Duke of the North Refuses the Villain Route

Chapter 1-The Funeral

Rhett woke up in the romance fantasy novel he was reading.

To be precise, he woke up as the villain who kickstarted a disaster in the middle part of the series.

Roran Mikael Valtoria of House Flamecrest.

The Grand Duke of the North of House Flamecrest had a duty to protect the empire from any threat from beyond the Heaven Mountain Range.

Roran Valtoria, the Grand Duke of the North, unfortunately, happened to be the biggest and shittiest bastard around the Empire of Thalassia. He was an incompetent little bitch that tormented other people around him, especially the female lead who he was engaged to.

More importantly, like any typical villain in romance stories, he was given a miserable and painful death by the male lead.

A deep sigh left his lips at the thought of his ending if he went down the villain route. Fortunately for him, it was half a year before the official story began. As of that moment, nobody knew Roran's true nature yet. He had always been quiet and aloof, bidding his time until he could finally unleash chaos on his family.

All that would have changed today, if only Rhett had not taken over the body a few days ago. Grand Duke Roano Valtoria had finally met his demise. After years of resistance, he finally succumbed to the poison of beasts that accumulated in his body.

In the novel, it was the start of Roran's reign of terror on the people of the Valtoria Grand Duchy.

In the current time, it was Rhett's opportunity to grab power that would help him escape his fate and stay safe from the threats that appeared in the novel.

He just had to make sure that he did not mess things up with the Valtoria Family.

Standing from the couch, he made his way to the thick insulated windows of his bedroom and looked out into the capital of the Valtoria Duchy, Ember City. From the elevated position of Valtoria Castle, the view of stone buildings stretched below. It was covered in pristine white snow and the rising clouds of smoke and steam from chimneys and pipes all over the city.

It gave the illusion that Valtoria Castle was floating over Ember City on a series of clouds.

His eyes lingered on the black flags emblazoned with a white dragon silhouette covered in blue flames. From what he read in the novel, the flag of the Valtoria was a dark gray color. It would only remain black for the entire six months of mourning for the departed Duke.

A knock from the large double doors came from behind him. He turned away from the scenery of Ember City. "Come in."

The doors opened, revealing the family steward named Herard. He had been the first person that Rhett saw when he opened his eyes three days ago.

Thankfully, Ronan was never close with anyone at this point in time and kept to himself. Rhett tried to remember why and found that it had something to do with the death of Roran's mother.

The novel really did not go in-depth about Roran's...motivations. But it did mention how horrible the deceased Duke was to his children. Roran never forgave him for it.

He could make a few guesses, but it ultimately did not matter to Rhett.

The only thing important was that Herard did not suspect a thing about his behavior.

"What is it?" he asked Herard.

The elderly man bowed, his white hair falling over his eyes. Eyes that Rhett could feel were scrutinizing his every move. Rhett inwardly smirked at the old man's actions.

"Every relative has arrived. We are ready to begin the rites," Herard.

Rhett nodded.

Turning back to the couch, he picked up the gray cloak lined with thick black fur. He swung it over his shoulders, looking at his appearance in the mirror from the corner of his eye.