Both suns of this world shone with more intensity than yesterday, making the sky shine in a redder tone than purple. The smell of rosemary and blood was something that remained constant, entering my nostrils with brusqueness and calm, creating a resonance with the world itself. But the question of why the smell of blood was so strong still remained unanswered. It's not like I had seen a bunch of dead bodies. At least, not yet.
Despite being awake and with some energy, I felt hungry and an unusual and tense kind of fatigue, as if I had traveled through entire galaxies hiding from my plots. "Hopefully the duke is not like my father," I think, knowing perfectly well that he isn't. I had been awake for a good few minutes, and during that time, I reflected on everything and tried to remain as calm as possible, but knowing that I was in a different world with cultures and norms different from mine was uncomfortable, but also, in a way, pleasant. I felt surprisingly happy and sad. It was impossible not to feel sad, since the love of my life was somewhere else crying over my death. But it was also impossible not to feel a drop of happiness, even knowing that I shouldn't. I needed to quickly discover what I was supposed to do to leave this world. If Macano sent me here as his chosen one, it's because I have something he wants. Now, what was that thing?
I sit up in bed contemplating what lay beyond the window: the black stone walls, the small gardens with graceful maids watering flowers, and the distorted towers by the dazzling light of the suns, near the wall. I feel a severe tightness in my chest while thinking, and I grip it tightly as I tremble. The thought that at some point Júlia would forget me because I died, or even worse, that I would be the one to forget her and perhaps fall in love with another. The image of Ana without panties on top of me tears through my mind like a psychopath tearing through the skin of a defenseless child. To say that she attracted me gave me the feeling of betraying Júlia. However, here I am, jealous of a man who hasn't even appeared yet and may never appear in front of Júlia to kiss her and take her innocence to get her pregnant and give her a life that I could never give her. Or perhaps something like the man who tore her clothes and tried to abuse her will happen again. Before I could enter into a conflict with my emotions and self-deprecating thoughts, a maid enters the room with clothes and a plate of food in her hand.
"Good morning, Mr. Slave~" she laughs, showing her white teeth.
She throws the clothes onto the bed and leaves the plate of food, whose name is unknown to me, like everything in this world, on the nightstand.
"Good morning, young maid." Instead of being annoyed by the fact that even a maid treats me with little respect despite being a "chosen one," I smile and sigh. She reminded me of Júlia when she was still a six-year-old child who followed me, in the way she spoke—without sadness or coldness, only happiness that truly existed and could be felt, not to mention her sense of humor. Before being shaped by the world. The maid in front of me laughs again and sits beside me.
"I'm not allowed to be here sitting and talking to you"—of course not. I already had a mistress, I didn't need to be reminded of that, and from her look, that wasn't her intention. "But what are they going to do to me? Fire me? Ha-ha! Or maybe they'll whip me if Andy isn't here. How are you? The old man said there could be side effects, but on the bright side, your hair is prettier." She gently strokes my hair.
Andy? Who was Andy and the old man?
"Andy?" I furrow my brow, feeling that I had heard this name thousands of times. But I've only been here for a day, and in that time, I don't remember hearing that name. Another thing that bothered me was the fact that I seemed to know this woman, but I had never seen her.
"Yes, Ethan." She looks surprised. "What happened to you? Did you hit your head or something to not remember the duke's name?"
"Yes. The truth is that I feel like I know you, but I don't remember you. Can you tell me things?" She looks at me as if I had slapped her and was about to bite her eye out. She felt panic, and her face contorted into an expression of agony and deep sadness. She was all trembling.
"Damn it, Ethan! You promised me you wouldn't forget me after that." What the hell was that, and how does she know my name? Now it was me who felt panic. I look at my white arms and remember my skin color and the fact that I died in my old world. The realization that perhaps I had taken a body that wasn't mine comes like an aggressive gust of wind. "You promised me! The old man said he would have to fetch the real you to stop some guy from getting your lineage or something, so he used a corrupted spell and you woke up stronger and with violet or purple hair, I don't know the color, damn it! And you, before the spell, had told me we would get married after you finished the world's evil and ended the destruction!" She grabs me and looks into my eyes while crying. "If you don't remember anything, maybe this will remind you." She lunges to try to kiss me, but I push her away, and she falls to the floor, crying like a child who saw her mother destroyed before her.
She gets up, and before I can apologize and ask more questions, she rushes out, running and sobbing, her chest inflating and deflating like a bomb exploding and "deploding." The damage was done and undone.
I grab the plate of green rice and eat silently. All this was starting to tire me out too much. I needed answers and power.
---
The clothes I wore were everything but the clothes that would be given to a slave, which meant that Andy, the duke, held me in high regard despite the punch he gave me yesterday. But, thinking better, if I had a daughter with Júlia and some guy slapped her, I would punch him too.
I wore a black suit and tie; on the tie, just like on the curtains of the room where I had been, there were designs, in a pattern, of white tigers with platinum blue stripes, just like the powerful man who was in front of me, scrutinizing my face in search of something.
"Look, vassals. The boy who slapped a descendant of Arteriólis. This courageous boy did something that even I didn't do. It's so good to see someone reminding my daughter of how she should act in this house as the noble she is."
He looks at his daughter, ashamed of the indecent acts she certainly had throughout her life. She blushed like a little girl being scolded by her father, and seeing her in such a shameful and unusual state, from what little I knew of her character, was strange, but strangely satisfying. The duke brings his heavy hand, full of veins and calluses, to his daughter's curly hair and gives her a small pat, as if she were a puppy that made a mess, but whose owner still loves it.
"But, boy, do you know what happens to someone who touches a noble's daughter? Be it sexually, aggressively, or psychologically?" The implication hangs in the air.
The smile fades from his beautiful face, marked by a platinum blue beard, just like his hair. The air suddenly becomes heavy, and not in the literal sense—the air actually becomes heavy, to the point where everyone except the duke and the impassive knight behind him fall to the red, hot earth floor, as warm as blood. Some had the bad luck of being near horse manure and falling face-first into it.
The duke looks at me, his face calm and serene like the ocean during the day.
"You know... I could kill you. Feed you to the dogs. Or sell you to a fat woman to be her sex slave. But no. I let you sleep in the room of the dead mother of the very girl you hit because of impatience."
The air becomes even heavier. Even the knight behind the duke begins to tremble.
"F... a... ther... Forgive him! I... like him. He hits me!"
The crazy sadist with golden hair says with a big manic smile to the duke while trying to get up. He looks his daughter in the eyes and smiles. Shortly after, the pressure disappears as if it were a match being extinguished by the ocean. I rise and breathe as if I had been drowned.
"Ha-ha-ha! Don't worry, daughter. Do you think I'm going to hurt your slave just because he couldn't stand you? If anything, I'll even reward him."
He hands me the long black sword without a sheath, the color black, reminding me of Guts' sword in Berserk, but smaller.
"Here. Or don't you want it, Sir Slave of the great Macano? Take it and love it with your life. It belonged to a great friend of mine who is practically dead."
The sword is extremely heavy. The metal varies between deep black and reddish black, as if it had a life of its own. You don't need to be a master blacksmith to know that this sword is a work of art. It has faced many battles and wars. Against monsters and other humans, certainly. How much iron has struck this long blade? Why? How? And when?
I want to know everything about this sword. From how it was made to why the duke gave it to me.
"Thank you very much, my duke. I don't understand why you gave me something so valuable, but I thank you from the bottom of my being." I reply with the most formal speech I can muster, but my name isn't William Shakespeare.
The smile on my face was genuine. I loved the sword, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't contain my more childish side. But my expectations die when I remember that I'm in a world where there are still slaves and lords. I will eventually have to kill someone, and that doesn't make me happy or hopeful.
"Thank me, kid. But know that everything has a price."
"And what is the price, my duke? If it's something I can give, I will gladly give it." Good. "You and my daughters are going to the Derylini academy. And you... I want you to protect them and swear loyalty to me... You can hit Ana, but don't leave marks and don't get her pregnant." Ana blushes, and the duke laughs. "I promise not to hit you next time, kid."
He looks me in the eyes with seriousness. So far, this man has treated me well. Perhaps because I am Macano's chosen one. But either way, it is absolute truth that he treated me well. He even gave me a powerful and certainly expensive sword. He has plans for me; I can see it. And I have no problem with that.
"Of course, my duke. I will protect them with my life. I swear to be faithful to you. And I don't intend to get your daughter pregnant."
He looks at me, surprised.
"Very well, very, very well, boy! If you last long enough, I'll get you an elf and make you a rich baron. Ha-ha-ha!" Everyone starts laughing along with Andy, except Ana, Ariny, and his blood-red-haired daughter, who looks at her father with an ugly expression... But none of this mattered! This unpredictable man made me feel like I was his son.
A smile blooms on my face. All my worries evaporate, and even I start laughing. The information, political intrigues, the maid, the monkey, and everything else could very well wait.
I don't know if this body really belonged to someone else or not, and frankly, I didn't care. But I still felt a drop of strangeness in the same way I felt familiarity, as if the body were an extension of my soul that I had lost and regained.