As unbelievable as it sounds…no, Renrae wasn’t even going to go there. He didn’t want to sound too shameless.
Agh, forget it, whatever! So what if he was shameless! Look, he was an orphan with half a home who lived in the mountains and pined for a prince who isn’t aware of his existence! He’s basically hopeless, so why can’t he be shameless as well!
The thing was, it only took Renrae a few hours to get accustomed to his new…life. And nope, he wasn’t talking about the brainless idiocy of whoever thought that differentiating between a dozen different spoons that all shared the commonality of looking exactly alike was a good idea. Nor was he talking about how this body he occupied was the son of a duke and thereby occupied a highly respected position in society, which was apparent in the way that everyone treated him like some kind of revered statue of glass come to life, an effect that was infinitely magnified because this body was goddamn handsome to the point of blinding his own eyes when he looked into the mirror.
No, Renrae was talking about his own wish. The one where he kept up a one-sided pining competition like a dutiful little boyfriend-to-never-be, for years and years and years even while knowing that the other didn’t even know he existed, because he’d never dared to put himself in the prince’s line of sight.
It was truly a hopeless endeavor, and Renrae knew that. He knew that because there was another secret about the prince that he’d become aware of a few years back.
Crown Prince Kaikoi Valmoun wasn’t someone who easily liked anyone, regardless of their gender, occupation, or personality. But he did have someone he liked, even if this wasn’t immediately apparent because the bastard was a cold-hearted icicle who’d sooner freeze you over than let you come near him with a ten-foot pole.
That someone was…
“Siknae Aen-caa.”
Renrae paused, long strands of silver-white hair obscuring his expression for a moment, before he gracefully turned in his seat to address the older gentleman standing at the doors to the duke’s office.
“Yes, what is it, Marquis Dubhoun?”
Renrae caught his reflection in the mirror and almost couldn’t stop the scowl from warping the gentle smile on his face.
This blasted body…
Renrae’s natural state of being and overused coping mechanism was to laugh at everything that came his way, or mope if things didn’t go his way, but for some reason, such expressions used on this little Siknae-caa’s body just made him look utterly evil and twisted. Had Renrae always looked like that in his original body? Or was it just because Siknae was about ten leagues more handsome and graceful than he was, so anything less than perfect look utterly abhorrent…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ds atf kjs, jii atlr yfur atf defralbc…Qtfgf atf tfii kjr tlr bglulcji ybvs?!
“P’nf mbwf ab rff Gexf Cfc jybea j gjatfg rfcrlalnf wjaafg atja kf tjv vlrmerrfv qgfnlberis, yea P rff atja tf lrc’a lc abvjs.”
That’s right, he isn’t “in” today…
What a bunch of bull!! I can’t even go looking for my original body until I can take care of whatever Siknae’s irresponsible bastard of a father left behind for him to do! This is such a loony—
Efcgjf’r rwlif gfwjlcfv vjhhilcuis ygluta fnfc jr tf kjr xlmxlcu eq j rabgw lcrlvf.
“I deeply apologize on Duke Aen’s behalf. He had a rather pressing matter to attend to and was unable to arrive back at the residence in time to tell you in person. Would you like me to send word to him?”
Renrae’s eye twitched even as he kept up the façade.
Should I thank or curse Siknae’s tongue for being so good at flattery that all this crap just comes out so effortlessly, even though I can’t seem to access his memories and nothing else he does comes naturally to me?
“That’s all right,” the marquis graciously replied. “Please tell the duke to get in touch with me as soon as he comes back.”
Renrae, in Siknae’s body, mimicked the marquis’s graciousness to such a degree that the office appeared to have been illuminated by a mini-sun for a moment.
“Of course, Marquis Dubhoun.”
This body’s aura is godly. And totally blinding. Wow, should I wear shades from now on?
Even the marquis seemed stunned at Renrae’s effervescent demeanor for a moment, so stunned that he simply stood there like an unmoving hunk of wood and stared.
Renrae blinked at him innocently, as if this weren’t the first time that someone had been so taken aback by his exquisite features. Like Renrae imagined Siknae would’ve, because the little brat had always acted clueless in front of others, as if he weren’t aware of the powers of his own too-pretty-to-hate face.
Yeah, Renrae had stalked Siknae too, because he’d been his love rival. Sort of.
“A-Ah,” the marquis finally stuttered, snapping out of whatever black hole his mind had traveled down.
Renrae held back a sneer and simply smiled again. “Would you like some tea before you leave, Marquis Dubhoun?”
“No, that’s alright,” the marquis hurriedly declined. “Thank you, Siknae-caa. Your father was not jesting when he said that you would carry on your family’s legacy with pride.”
What the hell. All I did was just smile at you. And what “family’s legacy”?! This bullshit father just gambles and drinks all day!
For once, Renrae actually felt a little sorry for Siknae. Did people even see Siknae for who he really was beneath that handsome face, or was his handsome face all that mattered to everyone who met him?
Then again, the real person behind this handsome face was actually not a very good person at all, so maybe it was for the best that the larger part of noble society had been fooled by his masks.
And Siknae was lucky, too. While others may only see him for his appearance, Koi’tte wasn’t the type to do so, and Renrae knew that. Whatever Koi’tte saw in this brat…he truly fell in love with him for more than just appearance. Probably.
I wonder if Siknae even knows that. How lucky he is that someone like Koi’tte wants to get to know him better.
Oh well. I’m him now, and I’ve got no qualms about taking whatever I can get!
So yeah, Renrae had decided that shamelessness was going to be his middle name. Well, he didn’t even have a last name, so he guessed it didn’t matter either way.
Sure, it hurt a little that the only chance he’d ever get to be closer to Koi’tte, other than that one time where Renrae had managed to get within a few thousand meters from Koi’tte despite being separated by a small river and a contingent of a dozen guards and all that, was to impersonate someone who was honestly no good for Koi’tte. Not only was Renrae not actually approaching Koi’tte as himself, but he was approaching him as the conniving son of the Aen family, someone who was as cruel as he was beautiful.
But…Renrae didn’t have a choice. Or, more like, this was his only choice.
When else would he ever get this chance? It’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! He’d be a fool to not take this blessing for what it is, even if…a better person would never think of deceiving their loved one like this.
But! From what Renrae has noticed over the years, Koi’tte really likes Siknae, even if it didn’t show. Morality issues and complications aside, maybe…Maybe when the real Siknae comes back, Koi’tte will be able to change him for the better. And doesn’t this help Koi’tte gain a bit of happiness too? Renrae can treat him really well, because he really likes him too! The real him will still be there, just behind the mask that was Siknae’s face! Isn’t this basically mutual love?
Renrae suddenly felt his chest throb, and he lowered his gaze down in a bewildered manner, raising one slim hand to carefully probe at the area above his heart. For some reason…his chest really hurt right now. He felt uncomfortable. And his eyes…were wet…
Whatever. Maybe adjusting to this new body came with some weird side-effects.
Renrae tried to firmly put thoughts of Koi’tte out of his head for the time being. He tried to focus on the pages and pages of paperwork before him, and he tried to stop his hand from trembling as he signed Siknae’s name in a loopy font that reflected Siknae’s elegant mannerisms.
What does it matter if, in the end, the affection Koi’tte will show towards me is only because I’m in Siknae’s body? At least I’ll get some happy memories out of this, for however long it lasts, right?
At least…I’ll be happy for a short period of time. I’m okay with that. It’s definitely more than I deserve.
yamyam has something to say:
*sweats* y’all, I’m so sorry for up and disappearing on you guys without due notice – until a few days ago, ITIB was still in the queue so I couldn’t do anything about being unable to contact you guys beforehand. Truth is, I got thrown head-long into exam season for the past month, so for the sake of my mental health, I went on hiatus. Seeing as how it’s been such a long time since then, coming back was actually a bit jarring and I still feel disconnected from it all (uni messes w your head…I’m in mental and emotional recovery right now ( ɵ̥̥ ˑ̫ ɵ̥̥)). I felt super demotivated (you guys know how much of an inferiority complex I have towards my own writing, so y’all probably understand my mental struggle), but when I saw y’all’s comments, I felt a bit better and suddenly felt like I needed to continue this story no matter what. As long as just one reader follows, right? Okie then!! (Me trying to hype myself up while still in emotional turmoil: ฅ(⌯͒•̩̩̩́ ˑ̫ •̩̩̩̀⌯͒)ฅ) Please enjoy the mess that is me sharing this with y’all and know that I appreciate every single one of you for supporting me and dealing with my emotional wreck of a person ( ´ ˘ `)/♡
Btw if y’all are on CG’s discord server, @ITIB is now a ping-able role!! Follow the teddy bear emoji (cuz everything nice and fluffy is…nice and fluffy? XD) under the [Original Novels] headline in the channel #get-your-roles if you want to be notified of updates (be it newly scheduled/bonus chapters or to know when I’d potentially be going on hiatus or something)~ (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
I am really interested in how “bad” Siknae was. Everyone seems to have a really interesting character. Thanks for the chapter!
Thank YOU for reading!! Awww waaaah arrow shot through heart, bleeds I’m so happy you think so…I try not to make my children seem 2D or have flat personalities, but it’s hard when I’m also low-key apathetic myself and have an insatiable hunger for tropes soooo…let’s just say I’m honestly happy someone isn’t too disturbed by my characterization portrayals XD
Mental health is important, take as long as you need to recover, we won’t mind waiting. If you think your writing’s bad, just remember that there’re loads of people out there who disagree with that statement, me included. Literally cheered when I saw this updated, thanks for the chapter!
+1
<3
T-Turnip-saaaan ｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡ thank you so much for your kind words, they mean a lot to me. I will try my best to remember that, and I’m really thankful you guys keep reminding me. It honestly really helps. I’ve rested for a bit over this past week, and I feel much better than I did during term time (even though I’m about to start work next week, so haha there goes my summer~)…And, I hope you’re taking care of yourself too (っ>ω<)っ(っ>ω<)っ(っ>ω<)っ Please get lots of sleep, rest, and food!! And a good book <3
take your time to collect yourself! doesn’t matter how long we have to wait, there’s definitely some people who are willing to read your work!
super excited to see how rae will dazzle everyone with his new body haha
｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡ thank you so much for supporting me >w< It means a lot to me, and it really helps me overcome some of my nerves when posting and when I’m dealing with irl stuff…
Skdlfjsldsjslfsdj Syx-san gets it~~ ( ✧≖ ͜ʖ≖)
Welcome back! 👍
＼(^o^)／＼(^o^)／＼(^o^)／ Dani-san!! Thank youuuu, and for coming back~~ I’m always happy to see a familiar
facename UwUHappy you are back! Thanks for the next chapter—but always take care of you! ❤️
Cloud-saaan ｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡ thank youuu, I’m feeling a bit better now that I got a week to rest after the semester ended haha (though that might change next week once work starts…but this will ground me, I think!) I’m v v happy YOU came back!! Hope ya keep enjoying whatever i’mma throw at y’all this/next week hehe~
Officially this is my favorite on-going story! 🙂
chokes on blood w-w-what???? My ears doth deceive me, but my heart is so v v happy >w< thank you for the support, and I hope ya keep enjoying the hot mess that is this tale~
thanks for the chapter <3
Moon-san!! Aww thank YOU for reading~ <3
Dear author, welcome back! As a polite sensitive person I should say “YEA, that’s OK, take care of yourself, your health is the most important.”
But!!!!!
I can not suppress this greedy reader who is howling like a werewolf to the moon “Give me more, give me more! What secrets does this s..t Siknae hides? When does sweetheart crown prince enters the stage? Is he really that sweet? And what have happened to my baby’s Renrae body?”
Ohhhhh! Can not wait for it!
)( ´༎ຶㅂ༎ຶ)( ´༎ຶㅂ༎ຶ`) I can’t right now, you’re too sweet aaaah I’m so happy you’re enjoying my story and are ok with how badly I mess up sometimes (a lot of times) and my terribly inconsistent schedule that I’m desperately trying to fix eeee and your enthusiasm makes me really want to cry…it feels like I’ve been revived from the dead state, and now I actually want to keep posting, so I shall~~yea nope tosses this so-called “health” straight out the window we ain’t dealing with that baggage today xDDD
no no, I love you just as you are, Auske-san (I’ve a bad habit of nicknaming people I end up gushing and talking to, so plz just lemme know how you’d like to be addressed if you’re offended by the name I end up calling you since your username was cool and tricky for me to parse first vs last name etc and what sounded best – nobody did ever tell me I wasn’t a totally awkward gremlin bouncing around like a kitten on crack) so plz keep being as howl-ie as you’d like cuz I’ve got a special fluffy beanbag-of-honor just for you~~ (づ￣ ³￣)づ complete with cider/hot cocoa/tea/coffee and maybe a bunch of these shades that can hopefully protect your eyes from the total bs’ing that might be happening in the near future XDDD
this campground will be set on fire soonThanks for being such a sweet and encouraging reader, Auske-san!! >w<
How to put it, I do feel bad for Siknae for losing his body but at the same time I’m happy for our MC to finally get the chance to be together with his crush.