章 3: Who Was Mattheus Crown

Later that day, Mattheus finally managed to be alone again after escaping a rather enthusiastic Baron Endlewood that reminded him of a mad scientist more than a medical doctor at the end. It helped that the check-up's revelation left Edgar Crown so lost and stupefied that the man didn't have the mind to continue being a mother-hen.

He was not sure how the assessment ended up solidifying his case of amnesia instead of the more true body-snatching, but he was not going to complain. Maybe amnesia sounded more plausible than possession considering this world's standards.

Maybe Mattheus's standards were skewed due to his part-time job of translating webnovels.

Either way, when the odd machine revealed the "color"—which was actually an energy field or aura around the body like a weird x-ray—changed from red to a silver Edgar initially mistook as gray (which was probably a bad thing considering the man's reaction), Endlewood decided a change of color to one's energy would explain the change in temperament before looking at Mattheus like a curious specimen to study.

A very familiar color actually, identical to the sparkles when he healed the butterfly up.

Thank goodness his hypothetically OP healing magic did not come back to bite him in the ass. (Later on, Mattheus would regretfully discover he had actually been very much wrong about this.)

Exhaling, the tension at his shoulders leaving now that he no longer had to be careful how he acted, he looked around Mattheus Crown's suite of rooms. He didn't touch anything in the first round, just taking in the placement of furniture and details while trying to separate what the original Mattheus might have decided on and what had just been done by someone else.

Mattheus then searched through the cabinets and drawers, along with any potentially hidden areas for clues.

Ultimately, maybe an hour or two of snooping around later, he sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands, internally groaning.

There was nothing.

Was it because this was a place they only stayed at seasonally? Everything was oddly impersonal.

Even the letters he found at the desk. The only thing Mattheus could figure was that the Original was really formal and was a weird blend of academia and aristocracy. There lacked personality in the letters, which were all business-like in tone or very formulaic niceties.

The books were predominantly texts on magic, scientific journals, and a book or two dealing with genealogy and politics.

"…"

Mattheus abruptly got up and took quick and long strides to the bedroom that had a full-length mirror off to the side. He stared at Mattheus Crown and Mattheus Crown stared back.

A young man that looked very similar to Edgar Crown was reflected. He was thinner than his brother and his hair was straight rather than wavy. While good-looking, Edgar was still more obviously handsome. Mattheus Crown was also pale as death, though that might be the blood-loss talking.

'What are you hiding?'

The lack of anything notable in his suite of rooms was a hint itself. Someone who lived like this wouldn't be the victim of premeditated murder.

Or was it because he was a Crown? Though killing the youngest son in the woods wasn't exactly an obvious statement. Edgar didn't act like he had been threatened with the harm of his family. And Mattheus got some memories when Edgar mentioned their parents, so he knew Earl Crown was a neutral academic and didn't dabble in politics.

It might be because of Countess Crown, Mattheus's mother, but noblewomen's powerplays weren't exactly the execution with a gun type of thing. More public humiliation or ruination, poisoning, or arranging accidents.

'Maybe I'm thinking too deep into it thanks to how the System worded it. As if the question "who is Mattheus Crown?" is very important. The quest didn't complete itself so I clearly don't know enough or got something wrong when I decided everything made him a typical magic genius that had a dash of Countess Crown in him when it came to socializing. I doubt the completion revolves around my own beliefs either.'

After all, [Reunite with Brunilda] was basically a guide with how the steps would hint to Mattheus where to find his friend. The System back in his old world wasn't able to be so… clever, for lack of a better term. But the System had always been an entity separate from the host, as had been established by various experts before.

The System, at the crux of it, was driven by the protocol of keeping the host alive because it was an obligate symbiont—if humanity died out, the System itself would also be terminated. While he wasn't sure why he still had the System with him, he was still its host. So did it mean that finding out who the person that used to own this body was, was important to his survival?

Because he would need the information to continue the charade? Or because it would help him find out who might be after his life? (Who had successfully taken the original Mattheus Crown's life once already.)

"Argh!" Mattheus released a frustrated exclamation. The only reason he didn't reach for his hair to agitatedly ruffle was because of the bandages wrapped around his head to keep the gauze in place.

Enough was enough. He had never been great when it came to puzzles like this compared to Brunilda.

Instead of giving himself a migraine from thinking himself into circles, he might as well find Brunilda in this city so she could take a crack at who the young man whose life he's taken over really was.

Mattheus looked at his belligerent reflection and faltered. He was going to have to get used to his new face since he knew his luck had never been good, so life as Mattheus Crown was going to be a long-term if not permanent circumstance. It was going to take some effort though since his original face was not naturally emotive and he was now a different ethnicity.

Honestly, while Mattheus Crown was not so obviously handsome as Edgar Crown was, the young man in his late teens was still Hollywood "homely." Compared to Theo, he was basically leagues above a height-challenged, plain-faced nerd.

Mattheus grimaced once he observed the state of his clothes and now could not stop focusing on the fact he traipsed in the woods for the night and was probably really gross right now.

Right, everything could be pushed until after he cleaned up and changed.

There was a bathroom with a tub and working plumbing, so he just made sure there was a towel before he washed up. He would rather get clean immediately than stay dirty and caked with former dead body cooties any longer, just to find a change of clothes.

He had briefly looked through the walk-in closet and was unsurprised at the contents. Theo had also only worn a modern suit for graduation and a funeral.

It was why Mattheus only had a pair of underpants on a bit later in said closet as he tried to figure out the clothing situation. At least the long johns were obvious in use and wear.

'I can just blame amnesia for not knowing dos and don'ts as a nobleman, right?'

At least he was still a guy. Imagine having to figure out women's fashion. Brrr.

Thankful that men's fashion didn't change that much in a century or so—at least when it came to the basics of a suit—Mattheus used the information he vaguely remembered in the few period movies and series (thank god for Sherlock Holmes) he's watched to cobble up something appropriate for the day.

Before he put it on though, he checked the healing job he did on his head still held. It was half-expected that healing himself would be more difficult than healing a butterfly but the transmigrator would have to do some experimenting later if healing himself was simply more difficult than healing others. It would be a bit disappointing but also unsurprising if that were so.

His skull no longer feeling all that fragile and the scalp unmarred, the man tugged on the gray suit. He couldn't do much for the anemia outside of keeping himself watered and fed.

"Cufflinks," Mattheus murmured to himself. He had chosen the more familiar tie rather than an ascot, so could skip the tie pin he couldn't make heads or tails off (it was not like Edgar had worn one either so he didn't exactly have a visual example to go off of).

'Jesus Christ,' the modern Mattheus swore as he looked at the various jewelry Mattheus Crown owned. It was an entire chest of thin drawers that pulled out and presented pins, rings, and other types of metal, enameled, or jeweled accessories.

"Uh…" He shook his head before deciding on getting a pair of cufflinks first, before figuring out if something to keep his tie or collars in place was necessary.

About done with the entire process, having never been all that fashion-conscious in the first place other than making sure he never looked like a slob, Mattheus picked a pair of simple engraved silver cufflinks. He quickly put them on, so the flapping cuffs no longer bothered him.

Then, as if facing a dreadful chore, Mattheus mentally braced himself to figure out what to use since he did not see any sign of a familiar-looking tie clip in any of the drawers.

It was during his very focused search, looking through everything and trying to figure out what was used for what and how they might be worn, when he spotted it.

"It" was a very understated round pin. Maybe a lapel pin of some sort. The engraving was a harmless-looking pattern of shapes.

But the engraving triggered memories more intense than anything else. Flashes of the Original's life when he wore it. Words that he spoke. Blurred scenes.

And then, he was there in that clearing again. Felt the press of the muzzle of the gun.

Bang!

Mattheus jolted and stumbled. His eyes were wide and he breathed roughly as adrenaline spiked from being immersed at the Original's moment of death.

His heart was racing as he looked down at the innocent-seeming lapel pin still in its setting in the slide-out drawer.

"Oh…" he murmured in a vaguely distant way as he continued to stare, wide-eyed.

He knew who Mattheus Crown was now, and why that had been a quest in itself.

The original owner of the body—the original Mattheus Crown…

Well.

He was a traitor.

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