- « Your highness ? Is everything alright ? I can hear you mumbling. »

As one could guess, I hadn’t a single idea of what to do. In the heat of the moment I shouted :

- « I’M FINE ! » in a very unconvincing tone. This prompted the owner of the voice to hurriedly enter my room.

- « Your highness ?! Pardon my offense, but you seem to be in some kind of trouble ? »

I still had no idea what to do. So I just kept fixing the man who had just entered « his highness »’s room.

He seemed to be in the first half of his 30’s. He had some sort of a scholar look to himself ;
Round glasses, a low ponytail that went over his shoulder, and the typical butler attire. The latter was a bit weird, since it was the middle of the night. Talk about dedication.

At least I didn’t have much trouble figuring out who he was supposed to be in this story.

« Should I try to tell him or not ? »

I had two main options in front of me, and both had their ups and downs. If I told him the truth, and that he believed me, I wouldn’t have to pretend to know things I didn’t. It could save me from a lot of misunderstanding. But it could be dangerous for me, if word spread that some dude from another world stole « his highness » or whoever’s body.
But if I went with the flow and shut my mouth, I would have to figure everything out by myself. What world I was in, who I was supposed to be and to do, and most importantly how to get back to my own world…

I decided to compromise ; Playing the amnesia card. I’d seen enough video games heroes to know how to pull it off. It was risky, but if it worked, it would become the easier scenario I could think of in the instant.

I went for a shot.

- « I-I...who,...who are you ? »

At first sight, the gentlemen seemed unfazed. But upon closer look, I noticed the twitching eye behing his left glass. It was working !

- « Sir ? What could you possibly mean… ? » He murmured with a smile. Tough the latter was a bit off.

- « I have no idea where I am...Wait who am I ? And you ? » I faked a slight panic.

The buttler was still acting strong, but I could feel his will slowly shatter.

- « Lord Friedrick, you can’t possibly be serious. Where have you learned to play such tricks ? »

I had a name. Friedrick. It wasn’t as flashy as I tought. And apparently neither of us were funny guys, as faked amnesia seemed to be the peak of humor for us.

I kept going.

- « Am I Friedrick ? But who are you ? I don’t understand I-

Finally he was giving in. I felt bad for him but right now it was a question of survival.

- « Dear Lord I- I need to call for Sir Goldberg right now- Your Highness ! »

I kept feigning ignorance

- « Me… ? »

- « Indeed. Please wait here and do not move. I will come back in less than a minute. Please stay in your room. »

I silently nodded, with a fabricated look of confusion, and gently followed his orders-I had no reason to cause him a stroke either-.

As promised, he came back after less then a minute, followed by some middle ageed man. A doctor I supposed.

- « My Lord, this is Sir Goldberg, the royal physician. Do you, by any chance, remember him ? »

Royal. So, I was a royal. For real. Or at least, the previous owner of this body was.

- « I...do not recognize him. I don’t understand. Am I sick ? Why did you call a doctor ? »

I probalby made myself sound a bit stupid with the dumb questions, but I needed to fish for clues about my body’s health.

The physician finally opened his mouth.

- « Dear Lord so you were saying the truth. It is extremely strange. » He mumbled to himself, unvoluntarily loud enough so that I could hear him, « It can’t be his lungs. You get amnesia from the brain. Unless some magic was involved. I’ll have to contact the alchemist. »

He finally addressed himself directly to me.

- «Your highness, could you tell me about everything you remember while I auscult you ? »

« My dude, you have no idea. » I tought. I simply told him about how I woke up without a single memories. Luckily they seemed to fully believe in my lie by now.

While he ausculted every single bit of my body- seriously why check out my ears ?-I took time to process all the informations I just heard.

« Ok. Lungs. So he had a lung disease ? I mean, if we’re in a victorian kinda world, even a pneumonia could’ve kill him. But then he said there is magic. So you can provoke amnesia in people ? If that’s so then I guess you can kill them. Did he like get killed by some evil spell ? But then why am I in his body right now ? That’s fucking weird. He also said there were alchemists. They’re some kind of mages if I’m not wrong. Damn this world just keep getting weirder. That Friedrick must really be loaded tho. I mean, he’s a royal...»

- « Your highness ? Could you please try to answer me ? »

« Dude I’m trying to collect my toughts. » I mumbled internally before answering.

- « Well, All I remember is waking up in this chamber. I am still able to recognize things such as objects so I don’t think I’ve lost any intellect. But I have no recollection whatsoever of who and where I am. I wouldn’t be able to tell much about the country we’re in either.

The doctor furrowed his brows while the butler flinchered ever so slightly that I could barely notice it.

The former spoke up first.

- « Sir. Are you absolutely certain that you cannot – even while putting all your energy into it- remember a single memory ? »

- « I am certain. I’m not even sure what my name is. Was it the one you said earlier ? »

Reality finally hit them. The physician grabbed his forehead with the palm of his hand, and the butler immediatly stood up in front of me. He said, while pressing my shoulders with all his might :

- « Your highness, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Before I tell you anything, you need to promise me NOT to tell anyone about your memory loss. All the erudits of the empire will work night and day to find a way to retrieve your memories as soon as possible. But telling the public about your condition will cause a great ruckus in the country. One that might become very dangerous for the stability. Do you understand ? We need to hide it at all cost. »

- « I do. »

But I knew very well that they wouldn’t find that cure. I decided to fully concentrate myself on what was about to be said. I couldn’t afford to miss a single information.

- « Your name is Friedrieck Noatún. You have been recently crowned as the emperor of Elvangar, the realm of frozen springs. But the means of the succession caused a split within the nobles of the empire. You are an intelligent and powerful emperor, but if the ones who aren’t on your side learn about the amnesia, Then your life might become at risk. They could succeed where they would’ve failed normally. Of course, I am and will always be by your side, and so are Sir Goldberg and many important peaople within the palace. Even if the worse happen and you cannot retrieve your memory, we will be eerything in our power to make sure you keep reigning over the empire. With all due respect, too much has been sacrificied for you to give up, Sir. »

At this moment, I felt has tough I had been lumped in something big, to say the least. I still had many, many questions, But now I had a clearer idea of the situation I was in.

- « Wait a second » The butler stopped talking as soon as I opened my mouth. What a diligent man. He felt like the type of guy you can count on. That seemed to be a good start.

He promptly ansewered

- « Yes Sir ? »

- « I didn’t mean to cut you in your track, but before we proceed, I wish you’d tell me your name, If you don’t mind sir? » I noted that my speech was slowly adapting to the setting. It wasn’t perfect, But for now it would do.

- « Oh Dear Lord I cannot believe I glazed over such thing. Forgive my utmost lack of politness, Your Highness !

With a curtsy stance, he told me in the most formal tone ;

- « If you wish to do so, my Lord, then you may call me by the name Seti. If not, then you can simply say « butler ». Regardless of the way your address yourself to me, Sir, I will come by the speed of a shooting star. »

- « Then it’s an honor, Seti.»

He answered with a polite but slightly contrite smile.

Kinda stuck up but reliable. As he was about to go on with all the exposition, Some maid came and started to tell him about something I didn’t quite catch. Apparentlly tough, the problem was big enough for him to leave.

- « Your highness, a worrying issue came up. I will tell you about this and the rest as soon as tomorrow. But for now it might be best for you to take some sleep. I will order for the special squad to come guard your door and windows. »

- « It migh be best indeed. Thank you Seti. I will see you by noon. »

There wasn’t much I could do anyway.

- « Of course Sir. May you rest well. »

He waited in front of my door until the guards arrived. The emperor must have been an adventurous one, since there weren’t any before. At this point, silence had fallen upon the gold adorned room.

-« … »

« Yeah so I don’t have much choice huh. I can’t flee or something or I’ll recognized ASAP. That Seti guy was all stiff and snobbish but he also kinda seemed prepared to suck the emperor legs's in between any moment, so I think I can go behind him for now. I mean, what choice do I have. Damn. Reincarnated just to get back to that weird ass deadly shit situation. Love it for me. »

Despite all the interrogations flowing trough my mind, I felt my eyes closing on their own. Soon, I fell unto a dreamless slumber.