King Arnold Atkinson refused to wake up.
No matter how hard the doctors tried, they could not find a way to wake him up from the coma. It almost seemed like his body had been disconnected from the brain.
"We are terribly sorry, Prince Lenn. We've tried everything we could, but there has been no progress." Seeing Lenn walk into the room, the doctors all bowed at him with a nervous look on their faces.
Lenn was about 19 years old, with a well-proportioned body and handsome features. He looked at the doctors, waiting for a few seconds before responding.
"Hm." Lenn nodded, somewhat expecting the news. Although he didn't have proof, he knew that his father's condition wasn't just some illness. It was murder.
He knew that there was a type of poison, the "Reincarnation Poison", that can be used for murder. This poison breaks the bond formed by the soul and the body, forcing the soul to reincarnate into a new life, effectively killing the person, as all the memories would be lost. Unlike others, this poison had no cure at all, because it directly targets the soul.
Many people wanted King Arnold dead, and it was highly likely that they used this poison.
Hearing the bad news of his father's condition, Lenn didn't really feel sad. Perhaps it was because of the lack of care from his father, resulting in a weak bond between him and his parents.
Being born as the heir of the kingdom, he was immersed in the political struggles of the kingdom. He knew the selfish nature of humans well, like how the most trusted friend can become a traitor just for some gold coins. Since birth, he was taught to suppress his emotions and behave rationally.
There was no way to find the culprit now, and his father's death also didn't cause him any harm. After a while, the crown would be passed down to him. He was going to inherit the throne anyway.
For the next few days, he had been going through his father's documents, trying to get a better understanding of the kingdom's current situation in order to prepare for his turn with the crown.
One day at night, after he finished reading the documents, he lay on the bed as the maid brought a cup of warm tea to him. He took a sip, thinking about his future as the new king.
Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his head. It felt like someone was stirring up his brains with a red hot metal rod. Gritting his teeth, he waited for the pain to fade away.
However, the pain only intensified causing him to grunt in pain. He wanted to call for help, but he couldn't find the strength to get up. Luck seemed to be helping him though, as he heard knocks coming from the door.
Before Lenn could answer, the person had already walked in, revealing himself.
"Hey, brother. Seems like you are in pain." The person pointed at the tea while his lips curled up, forming a disgusting smile. "You know how father died? It was because of this tea."
"Luke!" Lenn yelled, realizing what had happened. "You want to be the king, right? You want to inherit the kingdom?"
"Haha, so smart. Seems like you realized. Too late, though." Luke replied, voice gradually getting louder, "I was better than you at everything! EVERYTHING! I am better at magic, physical combat, politics, and even math! Yet you were the one to inherit the throne! Just because you are older!"
- "Yeah, because I didn't like to show off, you idiot."- Lenn thought to himself, not having the strength to say it because of the intense pain. Lenn was an A rank mage while Luke was B rank. However, Lenn has been hiding his true rank, making everyone believe he was also B rank, particularly because he wouldn't feel safe when others knew his true strength.
"Now that you are going to die, I can finally get what I want," Luke said as he watched Lenn pass out from the pain.
***
The instant Lenn woke up, a putrid smell of countless rotten animals filled his nose. He looked around, finding dozens of dead bodies piled up in a cabin, flies buzzing all over them. Moreover, he felt dizzy because he also saw another view of a wide bedroom.
It was like he was seeing different scenes at the same time. He was confused, but he didn't have time to think. He had to get out of this barn as fast as possible and find somewhere to survive.
Realizing that his brother probably disposed of him by throwing his body in here, he knew it was also important to get out unnoticed, so his brother doesn't know that he lived.
When he quietly opened the door and peeked outside, he didn't see anyone. The cabin was in a forest and had been abandoned for at least decades. Seeing that no one was around, he wandered out, looking for a populated area.
After a few days of wandering around surviving on rainwater and berries, he heard noises of people talking in the distance.
-"Finally, there are people. I am getting sick of eating these nasty berries."-
It turned out to be a small village called Vandel, consisting of about a few hundred people. He found the nearest hotel and walked straight in. The people in the lobby were annoyed, sending him disgusted looks, thinking he was a beggar.
Well, he did certainly look like one, with the ragged clothes and the unshaved facial hair, not to mention the putrid smell coming off of his clothes.
However, the hotel manager was smarter than the average person. He could tell that the fabric clothes Lenn had were far more expensive than the average cloth.
-"Heh, this kid. Probably some rich noble brat who ran away from his family."-
Thinking that he had figured out who Lenn was, the manager said, "One gold coin per night. "
"Huh? A gold coin is way too much!" Lenn slammed the desk, knowing that he was being scammed, "Shouldn't one night cost a few copper coins?"
"You can go to another hotel if you aren't satisfied."
-"That's not gonna work. Any other hotel would treat me the same."- Realizing this, he reluctantly took out one of the few gold coins he still had in his pocket. Although a gold coin is about 10,000 times more valuable than a copper coin, it still didn't matter much to him at this time. This wasn't the time to try to save the most money.
"Here."
The manager snatched the gold coin away, eyes shining with light like he was afraid that Lenn would take it back.
"Here are the keys, room 212."
After buying some new clothes and having a proper meal, Lenn was resting in the tiny hotel room. Finally having some time to relax and think, he laid down on the bed.
From what he knew, he got poisoned by his brother, and his brother probably threw his body away in a cabin that was used to contain dead bodies. He knew that he shouldn't go back to the palace because he was probably considered dead, and more importantly, his brother was now in charge.
However, there was still something troubling him.
-"Why do I still see the other vision of the bedroom? This is so weird." He thought as he focused on the other scene that he kept seeing since he woke up in the cabin.
It looked like he was sleeping in a bed in a room that resembled his palace's bedrooms that royal members slept in. He sat up as he looked at his hands. They didn't look like his, but more like they belonged to a middle-aged man.
He was sure he wasn't dreaming because he can still see the other vision of him inside a hotel room. Walking in front of a dressing mirror in the room, he looked at his face.
It was his father, King Arnold Atkinson's face.
"What the actual f**k?"