Kael's body felt heavy as a whole mountain sitting on top of him. He could remember the family trip to mount fuji and that damned novel his onee-san forced him to read.
When he boarded the flight back, he didn't expect the engines of the plane to fail and plunge him into his death.
But, as destiny would have it; this wasn't the end for him as he still felt his body.
He groggily opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. The room he was in looked like something from a fantasy novel.
His eyes drifted toward the big portrait hung on the wall. There, in bold letter, below the portrait, written, name of His majesty, founding king of Greythorne kingdom.
Kael's eyes bloomed in surprise. He was transported to the world of The Cursed World novel.
Kael now fell into genuine depression. Even if I am reborn after death, should I needed to be reborn in a kingdom doomed to be annihilated?
The Cursed World novel depicted a world that was destined to be destroyed. Monster not of this world would invade it and destroy it inch by inch.
While monster didn't always win; the inhabitants of the world did have fair few victories over them, it only slowed down the rate at which monsters destroyed the world. The only thing humanity could do was fight. They didn't have any other option and even hope that they could win. His sister liked how even in this hopeless situation they didn't give up and fought regardless.
Be that as it may, he was reborn in the kingdom, which only was mentioned as destroyed in the early part of the first invasion, in a list of other kingdoms who met the same fate. There was no other info on this kingdom.
___
After a considerable amount of time had passed, he was able to prop himself up and sit before the table that was close to his bed.
He tried to empty his mind and purely rely on muscle memory alone to determine whether he can unlock cabins in the table. Gods seemed to have heard his wish as he was able to open a compartment and extract a thick book.
The book was a diary kept by the original owner. It had his name and recent events original owner decided to write.
The original owner of the possessed body was also Kael. Kael was recently elevated to the position of the Crown Prince. As his luck would have it, illness of the current king flared up soon after, thrusting him to the apex of power in Greythorne.
Kael tried his best to remember any details that would help him to better impersonate the prince. While he did uncover some minor habits that would allow him to mask any suspicion, he didn't uncover any significant details along with why he was bedridden.
Chirpings of the birds soon relayed the news of the coming dawn to the now prince. He now realised that he could hear even the softest of the sounds clearly. He surmised that this might be a power prince was born with and now he got.
He laid in the bed thinking Are there any caretakers assigned to me?If so, where are they? Not soon after an apothecary entered the room along with a couple maids.
"Greetings prince, It seems you have awoken." Said the Apothecary respectfully.
Kael slightly nodded his head. Apothecary motioned the maids to help him in treating the prince.
After the time it takes a lumberjack to cut a 100 year old tree, Apothecary finished treating him and presented a bowl.
"This is your breakfast, your highness."
Kael, now resting against the wall, slowly ate the medicinal soup given by the apothecary.
"Shall I inform others of your recovery, your highness?" Asked the apothecary.
"Let me recover more, untill then keep it under wraps. Also, do you have any books here?"
___
A week passed, and now Kael could walk a short distance unaided although very slowly. He would go to the small study and read all the books there during this time.
It seemed that he inherited almost none of the past Kael's memories, he still instinctually remembered some things. One of them was how to read and write in the language used in Greythorne.
Being a novel world, Greythorne used a language called common tongue. It was called such because most people, both lowborn, and highborn, used it. It was originally a language exclusively spoken by the humans of this world. This changed after humans became the single most numerous, and also one of strongest species among all of the sentient beings inhabiting this world.
True to being a fantasy world, The Cursed World had scores of fantasy beings living within it. The elves, dwarves, oni, orcs, goblins, beastkins, and many other species.
Among all other races Mankind's lands are vaster than anyone else. Mankind did not achieve this feat easily or quickly. The status of mankind today was obtained with trillions of lives throughout the millennia preceding it. Mankind had become such a great force in today's world such that current human empires primarily waged war against each other as opposed to wars against other denizens of The Cursed World.
The week-long reading of books in the study yielded Kael basic knowledge about the world and Greythorn Kingdom. His diary gave him the current situation within the kingdom. All in all, he had a basic level of understanding of his own circumstances.
___
It was finally time to return to the capital of the Greythorne kingdom. Orin Darkbraid, a dwarf who voluntarily swore his sword to Kael, would accompany and guard him along with a squad of dwarven hogriders. Kael with their protection set out for the capital.