Posted: 2025 10 04

Right in his face, Renatus’s new ‘brother’ screamed and fainted. It was his first time greeting his older ‘brother’. Right now, he was meeting his cousin, soon-to-be brother, Clarence, who was ten years old, Renatus was only three. 

Upon seeing his face and having someone collapse in fear was a terrible shock for such a young child– causing Renatus to recall memories from his past life. 

In his previous life, Renatus was an ordinary Japanese office worker in his thirties, whose only break from this life was reading novels on his way to work. He got caught in a traffic accident, and couldn’t remember anything past that, only that he had ended up here. 

He used to read about reincarnation stories to other worlds, but didn’t those usually have some sort of godlike being to help?

Thirty years worth of memories flooded into him, along with the memories of his time as Renatus, thankfully the past three years had not been too significant. Thankfully, he could at least gather the context to help in the situation he had found himself in now. 

His current personality was exactly the same as his previous life, but he was still at a three year old mental capacity. The commotion had left him startled and he couldn’t seem to stop crying. The unconscious ‘brother’ of his was carried to his bedroom by a maid. 

“Sorry to startle you.”

“aa…”

A man standing nearby called out to Renatus. The duke, his uncle, his mother’s brother, and from now on, his ‘father’. Renatus’s parents had recently died in an accident, and so he was adopted into his uncle’s family. The only people left were his grandfather and uncle, the duchess had passed away after giving birth to this uncle*.

“Clarence was just a little unwell. You can come by and say hello to him when he is feeling better.”

“Okay…”

“The maids in this house are excellent, you will be looked after. You must be tired, Renatus. I will show you to your room so you can rest.”

His new foster father wiped away Renatus’s tears with a handkerchief.

–

I was shown to a room decorated for a child. Some of the furniture looked newly purchased, some looked like old things of Clarence’s. My new ‘father’ seemed to hope that having the hand-me-downs would be a sharing point between the two of us. 

He is a considerate person, even though mentally we’re the same age.

In my previous life, I remained single. I didn’t have time to find a girlfriend, not to mention marriage. Naturally, children weren’t even in the picture. 

“Thank you very much”

I gave him a bow as he gently stroked my hair. 

“It may not be possible right away, but I hope we can become close. You look just like my sister when she was little, so it makes me feel a little sentimental.”

With that, he left the room to check on Clarence. Checking on Renatus before his own son really made him seem like a good person. Even though his son was the one who was more shocked. 

Renatus looked around the room for a mirror. Spotting a dressing table, he climbed on the chair and looked into the reflection. Staring back was a face similar to his previous life, but dolled up as someone new.

“Just as I thought…! This is the face of the Renatus Ashfield, the evil chancellor from ‘The Legend of the Wolf King Hero’...!” 

This was a novel I loved in my previous life, a bloody “rags to riches” type of story. 

Bradley Wolf, the protagonist of ‘The Legend of the Wolf King Hero’, is the child of an affair between a nobleman and his maid. His mother incurred the wrath of the legal wife, and forced to live in the slums and resort to prostitution. When the mistress of the house passed away, only then was Bradley discovered by his biological father, adopted, and enrolled in knight school. He graduated at the top of his class and eventually rose to the position of commander of the Knights. 

His only obstacle to success was the evil chancellor, whose used many constant and cruel tricks. The biggest conflict was the trap he set to try and lead Bradley to his death. He was left to deal with a stampede threatening the country with only a small force. With the loss of many of his comrades, he vows revenge against the evil chancellor. 

–This evil chancellor who is defeated goes by the name of Renatus Ashfield.

“I…I’ll be killed no question…” 

The white face in the mirror became paler. 

Renatus’s face was white, not just faired-skinned. White scales grew from his face, starting from the temples to just below his ears. They were stiff, glittering iridescent when the light hit them, like that of a pearl from an oyster. 

His silver hair and pale blue eyes only added to the paleness. Is this what a white snake would look like as a human?

While this appearance was cool in media, fit for a villain, it was too lifelike. It felt strange that scales were growing out of human skin. And even with memories of his previous life, it was strange. There was no setting for beastmen in this world.

Thinking back past the last three years, there was never anyone who called Renatus ‘creepy’.

Three year old Renatus was surrounded by only adults. Well, they were probably polite to his face and wouldn’t openly express their disgust. Clarence’s reaction was normal. Children were naturally honest and couldn’t hide their fear. 

“This doesn’t feel good…”

Renatus slumped and bowed his head. 

My ‘father’ wants me to get along with my ‘brother’, Clarence, but he was so scared that he fainted. If things continue like this, he’ll probably end up hating me.

Suddenly, Renatus noticed a paper bag on the table. Checking and finding only notebooks and other stationary items inside, he took everything out and poked eye holes in the paper bag with the pair of scissors he had found in it. 

“Perfect!”

Slipping the bag over his head, the simple mask was complete.

“I wonder if this will still scare him…”

When I looked in the mirror, there was a tiny paper bag man. Better than a snake man. People hate snakes, but I’ve never heard of anyone hating paper bags. 

“I want to get along with everyone here! I don’t wanna die!”

If the story follows the original, Renatus will become the chancellor, rule like a tyrant, and then get kill by Bradley Wolf. 

My ‘brother’ was also in Bradley’s camp. So if we get along, we’ll be able to deviate from the original story. Renatus nodded, disturbing the bag on his head.

There was a knock at the door, and then my ‘father’ walked in. 

“Oh my, what a cute paper bag. What is it for?”

“Um, I though you wouldn’t be scared with this! How is it?”

Renatus tried spinning around, but did not account for the limited vision to cause him to lose his sense of balance. Before he could fall, strong arms caught him and he found himself lifted up. 

His ‘father’ held him close, as if he was a precious treasure. 

“...”

“Ah?”

“...Mm. I once again though how lucky I am to have a cute son. There is no need to hide yourself like that.”

‘Father’ spoke in a touched tone, perhaps thinking about how considerate he was to his ‘brother’.

Of course I care about him. Maybe not in the way you think. After all, this kindness was not for free, my life is at stake. 

“Brother is just a child, so it cannot be helped. He won’t be scared if he doesn’t see my face right?”

Renatus added, forgetting he was actually three years old. To him, Clarence was a child. 

His ‘father’ blinked in surprise, then frowned in confusion. 

“He’s not scared… ah, Renatus might be scared. Hmm, what should we do…”

He looked troubled, before giving Renatus a reassuring smile. 

“...That’s what we will do. How about we make you a proper mask? Something smaller and cuter.”

“Is that okay?”

“When you feel comfortable and it is no longer scary, you can take it off.”

“Okay.”

My ‘father’ held me close and continued to stroke my head, causing the paper bag to rustle. He is a kind person. It would be terrible if my future evil deeds were to cause him trouble. 

Renatus renewed his resolve to change his bad ending.

–

After a while, I was able to greet my ‘brother’ again after his fever subsided. While Clarence said it was okay to take off the bag, I still felt uncomfortable. 

Renatus shook his head, and for some reason, Clarence looked hurt. 

They quickly became friends, like father like son. Their kindness must run in the family. 

Now I’m a step farther away from being a villain. I will do my best. Little progress is still progress. 

Renatus clenched his fist, cementing his resolve. 

– –

AU Notes:

The seme appears at the end of the second ep.

– – –

TN Notes:

Our poor baby~~ three is way too young. he’s 30 but still ( ;´ - `;)

* I’m a little confused how the uncle appears to be the younger one while having memories of mc’s mom as a kid… but throw logic out the window ig