Circumstances of a Fallen Lord

Prologue: Before Regression

Four men were beating a beggar in an alleyway.
You could see the scene with just a slight turn of the head, but all the passersby paid it no attention–because the four men were particularly infamous for being bad-tempered good-for-nothings, and the beaten man was just a no-name beggar.

The unlucky beggar, Luisen, curled up his body and endured the violence.
His coiled body resembled a mouse that had crawled up from the sewers.
He didn’t dare move a single muscle.
He knew that the more he resisted, the longer he would be beaten.
So, he tightly shut his mouth and covered his head with both arms.
Dry, straw-like hair trembled.

“Ah, what an intense guy.
Didn’t even make a single noise.”

The gangsters stuck out their tongues.
There had to be some kind of reaction for the beat-down to be satisfying; beating on a man who only curls up sucks the joy out of it.

“This is boring.
Let’s go play cards instead.”

“Sure.”

“Dirty bastard.
Don’t live your life like that.”

The good-for-nothings spat on Luisen’s trembling back and, snickering, exited the alleyway.

As soon as they disappeared, Luisen stood up while grasping at the wall.
Limping on one leg, he slowly moved forward.  Perhaps the punks hit something vital; every time he put weight on his foot, he felt dizzying agony.

He scraped the snow off the ground and used it to clean off his bloody mouth.

‘Awful jerks…’

It was those good-for-nothings that made the first proposal: ‘If you follow us, we’ll hand you a fairytale.’ Luisen had already been starving for two days now.
He begged all day and fulfilled odd jobs but was still unable to afford a loaf of bread.
With that one loaf, he could endure a few more days.
Snow was already falling–if he did not eat today, he would surely perish.

Biting back distaste, he had no choice but to accept the offer.
However, those men soon began to act as they pleased, grabbing his hair and pretending as if they didn’t know him.
When Luisen asked for the money they promised him, they jabbered some nonsense, “Aren’t you enjoying this?” Suddenly, they showed their ill-temper and began to beat him.

From the very beginning, they had no intention to give Luisen money.

‘If you don’t give me money, that’s fine.
But why hit me?’

Sniffling, Luisen swallowed some tears.
The places hit by the punks throbbed.
His whole body ached, and his eyes became blurry as a fever began to come over him.
More unbearable than the body’s pain, though, was the misery.

‘In the old days, those people wouldn’t dare set eyes on my feet….’

Luisen had lived his entire life without knowing hunger nor hardships.
His father was the Duke of Anies, and his mother was a princess.
He was born the only son of the duke and succeeded him early.
The fertile plains of the south were all his.

He was one of only four land-owning lords in the kingdom.
Countless vassals were at his command, and he held the rights to tax them and put them on trial.
For the southern part of the kingdom, he held the same authority as the king.

As one of the great lords, he held the authority to host royal coronations and was able to marry into the royal family.
Even the king treated him with caution, and the queen made him the crown prince’s childhood friend, to make her son a strong candidate for succession.

He grew up playing in the palace as if it were his own home.
He only ate and wore the most precious and best things in the world.
Anything he wanted, he got.
He lacked for nothing, and not a shadow was cast over his life.

Those were perfect years.

Luisen Anies was not an existence a neighborhood punk would dare stare at.
These were people that should have knelt at his feet in complete obedience.
They were insignificant beings whose lives and deaths were overturned by his words.

But, how…

‘How did I end up like this?’

Three years ago, in spring, the king fainted.
The king was so old and sickly that everyone had already anticipated it.
The problem, however, was that the aging king fell into a deep coma without deciding on a successor.

Why, of all things, did the king have two distinguished sons?

The eldest, Ellion, was only the royal concubine’s child.
But, as the king’s eldest, he was given legal claim to the throne.
With his excellent schooling and character, he received praises for his kingly nature.

Paris, the younger, was the queen’s child.
Thus, no one could find fault in his right to succession.
Though his intelligence and character could not compare to that of Ellion, his personality was favorable and left good impressions.
All the powerful nobles supported him.

When the king collapsed, the second prince, Paris, gained control of the palace with the power of his mother, the queen.
Shortly before that, the first prince, Ellion, escaped to the north, where he had some influence, and began to raise a military presence.
Following the two princes, the kingdom split into two factions, and a civil war began.

Luisen and the Anies duchy stood by Prince Paris’ side.
There was no doubt in his allegiance, as Prince Paris was both a relative and his only friend.

Prince Ellion was victorious in the civil war that spanned half a year.
Prince Paris died during the war, and, when the first prince took control of the palace, the queen was officially imprisoned.
The king was at the brink of death, so the kingdom was practically in the hands of the first prince.
He then brandished his iron mace at Paris’ supporters.

Even the Duke of Anies couldn’t avoid this fate.
In the fall of that year, Carlton, the prince’s sword, led the military to the dukedom.

Who is Carlton? Though he is low-born, the first prince recognized his overwhelming military strength.
He became an important figure to his faction.
Among the nobles, he had other titles more popular than ‘the prince’s sword,’: the prince’s butcher, the slaughterer, the noble massacre.
He despised those who boasted about their luck to be born as an aristocrat and scorned incompetent lords.

And Luisen was both.

Luisen was extremely frightened by the news of Carlton’s arrival.

‘Carlton will kill me.
He’ll kill me horribly.’

The young lord abandoned all work and confined himself in his room.
He left all upcoming battles up to fate and drank nothing but alcohol.
He was terrified and didn’t know how t