He bent down to her level to look her straight in the eye, a gaze she avoided but he didn't care since he couldn't even see. He knew that if they went before the Royal Court and these two kept denying it, it's likely they'd just dismiss the case as another one of Prince Lucien's ramblings. He needed her to talk and 'Lucien' had the best way to do it.
"The audacity of the common folk, now having the gall to speak on equal footing with their master. You poisoned me and now you think you can get away with it? Even your family would suffer for your misconduct. I heard you had a little sister close to my age, Martha. I wonder how good she'd look in a maid's unifor—" his words were cut off by the deranged glare she gave him.
"Shut up, you incompetent Mudblood. You will never lay a hand on my sister, you hear me? You monster! Yes, I colluded with the physician to give you poison instead of medicine for months now. We happily watched your body fail. But somehow that didn't stop your lewd behavior towards us maids. You truly deserved to die, you useless bastard!"
Her words stunned the whole room silent, Havellin's face turning red from anger, "You stupid wench, how dare you mention me in your misdeeds? Do you know who I am? I'll kill you!" he angrily walked over to Martha on the ground and kicked her mercilessly.
Reynolds had to stop him at one point and bound their hands in what happened to be Aether Cuffs, a common item among the security force to detain criminals.
"Young Prince, I will be on my way now," Reynolds bowed with his usual poker face before leading the maid and physician out of his private chambers.
"I am innocent, innocent! You will pay for this!" Havellin wouldn't stop screaming till Alrick couldn't hear it anymore. Once alone, Alrick let out a deep sigh he seemed to have been holding in for a while, this had to be the most nerve-wracking thing he had ever done.
Him? A prince now? He still couldn't believe anything that was happening, but he had a feeling he had to start believing it quickly. He was now a fricking prince!
The life of luxury he always wanted was now in the palm of his hands, this could be the permanent break he needed. His bubble was soon popped though as he remembered the assassination attack he barely avoided. Were there more people after him?
Oh Lucien, what shitty legacy did you leave behind for me?
First day in a new world and he was already fighting for his life, what a nice first day indeed. Anyways, he had to further explain to himself how he got here. He remembered Tracy firing one heck of an attack after he had gouged her eye out and then falling through that crazy thing she called 'The Link' with Eleanor.
Eleanor!
He got up from his bed but then plopped down again as if contemplating something. He couldn't just get up and start shouting her name like an idiot. People would suspect when he says he's looking for someone named Eleanor. If he now has a different name and look, then it should be the same for her. Her name wouldn't be Eleanor anymore.
There was a reason why he was worried about being suspected though—it was because of whatever that was in his head.
*Task Number Two: Don't Reveal You Aren't Lucien To Residual Beings
Task Duration: Indefinite
Task Reward: Nil
Penalty: Mental Lash ; Duration: 1 Hour ; Body Health: Nil ; Mental Tenacity: 0.1% deduction
Exception: You Shall Be Pardoned If Betrayed By A Fellow Comrade*
Confusion couldn't even begin to describe what he was feeling right now. Why were these sentences always popping up in his head? He saw something like this before he passed out the first time on getting here. It punished him because he violated Rule Number one of not using alien language—English, he supposes.
The punishment wasn't light and it was just for a minute. He was scared to experience it for a whole hour. So that's why, after he recovered Lucien's memories and saw the new rule, he quickly began acting like the bastard prince he now was.
He swore he could have won a Grammy with that brilliant performance that put that down-on-his-luck physician to shame. Anyway, back to the thing in his head. He briefly remembered that mad woman Tracy talked about tasks the challengers would have to complete for the 'lord'.
Who the heck is the Lord?
He wondered if it was some kind of high-ranking noble or higher being here, but after searching through Lucien's memories, he couldn't think of anyone that fit the description of what Tracy gave. He laid back in bed and looked up towards the ceiling but only saw darkness. He really hated being in the dark on what was happening around him.
It had always been a subconscious fear of his. He hated surprises, he hated pop quizzes, he hated anything that wouldn't give him a clear answer. And now he was blind!
He wished the stupid thing staying rent-free in his head would tell him something other than those damned rules. And as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he closed his eyes in order to rest—only to find himself somewhere he hadn't seen before.
He swore he felt the heart attack. It looked like an endless abyss with no clear lighting in sight, but it was bright enough for him to see. A gray fog filled the area, making it look like a bad day in London. The ground resembled a still body of water that rippled with every movement he made. What it reflected was blurry but he could get a glimpse of it.
Raven-black hair, emerald green eyes, ever-so-present scowl on his handsome face. It was Alrick, his original looks. He was currently wearing his favorite black hoodie, white sweatpants with a pair of black Crocs.
But the most significant change was that he could see!
"Where is this place? Hello?!" he screamed out in English. He realized his blunder and was ready to receive his penalty, but after a while nothing happened.
"Chosen, no need to fret. You are allowed to speak your primitive language here, this is your primitive mindscape after all," a voice reverberated through the foggy space, making it seem full. It was actually replying to him in English.
"Who the hell are you?! And what do you mean by my mindscape?" his question was met with silence before it spoke again.
"When I say your mindscape, I mean your mindscape, like where you do all your thinking. And boy, is it stuffy in here. You think a lot, don't you?", The voice sounded amused, as if it was looking around his mindscape. Alrick wasn't comfortable at all having this thing in his head snooping.
"What are you, dammit?!" Alrick asked as he looked around his supposed mindscape to see if he'd actually spot something other than this endless gray fog.
The voice hummed before answering. "I'm the stupid thing that stays rent-free in your head, of course. Nice to meet you." Alrick winced at the reply.
"You heard that? So you can read my thoughts? Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Alrick snapped back.
"Ho ho ho, not if I live here now. This was my home first, aren't you the one who inhabited this body after?" The charming voice snapped back at him. Alrick felt whoever this was deserved a beating.
"Gosh, are we arguing over housing rights right now? I pray this isn't going to be how I live for the rest of my life," Alrick lamented over his current situation.
"Well aren't you a sour tart? Is this how you always are? I might just get annoyed with you someday and start giving you a few penalties here and there just for the fun of it," his words caused Alrick to shiver as he recalled the cruel mental lash he had endured for just a minute.
"So you're the one giving me all those rules to follow?" Alrick gulped as his eyes continued to scan the mindscape.
"Mmm... you could say that. But it's not the full truth either. It's close to it though," the voice said, trying to be as vague as possible. Something Alrick didn't like, but he somehow felt this voice was familiar though. He's been having this feeling a lot lately.
"I need answers, I don't have enough memories from this body. I don't know my reason for being here and what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. Stop with all this mysterious crap and explain, dammit!" Alrick let out his pent-up frustration, not caring if he'd get a penalty or not.
It was quiet for a while before the voice sighed. "I guess trying to be all wise and mysterious isn't going to cut it for you, huh? And here I was having so much fun." After saying that, Alrick could hear footsteps echoing from behind him.