1 1. Prolog

Someone had once said that the characters created in a story were the opposite of the author's real-world personality.

That's what Natan, a famous writer in his city, had experienced. He went by the pen name Lefthanded Bear.

Natan, a 21-year-old man, always created main characters who were wicked cruel, and had no qualms about killing weaker characters he depicted in his stories. His most famous novel was titled 'Prince Viera,' but in reality, Natan was a good person despite his horrid book.

The novel told the tale of the war between the Crown Prince's faction and the third Prince's faction, all because of a weak boy named Claude. The destruction of the kingdom's order and the ruin of a life were caused by the death of that boy.

****

Rain City was Natan's residence, and almost every day, the city experienced rain due to its high altitude.

Natan never left his house; every day, he just wrote and wrote in his room. With the help of one assistant, Eren, he could finish 5 books in a year. Eren, the best assistant from a devil's perspective, approached him with 'Prince Viera.' on his hands. Natan smiled, seeing it as Eren's favorite book, but Eren appeared uneasy.

Natan continued crafting his story, now delving into adult content for men, known as Seinen. After watching Inuyashiki, he found inspiration to write differently and wanted to move away from Shounen.

"Sir, may I copy your book? But don't worry, I'll change the title and the name." Eren finally spoke after approaching Natan.

Unfortunately, those words angered Natan. As a writer, he vehemently rejected the idea of 'copying a story.'

"Are you foolish? That's called plagiarism!" Natan replied emotionally.

"But I really loved this story," Eren pleaded.

"No way!" Natan crossed his arms, shaking his head, understanding Eren's true intentions. Eren had ambitions just like him; there was something behind all of this.

"I won't sell it; I promise. Please, I'll just change some parts of it. Can I?" Eren pleaded again, although it seemed very difficult.

"I know you want to use the revised novel for your own benefit. I know you're developing a virtual reality otome game. If you want, you can use my copyright after my death in 70 years, can you?" Natan replied, trying to stay calm.

Eren lowered his head. "I'm not sure I'll live that long," Eren replied disappointingly.

"Well, then create your own story," Natan said. He wouldn't just hand over his work. Natan rose from his seat, stretched, and intended to get some fresh air outside; his writing room was on the second floor, so he had to go down the stairs first.

Unbeknownst to Natan, Eren followed him, approaching with his hand behind Natan.

"Sir?" Eren called Natan.

"Yes?" Natan turned around, his hand gripping the stair railing.

Thud

His eyes widened as Eren suddenly pushed his chest. Luckily, Natan held himself together.

"Forgive me," Eren said without remorse.

"What are you doing? Do you want to kill me?" Natan was furious, gripping the railing tighter. His heart raced rapidly and painfully.

"If that's the case, I'll kill you first!" Natan shouted aloud, but it caused his chest to feel pain even more.

Eren pushed Natan again and again, trying to release his grip. Natan, in turn, pulled Eren, pushing him with all his strength, making his assistant fall from the stairs. Eren fell, but he grabbed Natan's leg.

"What are you doing? Stop! Stop-"

He couldn't fight; his chest was getting worse. Before panic overwhelmed him, he sank into darkness. He never expected his assistant of three years would lead him into such a distant darkness, a darkness that made it hard for Natan to open his eyes again.

****

"You were insane! Were you crazy? I was going to fire you, stay away from me!"

Natan opened his eyes. He was alive; he didn't die.

Okay, after this, he would fire Eren and find a new assistant. Wait, the first time Natan opened his eyes, he saw his room filled with people, strange people in dresses and suits.

There were two little boys, a boy and a girl, wearing luxurious clothes. There were people dressed as servants, like in kingdom stories.

"Claude!" And there was someone calling his name, Claude.

"You finally woke up," said the twin six-year-old boys.

"Wh-what?" Natan scratched his head, wait...

Something was strange. Since when did Natan's hair become long, blond, and curly? Wasn't Natan's hair black with a hint of gray due to stress?

"Where is this?" Natan mumbled. His room was enormous, with tall windows, and outside was a vast garden.

'Wait? Is this a mansion?' Natan wondered.

"Where's Eren? Eren! Come here, I'll kill you, Eren!" Natan shouted, confused as everyone looked at him strangely.

"Whose hands are these?" Natan noticed his body; his hands were tiny, mini, white, and clean. His feet were stubby.

'He can speak; I thought he was mute,' a servant whispered.

Mute?

"Why are you tall? Who are you?" Natan asked, bewildered.

"They're not tall; you're just a short four-year-old boy!" the girl said.

For some reason, she looked like Misca, a character Natan created, and there was a twin beside her resembling Michael. Two blond, talented kids.

"Wait, who are you? Why do you resemble Misca and Michael?" Natan asked, puzzled.

"What's this?" Natan looked around, realizing he hadn't grasped that he was inside the story.

"What is this?!" Natan looked for a mirror reflection and found out he was short! Cute, curly, blond, long hair, full of scars, and he saw a hearing aid in his ear.

Was he a deaf character? Natan wondered to himself. No wonder everyone was surprised when he spoke fluently. Did Natan create a miracle? Did he make Claude, the owner of this body, speak?

Natan fell silent; he just realized.

Claude, Misca, Michael aren't they characters from the novel 'Prince Viera?'

"Xa-Xavier, Ka-kane?" Natan asked, curious. He wondered if those names existed here.

"You're asking about the third Prince and the Crown Prince? Of course, they're in the palace," Michael replied.

Natan fell silent again, blank, his mind empty. How did he enter this story? And he became the character Claude?! Should he just stay quiet, let the plot unfold, and wait for his death again? He didn't want his novel's plot to be ruined, but Natan didn't want to die.