“What’s the matter, young master?”
“Huh...?”
Somebody was tugging on my sleeve. I felt like my mind had blanked out for a second, like I was just about to doze off, when my surroundings came into view.
“Huh?”
This “huh” had a completely different meaning from my earlier “huh.”
Why am I here...?
I looked around. This place looked like the main hall of some mansion. There were lots of people gathered for what seemed to be a party—and I was among them, for some reason. I should have just been enjoying a drink after a hard day’s work... Wait.
“HUUUH?!”
Unlike the first two times, I yelled out this third “huh” at the top of my lungs.
I looked down at my own body and stared at my palms.
I’m a kid...?
Patting my face, I realized that my wrinkles were gone—and so was my beard! The little stubble that always remained no matter how thoroughly I shaved was gone without a trace, and my skin was absolutely glowing. Silky smooth, even!
I had been downing my after-work drink just a second ago when suddenly, I turned into a kid. Saying it myself didn’t help it make any more sense. I felt like I was going crazy.
“What’s wrong, Liam?”
I heard a man’s stern voice from afar. That moment, the lively sounds of the banquet died down a little.
As I was looking around in confusion, the woman beside me—a maid—whispered in my ear. “Young master, the master is calling you.”
“Huh?”
I followed her gaze and found a single nobleman seated on the most distinguished seat in this banquet hall. The slight flush in his cheeks gave away how he must have been drinking, and he still seemed to be in a good mood as he stared at me.
“Oh, um... Congratulations?” I didn’t really get what was going on, but it felt like they were celebrating something, so I tried congratulating him.
The nobleman looked satisfied. “Yes. Enjoy the party tonight.”
Seems like I got past that safely, I thought with a sigh of relief.
Then, while making sure not to stand out, I took a quick look around and listened in on some conversations to gather information. Around thirty minutes of that reaped me a few findings.
First, my name—or rather, the name of this child whose body I somehow entered—was Liam Hamilton. He was the fifth son of Count Hamilton.
Second, this party was being held by the current family head, that nobleman who spoke to me earlier, to celebrate the birth of his first daughter after having five sons in a row. It was hosted by him, his legal wife, his concubine who birthed the daughter, and his five sons.
I got all that.
What I didn’t get was... Why in the world have I become Liam Hamilton?
The night had come to an end, but I was still Liam. Thinking I might have been under a dream or illusion or whatnot, I immediately went to sleep after last night’s banquet ended, yet I still woke up as this twelve-year-old boy.
As I gave my face another few pats while on the bed, I began feeling a little bad.
A beard was proof of one’s manhood. As someone who was (originally) baby-faced, whether I had a beard made a big difference on which jobs I could get. I was talking about the good, high-paying jobs—those that actually placed some responsibility on your shoulders. Oftentimes, it would be hard to land those without a proper beard.
My lamentation was cut short when a young maid around twenty years old opened my door with a greeting. “Good morning, Young Master Liam.”
“G-Good morning.”
“What do you wish to wear today?” she asked, bringing along three outfits in a trolley.
“You mean... I can choose?”
The maid looked like she was wondering why I even asked but simply answered, “Yes.”
So I can choose what to wear for the day... I really am a noble now, huh?
Since it was really looking like I wasn’t going back to normal anytime soon, I started indirectly asking the maid a bunch of stuff to gain a better grasp of my situation—starting with the party yesterday.
Nobles could pass their titles down for up to three generations. During that time, they had to achieve something that benefited the country to extend their succession rights; otherwise, they would become commoners from the fourth generation onward.
The current family head and Liam’s father, Charles Hamilton, just so happened to be the third-generation head. If he didn’t achieve something within his generation, then our house would become commoners from the next generation onward. Incidentally, the easiest achievement he could gun for was having his daughter be selected as the emperor’s wife—and gun for it he did, but alas, Charles had nothing but sons five times in a row. Until recently, that is. That seemed to be the reason for yesterday’s grand party: to celebrate having finally given birth to a daughter with his concubine.
Thus, at present, Charles was fixated on only his eldest son and daughter, and nothing else.
“We’re still nobles anyway, so whatever.”
Liam’s older brother and the fourth son of their family, Bruno, laughed bitterly. Considering he was just one year older than me at thirteen, though, even that nihilistic little laugh of his looked kind of endearing. Boys his age did like acting cool for no good reason.
We were currently in our town’s private school. I came here with him after getting changed and eating breakfast this morning. Now that I’d gathered some information from my maid, I next asked Bruno what he thought about our sister, and that was his answer.
“We get to attend this private school and live as we please every day.”
“Do we really, though?”