Chapter 4
New Day, New Life.
"Catherine?" I repeated.
The sun had settled into its cave a little while ago. As for the rain…well, it persisted even after the sun set. In fact, it was raining even as 'Catherine' casually dropped her name on me.
Flames crackled in a makeshift fireplace that was made with cobblestone and wood. The whole aesthetic behind it really sunk in the fact that I was in another world, one that was devoid of technology.
"I really am going to miss my gadgets." I muttered.
My laptop especially. Did I even save that last chapter?
"Here." Catherine cut through my thoughts. "Eat. You'll need your strength."
She shoved a whole bowl of soup that chunks of carrots inside it. Large chunks at that. Chunks that looked like they were cut by someone who was new to cooking entirely. The meal itself smelled nice, so I accepted graciously. It was rude to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Thanks," I said, setting the bowl down in front of me. "It looks delicious."
A problem presented itself to me. One I hadn't noticed with everything that was happening. In my previous life, my right arm was my dominant arm. I used it for everything from writing to grabbing and everything in between. My left arm was useful for stuff that needed two hands, but otherwise it was a biological decoration. An attachment more than a limb.
I'd really taken my right arm for granted in my past life, and as a result, I was stuck with my left arm while my right one was taken away. I tried maneuvering around the bowl, using a wooden spoon to scoop out the soup. It took me about three attempts to finally dig up a serving worth putting into my mouth.
Each attempt was flunked due to the lack of balance in my fingers, failure to grip the spoon the right way, or a lack of the strength needed to scoop the soup itself. Imagine struggling to lift a spoonful, and not in a joking manner, I mean, genuinely struggle to get some soup in your mouth because you don't know how to use your hand properly.
As for my eye, well, let's just say depth perception would prove to be harder than needed. Though considering everything else that's happened, I should be grateful to have both legs at the very least.
Such thoughts continued swirling around my head, I shoved the spoon into my throat, and Catherine's food made contact with my tongue.
"Mgh!!"
It was disgusting. It tasted horrible. Like, BAD, bad. So bad my brain triggered alarms.
I knew it, she can't cook for squat! How does she expect me to eat this??
Saying it tasted disgusting felt unfair, which is why I prepared reasons to justify my final judgment. The carrots were still hard, there was way too much salt, and the chunks of meat that were in the soup were somehow burned. Burned! How were they burned? The damn thing even had sand in it somehow.
"I'm not gonna finish this," I whispered.
Catherine, on the other hand, was a different story entirely. I was still in the process of swallowing my Hell Meal; meanwhile, she was already finished with hers.
"That went down quick, huh?" I could feel my lips curl into an awkward smile.
"Yes, of course. You're not done yet? Oh, right. Your arm."
Well, there's no need to rub it in!
Intentional or not, the last remark she made about my arm really hit me where it hurt. She raised a valid point, though. I mean, I'd never even thought about how I was supposed to adjust to missing my dominant arm. Considering the fact that I was wanted, fighting would more than likely be an everyday thing.
No, too many plot points were happening all at once.
There were too many threads to follow for my brain to keep functioning. I took a deep breath, letting the air settle in my lungs before releasing back out again.
Alright. One plot point at a time.
First, there was the fight with the high-class demon. The fight that cost the original Eden everything, including his wife. It was also during that fight that Eden lost control, went berserk, and destroyed half the town-or royal capital, more like. With the destruction of the capital came the death of the king; that death was also pinned on Eden. And conveniently for him, somewhere between him losing control and me waking up a while ago, Eden 'fizzled' as I 'fizzled' into his body, gaining his memories as well as his life. That left me with a list of problems.
Let's list them out one by one. I thought.
Firstly, me being in Eden's body. Ideally, I'd have loved to gather information on how or why I got stuck in his body. Unsurprisingly for me, the only possible lead for how I ended up in such a situation was a woman with cat ears who couldn't cook for dear life.
How does she even fit in this picture anyway? No, stay on topic.
Catherine was a mystery for another time; for now, I had bigger issues.
Besides, as of right now, she's established herself as a food source, albeit an unreliable one.
With that reasoning, I decided to put Catherine on ice till further notice. Which led me to issue number two. Regicide. The simplest solution would be to find whatever police equivalent existed in this world and tell them I got stuck in the person responsible's body and would rather not face death by beheading.
"Catherine." I muttered.
Her ears twitched slightly as she turned from my bowl to me. "Yes?"
"I don't suppose they'll undo the price on me if I just apologize."
Silence.
Maybe there was a slight scoff from a certain female, but other than that, she kept shut and turned away. Understandable honestly. At least she made it clear that if I were to get caught, I would not be shown any mercy.
Typical.
So, I was stuck in a mutilated body, in the same country that's hunting me for killing their king. Perfect.
Alright, we've established the problem. What now?
I didn't know. Yes, I hated how my thought process structured itself like it had a mind of its own. It sucked. Anyway, solutions. Getting out of Dodge was the priority. Which meant I had to venture outside in a country not even Eden had been in before. I mean, he spent some time in Weiss, but he went out of his way to venture outside of the capital. As a result, his memories of anywhere outside the capital were practically nonexistent.
Meaning I had to go out blind.
Wait, I could go back to Ester!
It was perfect. Almost. Ester was Eden's home country, it's where his mother and sister were. There was a strong possibility that they were still there, and even if they weren't, it was a far better option than Weiss. At the very least, I wasn't wanted in Ester as far as I knew. Yeah, the more I thought about it, the better it sounded.
"Right! I'll head back to Ester!!" I blurted. Out loud.
Catherine fixed me with a dubious look. For the first time in my existence, both previous and current, I felt my cheeks heat up ever so slightly. Silence hung over us for a short while; the sound of the rain smashing against the roof filled the atmosphere.
"I agree." She said at last, her breath fogging.
"Agree? With what?" My voice cracked.
"Leaving the country, we can't stay here any longer. Since you're awake, we'll start moving as soon as the star shines on our side.
That meant we'd start moving as soon as the sun came up. It was a weird phrase that Eden heard anytime someone referred to the sun. Regardless, I had a working plan, getting back to Ester. What came after that would be a problem for my future self. The current me was a bit too tired to think any further.
"Right." I agreed with Catherine.
As of tomorrow, I'd be settling into the role of Eden Connor, a wanted man accused of regicide. On a journey to go back to his home country, Ester, the place where he was raised. It's also the place...where I met Reiya.
Her family lives there, too, right? I wonder how they're doing. Huh...huh? That's weird. Scott Watterson. Why…why is he in Eden's memories?