The first thing he saw was a sheer canopy fluttering above him. He groggily sat up from a soft bed pressing his hand onto his forehead, attempting to stop the disorientating feeling of spinning.
He tried to decipher what happened to him, but his memories were in shambles. The only thing he could figure out was his name, Elliot Bright. Everything else was in blurs as if they were slowly disappearing from his memory.
He shifted in the bed and froze at the small pair of legs under the thin silk blankets. They were notably slim, possibly due to malnourishment, and the skin was ghastly pale, exposing the blue veins on the ankles.
Elliot was perplexed, he knew that this wasn’t his body, but when he tried to recall how he looked, it was just as blurry as his memories. His breath caught in his throat as he slowly started to panic. What was going on?
Taking a gander around the room, he slowly calmed his breath. The room was glamorous with beautifully carved marble columns that matched the white tile floors and luxurious furnishings. A large balcony was just ahead of the bed, providing a beautiful view of a garden followed by a deep blue ocean.
The smell of lavender floated through the room, calming Elliot’s mind. He didn’t sense any danger staying in this room, so he reassured himself as he slid his thin legs to the side of the soft bed, letting his small feet dangle. Elliot paused as a light blue interface showed in front of him. It was a small screen, nearly see-through and packed with white text.
Elliot's eyes widened as he blankly stared at the screen, but when the screen didn’t show any signs of going away, he turned his attention to the words. Quickly getting a headache.
WELCOME NEW PLAYER!
You have successfully downloaded the system’s new function, where we can provide information about the world you have entered! (How exciting!) No more trying to guess whose body you are in and the way of the world. We at interstellar have fully updated our system and can now provide a full analysis! (Hooray!) We have also organized your tasks and added a few Apps to help you navigate our new system!
As a new player, you are eligible for hints throughout this world, congrats! Use them wisely!
Your total hints: 3
We hope you enjoy this new update! Good luck with your world assignment!
He let out a deep sigh and closed the screen. Slowly, he got up from the bed and found a full-length mirror in the room. He frowned, staring at his reflection with an uneasy breath.
From what he could tell, the body he was in looked to be in his early teens. He was extremely pale, showing that he never stepped foot outside. Though, he didn’t blame him. This young teen was emaciated, even the small white nightgown was large on him. Showing his collar bone through the fabric, it looked like a single breeze would send him flying.
Elliot didn’t like this weak look; he ran his hand through the golden curls on his head and narrowed his deep blue eyes at the reflection. Was this kid neglected?
Recalling the system’s words, Elliot instinctively lifted his hand and tilted his wrist. A light blue screen popped up before he quickly looked through the interface. He then quickly read the information about this person and his world.
He was in the body of a prince named Gabriel Appleton. Gabriel was the third prince of his father, King Henry, and was sent away on an island by his eldest brother, the Crown Prince Mathew. Gabriel was a neglected child that even his mother wouldn't look at him. Because of this, there was talk that Gabriel was an illegitimate child.
Eventually, neglect turned into abuse, and Gabriel grew sicker as he got older. It wasn't until the Crown Prince started to notice Gabriel's sickness and began protecting him. For the moment, Gabriel was safe, but Mathew wasn’t always around to watch over him.
Things changed when the king was bedridden and quickly made a decree that any of his sons were able to take up the throne. The kingdom went into an uproar, the crown prince was especially furious, but his six brothers were quick to react as assassination attempts flooded the castle. Many people cursed at the sick king. Why must he make such a decree and put their kingdom in such a chaotic mess?!
It wasn’t until Queen Elise Appleton took it upon herself to seize power. She declared that the princes would have chances to claim the throne through merit and acceptance from the counsel alone. Any assassinations were forbidden, but that still didn’t stop anyone from scheming against each other. Some assignation attempts lingered, which kept the kingdom on edge. It was around this time that Mathew sent Gabriel away to his estate on a remote island with full protection of guards and servants.
Here is where the system’s information stopped. Elliot realized that this was probably close to the time when he woke up; what the system provided was merely past events. He guessed he was currently on the island at Prince Mathew's estate, protected by those many servants and guards that Mathew sent for him. Elliot frowned as he flipped through the system and opened the tasks. A paragraph of white text instantly greeted him.
WELCOME NEW PLAYER!
He could feel a headache coming in...
Tasks can be viewed in this App whenever you need it! (Isn't that awesome?) If you wish to move on to the next world, be sure to complete each task. Failure in doing so may result in a punishment in the next world! (Oh No!)
So be sure to complete them! If you ever get stuck on a task, you can always use the hints provided to you!
Main Task: Become King
Reading up to here, Elliot was about to spurt blood from his mouth. Excuse me?! Become king?! This sickly thing?! It was impossible! Not to mention Elliot didn’t know a thing about kingship or how to lead. If he were to try to become king, he knew that Gabriel's brothers wouldn't accept it! They would kill him on the spot!
Elliot cursed at the system before closing the interface. He wanted to go back home already! He hesitated for a moment and looked through the system again, but there was no sign for another way out. A deep sigh left his lips. He didn't want to stay here until death caught him!
Elliot was feeling dizzy before he heard a gentle knock on the door. He quickly put away the system interface and let out a weak “come in.”
A maid with reddish-brown hair opened one of the double doors and paused as soon as she saw Elliot standing by the mirror. Her face quickly paled, “Prince Gabriel, you should be resting!” She hurried her way towards him and quickly looked over the young male, “are you feeling alright? You look pale! Quickly, sit on the bed, I’ve already heated some porridge. The doctor said you should eat at least a little bit.”
Elliot silently listened to the maid and let her lead him to the bed. The maid was Gabriel’s wet nurse named Ginny. In Gabriel’s memories, she was always taking care of him, raising him in the kingdom. Ginny was the only one who followed Gabriel when he was sent away, fully earning Gabriel's trust.
Elliot noticed that he was able to search through Gabriel’s memories if he focused. He realized why Ginny was so worried after looking through them. Despite Gabriel's illness, he was a troublemaker.
Gabriel knew that he would never get any loving attention from his family; even the servants treated him coldly. So he became mischievous and would always get himself in trouble, even if that trouble ended up weakening his ill-ridden body.
Just yesterday, Gabriel nearly fell off the estate walls and into the ocean due to recklessly running around. Luckily, someone was able to catch him in time before anything serious happened, but it still shocked Gabriel enough to make him faint due to heart problems.
Elliot sighed in his heart as he watched Ginny place the bowl of hot porridge on the nightstand beside the bed. “Gabriel, you must be careful something like last night cannot happen again. What if Flynn didn’t make in time? Not only me, but prince Mathew would be devastated!”
Flynn was the gardener of the estate. Elliot noticed that Gabriel had taken a liking to the man’s garden and would often frequent there. Despite his weak body, he would always walk around and enjoy the extravagant garden of roses and gardenias.
Elliot solemnly nodded, "hm, I’m sorry, Miss Ginny...I'll be careful next time.” He took the time to practice using his big watery eyes. The deep blue glistened in the light, seemingly on the verge of tears as he blinked his golden lashes.
Ginny couldn’t hold back her heart from melting as she quickly pulled Elliot into her hold, “oh Gabriel! I’m just glad you’re okay!”
Elliot felt himself nearly suffocate from Ginny’s hold. He quickly took in a few deep breaths after she let him go and watched her as she spooned some porridge up to his mouth. “Now, please eat.” She smiled, “you won’t get any strength back if you don’t eat.”
Elliot wasn’t too hungry, but he let Ginny feed him until she was satisfied. After placing the bowl beside the bed, she took out some clean clothes and walked towards him. Elliot quickly tensed up and pulled away from her. Ginny blankly stared, “is there something wrong?”
Elliot was pale. Did she want to dress him? Of course, princes usually have people tend to them, right? But Elliot wasn’t used to such treatment. He was going to say he could do it himself when he heard a sequence of two small beeps.
Warning! That action is out of character!
Players must stay in character to complete the tasks and not alert the world's consciousness!
Elliot cursed at the system again. Did this mean he had to keep this person’s personality traits? Elliot went through them, Gabriel may have been a troublemaker, but when it came to others bigger than him, he was a coward and a pushover. Are these traits of a King or a Servant? His skull started to pulsate again.
He lightly glanced at ginny and awkwardly shifted on the bed, “ah, it’s nothing…continue.”
Ginny nodded and carefully dressed Elliot in a light blue tailcoat tuxedo that hugged his body along with a ribbon that neatly tied around his neck over a high collar ruffled shirt. Elliot could only stand by and let her dress him. He tried to keep his face relaxed, but his heart was uneasy. How can people go through this?
“I’ve told your teachers what happened, and they agreed to cancel your morning lessons, but you still have to attend your afternoon ones,” Ginny clearly explained today's schedule before she took the empty bowl and left the room.
Elliot nodded politely and quickly let out a deep sigh as soon as she left. He wiped at his sweat coated forehead as he tried to figure out what to do next. His task was to become king, but how can one even do that without any allies?
Not to mention Gabriel was provided only with the bare minimum of education, well, some is better than none at all.
Since he didn’t have any lessons today, Elliot decided to walk through the garden and take a look around the estate.
He realized that many of the servants seemed kind and meticulous towards their job. Despite some servants that completely ignored him, Elliot figured that Mathew sent some decent, loyal servants. He had to thank Mathew for that, but he doubted that these servants would be enough to protect him once he tried to take the throne...not to mention he wasn’t able to leave the island without Mathew’s permission.
If he wished to complete this task and leave this world, then he needed to find someone strong enough to protect him and help him siege the throne. The problem is finding someone capable enough while being stuck on this island. From what he can tell, there are only a few people that could help him out. But choosing the wrong one may lead him to his demise.
Elliot sat on a stone bench under a blooming magnolia tree as he contemplated on which direction he should choose. Mathew seemed the obvious choice. He’s the only one that showed any care for Gabriel, even going as far as hiding him at his estate, but this was also a problem.
He may be kind towards Gabriel, but he was still the crown prince. Gabriel recalled the great anger that showed on Mathew’s face when he heard his father make the decree. Elliot shivered lightly at the memory.
The other person was countess Jasmine, the wife of earl Winston.
Jasmine was Gabriel’s aunt on his mother's side. Despite the neglect Gabriel got form his mother, Jasmine would take it upon herself to watch over Gabriel whenever she was around.
She seemed to like Gabriel's troublemaking attitude, often overlooking the pranks he made on the servants. But the favor he mainly needed to win was not hers, but rather her husband’s.
Earl Winston was intelligent and benevolent which got him the king's trust and the top spot in the king’s court.
If Elliot wanted to get close to the earl, he would first need to get closer to the countess, but that still doesn’t guarantee his safety. The earl may be benevolent, but he's the closest to the king. Not to mention many of the princes might already be trying to get his favor.
The last person is quite peculiar. He’s this estate’s gardener, Flynn Wyles.
Flynn was founded by Gabriel one day when Gabriel escaped from the protection of the mansion walls. He wandered around the village on the island and found Flynn in an alley injured and near death. Gabriel quickly took him in and was background checked by Mathew before being appointed as the estate’s gardener.
Mathew didn’t disclose Flynn’s background, but Gabriel was curious and had Ginny search for the documents. It turned out that Flynn was a general from an enemy kingdom that had disappeared after the war between their two kingdoms.
Gabriel couldn’t figure out why Mathew let a general of an enemy kingdom become his gardener, but he blindly trusted his brother’s judgment.
Elliot knew that putting his trust in this person could be the worst decision or best decision because this person was the most accessible. Besides, his hatred for the kingdom may be deep, making him declare war on it wouldn’t be too hard, but did Elliot want to use foreign help to siege the throne?
[Comment below on which choice you want the MC to make.]
> Mathew
> Jasmine
> Flynn
> All Above
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