"Sweets. I personally ordered for them. They are the top exporting product of the Fruie duchy. I thought you might like it." Julian then opened the box, revealing an elegant wooden tray of cookies.
Arthur scratched his head sheepishly with a genuine look of delight. He reached for one of the sweets, his hand momentarily leaving the book on the desk. Julian watched him closely, a faint, almost imperceptible smirk touching the corner of his lips as he saw Arthur's excitement towards the sweets.
'Isn't this something that noble women would prefer over tea? Anyway, brother has gone out of his way to get this for me. I must show appreciation.' Arthur thought to himself as he smiled at Julian.
Arthur took a delicate bite of the cookie, his face lighting up with genuine pleasure. "This is delicious, brother," he said, his focus entirely on the treat. Julian's smile grew.
Overall the cookie seemed like a highly regarded and well-made dish from the Fruie duchy, but maybe because of the time it took to arrive at the royal capital, it had turned bad. It was still sweet but had hints of bitterness, almost like the white substance found in weeds.
The very faint, unpleasant bitterness lingered on Arthur's tongue for sometime after the first bite. The flavour he couldn't quite place but dismissed as a unique spice. As he chewed, Julian's warm subtle smile remained unchanged on his face, but his eyes were glaring intensely like he was expecting something to happen. Julian slowly began to back away from Arthur.
"I think the dish may have spoiled during its delivery, brother…" Arthur said as he was now feeling the faint bitterness turn into a extremely bitter and unpleasant taste. The sudden, sharp bitterness spread through Arthur's mouth, followed by an immediate wave of intense dizziness. He stumbled backwards, knocking down a bunch of books and papers.
His vision was slowly blurring and Arthur now had a searing hot pain in his stomach, as almost the dish was burning his insides. Arthur finally managed to understand what was happening.
Arthur was scared beyond belief. Far worse than the searing pain, knowing that he would die, gripped his heart as he looked up at Julian's face. The serene, warm and gentle smile that was always on his face was gone and was now replaced by a disgusted look that had no trace of brotherly love. The world tilted violently as Arthur's knees gave way.
"What have you done…" Arthur said, but his voice was barely a choked whisper as he couldn't extend his voice.
'I can still survive…' Arthur thought to himself. Healing spells were quite common among mages now but his healing magic far surpassed just basic knowledge.
Arthur tried casting a healing spell on himself, but it failed due to insufficient mana. The poison that was in the cookie was a fast acting poison that would kill the person who consumed it while also removing all traces of mana inside their body.
"It seems like you are trying to heal yourself. Don't bother, this poison removes all mana from one's body and ultimate kills the person unfortunate enough to drink it. I've killed Edwin and now with your death, I will be the sole inheritor of the crown." Julian said with a scoff, turning to leave the room before anyone sees him.
Arthur crawls up and grabs the book from the table with all his strength remaining.
'Even though I can't use full magical spells, I still have a tiny bit of mana left to activate a premade mana circle. If I am going to die then so are you.' Arthur thought to himself bitterly, as he flipped through the book to a random page.
Arthur raised one of his hands outward and pointed at Julian who had his back turned to Arthur and was leaving. The other hand was placed on the random mana circle and he activated it. A blue light burst from the book and his fingertips suddenly turned blue as well. The light continued to expand turning all of his body into the mysterious blue light. His vision faded.
At the eastern border of the Percivell Empire, there was a county that was situated and built adjacent to the seaside. The county was decently large and mainly a military city, consisting of soldiers and their families. The land's lord was Royce Ravenna and he was a marquess, therefore the land, even though it was large, it was still smaller than most land owned by other marquess in the empire. A larger land was not needed as Ravenna served a crucial purpose to the royal family even though they were situated all the way at the border. A perfect capital for creating the Percivell army. The bastion city was basically a large barracks for training elite soldiers for the Royal Swordsman and even normal soldiers within the army.
Inside the castle, a boy around the age of 16 was seated in a well cushioned sofa next to a scholarly looking man. The boy's face had a scar straight across his face, over his nose, and one that went straight through his eye area. He had pale white hair that flowed down to his neck. His grey eyes blended in against his pale complexion and the delicate features of his face. He was wearing a noble attire. His face was in his palms, trying to ease the headache he was experiencing. His head was pounding.
"Young master, we must continue. The lord has asked me prepare you for for next month." The scholarly looking man said as he tapped him in a urging manner. The man pushed the papers on the desk in front of them towards him.
'My head feels like it might explode. Where am I? Have I been saved from the poison?' The pain in his head felt like many needles poking his brain. His vision slowly cleared, to show him a strange room and a scholarly man. But the most strange thing was his hands were not his own, they were much smaller, pale and covered in scars.
"I am… Arthur?" Arthur asked himself as he looked at his attire and surroundings.