The Imperial Hospital of Aurelion was the pride of the empire.
Towering glass-paneled walls frad its facade, supported by sleek steel arches, blending old-world grandeur with cutting-edge magitech technology.
In this world of half-dieval nobility and modern innovations, it stood as a monunt to progress — a place where magic and science t in perfect equilibrium.
Unlike Earth, viruses here were trivial problems.
Healing fluids, enchanted sterilization wards, and mana-powered surgical tools rendered even critical illnesses manageable.
But healers — those rare talents who could regenerate flesh and nd broken bones with a flick of their fingers were still luxuries reserved for the rich and the elite.
If you knew one personally, you clung to them like gold.
Lucius lay reclined against his pristine bed sheets, hands folded lazily behind his head.
Sunlight stread in from the tall arched window beside him, painting golden streaks over the room’s polished marble floor.
Elara stood dutifully beside him, her erald eyes quietly scanning him with relief that hadn’t faded since he’d awakened.
Her black-and-white maid uniform was tailored to fit elegantly — practical enough for her duties but refined enough to mark her as soone belonging to a noble house.
Across from them stood an old man in a ticulously pressed butler uniform.
His white hair was slicked back neatly, his posture immaculate as he flipped through a folder of docunts.
His face was sharp, hawkish even, with the kind of piercing gaze that only decades of service to nobility could produce.
Lucius arched a brow. "And your na was...?"
The man blinked, visibly taken aback.
Lucius truly could not see this man in his mories, perhaps the original had deed him soone not worth rembering?
"Steven, young master. I am the head butler of the Hohenberg estate."
"Right. Steven." Lucius gave a lazy stretch, his expression utterly carefree. "So, what’s the reason for today’s visit? This doesn’t seem like a friendly chat."
He already knew, of course.
This was the scene where Lucius’s old life unraveled — the infamous mont from the novel where he threw a tantrum and humiliated himself in front of his retainers.
Steven hesitated before speaking, clearing his throat.
"Young master, it has been three years since you fell into your coma. In that ti... several matters regarding your status have changed."
Elara shifted subtly beside him, her fingers tightening against her dress.
She’d known this conversation was inevitable.
Steven glanced at her, then pressed on.
"First, you have been formally exiled from the Hohenberg clan. Due to your prolonged inactivity and inability to contribute, the Patriarch passed the motion with full support from the elders... and your mother and the information has been made public since two years ago."
His words hung heavy in the air.
He braced himself for it: outrage, indignation, the explosive temper that Lucius von Hohenberg had been infamous for since boyhood.
But instead —
"I understand."
Steven froze mid-breath, blinking slowly as if he’d just been handed a foreign language.
"...Pardon?"
"I said I understand," Lucius repeated, casually cracking his knuckles. "You’re not deaf, are you?"
Even Elara blinked in surprise.
The Lucius she’d served all her life would have been livid — he’d have thrown a vase, flipped a table, sothing.
Steven’s composure faltered. "Young master, I said you were—"
"I heard you the first ti," Lucius cut him off, his tone sharp.
He lifted his arms in another lazy stretch, leaning back against his pillows with a yawn.
"I’m exiled. Got it. Next?"
Steven stared, utterly baffled.
Lucius smirked inwardly.
’What kind of pampered brat was this guy? One demotion and they expected to throw a royal fit? As if screaming about it will change anything.’
He had no plans to go crawling back to a family that abandoned him during his coma.
The old Lucius may have been desperate for their approval, but Eric? He’d spent thirty years on Earth surviving worse disappointnts than this.
Steven cleared his throat awkwardly. "Ahem. Very well. The second matter concerns your engagent."
"Ah, here it cos," Lucius muttered under his breath.
Steven adjusted his glasses. "Due to your removal from the line of succession, your betrothal to Lady Lily von Silberhain has been annulled by mutual agreent of both houses."
Elara’s eyes flicked to him sharply, searching for his reaction.
"I see." Lucius’s tone was flat, unbothered.
Steven blinked again. "...You... see?"
Lucius tilted his head, feigning mild curiosity. "So. She’s already moved on, then?"
"Yes," Steven replied carefully, clearly unsettled by his lack of anger. "She is now engaged to Elliot Runenforscher, heir to the Runenforscher clan. Though not quite as esteed as the Hohenbergs, their advancents in alchemy and enchantnt are—"
"I didn’t ask for a family history, Steven," Lucius interrupted with a lazy wave of his hand.
His lips curled into an amused smirk. "Save the lecture for soone who cares."
Steven closed his mouth, visibly perturbed.
Elara, however, couldn’t hide her smile.
Whatever had happened to him during his coma, this calr, sharper Lucius was... different.
He was better.
And she could finally have her master all to herself...
She had only dread of days like this.
Lucius folded his arms behind his head again. Internally, though, his mind was buzzing.
Elliot Runenforscher...
The forr Cayden Cross.
The "main character" of To Be The Extra.
Despite not wanting to influence the plot, he did it a lot.
And sowhere out there, Dmitri — the commoner protagonist from the original romance storyline would also be on his rise to prominence.
Eric’s lips curled into an anticipatory grin.
’Oh, I can’t wait to et them.’
Steven, determined to regain control of the conversation, cleared his throat again.
"One final matter, young master. Per the Patriarch’s decree, while you are no longer formally affiliated with House Hohenberg, you are permitted to retain your na and are granted ownership of one estate—"
Lucius’s eyes lit up. "Ah. Finally."
Steven produced a parchnt sealed with crimson wax and handed it forward. "This is the deed. The estate was recently acquired by the family but has yet to be occupied. It is yours, effective imdiately."
Lucius took the docunt eagerly, scanning it with a pleased grin. "A mansion, huh? Well, that solves my first problem."
Steven tilted his head slightly. "Your first problem?"
"Finding sowhere to live, obviously," Lucius said smoothly. "I’ll be moving in as soon as I’m discharged."
The head butler scrutinized him for a long mont.
This wasn’t the arrogant boy he rembered.
There had been no tantrums.
No whining.
No delusions about returning to favor.
"Very well, young master," Steven said finally, bowing slightly. "I hope you have a good day."
As he left, Elara turned to Lucius, her voice quiet. "You’re taking this far better than I expected, young master."
Lucius smirked, folding his hands behind his head again. "Elara, when life hands you a chance like this... why waste it crying over people who already gave up on you?"
Her erald eyes widened slightly.
For the first ti in years, she saw a glimr of sothing in him she hadn’t seen since he was a boy.
Determination.
But then it vanished as he threw the parchnt to her and leaned back lazily on the bed.
"Sell the mansion."
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