AWAKENING OF THE HIDDEN HEIR (REBORN INTO THE THRONE)

001 : Rebirth of the sick heir

The battlefield was as silent as a graveyard.

It was already a graveyard, broken bodies lay around, the ground was stained red with blood and gore, Smoke clung low to the scorched earth, twisting around broken weapons and fallen soldiers.

The smell of iron and death clung to everything.

Death was all around the place.

In the middle of it all knelt a man. His armor was no longer silver but a ruin of scorched metal, cracked with blood soaking through every part of his armor.His sword lay broken in two pieces across the ground, and his chest burned with each ragged breath.

General kael Ardyn had lost.

Not because he was weak. Not because he had misjudged the battlefield. He had been betrayed. The king’s adviser—the one man Kael had trusted above all—had led the enemy to victory while Kael’s own forces were slaughtered and filled the earth with their blood.

He lifted his gaze to the hill where enemy banners waved as a sign of their victory.

And there he saw the man who had ruined him, standing tall, unscathed, a faint smirk on his lips.

Kael’s mouth cracked into a laugh, low and bitter, blood trickling down his chin. “So this is how it ends… not at the hands of the enemy, but a friend,” he rasped.

The adviser’s boots crunched over the debris, as he stepped on dead soldiers to walk to Kael

“You were inconvenient,” he said softly, voice calm. “It had to be done.”

Kael’s hands trembled on the hilt of his broken sword. “Inconvenient? I bled for this empire. I spilled my blood for the throne. And you… you stab me in the back?”

The adviser brought out his sword.

“You did well general Ardyn, you can enjoy the view from hell I truly enjoyed the short time we spent together, it was worth it.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

“You will pay. I will get my revenge” he bellowed.

The last thing he saw was the sword descending, before he was englfed in darkness.

Kael Ardyn always thought when he died, the afterlife would be a beautiful world filled with colors as a repayment for all the good deeds he did on earth, but he didn't expect the afterlife to be this empty void of darkeness, he felt like he was floating.

“General kael Ardyn” A voice said

Kael's hands clenched together

“Who's there?“

“You have lived a life steeped in war,” the voice intoned, echoing through the void.

“You commanded millions. You ended millions. You shaped the fate of nations. Do you regret your life?”

“No,” Kael said. “I fought. I lost. That is all.”

A hum vibrated through the void. “Interesting. Most beg. Most weep. Few accept themselves as they are.”

“I am neither,” Kael said, letting the emptiness ignite a familiar fire inside him.

And yet, the voice continued, your story does not have to end.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

“Who are you?“

“I am all living and I offer things that only the brave will accept”.

“What do you offer?“

“A chance to live again and come back for revenge”

“You offer rebirth.”

Yes.

Silence stretched.

“And the price?” Kael asked.

Survival.

The word resonated strangely.

You will be cast into another world. A weaker body. A cruel fate. You will stand at the center of a storm not of your making. Power will not be given—you must seize it.

And only when you do can you come back and save the realm.

Kael laughed softly. “That sounds familiar.”

If you fail, the voice added, your soul will shatter. No afterlife. No second chances.

Kael clenched his fists.

A challenge.

“Very well,” he said. “Send me.”

The light flared.

Then be reborn, General.

Pain.

Crippling, suffocating pain.

Kael gasped and sucked in air that burned his lungs. His eyes flew open, and he was not met with smoke or fire —but a dark stone ceiling.

“What—”

His voice cracked. It was higher. Weaker.

He tried to move and immediately hissed as agony shot through his limbs. His body felt wrong—thin, frail, unfamiliar.

Memories flooded his mind.

A palace.

Whispers behind silk curtains.

A sickbed.

the memories were jumbled, he could only make out a few.

He looked around, the place looked like a hospital of some sorts.

Realization struck like a hammer.

“I’ve… been reborn.”

He forced himself upright, trembling. His hands were pale and slender, unscarred. No calluses. No strength.

A mirror rested against the wall.

Kael staggered toward it and froze.

Reflected back was a young man no older than Twenty. Messy dark hair. Sharp features dulled by exhaustion. Eyes—his eyes—burned with something far older than the face they belonged to.

He looked so pale and frail.

This body was weak.

Pathetic.

And yet…

He was supposed to do what with this frail body.

An elderly man walked into the room

“Ahh you must rest young master you haven't fully recovered” the old man said putting kael to sit down

“Where am I?“

“Ohh , temporary amnesia is too be expected your illness is getting more worse.”

“Where am I?“ Kael repeated

“I should give you some painkillers and medications”

Kael gritted his teeth, if he was in his old body he would have crushed this man's skull in one go

He just about to ask for the third time when some men walked in.

Soldiers

“Greetings healer” one said

“Welcome”

“How is he doing?“

“He has temporary amnesia and still recuperating”

“The royal family are having their dinner, he is expected to attend, make him look presentable and less pale” the soldier said

“I will do my best”

The soldiers nodded and marched out

“What Royal family “ Kael snapped

“Call down young master, you had a convulsion few days back and you've been unconscious since then, it's only normal you attend the dinner so they can see your condition”

Kael gritted his teeth, he was reborn into the body of a sick prince of some sorts

The healer mixed some herbs and massaged kael's legs with them and gave him clean clothes to wear

“Put this on, the soldiers will be here to take you soon” The healer said and left the room

Kael walked to the mirror again, the prince's body was underfed and very pale, he wore the clothe that he was given and sat on the bed

The healer came back into the room

“You look better young master, the guards are here to escort you to the dining hall”

The healer handed a herbal leaf to kael

Kael recognized it as some sort of soothing herb for vomiting

“In case you don't like the smell of the food, you can chew on this"

Kael scoffed and shook his head

The soldiers came in and supported him as they walked to the dinning room

when they were far away from the hospital on of the guards said

“He can't even walk on his own and he's expected to go for dinner?“

The other one chuckled

Kael was furious, he was a crown prince yet this soldier was outright disrespecting him, he wanted to punch the soldier hard but his limbs could not even move, he silently watched them escort him to the room.

***