I'm an orphan. I don't even know my name. By the time I started understanding the world, I was already living on the streets, begging for food from house to house. Some would pity me and give me old meals. I really envied the kids who went to school and ate healthy and tasty meals. After a few years, I started doing all kinds of labor and bought all kinds of books to gain knowledge with the money I earned from working.

Since I gained knowledge through books and never went to school, college, or university, no one gave me a job. So, I started working as a freelancer when I was a teenager.

Why am I thinking about all this right now? Oh, is this what people call your life flashing before your eyes before you die?

Why am I even dying? Ah, I remember now. I protected a little girl from the falling cabin of a Ferris wheel.

Thank God, she is alive, but my body was torn to pieces under the cabin. I'm just a bachelor; I had to earn more money, build a house, marry a beautiful lady, and have kids. Sigh, it looks like all my hopes and dreams are never going to happen.

His voice, filled with melancholy, echoed in the emptiness. Suddenly, a bright light flashed before his eyes, and the next moment he opened them, he was inside a very luxurious room. The bed was so huge it could easily accommodate more than 50 people. After opening his eyes, the first thing that came to his mind was, “Where the hell am I?”

He slowly stepped out of the bed and moved towards the mirror. “Ha? Who the fuck is this guy? What's with this weird hair and mustache?”

He felt like he looked like a clown. He hurriedly started searching for scissors and a blade but didn't find any in the huge room. He walked towards the door, slowly opened it, and peeked outside. There were guards guarding the door, and they immediately saluted him when they saw him peeking out.

Since their salute was so sudden and they were holding spears and swords, his feet slipped, and he fell on his hips.

The guards hurriedly moved close to him and reached out their hands to lift him from the floor.

“Thanks.”

He thanked them and hurriedly entered back into the room. The guards kept staring at the door with shocked looks on their faces. Not even in their dreams did they think they would hear a word of thanks from a guy like him.

It took them a few minutes to come back to their senses and calm down. They thought they were done for and had immediately lost hope of keeping their lives when they saw him fall. Now they released a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and continued guarding the door.

Just like them, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat back on the bed, thinking, “Who are those guys? Why are they guarding the room I'm in?”

While he was deep in thought, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, and many memories flooded his mind nonstop for a few minutes.

“Oh damn it, it hurts.” He tightly held his head with a painful look on his face.

He bit the edge of the pillow to endure the excruciating pain in his head. After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, the pain slowly subsided. He relaxed and fell back on the bed, his body drenched in cold sweat.

“Oh damn it, is this what torture feels like?” He murmured with an exhausted look on his face.

“So, the previous owner of this body is dead, and I took over his body. His name is Knox, and his family name is Caldwell… Caldwell Knox. Such a weird name. So I will be called Knox from now on? Okay, then I'll take it as my name from now on,” Knox murmured with a thoughtful look on his face.

“In my past life, I never even had a proper meal. In my current life, I'm the king of a huge kingdom? The way fate plays with human lives is really peculiar and unpredictable,” Knox murmured while placing his hands behind his head.

Unknown to him, he entered a deep slumber and woke up to the guard's voice from outside the room. “Your Majesty, maid Sera is carrying the meal into the room.”

“Yawn… it's already mealtime? Hmm, did I oversleep?” Knox murmured and slowly sat up on his bed.

The maid, with a frightful look on her face, slowly pushed a service trolley filled with different types of dishes into his room. She looked like a rabbit ready to run away at the sound of any movement. The moment she caught sight of him, tears welled up in her eyes.

Seeing her strange behavior, Knox closed his eyes to check out the previous owner's memories. “What the fuck? Sigh, now I understand why she is so scared to face me,” Knox murmured inwardly while opening his eyes with a helpless look on his face.

Sera hurriedly moved to the dining table, anxiously prepared it, and arranged the meals neatly. She then moved close to Knox, bent her back, and said, “Your Majesty, the meal is ready. Please come to the dining table and have your meal.”

Knox glanced at her and stepped out of bed, thinking, “Looks like no one knows about the previous owner's death.”

Knox walked straight to the dining table, sat in the chair the way Knox used to sit, and started eating the food the way Knox used to eat.

He reached out his hand to take a ball-shaped food item and took a small bite gracefully. “Ha, acting like a big shot is a pain in the ass.”

But the next moment, he widened his eyes. “So tasty,” he exclaimed inwardly.

But the maid thought otherwise. She hurriedly knelt on the floor and started banging her head, tears sliding down her face.

“What the fuck? What are you doing? Get up… get up already,” shouted Knox while getting up from the chair and walking towards the maid.

Note: Why do you think she is banging her head on the floor? Share your thoughts on it; let me see your creativity.

“Your majesty… I had elders and kids to take care of in my home… please spare my life,” said the maid in a stuttering voice.

Knox came close to her, slightly bent his back, and reached out his hand to hold her shoulders. “Sigh, I won't do anything to you. Thanks for the meal; the dishes are very tasty, and I really like this meal.”

The maid felt like she was struck by a thunderbolt. She was petrified on the spot, and the words said by Knox kept echoing in her mind again and again.

It took her a few minutes to come back to her senses. She started thanking Knox again and again while tears streamed down her face.

Knox didn't waste another second. He hurriedly walked back, sat on the chair, and continued eating the meal with a contented look on his face.

She remembered a situation that had happened in the past...

There used to be a maid who was very kind and caring. As usual, she brought the meal to Knox and arranged it on the dining table. Knox walked to the dining table, sat on the chair, and started eating the meal. However, the meal had slightly become cold due to the huge distance between the royal kitchen and the room where Knox was staying. Also, that day was colder than usual. The maid, who didn't know much about things related to food, was the first one to take the blame for it. The second one was the chef. Both of them were executed in front of everyone.

“Is the guy eating in front of me really King Knox?” These words kept flashing through her mind continuously.

She came back to her senses when she heard Knox's voice.

“What's your name?” asked Knox.

She touched her forehead to the floor and said in a stern tone, “Your majesty, this lowly one's name is Sera.”

“Why can't you just say your name normally?” Knox thought while looking at the ceiling.

“Ok, Sera, thanks for the meal,” said Knox with a look filled with earnest gratitude.

The maid nodded her head with a blank look on her face and robotically moved towards the dining table. She started arranging the empty dishes back on the service trolley and moved towards the door, stepping out of the room.

Knox reached out his hand to hold his chin. “Ha? Now I remember I have to change my clown looks immediately.”

He stepped out of the room and ordered the guards, “Summon the barber.”

“On your order, your majesty,” one of the guards said while kneeling on the floor. He hurriedly stood up and ran towards the place where the royal barber lived.

It didn't take long for him to get the barber, and both of them were sweating profusely. The barber, upon seeing Knox, immediately knelt down to greet him.

Knox nodded his head and walked back into the room, followed by the barber.

Knox sat down on the chair, and the barber hurriedly closed the door behind him and immediately knelt down on the floor, placing his head on the floor.

“Ah, these people,” Knox looked at the barber with a helpless look on his face.

“Get up and do the haircut the way I want,” said Knox in a calm voice.

The barber thought he was going to lose his life since he was specially summoned by Knox without any reason. He had even said a final goodbye to his family members before he prepared himself to follow the guard. At that moment, he was so relieved that tears slid down his face.

He reached out his hand to wipe the tears from his face and hurriedly stood up, moving towards Knox with the haircut kit in his hand.

“Cut this part and this... this... this...” Knox continued to give orders to the barber.

The barber nodded his head and, with careful movements, began his work.

The barber didn't even know what kind of hairstyle he was doing. He just followed the orders given by Knox carefully.

It didn't take long. Since he was a royal barber and very professional with haircuts, it didn't take long for him to finish. However, he was taken aback after seeing the final product of his work.

He immediately knelt on the ground, his body shaking violently. “Your... your majesty, please forgive me. I just followed your orders and did the haircut exactly as you wanted. Please spare my life, your majesty.”

“Now... now... what happened?” Knox thought for a moment. He reached out his hand to take the mirror and nodded his head with a satisfied look on his face. “Now I look less like a clown and more like a king,” Knox murmured while looking at his haircut from all the angles visible to his eyes.

“I really like this haircut, thanks,” said Knox while placing the mirror back on the vanity.

“Tha... thanks?” The barber was dazed on the spot, and it took him a few minutes to come back to his senses.

“You can go back,” said Knox while moving towards the bathing chamber.

The barber looked at Knox's back blankly and moved towards the door, stepping out of the room.

“Hey, he's the second one that had the exact look of the maid on his face. What do you think happened inside the room?” asked one of the guards while looking at another guard beside him.

“Who knows? As long as we are careful enough, we don't have to face this crazy king's wrath,” said the guard in a low voice while moving close to the other guard's ear.

“Hmm,” the guard nodded his head, and both of them continued guarding the door.

Inside the bath chamber, Knox sat in the hot water and relaxed while closing his eyes.

After a few minutes, he walked out of the water and wiped his body before he dressed and stepped out of his room.

Soon, he stepped out of the room, and all the guards knelt on the ground, placing their fists close to their hearts. “Your majesty,” all the guards said in unison.

The moment they raised their heads and looked at Knox, they were all petrified on the spot.

“What, now do I look like a clown to them compared to before?” Knox thought with a helpless look on his face.

Before the haircut: Knox has a large yet pointy mustache, five braided beard, and braided white hair.

After the haircut: Knox has a short mustache, beardless face, and short yet stylish haircut.

Note: Why do you think the guards reacted so abnormally after seeing Knox's new look? 

“Ahem,” Knox cleared his throat, and the guards who heard the sound came back to their senses and hurriedly lowered their heads.

“Sigh, the past owner of this body is not crazy and ruthless. He was just raised that way by his royal relatives since he is also an orphan and was throned while he was still a kid. His relatives' influence and his friends from noble families greatly affected his mentality and turned it very twisted and crazy. Since his mentality and character became crazy, he started enjoying the suffering of innocent people and liked the suffering and angry looks on their faces before they were executed. I have to fix every mistake made by this crazy king,” Knox murmured with a thoughtful look on his face.

Knox walked out of his royal chamber and started searching for his motorcycle.

One of the guards, who silently trailed behind him, quickened his pace and came close to Knox and asked with a voice filled with fear, “Your Majesty, may I inquire what it is that you are searching for here? If you tell us what it is, we can help you search for it.”

“It is a motorcycle,” said Knox while looking around.

“Mo… motorcycle?” The guard looked at the other guards, and they all shook their heads in response to his questioning gaze.

“Your Majesty, how does that mo… motorcycle look?” asked the guard while bowing his head.

“Damn, I forgot that there is no motorcycle in this world,” Knox thought, realization dawning on him.

“Sorry, it's nothing, just forget what I said and what you saw here,” said Knox with an embarrassed look on his face.

“We will do as you say, Your Majesty,” said the guards in unison while bowing their heads.

Knox nodded and moved towards the stables. A horse filled with countless whip marks on its body caught his sight and piqued his interest. He immediately started searching for information on that horse in his mind.

As he moved closer, the horse became restless and angry. With a loud neigh, it stood on its rear legs and kicked him with its front legs.

“Aye… aye… it hurts,” Knox held his chest. Fortunately, as a king, he was wearing inner armor, which protected him from fatal injuries. Without it, his ribs would have broken due to the impact of the horse's hooves.

He dragged his body back while on the ground and slowly stood up with a painful look on his face. Even though the inner armor protected him from serious injuries, the impact still hurt his chest like hell.

He glared at the horse, then relaxed his gaze and said, “Even though I'm not capable of riding you at this moment, I will be back in the future, and that time I will ride you for sure.”

He took one last glance at the horse and ordered the guards, “This horse is going to be my royal steed from now on. Take care of it.”

The guards nodded their heads with a blank look on their faces. They thought the king was going to order them to execute it on the spot, but instead, they were ordered to take care of it as his royal steed.

“Get me the royal guide. I want to visit maid Trisha’s house,” ordered Knox in a stern tone.

Even though they wanted to know why Knox wanted to visit the house of maid Trisha, who was executed by him, one of the guards stepped forward, “As you command, Your Majesty.”

He moved towards the royal chamber where the royal guide was staying, and after a few minutes, both of them reached the place where Knox was waiting.

As usual, both of them were drenched in cold sweat, and the royal guide immediately knelt on the ground to greet Knox.

“Lead the way to maid Trisha's house,” ordered Knox.

“As you command, Your Majesty,” said the royal guide while slowly standing up on his feet.

All of them moved out of the royal palace on steeds, and after a few minutes, they reached the capital and entered inside. The moment the people caught sight of Knox and the guards, they all immediately knelt, placing their foreheads on the ground.

“Looks like the previous owner of this body was beyond overbearing,” thought Knox while looking at the people hurriedly kneeling on the ground one after another.

After a few minutes, they reached the outskirts of the capital, close to the slum area.

Knox turned to look at the royal guide, who hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead and explained, “Your Majesty, according to the information I obtained, her home should be around this place. I will go and check it out.”

He hurriedly stepped down from his steed and moved into the slum area. After a few minutes, he came back and said, “Your Majesty, I found her house.”

Knox entered the slum area led by the royal guide, and the guards trailed behind. The stench in that place was so overbearing that all the guards, including the royal guide, covered their noses. Since Knox was raised in a place like this, he was repellent to the stench.

“Your Majesty, this is her house,” the royal guide pointed to a house close to them.

Knox raised his face to look in the direction the royal guide was pointing and moved towards the house. Since the house was not far, he reached it within a few minutes and peeked inside through the window.

Inside the house…

“Little brother, here, eat it,” she took out the moldy bread from her clothes and placed it in her little brother's skinny hand.

The little boy shook his head and said, “Sister, I'm not hungry, you eat it.”

Growl… Growl…

The little boy's face flushed with embarrassment. His sister reached out her hand to rub his head and said, “Your mouth says you are not hungry, but your stomach says otherwise. Here, eat it. I already ate some bread.”

“Okay,” the little boy reached out his hand to take the moldy bread and started munching on it.

Note: Do you think she is lying?