Rebirth.
Warmth.
That was the first thing he felt.
Not the cold floor of the interrogation room.
Not the metallic smell of blood.
Warmth.
Something soft rested beneath his head, while a faint floral scent filled the air.
Then a voice broke through the darkness.
"Young Master…"
He didn't move.
"Please wake up."
His eyes opened.
Light flooded his vision.
He immediately sat upright and placed a hand against his chest.
Nothing.
No pain.
No blood.
His breathing was steady.
"What…?"
He looked around.
A massive room surrounded him, filled with expensive furniture, silk curtains, tall windows, and soft sunlight.
This wasn't a hospital.
It wasn't a military base.
A man in a formal black butler's uniform stood beside the bed.
Relief spread across his face.
"Young Master Leo!"
He stared at him.
"Who?"
The butler blinked.
"Young Master?"
"Who is Leo?"
The man's expression slowly changed.
He threw the blanket aside and stood.
His legs felt strangely light.
He took one step.
Then another.
Something was wrong.
Across the room stood a large mirror.
He walked toward it.
Then stopped.
A stranger stared back at him.
The young man looked around eighteen.
Dark hair.
Smooth skin.
Sharp features.
A body untouched by years of war.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
The reflection did the same.
His fingers touched his cheek.
"No…"
That wasn't his face.
He had spent seventeen years becoming a soldier and years more becoming a general.
That face belonged to someone who had never stood on a battlefield.
Someone who had never killed.
Someone who wasn't him.
He stepped backward.
Pain suddenly pierced through his head.
He grabbed it.
Images flashed through his mind.
A garden.
A little boy.
A little girl.
A family.
A mansion.
A father.
A mother.
Books.
Magic.
A sword.
Laughter.
A promise.
When we grow up, let's get married.
Another image appeared.
A boy standing alone with a letter in his hands.
Then another.
A ring lying on a table.
Tears.
Loneliness.
Despair.
Then darkness.
He fell to his knees.
The unfamiliar memories disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, leaving fragments behind.
The butler rushed toward him.
"Young Master!"
"Stay back."
The command came naturally.
The butler froze.
He slowly raised his head.
He knew the face now.
He knew the name.
Leo Rosard.
The memories weren't his.
Yet the emotions attached to them felt painfully real.
He looked at the mirror again.
The young face stared back at him.
His face.
At least for now.
He had died.
There was no doubt about that.
So why was he alive?
And why had he awakened inside another person's body?
He turned toward the butler.
"Tell me everything about this body."
The man's face paled.
"This… body?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Yes."
The butler swallowed.
"Young Master, you are Leo Rosard."
He said nothing.
The name echoed inside his mind.
Leo Rosard.
A noble.
The son of a powerful family.
And somewhere inside those unfamiliar memories was a girl.
A girl named Evelyn.
His gaze returned to the mirror.
He didn't know what had happened to Leo.
He didn't know why he had died.
But he would find out.
Kang Do-Hyun had already experienced one death.
He wasn't planning to let his second life end the same way.
The Reaper had been given another chance.
This time, he would decide how the story ended.