Chapter 2

It turns out that I now lived in Florentine city. It was built at the border of the enchanted forest, and our fiefdom is located at the very edge of the kingdom's territory.

Our family has been serving the Turox Kingdom since its establishment 8 centuries ago, pretty young if your gonna consider the age of other neighboring kingdoms, having several millennia of history. I could not even think of that, since on earth my country only has a few hundred years of written history before I got here.

The Turox kingdom is located in the east of the continent, and behind them is the enchanted forest, and in front, is the mountainous region that separates the entire northern hemisphere from the rest of the continent. They called it as the peak of heavens, also known as the northern mountains, that serve as our country's natural wall against the monsters invasion of the far north.

Turox kingdom is located at the edge of the continent, and it was known for its rich deposit of mineral, called Turox ore, hence why the kingdom was named after it.

The Turox ore is known for its non-rusting properties. They used to mix this unique ore, with other metals to keep it from rusting and it also helps in improving the hardness of the material.

"Young Master, I brought your breakfast. I also inform the other personnel in the house that you will be staying inside your room for the whole day. At the same time, I also ask the kitchen to cook some soup to supplement your health." said by the Melissa as she suddenly entered the room while holding a tray of food.

"That's good, just leave the food on my table. I'll call you when I'm done." I said to her as I slowly sat up from my bed.

"Please call us if you need anything, Young Master." Said by her as she vows her head and exited my room.

The tray contains a variety of dishes, like hard bread, a vegetable soup with little bits of unknown meat, and boiled eggs. There's also a small plate of cheese and dried fish.

The diet of this era, mostly uses salt as a seasoning. The practice of using herbs, spices, and other condiments is rare, based on what I can remember.

Since most of the varieties of spices, and herbs are still unknown and undiscovered or too expensive to use in a regular meals.

Salt is still a cheap commodity, since were located near the sea. It also helps that salt can be used in a lot of things, which makes the prices of the salt fairly stable.

As I started eating my food, I found out that Lucas, the original owner of this body, also had a lot of knowledge regarding the trade and economy of the kingdom and his own territory, mostly because it was always included in his private lessons.

For a child, this is a big accomplishment since, based on what I gather, other noble children are busy bragging about their wealth and spending their money on lavish parties and stupid games.

But now, I possess the body of a noble child name Lucas Flynn Beaufort and I am currently at 11 years of age turning 12 in several months.

At the same time, my father, Hubert, is known for being a strong and kind man. Unlike the original owner of this body, who has an inflated ego and a proud noble demeanor, which is the complete opposite of his father.

Though the original Lucas was like that, he also put great importance when it comes to his education, and he also has huge aspirations in life. Unfortunately, he died too young, and I now take over his body.

The only thing that I can do now is to live my life to the fullest, and find something meaningful to do. Because I highly doubt that I could back and I'm not even eager to that too, as I have nothing there.

Unlike my original life on earth wherein, I lived an ordinary life. I now have the resources and that I can use on my advantage.

I'll make sure that I will enjoy every moment of this life, and won't repeat the same boring life I have on earth.

However, I still have a lot of problems that I need to resolve in this life, as this body is plagued by an illness called "creeping death" by people from this continent.

This is a rare illness that causes a person to suffer from fever and muscle pain. Though it might sound simple, it is also one of the deadliest illnesses known on this continent. Hence why it was named creeping death since it would kill you slowly. What a shame to transmigrated into this body, but I don't have a choice so I just have to deal with it.

The illness will worsen as the person grows in age, and that will lead to their death during their sleep. It also didn't help that Lucas predicament is complicated.

While others might experience the illness in weeks, the original Lucas suffers from all of it, in one night. Can you Imagine it? An entire week of pain that I have to deal with in just one night. It also means that the pain has multiplied by several times.

Aside from being a rare illness, "creeping death" also has a high record of fatalities.

Only a small number of the population has experienced this illness but only a few survive, and every case known has been recorded and saved in the kingdom's archives.

It commonly starts at a young age and most often than not, it's the nobility that always suffers from this disease, and only has a few cases for peasants. The symptoms will last till the age of 14 since most people died, before they reach the age of 15.

There are only a handful of known recorded cases that we're able to survive from this disease, and most of them came from a prestigious noble family.

This is the reason why the Beaufort house was always get into panic, every time Lucas suffered from this illness. As the only heir of the house of Beaufort, his existence is vital for the survival and continuation of the Beaufort family line.

Based on what I read so far I can conclude that the illness itself is not contagious, but can be said as hereditary. This might be one of the most deadly common diseases for the noble family, but it doesn't mean that everyone is plagued with it.

A good example of this, is a record that shows, that most of the recently risen noble family doesn't suffer from this illness, especially for those families that have just risen in position for the past hundred years.

"Ah! This is pretty long and there's too much information that it makes my head a little painful" I said as I tilted my head and looked at the ceiling, which had some carvings of unknown monster being slayed by a man.

"Heck, I thought this would be easy since I already have all of his memory, but dumping all that information at once is not helpful at all." I said in grumpy mood.

But what can I do? I need to know all the information on this world, for me to thrive and survive in this new environment.

As I went back on organizing all of my memories, it turns out that my father had 2 other siblings, and none of them have the same disease as mine, but according to the family records, a few of our ancestors have cases who lost their lives to the same illness.

The Beaufort house before had more people than now, but unfortunately, my father's siblings had died due to a war that happened a few decades ago. And it happened when my father is still a young king sadly he was the only one left, who can succeed as the rightful heir of the Beaufort house.

And because of this rare diseases the church, use this to their advantage, as they raised their flags and used this as a propaganda to spread and strengthen their influence on the noble family of Turox kingdom.

They claim that their prayers and blessings are effective on lessening the effects of the "Creeping Death", but for anyone to receive their grace, an offering must be made first, in exchange for their service as it uses their precious power.

Yes, it indeed has some effect, but it also means that a priest must always stay on my side all the time to make sure that I received the continuous blessing from their prayer which would mean a massive expenditure of gold coins. Their charge ridiculous amount for their wasted time and precious powers.

They used their power and authority to take advantage of the situation in exchange for mortal wealth. The funny thing is, sometimes they also used this method, to determine if someone is evil or good. You know donation if you donate a lot of money all of your sin would be pardon.

Aside from that, they also told me that my chance of survival,from this illness, is not guaranteed, even with their blessings bestowed on me.

They claimed that my chances of survival is depended on my loyalty and piousness to the church of Agatha. This is also the reason why my father hates the church so much, because he knows the truth behind their history.

Due to these instances, the church has taken advantage of the situation. That every time someone gets diagnosed with the illness of "Creeping Death", most often than not, people would always call for help from the church.

Especially those noble's houses that have only risen recently. They never hesitate to spend huge amounts of gold in exchange for their blessings and this also serves as a way for them to ally themselves on the side of the church. Even though they know that the royal family forbids it.

But the weird thing is, the kingdom and church wouldn't hesitate to support and allocate resources, as well as power, to anyone who could survive this illness, but in exchange, they must take a vow of loyalty to the throne or serve under the church.

Lucas, the original owner of this body, aspires to become someone who will overcome this illness and the one who will restore the honor of the Beaufort house, under the shelter of the royal family. With this goal imprinted on his mind, Lucas has never felt remorse towards anyone nor did he try to neglect his studies.

He always makes sure that he excels at everything, that a nobleman must be known for, whether it's about politics or etiquette. Since he doesn't want to be treated as a joke once he reaches the capital.

As a man that came from the modern earth, All I can say is that the original Lucas, is a strong child, to be able to persevere and still have his motivation in life, despite all the challenges he has to face.

In addition, Based on the information that I can remember, I have a hint that the royal family knows something about the illness but they kept a tight lip about it.

With this thought on my mind, I finished the last drop of soup from my bowl and hurriedly called Melissa to take it out of my room.

I used the bell on the bedside table to call her attention and pulled the string multiple times to ring it, and a few minutes, after this, the door to my room opens and the butler of the house, James, had appeared.

James entered my room together with my father and other maids.

And as "Father" walked into my room with a deadpan expression on his face he suddenly said something I didn't expect.

"Lucas, I heard from Melissa that your illness had relapsed. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" said by him and although he doesn't show any emotion on his face, his tone had given it away, as it had a hint of worry on it.

As someone who grew up on Earth, and has seen a lot of drama in life although his reaction didn't say it, but I know for a fact, that this is his way to show his concern and love to his son. The only problem is that his kid doesn't know it.

Although the original Lucas is smart, he is still a kid and doesn't have a lot of experience when it comes to relationships, besides, adults have a different way of thinking compared to kids. This might be one of the reasons behind their misunderstanding. The original Lucas have always thought that his father was strict.

But Hubert, that is now my father, can be considered as a modern dad who had trouble keeping up with his family, especially with his child.

"I'm alright father, this is just the same as last year. I only need to take a rest for a day and everything would be fine," I said with a small smile on my lips.

"Don't give up, son, remember you are the heir of Beaufort's house and will succeed my position in the future and I have great expectations for you.", father said with a straight face. Though I know that he just want to motivate me, but to me it sounds like a big burden was suddenly placed on my shoulders.

Aside from the guilt that I have felt for possessing this body, and even though I have all the memories and emotions of his kid I'm still not used to calling him father.

I don't really know if the soul of the original Lucas is still alive, or just hiding within me, but I know that if he heard this word from his father, he would definitely be really happy, as I can also feel that emotion rising within my chest.

"Thank you father, I'm glad to hear those words from you, rest assured that everything will be better and I can overcome this illness," I replied, not as a man from earth, but Lucas as his child. The emotion of happiness and enthusiasm is overflowing in my chest. The smile on my face cannot be hidden by anything and is seen by everyone, giving them the impression of me as a cheerful kid, which is the opposite of the original Lucas.

"That's good to hear Lucas, lie down and take your rest. If you have anything you want, just ask James or Melissa. They will always be there to help you." This time my father had a small smile on his lips while he said those words, because I know for a fact, that it is rare for him to receive a smile, from his son and I know that this would make him happy.

Most of the time that the original Lucas had a conversation with his father, he always keeps a straight and cold face, thinking that by doing so, he is showing his dignity and respect to his father, not knowing that his father only wanted to have a casual talk with him most of the time, but *sigh* as I looked at my window and saw the strange yet familiar view from my room. It was the beautiful terrain of the mountainous region and while doing so, a yawn came out of my mouth.

"Young Master, we're done cleaning your room. You can now go back to your sleep and take your rest, and if you need anything please don't hesitate to call us." Said by James while the maids closed all the curtains in my room before they leave.

My father was the last one who left my room, but before leaving my room, he touches my head and patted it while saying "rest well my son."

Now that I was left alone again, sleepiness had taken over my body as the fatigue from last night catch up.

It sure is nice to have a second chance in life, even though it's not perfect. At least for now, I have my own father and a new adventure awaits for me. I thought off before I drifted back to sleep.