As expected, Aidan woke up the next morning with a nasty headache. Anyone else in his place would have vowed to never drink so much again. Aidan, however, vowed to drink even more, once the opportunity presented itself. If he managed to never sober up, he would naturally also never experience a hangover.

He had obviously no idea how far they were from the capital but he hoped for the sake of his stomach contents it wasn't too far. In his previous life Aidan had passionately hated only three things: broken umbrellas, car alarms at night and slow internet connection. Now he considered adding item number four - horses.

“General Minn, how are you doing today?” asked the boy-Emperor, as he overtook him.

Oh, may gods spare him from useless small talk at a time like that!

“I'm fine, thank you,” Aidan answered, while every word he said felt like a nail hammered down into his poor head.

“I'm glad to hear it,” the Emperor-in-Waiting smirked. “When I mentioned to General Lox that you were inebriated last night, he seemed very surprised. Apparently, you've been practicing asceticism for the last ten years. I'm curious to what made you give up your vows so suddenly.”

At this point Aidan couldn't be bothered to think of some bullshit explanation, so he just kept quiet.

“You were much more talkative last night, if I remember correctly,” the look in the boy's blue eyes was impatient. “Why are you so quiet? Not used to the effects of wine? Was that the first drink you've ever had?”

His first drink? Oh boy. If he only knew. Aidan would have laughed out loud, if his head hadn't been pounding so bad.

“Mhm,” was all he could master to say out loud.

The boy didn't say anything anymore and just kept riding next to him quietly, giving him weird looks.

Most likely the young emperor-to-be was bored. Aidan couldn't blame him – he was also bored but, honestly, he didn't have any desire to babysit a pampered royal. What a shame this realm didn't have podcasts!

The ride to the capital was really long and incredibly tedious – there was nothing but woods and some poorly maintained villages around. The person who was ruling this place was truly incompetent.

The Emperor-in-Waiting noticed Aidan's unhappy demeanor.

“Are you not looking forward to seeing my uncle?” he asked.

His uncle? Ah, the infamous Regent. Aidan was actually a bit curious to see what that evil man looked like – he was almost sure he had either a pornstache or a big hairy mole. All villains tended to have one or the other.

“Mhm,” yet again Aidan gave an ambiguous response.

The Prince's expression darkened and his voice became deeper, as if all of the sudden he was a different person.

“I dare you to answer my next question with “mhm”,” he said.

Shivers ran up Aidan's spine. Caught off guard, he looked at the guy – the little blue-eyed angel was gone. All he saw was an icy stare of someone who was sure of his power.

What a creepy metamorphosis. And here he thought this person was not so bad for a royal!

“As I said before, I'm grateful for what you did for me, but there are limits to my gratitude,” the Prince continued. “So, tell me what do you think of my uncle?”

Aidan was in a bit of a pickle. He didn't want to antagonize the “little prince” with another “mhm” but at the same time he had actually never met the Regent and all his thoughts on the man were limited by what he had heard from others. Also, most likely anything he would say now can and will be used against him.

“Well, he is a man...,” Aidan said carefully.

“Yes, I believe, we're all aware he's not a woman,” the Emperor-in-Waiting rolled his eyes.

“His rule is quite acceptable,” Aidan tried to come up with something generic that could be interpreted either way.

“So you think, his recent policies regarding the slaves are quite acceptable too?” the guy wouldn't leave him alone.

Aidan felt himself perspire. Damn, he really had no idea.

“I do not dare question my monarch,” said Aidan finally after a big pause. That was a sentence that he never ever thought he'd hear himself say. There was nothing that Aidan loved more than questioning authority. And he laughed at the concept of inherited power. But here he was now – admitting he was a bootlicker for the Emperor.

“Yet, I see you went against my uncle's decree and kept a slave of your own,” there was a cruel smile on boy's lips.

What? He was a slave owner? Why was it that every single day he found out something new and horrible about Adnan Minn?

“I have recognized my mistake,” he said sincerely. “And I will not be keeping any slaves in the future.”

Prince's eyes widened.

“Really? And what about that little tryst you had with one of the slaves “rescued” from the savage fort? You can imagine what my uncle will have to say about that.”

Now the boy's expression reminded him of a tiger who knew he had his prey cornered.

“What tryst? I didn't touch the guy, I swear! Disgusting,” Aidan exclaimed.

“Really?” the Prince asked. He sounded slightly disappointed for some reason. But then his face suddenly brightened – scary predator disappeared, and the little angel was back. “Well, then you have no reason to be worried about seeing my uncle, right?”

Aidan nodded, hoping the guy will finally stop his interrogation. Luckily, the Prince suddenly seemed to be distracted by his own thoughts.

Another couple of hours passed, and they had finally entered the capital. Aidan managed to overhear that it was called Ruan.

The place looked better than he had imagined – it was clean, there were no rats running around, people looked well-off. There were also a lot of food stands – and Aidan had to admit that the smells were delicious. The houses seemed sturdy and well-maintained.

Aidan wasn't an avid reader of historical or pseudo-historical fantasy novels but weren't these medieval towns supposed to be dark, stinky and full of pest and cholera? Nonetheless, he was happy it was not the case.

His loyal gloomy soldier led the way to Adnan Minn's residence. And, thank heavens, he did – otherwise, Aidan would have been completely lost.

General's residence looked impressive – he was obviously a rich and influential man. Aidan didn't know how to feel about it. On one hand, he was happy he wasn't destitute in this world and had the means to buy wine, on the other hand he couldn't help but think about where all of these riches came from. Most likely this prosperity had something to do either with warfare and plundering or with using slave labor and underpaying his servants. Or with all of it combined.

As Aidan was walking through the halls of “his” residence, he noticed, though, that the inside was much more humble and simple than the outside. The halls were dark and damp, also it smelled a bit like dust.

“Do you wish to proceed directly to the dining hall or will you rest first, General?” asked the soldier, who was following him closely

Aidan thought for a bit and realized that he was more sleepy than hungry, so he decided to catch some Z's first.

“I'll leave you here then,” said the soldier, bowing his head. “Let me know, if you need anything.”

Aidan opened the heavy doors in front of him – now he at least knew where Adnan's bedroom was.

As he entered and saw what was inside, he thought he was going to faint. The room was spacious, yet almost completely empty – there was just a metal construction there that only someone with good imagination could mistake for a bed. To Aidan it looked more like a coffin. Was he supposed to sleep on it? Or in it? Was he this world's Count Dracula?

He inspected the “bed” a bit closer and noticed that there was a long whip tied to the bedpost. Almost instinctively Aidan jumped back.

Was this thing for self-flagellation? Gosh, he hoped not. But if it wasn't for self-flagellation, then it was for hitting other people which was even worse. Great. Now he hoped, this whip WAS actually for self-flagellation.

Either way, the Emperor-in-Waiting was right - this General was truly a big pervert. Aidan had not a single thing in common with him, other than his appearance. Why was he transported into this body out of all the possible options? Wasn't somebody normal available? Or if not normal, at least somebody who didn't give off serial killer vibes?

In any case, even if Adnan was a crazy ascetic, Aidan was not about that kind of life. He peeked outside, hoping his loyal soldier would be lingering around somewhere, so he could ask at least for some bedding. And maybe a pillow. Who knew these things were not a given!

The soldier was surprisingly nowhere to be found. But he saw a woman passing nearby. Aidan waived at her and, as she approached, he asked her politely, if she knew where he could find a mattress and a blanket.

The woman looked at him fearfully and mumbled something incomprehensible. Aidan repeated his question but again got a series of weird mumbles and hand gestures in response. Just as he was about to leave the woman alone and find someone who could communicate, he made a scary discovery.

The woman didn't have a tongue. It was either cut out or torn out.

Aidan also lost his ability to talk for a while.

“Can I help you, General?” he heard a voice behind him. Relieved, he turned around and saw an elderly man with a tray in his hand.

Yes, just in his one hand.

Because his other arm was missing.

Aidan sighed. Was there anyone in this house who wasn't disabled in some way? A horrible suspicion rose in him – it was all the cruel deeds of General Minn! He was definitely someone who would punish his servants by cutting off their limbs and tearing out their tongues.

Again, why was this the body he was inhabiting? Aidan was aware that he himself was not a very good person – he had lied, shoplifted, streamed movies illegally and also defaced some properties with highly inappropriate graffiti art. But Adnan was operating on a whole different level.

Just earlier in the day Aidan didn't give two fucks about his life one way or another. But now he suddenly felt an icy fear creep into his heart – what if his death meant that General Minn got to return and continue torturing, killing and maiming people? What if even without Aidan dying the General would just randomly take over his body again at some point? Also, what other horrible things was this guy involved in?

Out of the blue Aidan couldn't help but care. How very bothersome.

To figure all of this out he would need much more background information than he currently possessed.

Aidan took the tray out of the man's trembling hand and said:

"Could you please ask my... soldier-helper to come by, when you see him?"

The man looked confused.

"Soldier?"

"The man who returned together with me?" Aidan felt embarrassed that after all this time he hadn't managed to find out his hard-working helper's name.

"Ah, you mean your slave Corus, General?"

Aidan gasped involuntarily but then managed to collect himself and nod. So that was the slave that the boy-emperor was referring to before... The situation was extremely unpleasant to say the least.

He returned to his bedroom and sat down on the metal bed, suddenly feeling entirely helpless and defeated.