Linda stared at the ceiling listlessly, completely ignoring the doctor as he tried to ask her questions in a soft voice.
This was it. She was going to run mad anytime from now, and she didn't know what to do about it.
Linda tried to remember what exactly she had read in that book. What led to what and at what time but… her attention was divided at that time so a lot didn't stick and most she forgot already.
One thing was sure though. King Henward XVII who was overthrown and King Edward who overthrew the former were almost the same age. Only, Edward was three years and six months older.
Linda sat up at once.
"My Lord! Please, do not rise so quickly," the doctor hurriedly said. But Linda whirled towards him.
"How old am I?" she asked.
"P-pardon, your majesty?"
"My age. How old am I?"
"Well, my lord. You have reached the 17th year of your life," the doctor said slowly, eyes moving over Linda's face with a worried look.
"Hell!," Linda groaned, flopping back onto the bed. Not much wiggle room there as it was not as soft as modern bed but steady like a rock it was.
"My lord, are you in some discomfort? Might you have sustained an injury?" the doctor asked.
Linda didn't respond.
After a pause, the doctor tried again. "My lord, permit me to inquire of you. Do you truly not remember your own age? And your name, perhaps? I pray it is not the symptoms of an unsound mind."
Linda turned her gaze onto him, clearly staring daggers at his foolish squidward head. "Don't wish me bad luck yet!"
The doctor immediately balked, lowering his head in a bow. "A thousand pardons, Your Majesty. I spoke most imprudently!"
Linda sat up again. "My name is Henward, isn't it? Tsk! Who says I don't remember?"
The doctor frowned slightly. "Her highness, Princess Matilda, informed me that your majesty drank wine liberally last evening."
Linda wasn't sure but that was exactly what the young lady from earlier said. So she nodded her head saying yes.
"In that case," the doctor said gently, "this drink may prove of great benefit in easing the aftereffects of such indulgence."
Linda had a headache from all the stress and anxiety, so she felt she really needed the hangover drink.
The thought of suddenly having a man's body was also stressing her out. Just the thought of using the restroom made her heart twinge with discomfort. "Give it to me," she said.
The doctor's expression suddenly grew brighter. "At once, your majesty," the doctor said.
Linda glanced at him then at the golden cup of hangover drink.
Linda took the cup and placed it in her mouth but didn't drink. She inhaled it.
'Ergot fungus!'
Linda tilted her head back to make it seem like she had drunk it. "Ah… thank you, Royal Physician. Right?"
The doctor stiffened. "Oh no, Your Majesty. I am but a humble physician, wholly unworthy of such distinction. I shall leave instructions with the household that this drink should be prepared whenever wine is served to you, for the sake of your continued health."
Linda didn't respond and sat in silence until the doctor left.
No sooner had the doctor left, the young lady from earlier walked in.
"Leave me," Linda said. "I need privacy."
The young lady bowed. "As your majesty commands. Yet I plead you call me first should your mood lighten," she said, before gracefully leaving the room.
Linda grabbed the drink and went to the bathroom where he poured it away. The drink had been poisoned with Ergot fungus, a kind of fungus that causes hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, violent behaviour and long term mental instability.
"Such bad luck. So the king hadn't run mad on his own," Linda realised, then she broke into a smirk.
'A mafia knows all kinds of deadly poisons. LoL. You all can't kill be ASAP with these petty childish antics!'
Linda returned to the bed with the empty cup.
The door opened and someone stepped into the room.
"Didn't I ask you to leave me alone, miss ma'am?" Linda asked without looking at the door.
Yet steady footsteps approached her quietly.
"Moron!" Linda turned to glare at the lady but suddenly felt her bladder tickle.
"…"
After a truly uncomfortable experience of using the restroom in a man's body, Linda felt life couldn't be any shitty.
True, she loved men! She had exes and lovers and flings and what not? But this… this.. wasn't this harassing someone's body without getting consent?
But the big hit was that she finally got to accept that this was her new reality. She was officially King Henward XVII. But there was no way she'd let anyone make her go mad!
She'd have probably found a peaceful place in 1429 England to stay but, she was a king after all.
Plus, according to her knowledge of this history, King Henward was an orphan. He lost both his parents at a very young age and was the only child. So, he grew with the guidance of the Lord Chancellor. He would always make sure Henward was in line.
Linda returned to the bed to see it was indeed the young lady from earlier who had stubbornly come in. But she had come in with a roasted goat on a golden platter.
"My lord," Matilda said softly, "I took the liberty of bringing nourishment. You have scarcely eaten since dawn."
"I'm not hungry," Linda replied. "And I certainly wouldn't eat that if I was."
Linda was being cautious. What if there was poison in that too? No one can be trusted.
Matilda blinked, clearly wounded. "Surely Your Majesty does not refuse a meal chosen with such care by me, your dearest. You must be really unwell?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty claustrophobic," Linda said, rolling her eyes. She waved her hand at the meal. "Sorry, but you can eat that yourself."
The young lady looked at Linda in concern but nodded and complied. She had passed it on to the servants she came with whom quickly and silently took away the food.
"Then I shall leave you to your rest, my lord."
"What's your name again?" Linda asked. It seemed wrong to keep calling her moron.
The young lady looked up in surprise, sadness laced in her eyes, before smiling again.
"I am your Princess Matilda," the young lady said.
Linda nodded. Not like she cared, the girl just seemed too clingy. Urgh!
"That's all. Leave now."
Princess Matilda bit her lip angrily. "As you wish, your majesty."