Reorganizing His Thoughts

Howard walks out of the study room, closing the door behind him. He lets out a deep breath, feeling very exhausted for putting up such a stellar acting performance in one take. The man walks back to his room where he locks himself inside, just before faceplanting onto the bed he had been sleeping on during his time in this new world.

He felt a little overwhelmed by the events that had unfolded these past few days. Just 10 days ago, he found himself in the body of a bedridden prince who had suffered a terrible fate. Now he is being given a large territory of land by the two most powerful people in the kingdom to govern, a land he had no idea existed till today!

After wrapping himself inside the warm blankets of the bedsheets, he was finally able to relax and fully take in and process all the new information he had just been given. As his mind cleared, he was now able to make rational and logical decisions that would help him navigate through this new situation he found himself in.

There were a lot of areas he wanted to explore, however, Danial and Malinda's proposal to give them a large territory of the kingdom to govern threw a wrench in those plans. He now had to think about how he spent his time over the following weeks very carefully, to fully utilize the library till his departure to Lukeword.

"What do I even know about anything? What do I know about this world for certain? What have I learned till now?" he asked himself, trying to compile his thoughts into a more organized state. 

"Well, I know magic exists in this world, and I have the fundamental basics of how it works. I know this society's top positions are mostly dominated by mages of some kind, and I have the theory they might be holding back some fields of technology. 

As for science and technology, I know they have science far more advanced than the technology suggests. In some areas like shipbuilding and deep water navigation, they are around the 1500s in terms of tech. In others, they don't make it past the 1400s."

"What about the kingdom? What do I know about the kingdom?" he questions himself again.

"I know the kingdom is settled on a large island, and I know it has two dominant faiths, both are referred to by the parents as "Angelisist." That might not be its name though. As for the geography of the kingdom itself, I know a little bit about Lukeword, but that is about it." 

"And the prince? What do I know about him?" 

"I know he loves his family and friends and is generally seen as a kind and polite individual. He risked his life commanding and fighting that demon, and it was the event that got him killed in the process, and that might be why I am here.

He likes to paint, he sometimes goes outside and practices firing a bow with his father, he celebrated his 20th birthday in the small town of Alderney, and he likes to read books. That is all I know." 

Howard's inner self remains silent for a minute. He takes his time to grasp all the information he laid out for him. Only once he is ready to continue does he move on to his next question for himself. 

"Now… What do I not know yet? What do I need to learn? What am I missing?" Howard turns his body around and stares into the roof. 

"For starters, I don't know the difference between the two faiths of the kingdom, nor why one lets the other exist. 

I don't know how the economy of this world works, and I don't know if the people I am seeing are even humans. For all I could know, they might as well be a different species that look nearly identical to humans.

I don't know about the general culture of this kingdom and the ideology it operates on. I don't know much about those demon things, or why they are even called that in the first place.

I don't know how the Legion of Knights operates, or what a knight even is. I have no idea if they were like knights in the old world, or completely different. 

As for the prince, I don't know why he is not being let outside the palace. He did a lot of activities outside, and it would have been an awfully convenient excuse for me to explore the outside world." 

"... Wait a minute…" Howard's brain clicks, as if his stupidity had just shut off for a minute.

"Why ISN'T the prince being let outside? There wasn't much reason for confining him in the palace walls unless… Unless the royal family wants to fake his death," he thought to himself.

It made perfect sense! Kant, the cursed prince of Rothford, the man infamous for having a condition that prevented magic from being used on him, had suffered a FATAL injury in a world where magic-based medicine is the only viable alternative! 

The healer mages did everything they could to try and save him, but alas, he died either because of his injuries, the bloodletting, or whatever excuse they planned on using. The royal family uses this opportunity to craft a new identity for their son and send him away to a territory far away from the political capital. 

The reason he is not being allowed outside is that Danial and Malinda don't want anyone to spot their son outside and be identified as that would destroy the entire plan they had for him. As such, only the most trustworthy individuals are stationed inside the palace, to make sure no information gets out.

It was also probably why Malinda was trying to guilt-trip Kant into accepting the proposal. Would have been a shame if all their efforts had gone to waste. 

"But that begs the question, why? Why is the Royal Couple trying to give him a new identity? Why are they trying to give him a 'rebellious' land far away from the capital? Won't it be better for him to stay alive and live with the glory of helping that town? 

Even if they wanted to send him to Lukeword afterward, couldn't he have used that reputation to increase his popularity, and the goodwill of the royal family there? Some things just didn't add up in his mind, and thus forced him to craft a few theories.

"Maybe the family wants him out of the political capital because he is a liability to their position of power. I can see how having a son who cannot do magic in a system where one draws political power from having said magic could be a problem." 

As he thought about it more, there was this one theory that crept up on him, a theory that caused Kant's body to breathe heavily, and make his heart burn with pain; what if they didn't want him there? What if they didn't love him at all?

"No, no. That is very unlikely," Howard's mind reasoned.

"If they didn't love their own son, and only saw him as a liability, they would have not brought in the best healers in the entire Rothford kingdom to try and save him." His reasoning helped the body and brain to start to ease. It was only then that he realized he was distracting himself. 

"Fuck! I am getting distracted by this family bullshit. Concentrate Howard! Concentrate on what is important!" he smacked himself in the head while he scolded himself. 

"Assuming I can take some books from the royal library with me to Lukeword, I should be able to recalibrate my attention on other subjects that help me learn about that territory," he thought to himself. 

"That is only if I can take those books. I am not sure if Suzan will allow me. Would she?" Howard asked himself.

"I guess I should better go ask her myself," he answered. Howard removes his blanket and gets back on his feet. He exits his room, locks the door, and heads straight for the library, where he hopes he can get some answers.