"You put the poison in the coffee I drank, didn't you?"

The maid who was in front of James trembled with fear. Just seeing James, who looked healthy and fit, made his whole body shudder. From the person who ordered him to put poison in James' coffee, he said that James would die within minutes of drinking his coffee.

But now, James was even able to speak and threaten her. Hearing James' accusations against him, the Servant fell to his knees in front of James, his head prostrated, begging for mercy.

"I'm sorry Prince, I'm just an errand boy. I was threatened, if I didn't do it he would kill me and my family,” said the Servant in tears.

"Who told you to?" James' face blackened at the confession of the Servant who was prostrating in front of him.

“I-I don't know, Prince. The person was wearing a face covered with all-black clothes. I can't recognize him," she replied nervously.

James had no sympathy at all with the Servant who was kneeling at his feet; according to James, he was just a stupid Servant because he could carry out orders from others so easily. Just because of a threat, he was willing to sacrifice James's life to save his own.

"If I didn't know that the coffee contained poison, I would be dead by now," he stressed.

James' cold voice filled the room. Hugo felt all his hair standing on end at James' words, as if this spring turned into winter with very heavy snow.

His body even trembled slightly. Hugo couldn't hold his head up at all. Hearing James' cold voice was enough to make him tremble and frighten. If he stared at James as usual, maybe he wouldn't be able to stand up and was already limping to the floor.

James' attitude has changed a lot and is different from usual. Even yesterday, James still looked normal and as usual. He is lazy and likes to greet him with a smile, but today, I don't know what possessed him.

James had a very different aura, the aura of a very strong and courageous leader. Since earlier, James hadn't even smiled at him at all; the man's face looked flat and cold.

Very different.

“Hugo, what is the punishment for people who want to kill a royal member?” James asked as he brought his hands behind his back and smirked at the Servant beneath his feet.

"Death, Prince."

"Then take care of this Servant's death, don't forget to spread the rumors that will poison me. For everyone to know, how disgusting is the Servant who wants to kill this Prince."

The Servant's body stiffened, transfixed in a prone state. He was staring at James with a look of disbelief at the order he had just given. His tongue was silent for a moment so that no sound came out of his mouth; a sense of surprise overcame him now.

He recovered from his shock when Hugo grabbed his body and told him to stand up. The maid revolted when Hugo pulled her out of James' room; she screamed for James' forgiveness not to kill her.

Hugo summoned several guards to help him take the Servant to the dungeon. Her rebellious attitude made it difficult for Hugo to drag her alone.

James paid no heed to the waiter's screams. He looked back at the view from outside his bedroom window. The castle James occupied had a fairly high building.

So that the natural beauty can still be clearly seen, James can also see the very dense forbidden forest from his room. As the name suggests, the forbidden forest is a forest that is forbidden to be visited by anyone, including members of the kingdom.

In the past, James never knew what was there, although he was highly curious about what lay beyond the dark and dense forest. His father forbade James and his sister to go there, saying that many dangers awaited them there.

However, the present James was different. In the past, the real Prince James could have followed his father's words very well. But the soul of this new Prince James will not listen to the ban. The more they forbade him to go, the more James wanted to go there.

His curiosity was greater than his fear of his father's anger. This was usually something forbidden. In addition to keeping things very secret, sometimes they also remained very valuable treasures.

If there were anything dangerous in there, James would deal with it with his own two hands. But for now, he still couldn't go there; James had to change his skinny body to be more muscular and powerful.

His body was too weak and stiff, and James had to train to get his body used to fighting. Starting tomorrow, James was determined to start all over again.

The beginning of a new life for Prince James.

***

News of the death of a Servant who worked in the castle behind the palace where James lived. It made a scene and became the talk of the entire palace, even though the execution was deliberately carried out at night to avoid a stir.

But he said even thick walls had ears, and the news spread like fire that blazed from one roof to another, even though the inside of the news spread was none other than Hugo.

Hugo carried out orders from James so well that he mobilized several people to spread the news about the execution of the death of a servant who poisoned Prince James.

Many people cursed and scolded her for daring to harm members of the kingdom cruelly; even though the Servant was dead, the citizens were still furious because of the Servant's ignorance.

Hearing the news about Prince James being poisoned, Jasmine, James' sister, immediately went to the castle behind the kingdom to meet her brother. She was so worried about her only sibling after the news about James reached her ears.

Jasmine had also not been to James's castle in a long time due to her busy activities as a royal princess. There were many things for her to do and learn, and even some of the tasks that James should have controlled were given to Jasmine.

Ever since James was exiled to the castle behind the palace, all the activities he used to manage were left to Jasmine. Although not all of the tasks were taken over by her, Jasmine still complained to her father because of his increasing workload.

Jasmine had asked her father thousands of times to give these tasks back to James. However, her request was flatly rejected by him. King Arthur said that he would give the task back to James when his brother could use martial arts.

It felt like Jasmine just wanted to disappear from this earth. Father and James had very similar stubbornness. Father persisted in his insistence that James learn to use martial arts.

Meanwhile, James also denied and never wanted to learn about self-defence. The man was too obsessed with political books, and he read them almost every day. Jasmine, who was in their midst, resigned herself to how stubborn the two very important men in her life were.

"James," Jasmine shouted, surprised by what James was doing at this time; Jasmine seemed to see a very rare miracle in his eyes.

"Jasmine, you came."

James sheathed his sword again and approached Jasmine.

"You practice swordsmanship?"

One of the two men seemed willing to suppress his stubbornness. Seeing James wield a sword gave Jasmine hope to get out of all the tasks that had made her ten years older.

“Finally I will be free!”