Chapter 1: Aetherion "Prince Leonard Lawson, please wake up. It’s time for your investiture." An elderly man outside a large door exclaimed in anxiousness. The elderly man was formally dressed in a long, draped robe. Despite his age, one could still sense a powerful pressure emitted from him. Near the elderly man were two guards standing by the door, their expression vigilant. Nevertheless, they didn’t hold any contempt or anger toward the elderly man. Instead, their gaze was filled with respect and allowed the elderly man to continue to shout. Within the palace of Prince Leonard, only this elderly man could behave in such a manner. After all, the elderly man was none other than the famous Eighth Class Mage, Spencer Reed. "Prince Leonard, the investiture can’t be delayed. Many other princes are vying for the position, and being late would give them an excuse to criticize you." Spencer shouted loudly. He hesitated whether to barge into the room or not. Usually, he would have already done so. But last night, the prince had warned him that he would be testing some magic theory. He couldn’t afford any mishap, so unless he willingly called out for him, then no one should barge in. ’It can’t be that Prince Leonard became afraid because of the numerous incidents, right?’ Spencer tapped his foot lightly on the ground. Prince Leonard wasn’t the youngest or the eldest offspring of the emperor. His mother was also banished to a barren land after a severe incident unknown to most people. Hence, the news that the emperor decided to appoint the title of crown prince to Leonard came as a shock to many. Since then, many terrible things have happened, inevitably forcing Leonard to confine himself in his room. As Spencer pondered over whether Leonard got cold feet, inside the room, a person was lying on the bed. He had black hair and brown eyes; his facial features were neatly refined, giving him an elegant and composed appearance. However, those were only features on the surface. Deep inside, Leonard was panicking like crazy. ’There’s no way I actually transmigrated.’ Leonard sweated profusely. Others dreamed of being transmigrated to another world, but definitely not him. His life was great, and he was about to succeed in the company after so many efforts. There were also numerous beautiful women waiting for him to call and enjoy. He got everything! He won the succession war and became someone that many cursed and yearned to have. Yet before he could enjoy his fruit of effort, he was poisoned to death by his most trusted aide. And who was Leonard? His name was Vincent. "If this is a joke played by god, then I surrender. Please send me back to my original world." Vincent or Leonard now prayed sincerely. He even clasped his hands together to create the praying gesture. Suddenly, Leonard felt his head aching, and he thought his prayer had been answered. ’Yes, send me back, god or goddess.’ He cheered silently. But the cheer lasted for only a few seconds because what he received was a painful sensation of Leonard’s memories. From his birth to his current age of 15. There was only one word that could be described for Leonard’s life: Tragedy. ’You’ve got to be kidding me. This Leonard is utter trash.’ He cried inwardly. Not only was Leonard a coward, but he was a complete bona fide stepping stone for others. As if the real Leonard had discerned his thought process, his soul completely dissipated. Now, Vincent—no Leonard felt like the exchange of body was completed with no way of refunding. "Wait, don’t leave. I apologize. Take back your body. I don’t want it. I want my old one." Leonard teared up as he felt his connection and emotions toward Vincent’s life severed. Although he still retained the memories, Vincent’s life felt very foreign to him. Unfortunately, no matter how much he cried aloud. There was nothing he could do to cancel it. From now on, he was Leonard, and Vincent was just some foreign memory in his brain. ’Should I drink some poison?’ Leonard suddenly thought. He had consumed poison, but he never witnessed or experienced his own death. Maybe he survived, granted there were vital signals on his smart watch. The bodyguards and those who monitored his vital signs should have sent an ambulance to rescue him. Right when Leonard found it feasible, the door to his room was suddenly barged open. Emerged was a ferocious elderly man who emitted a strong killing intent. "How dare you harm the future Crown Prince!" Spencer’s aura rose tremendously. His eyes darted at every nook and cranny of the room, seemingly searching for the intruder or assassin. Spencer initially planned on waiting, but overheard Leonard’s pleading. It was then that he realized something was amiss. Yet when he arrived, Spencer didn’t sense any third party in the room. His magic presence covered the entire room in the blink of an eye, so it was impossible for him to miss anything. "Prince Leonard, are you alright?" Spencer turned to him and asked in a soft tone, void of the previous threatening tone. "Uh, yes, do you have any poison?" Leonard didn’t respond to his question and instead requested lethal poison to consume. He had no intention of taking over a messy life like Leonard’s. Crown Prince? Oh, please, that kind of title was just asking for trouble and death. He would much rather go back to his old body and enjoy the glorious life. Of course, that included deposing his trusted aide, who betrayed him. Little did Leonard know. His sudden request for poison frightened Spencer deeply. "Immediately signal the highest emergency. Someone dared to bewitch the Prince!" Spencer turned to the two guards outside and declared. "Bewitch?" Startled, the two guards swiftly signaled the highest emergency alert. Soon, the entire palace descended into chaos. Maids, guards, servants, and soldiers all reacted wildly to lock down the palace to search for the culprit. The spies that were stationed outside were also astonished by the palace’s sound of an emergency. While this was happening, Leonard wondered if everyone had gone insane. ’Isn’t it just a request for poison? Why are you all being a drama queen?’ Less than half an hour later, two guards brought over a maid in front of Spencer and Leonard. "Reporting to Sir Reed, this maid was found to contain traces of poison in her possession." A guard knelt down on one knee and relayed the news. "Poison, huh." Spencer’s expression darkened. His suspicion of someone bewitching and intending to harm the prince was magnified. "Where is the poison?" A few seconds later, another guard carefully brought forth the poison, which was sealed in a small vial. Spencer received the vial and opened it slightly. He gave it a quick sniff and closed his eyes. As an Eighth Circle Mage, such poison wouldn’t pose any danger to him. But for the prince, who had yet to form a magic circle, such poison would be lethal enough to take his life. "A poison that contained ingredients from the Kharnavos Continent. How amusing." Spencer chuckled softly. Meanwhile, the maid was sweating profusely upon hearing Spencer’s deduction. She was restrained by the guards and couldn’t move a single inch. "Forgive me, Sir Reed." She cried aloud. "My family was heavy in debt, and someone offered me a high sum to lace the substance in the prince’s food. They said it was just to hinder the prince from attending to his investiture. They never mention anything about poison." The maid’s face was extremely pale. What she thought was some laxative or some other substance turned out to be poison intended to kill the prince. Even if she were given the permission or courage to do so, she would never dare to kill a prince of Aldros. Moreover, this prince was appointed to become the crown prince today. Hearing her statement, Spencer didn’t believe she was lying. The poison appeared no different than regular medicine and didn’t evoke any smell resembling poison. It was found out because Spencer had already covered the entire palace with his magic, and anything out of place would illuminate. This was also the reason why the guards were able to pinpoint this particular maid. "Were there any other traces of poison elsewhere?" Spencer turned to the guard and questioned. "Replying to Sir Reed, the poison had only come into contact with this maid. According to the investigation, the maid is named Bea. She entered the palace at the age of 13 and worked for 25 years." The guard responded. His response effectively eliminated all other suspects. Spencer nodded. He had taken the guard’s words into account, but he would investigate and verify the statement at a later date. For now, his attention turned to the prince. "Prince Leonard, please forgive this old subordinate for allowing this mishap." Spencer bowed deeply and apologized solemnly. Leonard’s face remained stoic on the surface. But silently, he was shocked to the core. ’What kind of mess did my request turn out to be?’ Initially, he wanted to use poison to hopefully return to his original world. But after thinking about it, he realized it was quite ridiculous of him. He was about to brush the matter aside once Spencer’s search resulted in a null. Yet who could have imagined there was actually a conspiracy? Having received Leonard’s memories, he only knew some of the people. As a cowardly person, he had only interacted with Spencer the most. Nevertheless, he recollected some memories of Bea. Bea was a veteran maid with 25 years of experience. She was someone whom the original Leonard had stumbled across numerous times. She was meticulous and never had any demerits in her name. Therefore, nobody would have suspected her to be attempting to lace on his food. ’Spencer said the poison’s ingredient hailed from the Kharnavos Continent. But it can’t be that simple.’ Leonard thought to himself. The current world he resided in was known as Aetherion. Aetherion was home to five dominant continents, each representing unique cultures, strengths, and philosophies. Kharnavos lay in the frozen north, a land of war-hardened survivors and icy magic. Vel Serentha rested in the mystical west, cloaked in forest and fading glory. Xundraeth stretched across the sprawling east, ancient, massive, and fiercely ordered. Valdoria stood at the center, the diplomatic and arcane nexus of Aetherion. Dregalia lurked in the shadowed south, fractured and feared by all. Leonard was the 5th prince of Aldros, and soon to be crown prince. At the current political stage, Valdoria was allied with Kharnavos due to the latter’s need to resist Xundraeth’s expansion. To summarize, it would be ridiculous for Kharnavos to be harming him at this juncture. Another possibility was that Xundraeth hoped to frame Kharnavos for such a crime. However, Leonard still couldn’t believe Xundraeth to be the main culprit either. Although Xundraeth’s disdain toward Valdoria was never a secret, they still wouldn’t be foolish enough to provoke Valdoria for a mere 5th prince. As the 5th prince, otherwise known as the weakest and cowardliest prince to the outside world, Xundraeth would have been pleased to see such a person being a crown prince. Why would they want to kill him? After pondering about it, Leonard nearly laughed aloud. The complex intrigues in this world were more complicated than Leonard’s previous world. The reason behind the conclusion? It was simple. This world had magic and many more fantasy elements. "Very interesting." He muttered. "Prince Leonard?" Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong?" Spencer had already done an analysis on Leonard earlier and confirmed there was no foreign magic or substance within his body. Hence, he was startled when he heard Leonard calling the incident interesting. If it were the usual time, then Leonard would have reacted in fear and begged him to let him stay in the room. Spencer even thought about a number of convincing reasons to persuade Leonard to start heading out to complete the investiture. "What could be wrong with me?" Leonard glanced at him and said. "I requested poison, and somehow, there’s really poison available. My palace sure has an abundance of resources. Is that not interesting?" "Ah, yes, interesting indeed." Spencer smiled awkwardly and nodded, unsure of what else to say.