The Author's Reset

Knock, knock, knock.

I glanced to my side, where the sound of knocking came from. I still had that smirk on my face from earlier. The sound had caught me off guard. Whoever was behind the door could grant me a lot of information about who I was and where I was, but to play it cool, I had to act normal, like I was still whoever this person was. I walked toward the door, opened it, and fully prepared myself for whatever lay outside.

"Young Master Julius, the lord of the house requests your presence in his office."

"..."

Before I could speak, I stopped myself. The person in front of me was an older man, probably in his 60s or 70s. Could he be a butler? From his clothes, it certainly looked like it. But more importantly, I had just received some important information—the name *Julius*. That was my name. But there was a problem. I didn't remember anyone named Julius in my novel.

"Young Master Julius?"

Snapping me out of my thoughts, I quickly responded.

"My bad. Please lead the way."

The old man gave me a surprised look. I was honestly confused. I hadn't said anything wrong. As these thoughts floated through my head, he led the way. It was a five-minute walk at most. This place was massive, and I had assumed I was some sort of aristocrat—maybe a high-ranking one at that. From the size of this place, we were definitely rich. This could be a good thing. If my old life had taught me anything, power isn't just physical. It isn't just about strength; there are multiple types of power. Money was one of them, and it appeared I started with it.

We finally arrived.

"We are here, Young Master."

The butler opened the door for me, signaling me to go in.

"Great."

I walked in, observing my surroundings. This place was incredibly luxurious. The office had decorations on the walls, but the thing that caught my attention was above me—hanging from the ceiling was a massive skull. It almost looked like a dragon skull, something you'd see in *Game of Thrones*. Wait a minute… maybe it was an actual dragon skull. But not many people could have a dragon skull—

"Julius."

That snapped me out of my thoughts. I glanced down at the man sitting behind the desk. He looked intimidating—tall, bulky, with long black hair, and the same light blue eyes as mine. I assumed this was my father. I already didn't like him. Maybe it was because I was biased from my past life, or maybe it was PTSD. Whatever the reason, this man gave me a bad feeling.

As these thoughts raced through my mind, I walked toward him and sat down. Even if it made me uncomfortable, hearing that word *father* didn't matter. I had resolve. This was a second chance at life. I wouldn't let myself be trampled on by anyone. I wasn't going to be some weak little bitch anymore. No. In my previous life, I had nothing. But in this life, I had two of the founding elements of power—money and information. I knew the future, and I was going to use it to my advantage. But for now, I'd have to play it cool.

"Yes, Father?"

"Julius, in about two weeks, you'll be enrolling at the Lovina Royal Academy. Make sure not to disgrace the name of House Vaelorian while you're there. We don't need another incident like last time, do we?"

As my father said this, his face remained unchanging. Meanwhile, a frown appeared on mine. That name—*House Vaelorian*. That's why they had the dragon skull. In ancient times, House Vaelorian was a family of dragon riders. They ruled a large part of the West, but after the Demon King's army invaded, most of the dragons died, leaving them without their main source of power. Over the years, they shrank until what was once a great house, equal in power to the royal Belmont family, now only held a county—a shadow of its former self. 

But now that I thought about it, there was a Vaelorian attending the academy during Alex's first year. Shit, I just realized who I am. I didn't get reincarnated as an extra or some third-rate villain. I got reincarnated as *Julius Vaelorian*, the lackey of the protagonist's first-ever enemy—Arthur Blackwood.

Arthur was your classic arrogant young master. He hated Alex for being a commoner at the royal academy, believing only nobles deserved the right to study there. Obviously, he and Alex butted heads. I'm getting sidetracked, though. What's important is what happens to me—or, well, Julius. He dies in the most brutal way possible, at the hands of the protagonist and Arthur. Why? Because Arthur had ordered Julius to teach Alex a lesson. So, Julius did the next best thing. He didn't try to fight Alex, since he was too weak. Instead, he killed Alex's only friend in the early stages of the academy—Chiyo Sakuragi. 

She wasn't a major character, but she helped with character development. Arthur had a crush on her, so when she died due to Julius's actions, Arthur changed from an antagonist to a rival. And Julius… well, he was literally skinned alive.

"Julius! Are you ignoring me, boy?!"

"No, I'm sorry, Father. I understand. I won't disappoint you again."

My father gave me a stern look. I could see that he clearly doubted me, and I didn't blame him. I couldn't care less about the honor of this house. All I cared about was surviving. As I looked at him straight-faced, he sighed, probably having given up on trying to correct my behavior—or, well, *previous Julius's* behavior.

"Whatever. Just go."

As I left, my father returned to whatever he was working on. I headed back to my room. When I arrived, I sat on my bed and pressed a small button next to it. Shortly after, a knock came on the door.

"Come in."

The butler from earlier entered.

"How may I be of service, Young Master?"

"Bring a book and a pen as quickly as you can."

"As you command, Young Master."

The butler made his way out, then returned shortly with the requested items. You might be wondering why I asked for this, and I'll satisfy your curiosity. I needed to write down everything I could remember about the novel. Why? The reason was obvious. My memory wasn't perfect. I'd probably forget most of the important events eventually. But if I wrote them down—along with any other important information—it could come in handy when I needed it.

For the next few hours, I jotted down every event I could remember in chronological order, as well as the locations of important objects and anything else I thought might be useful for my survival. As I finished writing, I let out a loud sigh and stared down at my hand. It was red from all the writing, and it hurt like hell, too. But the pain was only temporary. A few hours sacrificed writing all of this down would benefit me in the end. Plus, back on Earth, I had wasted far more time on stupid things like gacha games and gambling. So this wasn't so bad.

I stood up and walked toward the balcony of my room. Stepping outside, I felt a cold breeze wash over me. I looked up at the pitch-black sky. The only thing lighting up the area was the moon. I stretched my hand out toward it.