Ch 1. Short end.
" Cough....Cough," A wheezing sound played out in a cold dark room somewhere within the palace . This room was simple and had little decoration with no grandeur or any artistic inclination, the room was as cold as ice with a lack of any heat source to warm the place. Maids and servants of all ages were moving all about carrying hot water in basins and towels along with blankets towards the only occupant of the bed.
This room was under the sole usage of his highness Julius von Andromeda, the sixth prince of the Ambrosius empire. The prince was known to have been sick since a young age, a trait he inherited from his mother, the same that led to her death during childbirth when her weak physicality couldn't handle it.
Julius had been living at the imperial palace until a month ago when the Empress practically banished after the sudden illness of his father the Emperor when discussion of succession rights divided the already fractured royal family. The Empress assumed control of the empire under the guise of regent till her son came of age with the backing of her family and father the Duke of Weisenhow. Each consort sought for her son to succeed as Emperor leading to factions being formed and lines being drawn, the only thing that stopped an outward Civil War was the Emperor was still alive no matter how ill he was.
Julius without any backing added with his already sickly nature was just an annoyance to deal with and was quickly dispatched to the outer reaches of the Empire, the barren lands. A land large enough to match a dukedom but with little to no resources to use and population to maintain it leading to every lord avoiding it and seeking territories under other lords or other regions.
At this moment, Julius Adams was questioning his life choices at this moment, whether he was still as sane as he thought himself to be or had he gone mad. A minute ago he was at the University of Cambridge, studying the many lessons history taught to humanity which people still ignore to this day, when he suddenly felt his head become heavy as if an immense weight was being pressed upon him before he passed out. The next minute was spent in an agonizing situation, his body just felt cold that the slightest wind caused him to feel as if he was on fire. His gym built sit body reduced to a scrawny, sickly one that could fall apart at the slightest touch.
Julius was still absorbing the download he received from the memories of the body's previous owner, he really had to give it to the former owner, the determination the 16 year old possessed was a thing rarely found in people. Knowing his lack of physical strength, Julius strengthened his mind from a young age, what he lacked in physical strength, he more than made it up with knowledge and ambition. Dreams of bringing about the golden with just his intelligence was what swam around his head from a young age, alas these were the dreams of a young boy with no inkling of the real world, a cruel world.
Thinking about all that happened to him since his childhood was something he couldn't imagine. Day after day, night after night of continuous pain, pain strong enough to drive one mad. To Julius, this was a foreign feeling, as someone who came from the 21st century with a healthy record and no mentioned illnesses, he was living the best of his life when he came to this body. He felt pains foreign to him, his entire body ached no matter which spot he focused the one next to it followed through, he was nearly going mad with all the pain. the only thing making him sane was the strong mind built by Julius over the years and the embarrassing scenario of failing where a 16 year old passed.
Looking to his right, he saw Edward Nors, his butler and the only person he could consider to be really loyal to him at the moment. Edward was an elderly man chasing at his late fifties, he watched through the growth of Julius's mother and his making him attached to Julius such that he continued to serve him even after his mother's death instead of looking for employment elsewhere. Julius felt a special bond with this man, a grandfather figure for a child who has little to no love from his other family members.
" Young Master, breakfast has been prepared and is being brought to your room as we speak, the course consists of your favorite honeyed ham with a portion of salad and white bread with butter together with orange juice." Edward started as helped Julius sit upwards while removing the wet blankets and positioning the pillows in an upright manner.
Julius groaned as he moved his aching body, " Thank you Edward, have Stella prepare a warm bath and freshments for me along with some clothes after breakfast."
" Of course young master, I shall do so at once."
And then the room fell into silence as the only sound heard was the shuffling of the maids as they removed the soaked blankets from the room and opened the curtains together with the windows, air instantly flew in bringing with it a fresh garden smell, a mixture of the different flowers and fruits were planted in the backyard garden. The sounds of birds and insects echoed throughout the place bringing about a rare form of peace, maybe a momentary form of peace.
'Oh Julius, what I would give to have these rare moments of peace before everything starts,' Julius thought. While the place was known as the barren lands, their still was a form of bureaucracy and governance or they would be no merit in him being here. Today was his first day as lord, the day he officially starts to govern and rule this land whether successfully or not was yet to be seen. One of major advantages Julius had over his predecessor was him coming from a more advanced civilization where events and the may forms of kingdoms were recorded as history. This was one of the few he actually thanked his luck by choosing history in the first place as a major.
The next moment he heard what he thought to be his imagination as words formed in front of him,
[ DING ..... SCANNING ... INITIATING ... INSTALLING .....
SCANNING HOSTS BODY .....
BODY FOUND INSUFFICIENT TO CARRY OUT TASKS...
LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION...
ACTIVATING EMERGENCY PROTOCOL 001334
INSERTING TUTORIAL MISSION AS EMERGENCY PROTOCOL...
SCANNING LOCATION.....
LOCATION OPTIMUM FOR THE HOSTS S....
RESOURCES ACTIVATED..
SHOP LOCKED...
ALL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS COMPLETE.....
WELCOME HOST, I AM THE LORD'S GUIDANCE SYSTEM
I HAVE FIVE COMPREHENSIVE FUNCTIONS: STATUS, SHOP, BLUEPRINT & DESIGN, SEED PACKAGE AND FINALLY THE LIBRARY.
TO USE ONE OF THEM JUST THINK ABOUT THE FUNSTION AND IT SHALL APPEAR BEFORE YOU. THE SYSTEM'S MISSION IS TO AID TO BUILD A STRONG AND SUFFICIENT EMPIRE. THE SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH TASKS THAT THE HOST CAN PERFORM AFTER EACH DEVELOPMENT, THE REWARDS WILL BE SATISFACTORY AND BONUSES MAY BE OFFERED. THE SYSTEM WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH THE HOSTS DEVELOPMENT, THE HOST CAN DEVELOP IN WHICHEVER DIRECTION THEY PLEASE.
ANY ANSWERS THE HOST NEEDS CAN BE FOUND IN THE LIBRARY FOR THE RIGHT PRICE. GOODBYE]