AI Doctor : From Slave to Beast King

However, that was not the end of the ridiculous situation of Damien and his family. As the three siblings sat down on the small square dining table, Damien realised that there was not a single egg or meat dish served for them.

In fact, on the dining table, there were stale fried beans, and wild vegetables that were stewed making it resemble a soup, if it could be called one. Wherever Damien looked it looked like a grass field.

"I picked the vegetables this morning from the small garden behind our house and Priscilla did her best to cook them," said Henry when he saw Damien frowning. "At the moment we can only eat this as no one has sent any cooking ingredients."

They did not have money either so purchasing even a leg of Mountain Bird leg was impossible.

Damien's eyebrows twitched. He turned to look at Xavier and said to him, "I didn't know that your mistress was this stingy. A dozen eggs cost that much Huh?"

Xavier's brows were furrowed deeply. Though Damien and his family were pushed to a corner in the Wolfe mansion with Lady Wistoria nearly forgetting that they even existed—she had never, not once asked the housekeeper to keep their family this downtrodden.

It seemed like there had been subtle corruption happening underneath their noses.

Xavier was certain that the housekeeper had taken golden coins from the treasury every month in the name of providing food and clothing to Damien's family.

But what was the housekeeper doing by taking so much money? And why did he need so much money?

His eyes widened.

"What?" Damien asked as he sipped the rather salty soup.

"Oh nothing. I was just —No, it's nothing," Xavier seemed to have realised where the money might have gone.

Damien rolled his eyes. He turned his attention to the two children eating and the furrow between his eyebrows turned even deeper.

No wonder they were this thin, eating nothing but stale vegetables and this watery soup.

"Brother, don't you think that apart from reading your books, you should also start learning to protect yourself?" Henry said as he placed his bowl on the table and looked at Damien. "The last time you went to get the herbs for mother's treatment, you met with Banppee Wolves— if you knew how to protect yourself you wouldn't be in such a perilous situation."

His eyes darkened as he added in a subtle voice, "I know you think it is a waste of time with your beast nucleus destroyed but knowing a few skills would help you in the long run. Even if you cannot kill your opponents, at least you can escape safely."

After speaking he released a tired sigh and continued, "Just listen to me once brother."

The little boy sounded like an old father worrying about his rebellious child.

"I was planning to start training," said Damien with a sigh as he took a bite of his stale beans while wishing he could turn off the taste buds of his tongue for a while.

That way this meal wouldn't be this painful.

"Humans lack the ability to shut off their senses, host. They can only lose them once and for all, "said Dan as he fluttered next to Damien, his little eyes staring at the vegetables on the table as he questioned, "Is it really that bad? That you wish to lose your ability to taste things?"

"Never did I say that I wanted to lose my ability to taste. I said that I wanted to temporarily turn it off."

"But you cannot do that."

"I know," replied Damien with a huff.

A small frown appeared on the tiny face of the hologram as he turned and looked at Damien, "Why would you wish for something that you know is impossible?"

Dan as a set of programs could not understand these feelings.

"Hey tell me…"

"Why did you say such a thing?"

"Host! Can you hear me? Did you lose your hearing temporarily?" Dan asked while nudging Damien's forehead.

"Dan, can you stay quiet for like ten minutes?" Damien finally lost his patience as he commanded, "I want the system to stay silent until I finish my meal."

Dan: "…"

On the other hand, Henry was eyeing his brother with surprise on his face. His gaze was so fervent that Damien couldn't help but turn around and look at him as he was about to burn a hole in his head with his gaze.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Damien asked

"It's nothing," Henry replied as he turned his attention to the meal in front of him. "It seems like you have changed, brother. You always used to get angry when I asked you to train."

As Henry spoke, a small memory of Damien losing his temper at him flashed in his mind. It was after Damien lost his beast nucleus.

He had causally suggested Damien to train harder and learn to protect himself as he was even more vulnerable and weak but his brother believed that he was mocking him and lost his temper.

'Who do you think you are to look down on me? I am the Crown Prince of the Brystoria Empire! No! No! This cannot be happening to me! I am not a weak man!'

"Well, I would have almost died back then if I wasn't lucky," Damien scratched his cheek and replied awkwardly.

"I guess you were a little shocked getting chased by the Banppee wolves, Lord Damien," remarked Xavier while standing behind him like a door guard.

"Yeah, it was really shocking for me," Damien answered as he touched his abdomen. "I really thought that I was going to die, the fact that rebels had used beasts to cause havoc for the city —it shows how desperate the situation is at the moment."

"So I have to learn swordsmanship to protect myself, at least I can escape in case there is a repetition of that incident."

Back in his world, Damien thought that there was nothing wrong with focusing on his studies and not getting involved with others. He was always alone.

Thus, it was so easy for William to make him disappear.

Damien did not want to feel that sense of helplessness again.

Life slowly drained out of his body and yet he couldn't do anything to protect himself.

He could only watch his blood drip down from the stab wound and lose his life helplessly.

"That's a relief, you don't need to become an Aura Slayer but you should still know a few more moves to defend yourself against danger," said Priscilla with a sigh of relief. "I don't want to see you getting hurt brother Damien."

"That's right..relying on oneself is better than relying on your guards."

Damien turned to look at Xavier who knew that Henry was taking a jibe at him for leaving Damien alone. He lowered his head with a touch of annoyance on his face but didn't dare to make a retort.

For he was indeed at fault for leaving Damien alone and dealing with other matters which he deemed more important than the safety of Damien.

Fifteen minutes later, they were done with their breakfast and Henry brought Damien to their mother's room.

"Are you awake mother?" Henry asked as he knocked on the door and waited for his mother to respond.

"Come in my child," a soft yet weary voice answered from inside and Henry pushed open the door. Damien and Priscilla entered the room while Xavier stayed back.

Damien looked at the barely furnished room which only had a bed and a small tea table along with two cabinets that were full of medicinal jars and herbs.

"Oh, Damien! You are back, when did you return? Why did you not come to see me?"

Damien turned his attention to the woman on the bed, she was really pretty. With her wavy blue hair that reminded him of the sea and the ocean, her blue eyes were like deep cobalt.

If only she did not have the air of a dying woman, he was certain that this woman would have looked even more beautiful despite being the mother of three children.

Lady Cecil.

The mother of this body.

"Priscilla, please help me sit up," Lady Cecil said to Priscilla who rushed towards the bed and helped her mother up. She placed a pillow behind the back of Lady Cecil before helping her mother sit straight.

Even though Lady Cecil just sat up on the bed, she was panting due to the extreme toll it had put on her body. Her expression was full of pain and her complexion was worse already but it became even paler when she leaned on the pillow.

"You should have come to me, I was worried about your safety. One of the maids said that you were attacked and I nearly—cough!" Lady Cecil's body jolted before jerking forward.

"Cough! Cough!"

"Mother!"