Curious, Klein asked who the strongest Duke in the family's history had been. Aren first thought of the current seventh Duke, Klein's father, but Klein already knew the answer. The strongest had been the first Duke, Berkel Rheinland.
The servants were happy, because they assumed Klein admired the first Duke most of all. After all, he kept staring at Berkel's portrait. But Klein's thoughts were nothing like what they imagined. He was not admiring Berkel. He was staring at the man who had killed him.
Two hundred years had passed since Berkel founded the Rheinland family. Klein still could not believe it, but he had no choice except to accept the truth. He, the necromancer Archmond, had been reborn as Klein Rheinland, a descendant of the very man who had ended his life.
Some time later, Klein was jolted awake, haunted by a dream of Berkel's final words before killing him in his previous life. He let out a heavy sigh and cursed under his breath as his thoughts drifted back to his new reality.
In his past life he had been Archmond, the legendary necromancer feared across the continent as the devil himself. Consumed by rage, he had nearly brought the entire continent to ruin before finally falling to the sword of the northern knight, Berkel Rheinland. Yet death had not been the end, and when Archmond opened his eyes once more, two hundred years had passed since his defeat. The most unbelievable part was that he had been reborn as a descendant of the very man who had slain him. Now Archmond was Klein Rheinland, and he retained every memory of his former life.
Checking his appearance for what felt like the hundredth time, Klein still could not get used to it, especially his hair. Then a voice interrupted his thoughts, telling him that he had been talking in his sleep.
Alarmed, Klein looked up to find his eternal nemesis, Garrison, asking whether Klein had dreamt of his time as Archmond. Garrison was a lunatic priest who believed that Klein was Archmond, and for years he had been torturing Klein because of that belief. Klein quickly tried to explain that he had talked in his sleep because of stress.
But Aren suddenly popped up to ruin his life. She confidently announced that she had heard everything Klein said while he was sleeping, and then repeated it word for word, describing how Klein wanted to destroy the continent, and mentioning that he had called himself Archmond. Klein frantically tried to stop her, but Aren refused to back down while Garrison listened quietly.
Fortunately, Klein's butler Berkman stepped into the room at that moment to inform him that the swordsmanship demonstration would start soon. The damage, however, had already been done. Garrison had heard everything he needed to hear about Klein's dream. He thanked Aren for the unsolicited report and firmly announced that Klein would be receiving a double purification ritual.
Seeing the look on Garrison's face, Klein was terrified, and he clapped a hand over Aren's mouth before she could get him into more trouble. Then he barked at the priest, loudly telling him to back off.
Shortly after, Klein and Aren headed to the training hall with the butler Berkman to watch the swordsmanship demonstration. When Klein asked Berkman about the event, Berkman simply said that the Duke had ordered him to attend.
Klein was surprised to hear that, and while he was still wondering why, Aren asked whether she could take his cookie. Klein let her have it, and when Berkman tried to remind Aren of her position, Klein told him not to be so hard on her, since she loved cookies so much. Seeing that Klein did not mind, Berkman decided not to be so stuck up about it.
Klein then asked Berkman why the Duke wanted him to attend the event, since it was the first time Klein had ever been invited to a demonstration. Berkman explained that it was because the collateral branches had come to visit. The collateral branches were relatives who were not part of the direct bloodline, and Klein knew they were not here for anything good, because they were a pack of pesky little leeches.
As Klein made his way in, everyone turned to stare at him with disdainful glances. Some mocked him for being mistaken for the reincarnation of Archmond. Others taunted him to his face, mentioning how Klein had been locked away in a monastery for seven years. Someone even called him a jinx and warned his brother to beware, or Klein might put a curse on him.
Klein took note of the two men, who happened to be his maternal cousins, and noticed another distant group of relatives stuffing their faces like pigs. Just then he noticed a girl in the corner staring intently at him. He recalled that she was one of the cousins from the west. While he was still trying to work out who she was, his maternal cousins from earlier angrily reprimanded him for ignoring them.
Klein continued to pay them no attention, which infuriated them further. As maternal cousins they even had the nerve to call the Rheinland family theirs, a comparison Klein found laughable. The annoying part was that he could not even remember their names, because they were that insignificant.
The major reason these pesky strangers from the collateral branches were acting as though they owned the place was that the main line, where Klein was born, was currently falling apart. The mere fact that they dared to look down on Klein showed that nobody respected the main line anymore.
Klein finally made his way to the balcony, and from there he watched two boys sparring. The purple-haired one, named Dalton, was struggling to block the attacks of his opponent, Delane. Despite clearly having a hard time, Dalton cursed loudly and told Delane to stop holding back and come at him for real.
Delane, meanwhile, seemed to be breezing through the match without any effort, and he told Dalton that the outcome had already been decided. Dalton refused to back down even though his opponent held every advantage.
Watching the match, Klein noted that the main line of the Rheinland family had one last hope left, and that hope was Delane, Klein's half-brother. Delane was the eldest son of the Rheinland family, well known for being a peerless genius. Thanks to Delane's talent, the Rheinland family still enjoyed a reputation as a lineage of master swordsmen. Dalton, a member of a collateral branch, seemed intent on dragging that reputation through the mud.
As Klein continued to watch them spar, his eyes suddenly lit up. This was his first time seeing a familiar swordsmanship with his new body.
As Dalton charged forward to attack, Delane swiftly dodged, and in the next moment appeared behind him. Klein's eyes kept sparkling, and as he observed Delane's swordsmanship he could clearly see the footwork, the timing of the launch, and even the flow of mana. The attack took Dalton completely by surprise, and it was none other than the Rheinland secret technique called the meteor sword. With a single strike, Delane unleashed the meteor sword on Dalton and effortlessly ended the match.
Pointing his wooden sword at Dalton, Delane calmly reminded him of his earlier words, that the match had been decided from the very beginning. The audience was amazed by the technique, and they praised Delane for confidently pulling off the Rheinland family's signature move in front of everyone. This show was not merely an impressive display. It was a statement to the collateral branches, meant to tell them that the main line was still strong.