"I curse this damned fate."
Under the dim light, the handsome young man shook his snow-white hair. The corner of his lips twitched into a dry, slightly strange smile.
"No, bro… this isn't right, is it?"
Herbert had reincarnated. Not long ago, he had awakened the memories of his previous life.
In his last life, Herbert had only worked for two years as a rookie corporate slave. Before the capitalists could squeeze out the rest of his value, he was flattened into a paper man by a hundred-ton heavy truck loaded with steel coils.
Don't ask.
If you ask, the truck driver's life wasn't easy.jpg
If you ask, we're all just trying hard to live.mp3
But right now, Herbert wasn't cursing his tragic past life.
Anyway, he had been alone back then. During holidays, if he wanted to visit a grave, he could only bow at the martyrs' cemetery. There was no one left behind to worry about.
After both his dreams and body had shattered into dust, winning a revival match and being reborn as a human again—deep down, Herbert felt he had made a profit.
What made his expression subtle was where he was now—
A dark, cold prison.
The good news: he wasn't a prisoner, but the warden guarding the inmates.
The bad news: this prison belonged to an ancient monastery.
A monastery…
Is this a place an eighteen-year-old full of hot blood should be staying?
But for Herbert, that still wasn't the most fatal part.
If the tree dies, move it. If a man dies, move him. Worst case, just grab a bucket and run.
He wasn't some clueless college student. After being stained by workplace life, he had plenty of tricks.
What truly broke Herbert was what happened the day before he awakened his past memories.
Yesterday at noon, under the gaze of the gods, Herbert made his sacred oath. He was officially accepted by the monastery and became an ascetic Holy Knight.
And the oath he personally swore was called—
The Oath of Purity.
Under the witness of the gods, Herbert would devote his life to justice and order, fight for the weak, and forever keep his soul clean, his emotions pure, and his body chaste…
Listen to that!
Does that even sound human?
After being stunned for a long while, Herbert screamed inside—
"Isn't this just a magic-side chastity lock!?"
He admitted that in his last life, he had stored many unspeakable little movies in a 24T hard drive, and played many exhausting little games…
But because of that, he had to spend this whole life as an ascetic monk who cuts off desire?
Isn't that punishment a bit too much?
The crime doesn't deserve this, right?
I didn't even keep those resources to myself. I sorted the tags and shared them all!
You can't just torture me alone!
If I have to wear this headband, they should wear it too!
If I can't escape, none of you can either—
"…Tsk."
Looking at the sacred mark on the back of his hand, faintly glowing pale gold in the dark, Herbert's resentment swelled.
If others started in Shaolin Temple as handyman monks, fine. They couldn't touch women, but at least they could return to secular life someday. Try hard enough and maybe even have a kid with some demon sect witch.
But the Holy Knights in this world were different. If they broke their oath, they would truly suffer backlash.
All their power came from the sacred oath they made. The heavier the oath, the stronger the blessing after fulfilling it.
As the frontline against madness and despair, Holy Knights were favored by the gods and received many luxurious blessings.
Some who made grand vows even gained terrifying strength—enough to wrestle dragons with bare hands.
But just like in every story, miracles and magic are never free. Every gift of fate secretly pre-pays its price.
The more you are given, the harsher the backlash when you fall and break your oath.
Mental collapse. Body corruption. Soul exhaustion… those were basic operations. In some cases, one might even turn into an abyssal monster that only knows slaughter.
With Herbert's current situation, once he broke the oath, at best he'd be heavily injured and near death. At worst, he'd die on the spot and be sent to fight another revival match.
So right now, for Herbert—
Lewd equals dead.
Tsk.
To be honest, he didn't think this was much better than being a eunuch.
Eunuchs at least had their roots cut off. Even if they wanted it, they couldn't do anything. They could just give up completely.
And him?
Not enough above, more than below. Power with nowhere to use it… pure torture.
Bitter.
My life is bitter.
Herbert took a deep breath, raised his head, and slowly let it out. His mouth opened and closed silently.
Hmph hmph hmph ha—aaahhh—
After venting in useless rage for a while, he calmed down and barely accepted reality. Narrowing his eyes, he began thinking about what to do next.
"Breaking the oath is a must. There's no way I won't break it in this lifetime… but I can endure for now. No rush."
Being forcibly pressed down like this made him unhappy, but he wasn't some lust-crazed beast who couldn't think without his lower half. He didn't lose his mind over it.
And he definitely wasn't planning to run from the monastery.
On the contrary, he planned to stay and continue cultivating.
In fact, Herbert hadn't come to the Mist Monastery by choice. He was forced here in the name of "atonement."
The Albert family, where Herbert was born, were founding nobles of the Frost Crystal Kingdom. As hereditary dukes, they had always maintained good relations with the royal family, often intermarrying.
As the second son with the best talent among the brothers, Herbert had grown up close to the little princess, Philia. They were childhood friends, close enough to share everything.
Many believed they would one day become the new queen and prince consort. Herbert didn't feel strongly about it, but he had accepted it as likely.
So when Philia's personal maid came that day to invite him for a private talk, he followed without doubt.
But when Herbert arrived at Philia's bedroom, he was seized by the royal guards waiting there, accused of the absurd crime of "attempting to defile the princess's chastity," and thrown into prison.
He tried to explain, thinking it was some misunderstanding, but no one listened.
Philia herself never showed up from beginning to end, silently allowing all accusations and insults toward Herbert.
In the end, heartbroken, he stopped defending himself and accepted the punishment of being sent to the monastery.
After arriving, he even joined the church actively, trying to prove his innocence by swearing the Oath of Purity.
A classic tragic protagonist proving his will through sacrifice.
Is it tragic?
Yes.
Do you feel bad?
A little. But only a little.
For this version of himself, Herbert felt more disdain than sympathy.
As a noble's son, his behavior had been too foolish.
Naive. Far too naive.
A silly, pure boy who couldn't see through schemes, never suspecting others.
He never realized it was a cruel plot aimed at him, not some beautiful misunderstanding.
But now, looking back, Herbert could easily see how wrong everything felt.
Ah, so I was framed.
I thought something serious had happened.
After all that noise, wasn't this just a honey trap?
How fresh.
Herbert said he was very familiar with this kind of operation…
Don't misunderstand. He just had many friends who often got caught in honey traps.
Really.
Because he used to be a rather excellent lawsuit scoundrel… oh no, legal professional.
New book, new author~ please take care of me! I'll even do a split for you!
Let me say this clearly—the male lead is not a eunuch!