Calming Down

Over the following days after the healing procedure, Howard was constrained in his bed by the fatigue he suffered throughout the day. He was waiting for his body to build new blood cells to replace the old ones he lost from the extensive bloodletting that had taken place before he unintentionally snagged the body of Prince Kant. 

His skin had begun to gradually turn back into a more normal, fair skin tone. With each passing day, his body and mind grew in strength, becoming more energetic, responsive, and sharp.

Despite the progress, Howard voted to stay confined in his room for now, to help him take in and process the overwhelming emotions that sparked inside him after he had discovered the existence of MAGIC!

While his new physical body was making a rapid recovery, Howard's psyche had taken quite a beating. In no less than 15 minutes, he had been exposed to a violent death, followed by a transmigration to a foreign body in a strange alien world, all while having the rules of reality bend and shatter in front of his own eyes. 

It was one thing to read about it in a book. It was another to experience it firsthand. He had many questions in his mind, all of which he had no answers to. He tried calming himself down, but that was proven to be more difficult than expected, even for a war veteran born and raised in the chaotic state of Florida. He had to keep a facade of calmness and normality when facing the maids, all while balancing his inner turmoil to ensure nobody suspects a damn thing.

At first, he was half paralyzed in a state of shock, struggling to process the abrupt transition from his modern world of science and technology to the fantastical primitive one filled with witchcraft and wizardry. He questioned whether he was dreaming or hallucinating, or if it was some elaborate afterlife.

However upon conducting a few reality checks, verifying the information presented by the memories by asking around his personal maid, all while evaluating her character, Howard came face to face with the reality that he had somehow found himself here, in this new world.

Before he could begin his journey of acceptance, he had some questions pop up in his mind. How did he get here? Why did he get here? Where is he exactly? What is up with this boy? How do things work around here? How does magic work? What is politics like? Was religion a fraud? Is there a god? Do souls exist? What happened to the prince's soul? All questions Howard did not have an explanation for. 

If he ever hopes to find some answers, he will have to explore this strange new world, and learn about all its intricacies like politics, religion, science, and magic. That meant, mustering the courage to leave this room.

21st of Eliza, 300 M.K.E (1 week later…) 

Howard was awoken by the sound of the door swinging open. His personal maid, alongside two others behind her, enters the room and helps him fully wake up. As per Howard's request, they made sure to bring him a cup of black tea. Although he did not state why, it helped him ease up and calm his nerves.

"Good morning, your highness. I see you have woken up earlier than usual," the maid speaks.

"Is the bath ready?" Howard asks. The maid nods.

"Yes, your highness. The bath has been prepared as you requested," the maid replies. Howard finishes drinking his tea and gets up from his bed. 

"And what about my clothes? My towel?"

"They are all there, your highness. Everything has been prepared to your liking. We even had the janitors clean the bathroom and replace the old soap in there," the maid answered.

"Good, good. Because I seriously need a bath. I smell like a rat," Howard replies.

He then thanked the maids for their hard work before dismissing them, ordering them to leave the teapot behind. The maids bow down, before complying and exiting the room. Howard was left alone once, with a teapot full of black tea to drink up.

Once he finally gulps down the last drops of black tea in the pot, he walks out of his room and starts venturing into the halls of the opulent royal palace. Thanks to Kant's memory, the entire complex had already been mapped out in his mind, allowing him to navigate the building with ease without getting lost in its countless rooms. 

As he walked through the cold marble floors, he felt disorientation mixed with curiosity about the world around him. Howard made sure to observe everything his eyes captured, from the white walls wrapped in white and gold wallpaper to the painted stone roof of the hallway, the wooden doors that lead to other areas of the palace, and the people roaming the halls, wearing their strange garments.

Howard eventually reached the bathroom, a sumptuous private room filled with all the luxurious amenities a prince could desire; a bathtub filled with lukewarm water, a tightly enclosed area filled with chamber pots, a giant clean mirror to look at one's self, and a personal changing room where his clothes are brought to. 

Upon taking a dip in the lukewarm water, and accepting the assistance of a scented soap bar, he washes off the smell of sweat and the drowsiness that clung onto him like a parasite. His mind was met with a wave of soothing emotions that helped him think more clearly. 

So far, there haven't been any reality-shattering discoveries after that monumental day. The world looked and worked familiar enough to his own, that he slightly regretted not getting out of his room earlier. He probably could have recovered faster if it did so, and smelled a lot more like lavender, than sweat. 

Howard soon finishes up with his bath and heads over to the changing room to switch to his new attire. He dries himself using a cotton towel, covering himself up in it before walking over to his closet to see what the maids have prepared for him. 

Being heavily influenced by his emotions at the time, Howard dared not look into Kant's closet. He feared he would find more 'reality-breaking' items or phenomena inside, which could further harm his mind and soul. Looking back on it with a clear state of mind, he felt incredibly disappointed in himself.

He opens the closet and finds multiple articles of clothing folded inside, almost all of which were dyed in pure white. He picked one of the garments and examined them, before he tried them on. Howard sensed the clothes were made out of heavy fabrics, most likely silk velvet fabric. 

Most of them had gold embroidered on them, creating beautiful, complex patterns on each garment. The only plain clothes with a simple design Howard could find were the underwear stored inside. 

As he continued to examine the strange clothes, more memories started to surface in Kant's brain. The outfit style a person digs in often signifies their social status and standing among society. This is not just due to economics, but also the strict rules the kingdom enforces on its population. At least in the areas they control. 

Once Howard was finished gawking at the clothes, he slowly put them on, making his way from the bottom of his toes to the top of his head. He put on some underwear, followed by white pants held by a belt. 

To cover his torso, he put on a white waistcoat that looked like it came straight out of the early 17th century. On top of it all, he puts on a long white coat to finish the outfit. With that, Howard was now well dressed to meet up with Kant's parents. 

He exits the bathroom and heads over to the dining hall, where he will meet them there. Being part of a healthy member of the royal family, he was obligated to eat with them, otherwise, it may be seen as disrespectful behavior, which would not go unpunished. If only he could pretend to be sick a little longer.

Not all hope was lost though. From the few memories he gained, he was able to figure out how Kant spoke; a very calm and formal tone, with a mix of kindness and politeness sprinkled in, basically a Canadian! He just hoped that seeing Kant's parents would revive more memories, so he could accurately mimic how Kant would act, to not get caught.

Depending on how they will act, Howard can see a plethora of scenarios. The first one is that the parents don't engage in conversation because he is sick, or throw him a barrage of questions to see how he feels now, simply because he is sick. Realistically, it was likely that it was somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. 

Howard soon approaches a tall wooden door with a golden door knob. According to Kant's memories, what lies beyond this door is the grand dining hall where his family would meet up together to eat their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Just before he enters the room, he takes in a deep breath to calm himself down as much as he can. He then knocks on it a few times, awaiting a response.

"Come in," his ears catch a faint male voice coming from the other side. With permission to enter given, he turns the knob clockwise and opens the door.