But some pieces were missing. "What are those gaps?" he muttered, staring at the cracked earth. Why would parts of Lucien own life be erased?
"What are those missing memory's?" He questioned looking at the dry land.
Why would his memory be gone?
He thought for a minute but didn't find any satisfying answer. Glancing at the system panel with the mission countdown, he cursed.
"If I don't find a woman soon, I will surely die."
But why wouldn't the system give him the memory of that certain time? This question still lingered in his head.
"That's a question for future me," Lucien thought.
But why was he feeling weak, and why did his throat feel like a desert that hadn't touched a drop of water in a thousand years? As the numbness of his body started to fade, the dryness of the throat of the previous Lucien and hunger started to come to the surface.
Right now, Edward—no, Lucien—felt like he was gonna die, he was starving.
"Is this how people of this land felt like?" Lucien clenched his stomach, forcing himself to sit up. The courtyard's dry wind slapped his face, and dust clung to his sweat-drenched skin.
That was a terrifying thought... at least for someone like him, who came from the 21st century.
He remembered how he cried during
Grave of the Fireflies.
He couldn't accept the death of the little girl and the harshness of society after the war.
But looking at the memory of Lucien, Edward couldn't help but flinch.
Anything that happened in the territory didn't concern the baron family, as they should have highly taxed meat and those fine wheat grains from the southern part of the kingdom.They shouldn't be in such a dire situation.
As you couldn't ignore the wellness and somewhat well-off state of the family of Baron Argrave specially after the marriage with the new baroness.
But if the memory served him right, there was indeed a shortage of food and water in Harranhus Castle—but that was a week ago.Now, for more than three days, Lucien had not been given any food by the maids or butler.
Three days without food. Three days without water. And the strange part was—no one seemed to care."Strange," Lucien muttered.
From Lucien's fragmented memories, the explanation had always been the same: there is no food in storage. Everyone is starving.
As he slowly walked toward the castle kitchen, he felt something fishy was surely going on.The kitchen was on the castle's base floor, first floor on the left side. After walking some pace, one could find the kitchen.Going there, he simply demanded water and food. But the cook refused him politely at first, then coldly started to misbehave with Lucien.
Seeing this, Edward felt both pity and anger. How could he, a Baron's son, be treated like nobody? If anything was a problem, the servants should suffer, not the future lord. An uncontrollable rage started brewing in Edward's heart—not knowing if it was him or the body's previous owner.
Everyone after transmigration lived well enough to tell a story, but why was he this unlucky? First, the system's demand, and now this. How could he do the deed if he didn't have the strength?
Although he could ask the system for food, with the memories and those plump sisters and mother, nothing aligned with the situation. He was starving to death—so how could they be so plump and vigorous?
After coming out of the kitchen, like the previous Lucien, he also started to walk outside into the castle courtyard.
"System, can you give me something to eat and drink?"[Host needs to prove he is capable first. Until then, the system cannot help the host.]
"Damn the gods." Edward cursed straight away.
His weak body, lack of water, and drained strength made it hard to think clearly. Now the system wouldn't help him either. Truly, his bad luck had followed him from his previous world.
Walking in the courtyard, Edward looked ahead. There was a small garden-like space, and beyond that lay a large training ground in front of the castle. On the left side were the soldier barracks, which stretched down to the castle's lower floor. It was said a prison was there where the barracks stood, and most soldiers and knights lived along the fortress wall.
Beyond the training ground, a wide staircase led down to a long, stretched garden. Edward recognized such gardens from manga and TV shows. The whole castle was surrounded by an ancient, white stone fortress. It was said to have been built long before House Argrave settled in the land.
In front of the castle, an iron gate stood like a titan.
Beyond the iron gate lay Argrave town, also protected by a sturdy wall built by the ancestors of the Argrave household.
Snapping out of his thoughts, admiring the castle's architecture and the medieval town's beauty, he glanced at the nearly empty training hall.
Only one or two soldiers lounged there, some rusty swords resting in a weapon case—clearly no longer used.
"Noon, young master!" One soldier noticed him immediately, stood up, and saluted in the Argrave way, clenching his fist over his heart.
Looking at the frail, young soldier and the other who could barely stand, Lucien nodded slightly.
"What happened to them?" Edward questioned quietly in his head.
At least he wasn't treated badly everywhere—there were still some who showed respect.
"Where is everyone? Isn't it mandatory to train every day?"
"Young lord! Lord and Knight Rafayal left for House Reign three days ago and still haven't returned."
Right, my father has been missing from his barony since three days ago.
"It must be that newlywed bitch that prevent me from eating food," anger simmered in his blood, but he kept a poker face in front of them.
"Have you eaten anything?" he asked.
Hearing that, both soldiers' faces lit up.
"No, lord. We haven't been given any rations for the last three days. Not even the mendatory broth."
"All of us are starving. Please, lord, do something," the frail boy pleaded without hesitation, ignoring that in front of him stood the future master of the house.
Confusion turning into clarity, everything finally fell into place.
"Are only the newly added soldiers left behind?" Lucien questioned.
Confused by the question, the young soldiers, without thinking, blurted out,"We the newly added soldiers and some veteran soldiers of House Argrave were left behind, young lord. The others, along with House Sally's soldiers, were taken by the Lord."
"Fuck!" Lucien muttered as a cold realization washed over him.
Was this an assassination attempt on his father?
Why else would he leave behind the loyal soldiers of House Argrave and take the troops of House Sallor the baroness's men?