It wasn't a significant importation of memory; thus, the burden wasn't very high. Chase only received twenty-five percent of his memories, which, if calculated, will garner him around four and a half years' worth of memories within the original Chase's eighteen years of life.
Chase regained consciousness after a few minutes. He is then confronted with the blackness once more, with the system's flashing the only glow within the darkness. As he consolidated the accumulated memories in his mind, he squinted his eyes in disbelief.
It could be asserted that the memories gathered were fragmented across different time frames from Chase's early life to the present, with a portion of his childhood being the foggiest. That is fairly sensible, since some childhood memories will normally dissipate as a person grows old.
It's merely that this chunk of recollections prompted the present Chase to be dumbfounded.
He'd learned about the rumors from the system previously and believed they were just subjective allegations aimed specifically at the eccentric prince, only to discover that a few of them were totally true. The discussion about Chase's legitimacy as the prince of the country was actually an issue before, but this should have only been known by the high-ranking officials.
The people who were gossiping about Chase's illegitimacy must have only been deliberately accusing Chase in order to provoke trouble, since becoming part of the main branch of the royal family would include them as candidates for the crown, not realizing they had hit the jackpot. Of course, there are those perceptive people who already knew the answer but remained silent since they were cautious about Chase's relationship with the King.
He is indeed an illegitimate child, but he is still genuinely the son of the King.
There isn't much depth in this section of Chase's recollected memories, but it shows that Chase arrived at the royal palace when he was three years old and was first revealed to the public when he was five. Any memories prior to that were unclear, but they suggested Chase was once well-cared for by someone, most likely his mother, who later left him to the King after facing a difficult situation. From then on, Chase has been under the care of the queens.
Chase was taken aback when he learned about the Queens. this world seems to be open when it comes to love. This kingdom allows polygamy, and the king himself has two queens on his side.
It may have been a complicated palace narrative with two forces competing for the king's favor, but the relationship between these two queens astonished Chase even more. They both genuinely loved the King and treated each other as sisters. One favored the other, and they both had a tacit understanding of their roles as queens. There was no need to compete for resources since the King made it so everyone would have an ample supply of everything.
That's why the Sangrail Kingdom remained peaceful and prosperous.
There are snippets of flashbacks displaying the two women having tea while sharing gossip, taking good care of each other's children, discussing the education of other families' children, or going to the seamstress together to buy clothes for themselves or for the people around them. Their relationship is quite harmonious, which has resulted in a household with few conflicts.
Of course, most of these minor conflicts were prompted by Chase's sudden arrival at the palace.
The Royal Family has five princes, with Chase being the middle child. Each queen had two sons, and all of them were exceptional in their bearing, attitude, and appearance; nothing seemed wrong with their existence. And with the families of the queen spoiling them, these four princes are standing on the top.
On the other hand, Chase lacked the background and support, and as a result, he was easily overlooked by many. With no proper guidance, Chase grew up into a scumbag.
The queens were cordial to Chase, but that was all. They would never become someone who would tuck him into sleep or sing him lullabies. Or maybe bring him places while giving him treats. They would never be someone who would feel anxious if they saw him injured and helped him disinfect his wounds. The queens have their own sons to take good care of, after all, so Chase could only receive the excess feelings.
The King does not play favorites, as he is usually seen as austere and strict, but Chase could tell that he has a more favorable impression of his four other sons. Children have always been sensitive to the emotions of the adults around them, and Chase just happened to be more sensitive than usual, understanding the adults' attitude quite well.
He is aware that he is disliked.
It's a tragic fact Chase has had to face as he's grown older. People had no expectation of him because, unlike his brothers, he was not truly a kid born from the heavens and could only keep his position because he was a blood child of the King. People would definitely alienate him if it wasn't for his relationship with the King.
He could see from the bits of memories that the person only displayed what people were expecting to see from him: a scumbag who only knew how to exploit money. Chase had been labeled as a "black sheep" since he was a child because he wasn't a good seedling, born of a marriage that was not even acknowledged by the royal church.
Even if he puts every effort into showcasing his talents, nobody will look at him as a good person.
"In the end, it made him act like this because of all the bigotry imparted to him by birth. It wasn't merely because of bad influence, but of the image people sought to paint of him," Chase commented after scanning the original soul's childhood memories.
He suddenly felt pity for the soul. Chase's past existence as Julian Moore didn't have any parents, but he was fortunate to have people who guided him in the right direction. Even if his life of tragedy did not provide him with enough comfort and opportunities, he was still able to have the experience of having a family who would always support him on his back.
He continued scanning the memories, becoming increasingly depressed as he did so. The prior soul was truly unfortunate. Chase became more skilled at his trade as he grew older, which caused many servants and individuals to abandon him. Only the bellboy in the palace would thoroughly serve him, and the King even forced him to do so.
Reaching back to the memories of when Chase was celebrating his eleventh birthday, he suddenly paused. A certain fragment held a desire for Chase to leave the royal family. He was taken aback. He never imagined that this guy would actually tell the King about it. Of course, after receiving a negative answer, Chase threw a tantrum.
You could say that his temperament changed starting at this age—like suddenly going to places without reason, squandering money on casinos, buying clothes he didn't need, et cetera, et etcetera.
Chase has been doing everything, so the King will remove him from the palace. When everyone assumed it was just a middle child syndrome, it was because Chase felt terribly out of place and was acting appropriately to show it, and he was doing it on purpose so people would leave him. It's simply that Chase couldn't leave yet since he was looking for his mother.
Yes, the only resolution that maintained his sanity was his mother.
The memories he received weren't enough, but surely the original Chase remembered more about his mother. Although vague, it gave the lonely soul some reassurance that somewhere in this world, there is someone who truly loves him. Chase harbored no resentment toward his mother for abandoning him in the palace. As for the reason, Chase has been very sick since he was young, so he has to be treated thoroughly.
One reason he was sent to his father was because of his weak body.
How could he resent the person who gave birth to him and wished him a good life?
It's just that he could not understand why his mother could not stay at the palace. The other two queens do not know, since they were also surprised by Chase's sudden arrival. The king knew, but Chase could not get any answer from him. So, the only solution is to look for the person itself.
And to do that, he needs money. He will no longer have money if he leaves now.
It led to the recent memory of Chase frequenting the Norbumin Kingdom. He wasn't sure if it was true, but he had heard from the rumors that there once lived some white-haired people in this kingdom. He also heard from the king a long time ago that the person who deposited him at the royal palace was a woman with silvery-white hair like himself. So, he has been looking for information in this place, busily acquiring materials to find where his mother is.
Once he was done with his search, he would request a severance and he would no longer be related to the king.
En, that's probably it.
He never even had a favorable impression of the royal family from the start. The king never looked at him. The queens only treated him well since he was one of the king's sons, while his siblings were only there because they happened to be his siblings. With their few interactions, he could only come up with such a conclusion.
He would always work silently by himself. He never explained everything. That's why people could not understand his actions. This is another reason why he was tagged as an eccentric.
Chase kept his head down for the time being because the King had been watching his every move and seemed to have figured out what he was up to. It's just that the rumors emerging ticked him off and he used his well-practiced poison mouth to criticize the Norbumin Kingdom. Chase doesn't care about the rumors of his past, but what he hates the most is people associating him with someone who could be detrimental to the other person.
He knew that the royalty of the Norbumin Kingdom were all kind and good people, and maybe had a favorable impression of them, since his mother might have come from this land. He could not allow such bad things to bloom, so he immediately eradicated them by publicly insulting the royal family.
In this way, nobody will suspect that he has any intention of marrying the second princess. But this strategy only brought his already bad image to the extreme.
Chase could not help but facepalm as he recovered the previous soul's thoughts. What part of this kid is bad? His actions were purely intentional, while his thinking was all too simple. Why did they hate such a child?
He patted himself, hoping to appease the poor soul. He didn't know where the original soul went off to or the reason for its leaving, but he wished that somehow that soul would be reincarnated into a better family next life. It's just sad that he wasn't able to see his mother until the end.
The system suddenly flashed to remind Chase of its existence. He put his thoughts aside and faced the screen. There are new words written on it, containing some new information concerning the host.
「Congratulations, Host, on successfully achieving the original soul's 25% memory.」
「In exchange for giving Julian Moore's soul a vessel, the previous soul, Chase Laurier, only has one wish. This wish has been automatically converted into the host's mission in this world.」
「Mission: Find Chase Laurier's real mother.」
「Deadline: None」
「Unable to finish the task will cause severance to the soul.」
Chase paused to consider the statement. "I thought you were just a danger detecting system. Seem like you also give mission?"
「The system is indeed just a danger detecting system. However, the wish of the previous soul affected the calibration of the system's interface, thus generating this new section of commands.」
In addition, the original soul did not long for anything. It is only a desire for closure, probably just for the soul to rest in peace.
"This Chase's desires must have been intense to create a new section in a system's interface. It only means that his conviction is quite concentrated," Chase concluded. "Then, what does this severance of the soul mean?"
「Severance of the soul: the original soul will face tribulation where the soul will be severed into nine hundred and ninety slashes to obliteration. There is a mere one percent chance of survival.」
「On the other hand, the host's soul will receive half of the punishment, since fate has decided that the two souls are interconnected. If the host's soul survives, the next reincarnation will start with negative karma, which will increase the level of bad luck in the negative.」
Chase could only pale in fright. He is already in this state with his one point of good luck. What would happen if he was given negative luck? The mission was not difficult either, but he had some considerations. The task is simple and explainable, but it holds a lot of hidden risks.
He asked, "Then what if I found the original soul's mother but she is already dead? Will I still be punished?"
「The mission is only to find the original soul's mother.」
"Then it is enough to know her state? Is it necessary to see the body or the grave?"
「The system will determine the completion of the task. The interface created by the previous soul will prompt the host if the task was done.」
It is understandable. With the memories he collected, he doubts that Chase's mother is still alive. However, he could not simply assume that she was dead, either. It's better to just search for her. Of course, that is, if he could still get out of this place alive.
「Attention: There are three unopened packs in the system's inventory. Would the host want to open them?」