"Your highness, now that you're done with your agenda, may we PLEASE go back to the capital?" Sir Edmund begged.
By the minute, the poor royal guard felt like he was growing years older due of stress. He could only imagine how much the Captain of the guards will reduce from his paycheck for letting a prince escape from the palace.
The guard's pitiful expression finally touched the heart of the stubborn prince and Deon figured that staying any longer will put too much pressure on a commoner household like George's.
"Then, we shall–"
But Sir Edmund's expectant look changed into panic when Deon's eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed on the floor.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" a shrill cry escaped from the bulky guard's lips while hoisting the unconscious prince up.
Inside the Medium, Deon slightly shook his head to alleviate his vertigo.
"UGH… what's happening?"
The young prince recalled that he was talking to his guard when he suddenly felt a strong tug somewhere in his midsection – like a string that he didn't know existed, pulled him out of his shell and sent him tumbling into this white world.
"Wh-where am I?" Deon stood up and turned around, coming face-to-face with a beautiful man who was a good two heads taller than him.
Deon stared at the man in awe. Having never seen anyone as beautiful as that person, Deon wondered if he had somehow come across a deity.
'Whoa… how can someone exude so much masculinity with such a pretty face?'
"Hey, kid." The man casually greeted.
' Huh? His voice sounds familiar!' only then did Deon realize that he was talking to Mikael, his newly contracted partner.
"M-M-Mikael?!" Prince Deon, who apparently left his royal etiquette along with his body, shouted while rudely pointing at Mikael.
"Uhuh. Not very Princely, eh?" Mikael crossed his arms, not impressed by his partner's behavior.
"B-but how?!" Deon stammered.
Mikael smirked as he remembered what happened a few minutes ago...
"What am I supposed to do here?!" Mikael asked no one in particular, as he paced in front of the giant monitor.
'What a shitty contract to imprison the contractor in this empty space' he perfectly summed up his current situation.
Left with nothing to do, Mikael slumped on the floor,
'Haah… the ground's too cold. I wish there was at least a sofa.' He thought, imagining a soft and warm sofa – and POP! a white couch appeared out of nowhere!
Understanding dawned on Mikael's face. Realizing that anything he imagined was possible in this space, he thought about all kinds of things—a bed, a coffee table, a luxurious suit, a pair of premium leather shoes…
POP!
A white bed appeared!
POP! POP! POP!
An ivory table, a white bespoke suit of the highest quality fabric, and a pair of leather shoes made from an albino crocodile popped into existence.
Mikael excitedly wore his new outfit and looked over himself in a white framed mirror.
His sharp pale green eyes and tousled dark brown hair provided a pleasant splash of color to the colorless space.
"Whoa… is this really me?" he muttered in awe, his chiseled face turning in different angles.
It has been so long since he took care of his appearance that he actually forgot that he was an insanely handsome man.
After admiring himself, his gaze landed on the giant screen reflected in the mirror.
He watched the conversation between Deon and his guard.
'Hah! Must be difficult to serve such a stubborn master.' he thought then he remembered the promise he made with the village kids,
"Oh no! you can't leave yet!" he exclaimed. But no one was there to hear his voice.
Suddenly, a system notification appeared.
'Oh, Nice! There's a chat function!' Mikael smiles before answering the system, "Yes."
However, another pop-up appeared, bearing unexpected news.
Without batting an eyelash, Mikael replied, "Yes.", seemingly unconcerned about Deon's welfare.
A minute after, the space warped like a creasing fabric, and a disoriented prince tumbled into the white world.
"Well, now that we're both here, let's have a heart-to-heart talk." Mikael gestured to the plush sofa arranged in front of the now-blank giant monitor.
"A talk? Are you going to show your true colors now that we've made the contract?" Deon eyed him fearfully. Apparently, the prince is still unconvinced that Mikael meant no harm.
"Hmm… Didn't you read the contract? It clearly indicated that we can't harm each other as our fates are intertwined." Mikael said before narrowing his eyes, "Or are you the type who just accepts the terms without fully understanding it?"
Mikael's accusatory stare pierced Deon, who admittedly did not even read the contract fully before reciting the spell.
"tsk." Mikael clicked his tongue.
Out of all the types of people, Mikael despised the gullible ones the most. After all, his father had been a victim of such a scam; Desperate for money to rebuild their business, his father entered a loan agreement without carefully checking the nuances of each term – Resulting in an exorbitant debt that he passed on to his child after committing suicide. Since then, Mikael had been very careful about contracts. This was also the reason why it took him over two months to find his partner. However, his Test of Courage could only give him a glimpse of each examinee's personality. Hence, his disappointment for Prince Deon only grew the more he knew about his partner's character.
In a way, the universal contract was more like a marriage contract without divorce. Sharing all possessions as conjugal property and being bound for life, with only disappointment in the future.
'Eww! Yuck! What a disgusting idea…' Mikael shivered in repulsion.
Taking his mind away from useless thoughts, Mikael crossed his arms and told Deon to check his system with as much domineering aura as he could muster.
'I may be a spirit but 'I' hold the power.' Thinking that he must establish the hierarchy in their relationship right from the start, he stood tall and looked down on Deon, who obediently sat on the offered couch.
"S-sir, how do I check…" Deon trailed off, unsure of why he was suddenly respectful to Mikael despite being a royalty and the original owner of the body that they will soon share.
"Just say 'Player Status'"
"Player…Status?"
Sure enough, a blue panel appeared displaying all of Deon's Player information.
Lvl. 3 Title/s: Third Prince of the Heinken Kingdom. The cowardly prince. Class: Novice Spearman HP: 130/150 MP: 150/150 Fatigue: 10 Strength: 30 Stamina: 20 Agility: 43 Intelligence: 35 Percent Assimilation: 0% Skills: Basic Weapon Mastery Lvl. 1 (Passive Skill) Integration Lvl. max (Active Skill)> Mikael guffawed at Deon's title and level, "What kind of lame title is that?! And your stats!" Mikael had a hunch. His new partner was way worse than he thought. 'Then again, he was really fast when he ran away from my puppets…' he recalled Deon's performance in the test of courage. Now that their contract was a done deal, Mikael realized that he may have been too blinded by Deon's royal status that he failed to see the boy's shortcomings. 'I thought I found gold, but it turns out he was just bronze.' Mikael sighed. Deon's ears reddened in embarrassment. He was sure that Mikael was now regretting his decision of choosing him, 'If it was my older brothers instead, he would surely jump in joy… Haah… I hate this…' He felt terrible at the fact that even a spirit like Mikael thought he was useless. 'it's going to be my fault if sir Mikael can't ascend to heaven. As I thought, I shouldn't have accepted his offer.' Drowning in his inferiority complex, Deon opened his mouth to say something, but after seeing Mikael's expression, he hung his head and clenched his fists instead. "Well, we can't do anything now." Mikael concluded, "So from now on, I want you to do what I tell you, understood?" Deon raised his head and showed Mikael his puppy dog eyes, "I'm sorry…" "Don't worry. I'm going to transform you into the greatest hero." Mikael assured. --Chapter end--