Leaving The Palace
3rd of Statvort, 300 M.K.E (5 days later…)
Howard Bright was found in Kant's private royal bath, taking his sweet time cleaning himself and enjoying the hot water present. Using the scented soaps available, he made sure to clean and rid himself of all the sweat that stunk on his skin. Today is the day he leaves this place.
Over these past few days, Howard had fully committed himself to learning and digesting all the information he could find stuffed between the pages of every book he had. His thirst for knowledge and his desire to live kept him on edge, fueling his motivation to keep working rather than slacking off and procrastinating.
Despite the short amount of time, he had managed to learn a lot. He had focused on expanding his knowledge of how magic worked, he learned about the economic and political structures of the kingdom of Rothford, and anything else he should know. Howard decided it would be better to learn about Lukeword a little later.
Why did he postpone learning about Lukeword, the land he will govern in the future? Simple! About two days ago, Kant's parents informed Howard that his 'new' identity would have him take part in masquerading as a small government official who happens to share the same condition as Kant.
As a token of gratitude to Kant's heroic actions, the king would make a speech about how he is fulfilling the wishes of his son to "have people with his condition rise the ranks of the kingdom!" Given that he is forsaken with that curse while being born into the royal family, anyone could see how he could possibly have that wish.
To give his new identity some authenticity, he decided it was best to recalibrate his focus away from Lukeword, into looking at the kingdom itself. If he needed to act like some government official, he should at least try and acquire the knowledge to be authentic.
With all that settled, it was time for Howard to move onward. The royal palace had provided him with a lot of valuable information, access to a ton of Kant's most important memories, and provided him protection from whatever threats that lay outside the walls. It was enough to make him tear up, for some reason.
As soon as he finished his bath, he changed into the set of clothes he was given. Instead of his normal royal attire, he was given a healer mage's robes alongside a large pointy hat the head often wore around.
Once the man has fully changed, he walks out of the bathroom and heads back to his room, where the other healer mages were waiting for him. Inside, he finds a pale young man with short silver lying down on the bed, unconscious. His eyes were sealed shut, and his body refusing to move an inch. It was as if he was dead.
The man on the bed was some random guy they found in some small village. His similar appearance and condition made him the perfect man to act as a body double for Kant. The only big difference was that the body double was a whole 6 inches shorter. However that might not matter when he will be sitting on a coffin to be looked upon.
"Will he wake up again?" Howard queried the mages, feeling a little concerned. The healer mages nod in unison, with one stepping up stating…
"Your highness, this man has just been given a potion that… put them in a deep coma. Do not worry about him. He will wake up after about 2 weeks."
"2 weeks? Won't he die of starvation? Will he be able to eat food or drink water in this state?" He questioned the mages. He started becoming a little suspicious as to what they have done to the man.
"That does not matter, your highness. What matters now is your security and safety! This man right here has agreed to this job for a very hefty fee!" the mage claimed.
"May I ask how much?"
"That, we do not know your highness," he replied.
"Now, before we go out, I think we should inform his highness about the plan…" the mage stated.
Although Howard wasn't fully briefed about the plan, Howard already figured out that they were planning on making him out to be some head healer mage. Any spies lying outside the walls will spot him and mistake him for the head mage, instead of being the eldest living son of the Maybale dynasty.
He would then be taken to some strange safehouse, where he will move on to his new identity as a local government minister given the territory of Lukeword to control, a large, rebellious land that had no perceived value in the eyes of the nobility.
As they start opening their mouths, they basically confirm Howard's theory to be true. However unlike Howard, they went further into detail as to how they would go around doing so. They shared maps of routes, places they will stop by, and the final destination they are headed to.
"Now, do you understand, your highness?" the mages finally ask. Howard nods his head, replying…
"Yes, I do."
"Good. Now, shall we leave now? We don't want to be late. A lot of people are waiting for us," one of the healers told him.
"Can you all stand outside and give me a minute of privacy? I would like to say one last goodbye to this place," Howard requested. The mages look at each other, one nodding after the other.
"Alright, your highness. But please do not take too long," one of them replied, before escorting the others out of the room.
Despite not having any attachment to the room himself, he felt this wave of sorrow wash over him. This room had belonged to Kant his whole life, and now he had to leave it. The memories of everything he had done in this room came back to Howard to look upon, giving him some insight to the significance of this room.
He could not help himself to look around the room and examine every single detail, to gaze upon it one last time before he said goodbye. The body tried to comfort itself, convincing the mind to someday come back here if the opportunity arose.
Once Howard's mind takes back control of his body, he immediately moves to check the man's pulse. As he suspected, he felt no heartbeat, meaning no blood pumping through his veins. This man was truly dead, and they had killed him.
Although it was technically possible to revive someone through magic, as anything is possible, Howard learnt that no one in history ever has been able to come up with a potion to do so, let alone a spell.
His eyes quickly spot this small glass vial on the wooden desk, right next to the corpse occupying the body. Upon taking a closer inspection, he noticed that there were a few drops of a colorless substance inside, sticking to the bottom of the glass.
On the wooden bottle cap itself, the word "KAFF" was etched on it. Howard had no idea what it referenced, but he was curious to find out. If this thing could instantly kill a man with a similar condition, who can say that it could be used on him? After slipping it inside one of the pockets of the robes, Howard walked outside and met back up with the mages.
"Are you done, your highness? Shall we go now?" they asked. Howard nods firmly, replying…
"Yes, let's go," he replied. The mages accompany him to the front door, where his parents and siblings were waiting for him. The family wanted to give Kant one final goodbye, painfully unaware that his mind was already gone.
They each gave him a hug, each one's hug different from the other. His parents gave him a stiff and tight embrace, while the siblings gave a softer and mild hug.
"Kant, before you go, please promise me that you will not get into trouble…" his mother spoke, her tone very worrisome. Howard reassured her, stating…
"I promise you mother, as long as I am alive, I will try to keep myself safe. I will use this new opportunity you have given me to live a long and fulfilling life."
"Ok good. And make sure to write me some letters! We should be able to receive them discreetly from the annual reports you are obligated to send us," she added, before letting her son go.
"I will try, mother."
With that, all personal matters were finished. The mages escorted Howard to the front door, and asked permission from the knights to let them through. The knights, although recognizing the prince in his attire, had orders to obey. They knew the context of the situation and we were happy to unlock and open the door for them.
"Alright, your highness. Let's go," the mage told Kant, just before Howard took his first step outside.