1 Erhan Liethardis

Part I

'Huh? What…'

Ishiya Hirofumi opened his eyes to a white-painted ceiling.

'Didn't I just die?'

The last memory he had… was of the train derailing, the compartment collapsing, and his head hitting the metal walls hard.

He was certain that he died.

'Then… is this the afterlife?'

"Young Master, please wake up."

Whose voice is that? Hirofumi tilted sleepy head towards the voice's direction. A neat-looking, slightly bearded tall European guy came into view, wearing a strange bright-red… uniform?

With all his strength, Hirofumi sat up from the unusually cushy bed, clutching his head with his hands. Strangely, his body felt inexplicably lighter.

He observed his surroundings with wavering itself. The room seemed large but rather cramped as the bedframe occupied a large portion of it; the walls were engraved with intricate blue patterns and wooden four-paned windows stood in the middle of them.

"Master Erhan, you must get out of bed quickly."

Hirofumi's gaze switched back to the man. What did he just call him? Anyways, who was this man?

"Sorry, who are you?"

The man looked bewildered, offended even. With trepidation, he said, "I am Selim, your attendant, Young Master. Are you alright?"

'...Who? What is this guy blab-'

"Ack!"

A searing pain suddenly shot through his head, causing Hirofumi to collapse to the side.

"Y-Young Master!"

Countless memories flashed through his head, unusual memories which should not exist.

'What the hell!?'

After a while, the headache magically disappeared, leaving Hirofumi panting, lying on the bed. Yet his brain's gears remained turning, unable to process the previous surreal experience.

"I am… I… transmigrated?"

"Huh? What are you saying, Young Master?"

"...Selim."

"Yes?"

"Get me a mirror."

"What? Oh, yes."

Selim walked away and grabbed a mirror from a desk beside the bed, handing it over to Hirofumi.

Hirofumi's eyes felt like falling out. The face that reflected on the mirror wasn't his Japanese face with black hair and black eyes… but a clearly European face with silver eyes and blonde hair.

So he really transmigrated. Unbelievable. These things only happened in light novels right!? Well, apparently not.

Hirofumi continued sitting cross-legged on the bed in a trance, blankly looking at the mirror reflecting his face. Gathering the memories from before, it seems that he reincarnated into another world, into a fourteen year old boy called "Erhan Liethardis."

Liethardis. A name he was very familiar with. It is the name of one of the capture targets of a famous otome game his little sister played!

But that guy's name was Yusef, not Erhan, Liethardis. It seems that this Erhan guy is Yusef's little brother. Hirofumi doubted that Erhan  appeared in the game; meaning, he was now a meaningless extra character. 

Selim's voice interrupted his trail of thoughts yet again. "Young Master, breakfast is about to start-"

"I will eat alone in this room."

Selim's mouth fell agape. "Ah- Uh, yes, Young Master."

Selim bowed and (thankfully) left through the door. Hirofumi needed time to think.

---

«Arzine Academy~Saintess Fara.»

A popular reverse harem otome game whose selling point was its Middle East-inspired setting. Besides that, the game differed little from other otome games. Yet his little sister, Ritsu, was obsessed with the game and pestered him to play it all the time, to the point that he remembered the game's storyline clearly.

Fara Vanadis, a commoner girl whose prowess in healing enabled her to enrol into the aristocratic Arzine Academy, where she encounters five handsome pretty boys – the main capture targets, while other routes are also possible. Aside from defeating the villainess(es), Fara and the five guys also used their powers to defeat the final villain – an evil red dragon.

Yes. It sounds like a terribly cringy crossover between cliché shounen and shoujo tropes.

Yusef Liethardis, Erhan's older brother, is one of the most popular capture targets. In the rankings, he was in second place after the Crown Prince, Bahar. However, Hirofumi did not recall any Erhan while playing the game; apparently there is also the youngest child, a girl, who he did not recall either.

Puzzlingly, Hirofumi reincarnated into this extra character, who is not even supposed to exist. 

But why? The more he tried to think, the more confused he became.

"Is this some sort of miracle? Or… curse?"

"Aaah! Why!" Frustrated, Hirofumi clutched his hair with both hands, but the scream alarmed Selim, who was standing outside.

"Young Master!? Are you alright!?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah."

A lady dressed in dark red fabrics entered holding a tray. She did not say a word as she placed the tray on the bed and quietly left.

Hirofumi knew he wasn't supposed to waste time… but he was still lost.

In front of him were smoking hot pastries with a meaty, olivey smell… His stomach grumbled at the sight. Although a cup of coffee also calmly stood on the tray, he didn't have a penchant for it.

It wouldn't be a sin to enjoy some pastries on a luxurious bed, right?

Hirofumi took a bite of the pastries and fell into heaven.

---

Hirofumi learned the hard way that his new body couldn't handle much food. After eating only two meat pastries, he felt like throwing up and his head spun around like crazy, earning extra worry points from Selim, who quickly grabbed a cup of water to soothe his master.

Now, looking at the body reflected on the mirror, Hirofumi knew why.

Erhan Liethardis, unlike his tall and handsome brother, had a short stature, even shorter than Hirofumi's real body – which, on top of a frail, thin body, seemed like the poster malnourished child.

He inwardly cursed at the boy, Erhan, who did not take care of his body properly, and also at whoever placed him in this world.

Speaking of the original owner… What happened to him?

'Did he disappear…?'

Hirofumi suddenly felt apologetic. He eliminated any possibility of the original owner transmigrating into his world, since Hirofumi was sure he died.

'At least I should take responsibility for him while he's gone.'

Having watched Erhan stare at the mirror for almost ten minutes, Selim's feet began aching, itching to leave the room.

"Young Master. I will take my leave now."

"Alright."

"Oh, and since you did not attend breakfast today, the Duke has requested your presence in his office within one hour." Selim nonchalantly added as he left the room.

However, Hirofumi panicked.

He had just promised to take good care of things here, but it seemed that he had just committed a mistake right at the start.

Relying on the memories he acquired, Hirofumi quickly wore some proper clothes and dashed out a few minutes later.