Shaman

Meanwhile, in the queen's chamber, Queen Aliyah and Crown Prince Noel discussed his future consorts.

Crown Prince Noel has picked Julia as his primary consort. Whilst Queen Aliyah pressured him to pick Farah as his consort too. Not willing to upset his mother, he obliged to her request. However, he pleaded with his mother to give the Crown Princess position to Julia.

"Mother, all my life, I have always followed your order. I hope you will grant my wish to make Julia the crown princess."

Queen Aliyah does not want to upset her son. She agreed to his request.

An attendant arrives greeting Queen Aliyah and Crown Prince Noel respectfully. He comes to notify them about the news of Prince Liam waking up from a coma, and the funeral has cancelled.

It disappoints the queen. She has an ulterior motive. Desperately wanted to get rid of Prince Liam. She always sees Prince Liam as a threat after the king warned her about deposing the crown prince if he continues to commit crimes.

Queen Aliyah whispered to herself, "Why is it so hard to kill him?"

Her eunuch informs her, "Your majesty, there is a young lady that is eavesdropping on us. She knew our physician had poisoned Prince Liam. We chased after her, but we could not locate her anymore."

Queen Aliyah sipping her tea, "Who is she?"

The eunuch in a very soft voice, "Judging from her gown she is wearing, she is a nobility that attends the royal banquet. But I do not know who she is."

Queen Aliyah then instructed the eunuch, "find out who she is!....." The eunuch rushed out to work on this task given.

In the manor of the prime minister, Prince Liam wanders into the study room of Olena. It surprised him to learn that she read a lot of books. He looked into the books she has.

Thinking about the moment they were at the riverbank, he admired her resolute optimism during the tough times. Without her, he would have been on his afterlife journey, and the royal family will lay his body to rest inside a tomb.

He sniffs around and smells odour from her body. He has no choice but to go for a shower. "I am sorry, but I can't tolerate a foul smell. I have to shower". As he undressed, it overwhelmed him with her beautiful figure. "If I have to live in this body forever, it's not too bad."

In the chamber of Prince Liam, Olena's imagination runs wild. She lays her head on top of a table and knocks her head on the tables several times softly. Then, she kept slapping the face of Prince Liam, but she felt hurt. Thinking about Prince Liam will shower and pee from her body. She could not accept it.

Olena searched around for books containing information about soul swapping but couldn't find any. She asked the servants, "Is there anyone that can work on human souls? For example, they can release the soul from a body and transmigrate the souls into a body?".

The eunuch perplexed with the question, but he could only think about the shaman, "Perhaps a shaman could do the job. King has prohibited witchcraft though in the imperial's law."

The next day in the morning, Olena requested the servants to arrange a carriage to bring her to the Prime minister's manor. As soon as she arrived, the people gathered for the royal visit.

The Prime minister appears to greet Prince Liam, perplexed with his visit, "Your royal highness, it's an honour to have you visiting us!"

Olena responded to the prime minister, "Dad.. tsk..." A moment of silence. Olena continues, "Sir, you don't have to worry about the meeting. I am here to meet your daughter." She barged into the chamber to look for Prince Liam.

The prime minister clutching at his chest, "Our manor has so many rooms, but how did he know where Olena's chamber is?"

The wife of the prime minister looks at their servants. "The servant must have told him." pointing at the servants who are standing around him.

The prime minister regains a sense of curiosity, "I am just wondering why he wants to meet Olena?"

"You overthink! Isn't he the one who saved our daughter when she got injured in the palace?", the prime minister's wife replied.

The prime minister couldn't agree more. Together with his wife, they walk to the hall and sit on the seats.

In Olena's chamber, Prince Liam is excited to see Olena. He has slept uncomfortably.

Olena persuaded Prince Liam to hire a shaman, "We need to look for a powerful shaman. Maybe they could help us transmigrate our souls back into our bodies."

Prince Liam asked Olena, "Shall we go now?"

The prime minister and his wife made some dessert to serve Prince Liam.

After seeing Olena and Prince Liam coming out from the chamber, as they tried to serve him, Olena says, "We have somewhere to go. I found an excellent physician that might help Olena recover her memory."

The prime minister granted permission for them to leave.

They entered the carriage and travelled to the village.

Prince Liam asked, "Do you know where we are going now?"

Olena tells him, "The palace maids have drawn a map. In this village, there is one powerful shaman."

They both smiled as they travelled to the village, walked toward a tiny hut crafted with a thatched roof, and knocked on the door.

They stopped smiling and had their jaws dropped when a woman dressing up in a colourful gown opens the door. Her face seemed coated with white powder, and her tinted purple lip. By looking at her spooky appearance, it sends shivers down their spines.

The shaman asked them for their date of birth.

They wrote on a piece of paper with a brush. The shaman looks into their date of birth and starts chanting. She scratched her head, "I am sorry. I have never encountered such a situation. There's nothing I can do."

They left the hut in despair, slowly walking back into their carriage.

In the carriage, Prince Liam asked Olena, "Who on earth recommended this shaman? She looks more spooky than the grim reaper and the underworld lord."

Olena felt that Prince Liam is stepping on her toe, forcing herself to breathe steadily to calm herself down, "It was your eunuch that told me to meet her."

She knew it annoys Prince Liam coming all the way here to meet a shaman with no fruitful result. She felt the same.

Prince Liam chuckled, "If you go to the coffin shop, they are selling effigies of a maid made of joss paper. The shaman looks exactly like it. For a moment, I thought I was in hell again, and she was a live version of the paper maid."

Olena mocked, "Tell that to your attendant! I have wasted my time coming here for nothing!"

Prince Liam knew he annoys Olena. He stops talking.

Prince Liam ponders. His smiley face has changed to serious. He continues, "someone poisoned me to death, remember? The culprit could plan to harm me again".

Olena responded, "How can I forget? The whole reason I was dead is because of the people who poisoned you. They were chasing me, trying to kill me too. If they found out that I am the witness, they might kill you."

Prince Liam turned his head to look through the window in the carriage, "We need to investigate this issue and find the culprit. Otherwise, we might die again."

Olena is mentally and physically exhausted. She just wanted to go home. "But right now, I am more concerned about staying in the palace. Do I have to live as Prince Liam forever? And, you live as Olena forever?"

Prince Liam is uncomfortable to stay in the prime minister's manor. But he feels comfortable to be with Olena. Mainly because they can communicate with each other using their own identity,

"Why don't we get married to stay with each other until we resolve the issue. You can't be travelling to the prime minister's manor every day for no reason."

Olena smiled wryly, "I still don't feel that this is right. The past few days, there have been too many shocking moments. I heard a treason plot, I have seen myself death, I have danced with the grim reaper, and now you want us to get married? "

It sounded funny to Prince Liam, but she was right. He chuckled. "If you inform my father that you are not Prince Liam. In the worst scenario, my parents will just lock you up in the chamber. He will get all the physicians to look at your condition. They will force you to drink various types of bitter herbal soups. What do you think your parents will react to if I inform them of the situation? "

It comes to her mind that he has a point. She answered, "They will do the same."

Prince Liam continues, "It may sound crazy if we tell our parents that we are not their children and then someone greets them and tells them they are their children. If you marry me, I could call the prime minister a father."

Olena couldn't agree more, "True, I will miss my parents a lot if I could not meet them. Ok fine! Let's get married and start investigating."

Prince Liam plans to meet the king with Olena, "We need to meet the king. But before that, please learn from me about how to behave like me. In the palace, we have many etiquettes. A prince should behave like one."

Olena agreed, "So we are going to the palace now?"

Prince Liam nodded his head, "Yes."