Ten Years to Live

I died and came back to life, only to find I’m about to die again. I have ten years left. I am terminally ill.

To make matters worse, before I “died” the first time, I was a total lunatic. It wasn’t because I had some tear-jerking, tragic past that drove me to delinquency—no, I was just a crazy scoundrel because I had a rotten personality.

My father was the Emperor, and my mother was the Empress. My status was sky-high, and since I was the legitimate heir to boot, my arrogance pierced the very heavens.

‘And on top of that…’

I was a God-blessed Omega. What is an Omega? It is a third gender granted by the heavens, allowing even a man to become pregnant.

While many races inhabit this continent—Elves, Beastmen, Draconians, and more—the Omega trait was unique. It manifested only within humans, and for a specific reason.

Five thousand years ago, before the Empire was established, the man now known as the Progenitor Emperor fell in love with a God. By divine power, he became an Omega and gave birth to the God’s child in a man’s body. Those descendants are the current Imperial Family. Perhaps the claim of being “God’s children” wasn’t a lie, as the Imperial bloodline was born with extraordinary abilities.

Thus, to commoners and nobles alike, the Imperial Family were living gods. And what if a member of that family possessed the same “uniqueness” as the Progenitor Emperor? It was a jackpot, plain and simple.

It was proof that God had not forgotten the Imperial Family and was still watching over them. Therefore, as long as one didn’t commit a blunder great enough to ruin the entire nation, no one dared to criticize them.

That was exactly why I became such a mad scoundrel.

“No, that’s not it.”

I let out a sigh. I couldn’t blame others. They simply worshipped God and, by extension, worshipped me for being close to God. They hadn’t ruined me.

My personality was just trash, that’s all. If I hadn’t died and come back to life, I’d probably still be living as a lunatic.

‘Damn it.’

Just because I died and came back didn’t mean I was suddenly reflecting on my past sins. However, I had a peculiar experience while I was dead. A “Past Life Experience,” so to speak.

Don’t misunderstand. I’m perfectly sane, and I haven’t joined some cult. I simply saw the life of a person who appeared to be my past self, as if I were dreaming.

In my past life, I was a bit of an omnivore. Due to a severe addiction to the written word, I spent my days reading novels. After consuming most literature, fantasy, and martial arts stories, I eventually dipped my toes into “Female-Oriented” fiction.

I branched out into Romance, Romance Fantasy, and even GL, until I finally reached the forbidden zone I should have never touched.

That’s right. BL (Boys’ Love).

Once I actually read it, it wasn’t as repelling or bad as I’d expected. Excluding the smutty “Porn-without-plot” stuff, some read like standard romance novels, and many were written with impressive skill. Thus, I fell down the BL rabbit hole.

Of course, I found the explicit scenes hard to handle, so I usually skipped them and focused on the story.

Anyway, while enjoying my life of letters across various genres, I discovered a certain novel in the free serial section.

[The Empire of God]

The moment I saw it, my first thought was: ‘Wow, what a trashy title.’ Usually, a novel needs the “Holy Trinity” of Title, Synopsis, and Cover to lure readers in, but this one had a default cover, a terrible title, and a half-hearted synopsis.

Normally, I would have scrolled past, but I became curious about what kind of confidence the author had to post it like this. I couldn’t resist clicking Chapter 1, and from that moment on, I became the author’s “Sole Reader.”

Because the update schedule was atrocious, the retention rate was abysmal. Others who started with me eventually burned out and left. I, however, re-read it several times, savoring every bit of lore the author tucked away.

In truth, this novel felt more like a traditional High Fantasy than a BL. Finding traditional fantasy was rare these days, so I was busy devouring every scrap of it I could find in another genre.

An Empire loved by God. It was the only Empire for five thousand years, so it didn’t even have a specific country name.

In that Empire, there lived a scoundrel Crown Prince. The concubine mother of the protagonist (the shou/uke) tried to poison the Crown Prince to protect her son, but she failed. Ultimately, the mother was executed, and the protagonist was demoted to a s*ave.

You might wonder, ‘Even so, he’s the son of a concubine, so he’s royalty—can he really be made a s*ave?’ But the protagonist hadn’t managed to awaken a single ability even by the age of ten. Consequently, everyone doubted his legitimacy, and he had no choice but to be sold off.

And boy, does the protagonist suffer. He suffers like hell. He’d have moments of happiness, only for them to be instantly destroyed—often by the scoundrel Crown Prince himself.

The protagonist almost went insane when his lover was snatched away by the person he hated most in the world. His heart was chipped away as he watched his lover claim he was “just a s*ave” and that the Crown Prince was his “everything.”

While his soul was being ground down, the protagonist plotted his revenge against the Crown Prince, but…

‘The Crown Prince died before he could even pass his twenty-second birthday.’

The death of the character who was essentially the main villain flustered the protagonist—and it flustered me, too. I thought, ‘How could this happen?’ but it seemed his death triggered something in the protagonist.

The protagonist decided to take revenge on the very Empire that created a monster like the Crown Prince. And despite having no powers, he overcame the gifted royals and high-ranking nobles. Probably.

“Damn it, why did I have to reincarnate into a novel I didn’t even finish…?”

I clutched my head. Unlike the coarse, thick black hair from my memories, thin, pale silvery-pink strands slipped through my fingers. I could vividly remember countless stories I’d read to the end—so why was I reborn in the one I never finished?

I was happy, yet my head throbbed. I was happy because I loved this novel enough to scavenge for non-existent content, but my head hurt because even after reincarnating, I wouldn’t see the ending. Because I was the person destined to die halfway through the story!

“Haha… what a dog-like situation.”

I laughed hollowly, staring out the window. Contrary to my chaotic inner thoughts, the world outside was peaceful.

‘Wait. Come to think of it, I just woke up after being poisoned, right?’

The moment I opened my eyes, my past and present memories tangled together, leaving me in a daze. The servants had gone into a frenzy seeing me wake up, so I had snapped at them to get lost because I needed to think.

‘…When is Concubine Dalia’s execution?’

A cold sweat suddenly broke out. Had they already executed her while I was unconscious? A sudden sense of urgency gripped me.

I pulled the silk summoning cord hanging by the bed. As if they had been waiting for my call, a servant entered immediately.

“You called, Your Highnes—”

“Where is he?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m talking about Chase.”

I immediately sought out the protagonist. Surely they hadn’t executed his mother yet? That wouldn’t just twist the original plot; it would destroy it.

My body trembled with anxiety, but I forced my face into a calm mask.

The servant’s eyes widened and darted around. He looked like he was desperately weighing what answer would satisfy my temper. When I pressed him urgently, he bowed his head low.

“The sinner is currently confined to his room.”

The concubine who attempted the poisoning was in the dungeon, but her son was still in his room since he hadn’t officially lost his royal status yet. Relieved that there was still time, I scrambled out of bed.

“Ugh!”

“Your Highness!”

Perhaps because I had just woken up, the world spun. The servant supported me as I nearly collapsed, telling me I shouldn’t get up.

“I’m going to see him.”

“You cannot, Your Highness! You must rest!”

“I’m going.”

When I insisted, the servant looked at a total loss. After standing for a moment, the dizziness subsided. I pushed the servant aside and walked out of the room.

“Your Highness!”

Outside the door stood knights, servants, and maids. Even though I had kicked them out, they had clearly been waiting right there. I passed through the drawing-room and headed out of the palace.

Only after stepping outside did I realize I was still in my pajamas, but I had no intention of going back to change.

“Your Highness! You’ll catch a chill!”

One of the knights hurriedly took off his cloak and wrapped it around me. Since I was still a child, the adult-sized cloak dragged on the floor, but the knight didn’t seem to care.

“Thanks.”

At my simple word, the knight looked overwhelmed with honor, not knowing what to do with himself. I resumed walking, followed by a swarm of servants, maids, and knights. A crowd of adults trailing after one small child—I felt like a mother duck.

In the distance, I saw the palace of Concubine Dalia, where the protagonist would be. Most princes and princesses over the age of five were granted their own palaces, but the protagonist hadn’t received one even at age ten because he couldn’t prove his abilities.

As I approached the entrance, I saw knights standing guard—not for protection, but for surveillance. They looked quite startled to see me.

“Open the door.”

“Y-Your Highness.”

“…This is the residence of a sinner…”

“I told you to open it.”

There was no reason for knights to fear the glares of a mere child. However, I was a scoundrel, and I was the Crown Prince. On top of that, I was the one chosen by God.

The knights hesitated, but when I clicked my tongue, they hurriedly threw the doors open.