Chapter 6: The Shadow Sovereign Academy

The dining hall remained silent long after his outburst.

​No one seemed to know how to react anymore. The servants purposefully avoided eye contact, staring resolutely at the polished floorboards, while the elders whispered quietly among themselves, their expressions twisted in profound confusion. Even the atmosphere itself felt unstable now, heavy with a bizarre, lingering tension.

​Because moments ago—

​The silent, notoriously cold heir of the Kanzaki family had practically shouted in excitement like an obsessed fanboy. And unfortunately… everyone witnessed it.

​He sat there stiffly, trying to force his expression back into something calm, rigid, and entirely unreadable. His soul, however, was dying.

​Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I had ONE job. Act mysterious. And instead, I screamed like a tourist visiting Disneyland.

​Across the table, the elegant woman still looked completely stunned. Though beneath the initial shock, there was something else beginning to surface in her gaze.

​Relief.

​It was tiny. Fragile. But it was definitely there.

​The young man beside her, however, continued watching him with calculating, sharp eyes, analyzing every small movement. It was as if he were trying to determine whether the person sitting across from him was truly "Reiji" anymore.

​Then—the middle-aged man spoke.

​"Interesting."

​The deep, resonant voice instantly silenced the elders' whispers. His cold gaze remained fixed on him, unblinking and heavy.

​"For once… you seem interested in something."

​The pressure behind those words was terrifyingly calm. It wasn't anger, nor was it approval. It was pure observation—like a predator quietly studying an animal it thought it already understood.

​He immediately lowered his eyes, trying to appear calm. Trying to appear normal.

​

Then, his hand accidentally reached toward the wrong glass again.

​"…Ah."

​He stopped halfway, catching himself the moment he realized it was wine, not water. Quietly, awkwardly, he pulled his hand back and placed it exactly where it belonged.

​One elder near the far side of the table closed his eyes briefly, looking physically exhausted just from watching him exist. Meanwhile, he wanted nothing more than for the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

​Calm down. Rich people don't panic, he told himself. Rich people act emotionally unavailable twenty-four hours a day.

​Breakfast finally ended beneath that suffocating silence. The moment he was allowed to leave, he escaped immediately.

​The Black Uniform

​The mansion corridors stretched endlessly around him, elegant and cold enough to feel entirely unreal. As he approached his room, a maid stood quietly near the door, holding a folded black uniform with both hands. The moment she noticed his approach, she bowed deeply.

​"Young Master Reiji. Your Shadow Sovereign Academy uniform has been prepared."

​He paused briefly. Another unfamiliar face. Another stranger pretending to know him. Or worse—someone who actually knew the real Reiji.

​I seriously need a character guide for this family before I accidentally call someone "uncle" and start a civil war.

​Carefully, he accepted the uniform from her hands.

"…Thank you."

​Silence.

​The maid froze. Her eyes widened slightly, her brain seemingly stopping to load entirely. Because for an entire year, the original Reiji had never once thanked the servants. Not once.

Meanwhile, he completely missed her reaction, stepping past her and entering his room.

​The uniform felt incredibly expensive the moment he touched it. It was crafted from a soft, heavy black fabric, with silver details stitched perfectly near the structured collar. The academy emblem rested over the chest like a symbol of absolute authority itself.

​He changed slowly, adjusting the fabric before standing in front of the mirror.

​Black uniform. Sharp appearance. Cold eyes that didn't truly belong to him. He looked less like a student and more like the literal son of a final boss.

​For a moment, he simply stared at his reflection silently. The room felt still. Too still.

​Then, a faint smile almost appeared on his face. It wasn't nervous, nor was it awkward. It was something quieter, sharper—like someone remembering an old battlefield instead of a school. But the expression disappeared so quickly it was hard to tell if it had ever existed at all.

​A second later, he adjusted his collar wrong and nearly choked himself.

​"—Ack?!"

​Now he just looked like a rich disaster wrapped in luxury fabric.

I still feel like I'm cosplaying somebody else's life.

​When he stepped outside again, a luxurious black vehicle already waited in front of the mansion entrance. Bodyguards lined both sides of the grand stairs, and the maids bowed in perfect synchronization as he walked past. It was so highly coordinated it genuinely scared him a little.

​The car door opened automatically, and he slipped quietly into the backseat. And then—the engine purred to life.

​The massive iron gates of the estate slowly opened as the vehicle began moving through the enormous private garden surrounding the mansion. Rows of perfectly trimmed hedges stretched endlessly across the property like a royal maze. Marble fountains shimmered beneath the morning sunlight while armed guards stood silently along the pathways like unmoving statues. Even the road leaving the estate looked wildly expensive.

​This place isn't a mansion. It's a small country pretending to be a house.

​The car continued forward smoothly, passing silver-colored trees, massive glass greenhouses, and decorative lakes so clear they reflected the sky perfectly. Several minutes passed before they finally exited the property grounds.

​Several minutes—just to leave the mansion.

​And then, the city appeared.

​Towering skyscrapers moved past the tinted windows. Crowded streets filled with people came into view. Massive holographic advertisements flickered across buildings while luxury vehicles flowed through the roads like rivers of black steel and light.

​The world outside felt alive. Fast. Overwhelming.

​He watched everything silently, trying his best not to look amazed by every tiny detail like some country boy entering civilization for the first time.

​So this is the world the real Reiji lived in every day… Unbelievable.

​His gaze slowly drifted toward his own reflection in the tinted window. Sharp black hair. Cold eyes. A face that still didn't feel like his. For a brief second, the reflection staring back at him almost felt like a stranger observing him from the other side of the glass.

​Then, the vehicle slowed. His eyes lifted.

​And beyond the massive iron gates ahead, he saw it.

​Shadow Sovereign Academy

​Towering buildings stretched toward the sky like monuments built exclusively for the elite. Vast training grounds spread across the campus while countless students moved through the entrance wearing black uniforms marked with silver emblems.

​Power. Prestige. Authority. Everything about the academy radiated an intense, crushing pressure.

​The gates slowly began to open. And as the car rolled forward, his heartbeat quietly accelerated.

​It wasn't fear. It was excitement. Pure excitement.

Because for the first time since waking up in this strange world, something inside him genuinely felt alive.

The gates of Shadow Sovereign Academy opened slowly before him.

​And without realizing it, the wrong soul had just stepped into the center of a world built entirely for monsters.

​End of Chapter 6

​To Be Continued…