Jameson let out a sigh as he closed his eyes, letting the warm water relax his muscles. How long had it been since he woke up in this new world? Were there others like him?
It wasn't easy just accepting a new life, or was he hallucinating?
"He knew he didn't deserve this second chance, nor Shannon.
Last he remembered, he had a bad argument with his sister, after what she had done to Shannon, pulling a real-life Carrie stunt.
He remembered trying to stop Shannon from running into the road, but in that moment, there was nothing he could do to save her. In a fit of anger, we walked up to the terrace only to get the burning smell of tyres mixed with the metal in the air. Shannon was dead, and he did nothing, weak and powerless against his sister.
Sasha had followed him to the terrace, wanting to console her little brother and also make sure he wouldn't utter a word of what she had done, but in their struggle, he slipped and fell off the roof.
"Ethan!" she shrieked in fear. All Ethan could feel in the moment was the rain falling on his skin and how his wet hair clung to his head when he heard a voice.
"Do you want revenge? Do you want to fix everything if you had your way, to bring her back to life?" the voice asked.
"What a cruel joke, but if truly there was a way, I'll protect her this time with my very life and expose the crooks, along with my sister," he muttered, not really believing it would truly happen.
"Consider it done, welcome to Androva, Prince Jameson," and Ethan's body fell on top of the roof of a car with impact, causing it to cave in, the windows shattered with pieces of glass flying around, cutting him in the face, and everything went dark.
The very company his sister was an investor in after years of being their top writer, he vowed to destroy them, air out all their dirty secrets and protect her this time.
Suddenly, Ethan's body jerked, bringing him back to reality. It truly happened, it wasn't a cruel joke, and he needed to find her fast if she truly was alive and help this prince do his bidding.
He took a small, warm towel from a tray on a stool beside the bathtub and placed it on his face, easing further into the bath.
"It's not like I'm the star of the show anyway, I'll get there when I can," he mumbled to himself again, having recovered half of his fragmented memories of the new body he lived in.
[Ding! New quest]
Jameson groaned; he was tired of all the quests already. Since he got here, he's been doing nothing but side quests. "Cursed system world," he gritted under his breath.
He was never a fan of system novels, let alone romance, but he knew how such stories worked because he loved watching anime.
Even though his writing style was different, he wrote more science fiction books than system books, because to him, they felt impractical and resonated less with reality.
He sat up in the bathtub, water splashing around, some landing on the smooth tiled floors, "open quest."
The system screen opened before him, [Awaken the other system, gain an ally or an enemy]
Truly, there was someone out there like him, and this person could either be a turning point in his life or the possible death of him, and this just confirmed it.
'Was the person even from his own world or someone else from another possible dimension? Now that'll be interesting, or maybe it's Shannon.' Jameson thought, his interest finally piqued.
___________________________________________________________________
Back at the courtroom, the king raised his hands, the room suddenly went quiet, clearing his throat, he stood up, "Welcome, all allies, trusted aides, Lords, Ladies, and friends, thank you for honouring the invitation." Came his deep commanding voice.
He looked around the room, meeting the eyes of the very people before him, before he continued, "As you all know, the kingdom of Androva has always had the tradition of selecting wives for the heir next in line to the throne, through well-sorted out alliances."
Some of the officials in the court nodded their heads in approval, while debutantes of the season held their heads high, like they were already the wives of the heir next in line to the throne, while the chaperones and the mothers in the court had a glimmer of mischief in their eyes, calculating how it would be their family to produce the next queen.
"Which has been practised by my ancestors and the ones before me. But…" Everyone's breath hitched as they waited to hear what this was.
Murmurs began to rise, 'Why the but, what does he mean by but?'
He continued, silencing the murmurs, "as I said, but this year will be different, for I have two sons and only one heir to the throne."
The second prince sat up in his seat, a warm smile resting on his face, expecting his father to proclaim him heir.
After all, it was well known that he was the most favoured child among his siblings, and from the start, he has been more involved in the affairs of the kingdom.
The air became tense. The people knew their current king was usually unpredictable.
Since the death of his first wife, things had become worse before he married the new queen.
"The nobles and the common folks of my kingdom shall contest for both of my sons, and whoever comes out as the new queen shall marry the heir apparent, and not only that, both the princes will have to prove their worth on becoming an heir."
Gasps were heard in the court.
Commoners, like the lower-class subjects of the kingdom, some people's faces dropped.
'I can't mingle with commoners,' a girl whispered to another.
'What an unlucky year this is,' a woman whispered to her husband.
For the other nobles, it was not a good outlook, because they never mingled with the commoners, especially the ones who didn't understand life outside their parents' wealth and status.
While for some, they thought it to be a good engagement, not just to boost the loyalty of the people, but maybe, just maybe, a kinder queen is what the government needed.
While the people in the court held their opinions, one royal was unhappy, the second prince.