The maid trembled slightly, hesitant but forcing herself to knock on the new king's chamber door.
Knockk…
She immediately went silent. The king's laughter stopped.
"Is he possessed?" the maid muttered.
This time, David walked toward the door without hesitation and opened it. The maid looked at David, then lowered her gaze—because the warmth once held in the king's eyes that made the palace feel welcoming had vanished in an instant, replaced by a strange gaze she couldn't recognize.
"What is it?" David asked firmly.
"Your Majesty, today is the day your room is scheduled to be cleaned..." she replied with a trembling voice.
Cleaned? David thought.
"Later," He said.
The maid didn't protest, only nodded like a proper servant and left.
David closed his door again and stood back in front of the mirror. What kind of king used to have this body? Why do the two maids I've met seem confused? He wondered.
The wind blew, and David stepped back slightly. Black particles swirled before him. What is that? David stared at the vortex as it tightened, transforming into a plume of black smoke, then shaping into a strange card. A playing card of a king—with no suit from the usual four found in casinos. The card only bore the image of a king.
Without hesitation, David grabbed it.
"Argh..." He felt a surge of electricity from the card.
A whispering voice came from its direction:
First Memory fragment of Caelan Veridius has been delivered...
Then the card vanished instantly, and a sharp pain shot through David's head, like a jolt of electricity touching his brain directly. He clutched his head with both hands, "Fuckk..." His voice was muffled as he slowly dropped to his knees, weakened.
Then hazy memories began to surface—tears falling at the luxurious funeral of a king. "That's..." David's eyes widened. "The father?" The memory arrived with an unfamiliar feeling he had never experienced before—a sense of love, respect, and recognition for a father.
The pain in his head didn't stop as another memory began to spin—of a beautiful woman stroking his head and saying, "My son..." then a cheerful girl's voice calling out, "My brother..." offering him a smile within that memory. As the memory appeared, David smiled, "Same curse?" He endured the pain.
The pain slowly faded, replaced by a newfound clarity—he had received the background of the body's former owner. He exhaled, "Looks like this won't be difficult, with the same family… but a father who was a stubborn king, haha..." He laughed, even though in the memories he received, the former king would constantly scold him for being weak during sword training. Still, he appreciated the man's attitude—his feelings now were the same as those within the memory.
"Regnia Veridius… the mother…" He stepped to the side of the bed and sat down. "Not much different—this body's mother was overly affectionate."
He slowly lay down, enjoying his new bed, then looked up at the ceiling. "Velia Veridius… a sister? With the same personality…" He slowly crossed both arms behind his head. "Looks like the vibe of this struggle will be a little different…"
David closed his eyes, accepting his new life swiftly and without resistance—with the woman who birthed his new body still being The Best Architect of Destructive Love, and a Sinless Beauty who would always make him worry if she lost against the world. And... once again his awareness brushed against the most beautiful curse man can get.
"Oh right..." He sat up, moved toward the table near the mirror, and searched for something. "Nice… no need to trouble myself." He opened a drawer. "Paper too? Perfect!" He then pulled his chair back, preparing to write using a luxurious feather quill.
Smiling, he wrote the first sentence:
My people, you can blame the world…