, he felt a wave of pain wash over his head as he started experiencing a massive migraine followed by a severe case of vertigo.

Pain.. pain.. excruciating pain that he had never felt before engulfed his entire being as he leaned against the wall to support his body.

"Huff..huff.."

For what may have seemed to be hours passed by in seconds, and the pain slowly subsided, leaving him huffing and panting on the ground, heavily gulping for air.

It was only after 10 minutes that he finally stood back up.

As he started walking again, a strange sensation tickled his brain, as he felt a sense of discontinuity between his movements.

At first, he thought it may have perhaps been due to him being suddenly waking up, but actually, more than him not being used to moving his body, it was more like he was not used to his body at all.

It almost felt as if there was a lag in his movements. But as he gradually moved more, the lag slowly disappeared.

After a bit of limping, he finally managed to get to the large mirror, which was tucked in a corner.

Black hair, sharp blue eyes, pale white skin, and a handsome face with a well-built body which didn't match James's previous appearance at all. He touched his face, his ears, nose everywhere and yes, his reflection also did the same. Indeed, it was him, but not him.

Thinking that someone had done plastic surgery, James tried to find any stitches across his face but couldn't. It was clear of any marking. Also, his height had increased a significantly. He couldn't calculate how much, but surely there was a difference. It was possible to increase height by surgery, but who would spend so much money on him?

Slap!!! a slapping noise resounded throughout the room.

"Aaaau.... Son of a bitch... That hurts."James slapped himself on his right cheek to confirm that he was not dreaming and the pain was the proof he needed.

Just a moment ago, he was in the streets and now he was inside someone's body.

But… How? Why?

All of this felt too real for him. Was he in some sort of real-life simulation game or something?

He moved around the room a bit more. Opening the closet, he found some extravagant clothes. Opened another room which led to an enormous bathroom, another glass door to the balcony, from where he gazed at the beautiful garden below him.

Just where was he? Who was he?

Then he heard a knock on the door and a girl, probably in her twenties, wearing some clothes that James had never seen, entered the room with a bowl of water and a towel in her hands.

James had never seen something like this. Was she even real?

She placed the bowl and the towel on the table and looked towards James, who was looking at her strangely, which was too weird for her. She was working here for the past 5 years and had done the same job for like 2 years and this was the first time.

"Milord, please wash your face."

"..."

James just kept staring, but it was getting weirder with each passing minute for her.

"Milord..."

"Are...you talking to me?" James said, pointing his finger to himself.

"Yes, Milord," said the maid awkwardly.

"But...I...am not milord, I am James."

"Milord... I don't understand. Who is James?"

"What... I am James." Again James said, pointing both of his hands to himself.

Now the maid could feel something was wrong with the man in front of him. He was acting as usual till yesterday, but now he was calling himself James.

"But milord, you are Leonhart, not James."

"Leonhart... who?"

"You are Leonhart Tristan Von Esper, Milord."

"What? I am not Leonhart Von... I am James."

"Milord, you are Leonhart Tristan Von Esper, son of esteemed Duke Heinrich Tristan Von Esper and Duchess Melissa Tristan Von Esper."

"What? Why is that name so long? And who are they?"

"Your father and mother."

"He is not my father. My father's name was Jonathan, not some Heinrich... Esper."

"But he is your father."

"No, he is not."

"But he is."

Both James and the maid were now arguing with each other over nothing. Noticing that the conversation was going nowhere, James stopped and ask some logical question that would solve his suspicion.

"Wait... Wait... Wait..." shouted James.

Hearing James's loud voice, the maid abruptly stopped talking and looked at him.

"Yes, milord."

"Let's start from the very beginning. What's your name?"

"Milord, my name is Sophia. I am serving your family for the past 5 years and my mother also serves your family." said the maid Sophia.

"So Sophia, can you tell me, where exactly am I?"

"Yes, milord."

"Listen, stop calling me milord. I have a name just like you. Call me James."

"But... milord you are..."

"Whatever you are trying to say, I don't care. Just call me James."

"Yes..., Lord James."

"Just James not Lord James."

"Yes..., Sir... James."

Now James was getting a headache by just looking at her puzzled expression. Why couldn't she call him just James, but whatever, if they kept arguing like that, he wouldn't get any answers.

And about Sophia, she just couldn't process anything. She knew Leonhart from a very young age; they grew up together in the same palace, but due to him being the Duke's son and she being a maid's daughter; they weren't considered close friends or childhood friends, but they were somewhat friends and this was the first time she was seeing something odd with Leonhart.

"Whatever. Just tell me where am I?"

"Milord... I mean Sir James, you are in the Home estate of Duke Esper."

"Wh... What Duke Esper? I mean, in which country?"

"The empire of Espedor."

"And where is this, Espedor? In what continent, like in Asia, Europe, where?"

"I don't understand..."

"I am just asking, in what continent this Espedor country is?"

"What is a conte... nuent, Sir?"

These questions were getting too much for her to handle.

Seeing that the maid could not answer his question, James was getting impatient, but getting impatient would lead him nowhere, so he forced himself to calm down.

Haaaaa! Hooooo! Haaaaa! Hooooo!

After taking long breaths and calming down, James spoke again.

"So Sophia, what did you say my name was?"

"Leonhart Tristan Von Esper, the firstborn child of the Duke and duchess of Esper."

"And are there any other children beside me?"

"Yes, your little sister Adeline Tristan Von Esper."

"..." These too long names were giving James a more intense headache than before.

Talking to Sophia only made the whole situation even more complicated. How and why the hell was he in some God forsaken country named Espedor? And what about Nightangel?

It was the only thing that kept him going throughout the painful days and now, after everything, on the very day when he was about to see the first version, he was in this land.

And how the hell he even become someone named Leonhart ?

"Just great, really fucking great..." James cursed out loud. Things were not making any sense and now his each and every plans were ruined.

Seeing the sudden outburst of Leonhart, Sophia took a few steps back. It was not something new for her, but still she got scared every time. Nobody could get used to a sudden outburst.

Noticing Sophia's sudden movements, James realised what he had done.

"I... I am sorry... I didn't mean to..." said James awkwardly.

"..." The young girl just nodded silently.

But what now? What should he do? Was he going to spend his entire life here but... Was there anyone waiting for him back at home? No. Nobody would wait for him. It was like no one would even shade a tear for him. But what about Nightangel? Would someone be able to implement the grand plans he had for the future?

James's brain was working at full speed, but still nothing and with the ever-increasing headache, it was getting too hard for him to stay calm.

"Milord..."

"Yes... What is it..." asked James in an irritated tone. Those words came out instinctively as he was used to getting disturbed.

"You... You should wash your face." Said Sophia in a shuddering tone gesturing towards the bowl of water.

"Ahh! Right. I should wash my face." Though James was inside Leonhart's body, he was still James. And he couldn't go around shouting he was not Leonhart. It would cause a heck lot of problems for him, so at least for now, he would stay silent and find out more about this country and about the man named Leonhart.

James washed his face, and the girl went towards the enormous bathroom.

Moments later, she came back, and the bath was ready.

"Sir, the bath is ready."

"Oh. yes."

James reached the bathroom, where he closed the doors and stripped his clothes.

He carefully examined his body with an awe. He never had a muscular body like this, but this body and the environment were very uncomfortable for him.

James dipped his toe into the bathtub to gauge its temperature before plunging his body in completely.

As he sat down to inside the tub, countless thoughts passed through his mind. There was a possibility that someone was playing a prank on him, but seeing the natural expression of the servant and the seer scale of the room he was in, it all just was too good to be true for a prank. Still, it wasn't impossible.

After spending nearly thirty minutes in the bath washing away both the sweat and filth on his body and the mental stress, he finally stepped out of the tub. He found a set of nobleman's attire prepared for him. It was properly cleaned, which was the most redeeming quality of the clothing.

After donning the attire, he shifted his attention to his short, black hair. After styling his hair as simple as possible, he left the bathroom and saw Sophia waiting for him.

"Sir James, the Duke and Duchess are waiting for you in the office."

"..."

"Sir..."

"Yes, yes... Let's go then." Said James. At least he had to find out it was a prank or not.

Sophia bowed concerning his request

"Yes, Sir James"