"Mother? Mother! Mother?!"

  "I don't want to go!"

  "Please don't send me away!"

  "I'll be good, I promise!"

  "Mother! MOTHER!!"

  Cain woke up from the same dreams he had been living with since the beginning of his reign.

  The occasional, now frequent nightmare of him engulfed in darkness, hearing himself as a child screaming for his mother in a repeated loop.

  He sighed, watching through his eyes as his body was being handled by a teenager without any political experience.

  "Morning, Cain," said the boy currently using his body.

  ("......Morning.")

  "Are you still mad about yesterday with Eleanor? I'm sorry for taking charge without your approval."

  He sighed, ("..... You're the one in control, there's nothing I could do.")

  "But still.... I'm really sorry. Sometimes I forget that this isn't my life or my body. I overstepped."

  ("It's fine....") Cain could feel the guilt bubbling inside Alex, ("There is a lot of work that need to be attended to.")

  "You're right."

  And the day went with Cain watching the boy's improving performance in the court to his relentless pursuit for a solution for the famine, with handling Eleanor's situation when he has time.

  He remembered the first days when he heard the boy cry for his parents, wishing to return home.

  Hearing his unconscious whimpers and sobs about his family, late friend, Max, his crush and his fears.

  "Dad.... It's too dark.... Don't leave me alone... Please...."

  "??.... I'm sorry I failed.... I'll try to be better.... I promise...."

  "Fredrick.... Fredrick..... I miss you, bro..."

  "Mia.... I.... I really just want to be by your side.... Don't shut me out.... I begging you...."

  "Max.... Snap out of it....! It's me.... Alex.... Please open your eyes...."

  Cain would feel the tears rolling down his face as he heard the cries, feeling hopeless on the situation. But he never told Alex about it.

  He watched the boy failing to adjust to the body the first three weeks— constantly tripping and falling an embarrassing amount of times.

  Cringing at how horrible his penmanship was, watching how the words looked like worms or wobbling circles before it became a near perfect replica of his own handwriting.

  [Side Quest: Dismantle Perfection

  —Change Cain's body

  —Add scars

  —Perform manual labor

  ?Duration: 21 days

  ?Reward: 500 points and 1 free spin on the wheel

  ?Failure: Civil war]

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  The moment Cain saw the quest displayed on the orange screen, he didn't know whether to laugh or curse at the sheer audacity of the quest.

  ("I oppose of this task.")

  "I agree," Alex responded, glaring at the System, "Something is definitely wrong with you for even planning this quest."

  [You're the one who was complaining about this body every chance you got.]

  "Yeah, but you're threatening war if I refuse. And that's even more messed up."

  [Your self-righteousness sickens me.]

  "Your existence sickens me."

  [That's being childish.]

  "I am a child!"

  [*Rolls eyes*]

  ('Being powerless..... The feeling I thought I wouldn't feel again. Then again, was I really in control?') Cain sighed at the thought, watching the two banter before he spoke, ("What's the purpose for my change?")

  [To humanize you.]

  "Of course you answer his questions but not mine."

  ("What do you mean by.... humanizing me?")

  [Apparently, you're built like a tower of meat and the height difference between you and the women is massive.]

  "Honestly, it reminds me to that big train through a small tunnel meme."

  ('Meme? The modern world is.... unique.')

  [How are you still considered a child with such a dirty mind?]

  ("So, the height difference is the reason for.... concern, correct?")

  [Exactly.]

  ("I see....")

  Soon, both males reluctantly agreed to perform the task with much resistance.

  And everyday for three weeks, Alex had to consume an.... elixir— which was a cold odorless liquid that constantly changing dark colors. The elixir bubbled violently as if it was boiling.

  ("That doesn't look.... safe.")

  "The System wants me dead," Alex backed away from the bottle.

  [Wow.... You really want a war to break out. Glad to see your true colors, Alex.]

  Cain felt Alex grit his teeth before pouring it into a goblet, drinking all of the elixir in one gulp, gagging at the undescribable bitter taste.

  "It tastes horrible!"

  ("Is this what depression taste like?")

  [I see you value peace. Good. You'll be drinking this twice a day until the quest is over :)]

  Cain felt intense hatred for the hovering screen, but he was unsure if the feeling was his or Alex's.

  The days that follow, he watched Alex consume the liquid, start a compost heap and learn to use the revolver in an area within the palace walls the System isolated.

  At first, Alex was acting lazy and complaining constantly when it came to the task as he also had meetings and documents to attend to everyday.

  Cain watched him improve despite the boy's awkward movements and emotional decisions that would've had him humiliated and killed if he wasn't in Cain's body.

  He also observed the interactions between Alex and Max, who apparently was the boy's dog before arriving to his world.

  Their relationship was foreign to him but he felt the warm he had always craved for since his childhood.

  Their constant bantering, the way they used to sit quietly during the first week before work increased and how they knew what the other wanted without words.

  Even if he tried to deny it, he secretly wished he had such a relationship with his brothers.

  That night after meeting with Abel, Alex laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling as they waited for the System to appear.

  "Hey, Your Majesty?"

  ("Yes?")

  "Sir Abel's really your half-brother, right?"

  ("Yes.... His mother was my mother's lady-in-waiting. However, the events leading to his birth was an accident.")

  "Would you tell me what happened? I-if you want..."

  ("Father had an argument with mother. The maids who were there during that time explained to me that mother was feeling insecure when she was with me. Her paranoia and father rarely having time for her led to an argument that caused him to drink in a fit of rage. Abel's mother, Clara, found him standing dangerously close to the pond one night, drunk. As she tried to help him, he defiled her and when she told him of her pregnancy, he had her stripped off her title and her family disowned her, forcing her to live in the slums, where Abel was raised.")

  "Damn.... That's harsh."

  ("And when I was born, mother blamed me for the incident and she even sent me to the North as Grand Duke when I was ten, which led to my resentment towards Abel and his mother. Though I know that saying all this won't excuse the horrible things I did.")

  "True.... Is that also why you hate Eleanor?"

  ("Yes... Because she's a constant reminder of the loss of control I've experienced.")

  "And what about Ruth?"

  ("I admit that I did manipulate her into having feelings for a beast like me. She was naive and innocent when I first met her last year. She was nineteen and Abel's close friend. I wanted her— I wanted to possess her. Hence I had her followed, showered her with gifts and listened to her while controlling her life. I ruined her friendships, disconnected her for Abel after making him out as the horrible person in her life and I stripped her of her sense of self.")

  Cain felt the tightness in his chest and the unshed tears in his eyes, but he didn't know if it's his or Alex's doing.

  "Bro..... Why?"

  ("I wanted control.... Even if I had to murder my family for the throne. Even if I had to distance myself from my own fiancee and pursue another woman. Even if I achieved her affection.... I felt even more powerless than before. Now watching you use my body, I didn't know what I was anymore...")

  "How does it feel to talk about it?"

  ("Disgusting..... Don't tell anyone about this. It's humiliating.")

  "You're only human, but sure, my lips are sealed until I leave."

  ("Until you leave?")

  Alex shrugged and didn't respond as he smiled.

  Click

  [Finally! It's over! I was getting tired of the depressing talk.]

  Alex rolled his eyes, hearing Cain groan in frustration inside his head, "Remember that spin ticket I was rewarded and the three questions coupon I received?"

  [Yes?]

  "I want to know how the original plot of this world was before I arrived."

  [If that's your first question, then sure.]

  [The story was "The Tyrant's Love"— following Ruth's point of view of how her, the gardener's daughter, fell in love with Cain, the cold tyrant. With Eleanor being the villainess, aka the bitter fiancee who's later killed by Cain in the end, and Abel as the second male lead, who tragically dies for Ruth's happiness.

  However, everything was in her perceptive. And there's supposed a transmigration/regression route for Eleanor for her to change her fate. Unfortunately, it would've led to her changed actions attracting both of the brothers and Ruth becoming the villainess from Eleanor's point of view.

  Hence the need for your existence in this world.]

  [Satisfied?]

  "Very satisfied. Thank you for that lore dump, Great Entity."

  ("I'm destined to kill my fiancee for an obsession..... I curse whoever created this story.")

  [Honestly, your perceptive would've been written for romance, with your trauma being mentioned but never explored in the original narrative. Then from Eleanor's point of view, you would've been considered as misunderstood.]

  Cain laughed humorlessly at the fact that he's just a figment of someone's imagination, ("So my suffering is just for show? How fitting for someone like me.")

  "This is exhausting. I have to deal with the famine and honor my word with Abel about Eleanor. And now I have to interact with Ruth. I've been avoiding her because I wanted to respect Eleanor, but now I really have to get involved in this mess," Alex sighed and began faking a sob, "Two months away from home and my phone to deal with a romance that isn't mine? Why me?"

  Cain sighed as well, already exhausted at the complicated situation.

  [Holder Candidate Quest One: Change the plot

  ?Duration: 322 days

  ?Reward: 10,000 points

  ?Failure: Bad luck at love]