As the artifact was unveiled, Kai quickly scribbled a note. “Aren’t ancient artifacts supposed to be hidden?” he asked, showing his note to Ray. Ray nodded in agreement, “That’s true, but this one is an exception.”

Kai furrowed his brows, glancing at Ray with a puzzled look. Ray then explained that this artifact couldn’t be used by just anyone. Kai asked him why through another note. In response, Ray turned the scale-like artifact around and pointed at an inscription on it. “We need to spell out this inscription for it to work. But sadly, we don’t know what’s written over it, since it’s in an ancient language.”

As Ray spoke, Kai examined the artifact. He picked it up and started to study the inscription. As he looked more carefully, his eyes widened in surprise. He quickly scribbled another note and showed it to Ray. “Do you know how this artifact works?” he asked. To his question, Ray said with a laugh that even after hundreds of years, no one knew what this artifact did.

At this, Kai scribbled another note. As he showed the note to Ray, this time it was Ray’s turn to widen his eyes in surprise. “Are you for real…?” he asked, as Kai nodded, his expression serious. The note read, “I can read it.”

Kai looked back at the inscriptions, deep in thought. “I am sure of it. One of the hardest languages I learned: Korean,” he mused to himself. The revelation left Ray in stunned silence, the implications of Kai’s ability to read the inscription slowly sinking in.

The room fell into a silence, broken only by Ray’s voice. “You’re telling me that you know the ancient language?” he asked, disbelief evident in his tone. Kai pondered for a moment before scribbling a note, “Yup, I can read it.”

Ray confirmed once more, his eyes wide with surprise. “So, what does it say?” he asked, curiosity piquing. Kai studied the inscription, an eyebrow raised in intrigue. He quickly jotted down its translation and presented the note to Ray. “Let us play a game with fate; where I am you and you are me?” Ray read out loud, confusion clouding his features. “What does this mean?”

Kai sighed, “I think I know what it means but…” His words trailed off as the artifact’s timer started to run. Both Ray and Kai watched in surprise as one side of the scale started to form a red orb, while the other formed a blue orb. “What’s happening?” Ray wondered aloud, his gaze fixed on the artifact.

As they watched, the orbs on both scales switched places - the blue orb moved to the red side, and the red orb moved to the blue side. The orbs then vanished, leaving Ray and Kai in stunned silence. “What just happened?” Ray asked, to which Kai could only shake his head in response.

Suddenly, Kai started to feel dizzy. “Wait… why am I getting dizzy?” he thought, clutching his head. Ray too seemed to be affected, his hand falling onto Kai’s wheelchair as he too held his head. "Ray...?" Kai looked over him, but it was too late. Ray suddenly collapsed, unconscious on the floor. Soon after, Kai too lost consciousness in his wheelchair.

When Kai woke up, he found himself in an unfamiliar room. “Wait, where am I?” he wondered, looking around. The room was grand, fit for a prince, with books and swords neatly arranged and a luxurious bed on which he was lying. As he was trying to make sense of the situation, a maid entered the room. As the maid saw him, she was filled with joy. “Ah! It’s so good to see you finally woke up, Crown Prince,” she exclaimed.

“Crown Prince?” Kai wondered, realization slowly dawning on him. He reached out to touch his hair, pulling a strand down to look at it. “Blonde… hair…?” he mused, his confusion deepening. He caught his reflection in the window glass and his eyes widened in shock. The face staring back at him was not his own, but Ray’s. “I am in Ray’s body!?” he thought, the implications of the body swap slowly sinking in.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

As Kai saw himself in the window, in Ray’s body, he turned to look at the maid who had just entered the room. He opened his mouth to speak, his voice sounding strange to his own ears. “What happened?” he asked, his tone filled with confusion.

The maid, seeming relieved to see him awake, quickly explained the situation. “When Setz went into the library, she found you and the young duke both lying unconscious. She immediately called for help and we brought both of you back here. The royal physician was summoned and he confirmed that you were both just unconscious.”

Her words were filled with relief, but they only served to increase Kai’s worry. “Where is Ra- I mean, where is Kai now?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

The maid pointed towards the end of the hallway on the second floor. “He’s in a different room,” she said, her tone gentle.

Upon hearing this, Kai asked. “Is he awake?” To his question, the maid replied that he was still unconscious. Kai quickly stood up from the bed. “Thank you,” he said, his voice firm. Ignoring the maid’s calls for him to rest, he started to run. His heart pounded in his chest as he made his way down the hallway.

As he ran, he had only one thought in his mind. “Please… don’t wake up yet.”

Back to Ray, now in Kai’s body. He woke up, slowly opening his eyes. He sat up, looking around the room. “The guest room?” he mused, trying to speak up, but no words came out. “What? Why can’t I speak?” he thought, confusion evident on his face.

Just then, he heard a voice from his side. “So, you finally woke up.” As he heard the voice, he was surprised. But as he turned to see who it was, he was even more shocked. “Me!?” he thought, trying to speak, but still, no words came out.

“It’s me, Kai,” said Kai, now in Ray’s body. He reached out and presented a notebook with a pen. “Here, use this,” he said, offering a way for Ray to communicate.

Ray quickly took the notebook and pen, and wrote, “How did we end up like this!?” He showed the note to Kai, his eyes filled with questions.

Kai sighed, “The ancient artifact,” he said, as Ray’s eyes widened in surprise. Kai explained further, “I guess it was an artifact to change bodies from one person to another.”

Ray, now in Kai’s body, stared at Kai, who was in his body, in disbelief. He quickly scribbled in the notebook, “So, how do we reverse this?”

Kai sighed, running a hand through Ray’s blonde hair. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. his tone filled with worry. “The artifact didn’t have any instructions for reversing the process.”

Ray’s heart sank at Kai’s words. He looked down at his frail body, a sense of dread filling him. He quickly wrote in the notebook, “We need to find a way to switch back.”

Kai nodded in agreement. “Yes, we do. I will look in the artifact again and let you know what I get. But first, we need to act normal. We can’t let anyone else find out about this.”

Ray looked at Kai, uncertainty evident in his eyes. He quickly scribbled in the notebook, “But how can we act normal when we are in each other’s bodies?”

Kai gave him a reassuring smile. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, his tone filled with determination. “For now, let’s just try to get through the day without raising any suspicions.” Having no other choice, Ray, now in Kai’s body agreed to the plan. As Kai, now in Ray’s body stood up, Ray, now in Kai’s body opened his mouth to speak, but no word came. He quickly took the notebook and wrote in it. “What do I do now? Since, now I can’t walk nor talk, I don’t have anything to do.” He wrote, to which Kai, now in Ray’s body smiled. “I will get you some books, so don’t worry.”

Saying so, he exited the room. As he closed the door behind, Kai sighed. “Eva?” he called out, to which she responded. {Yes, sir. How may I help you.} Kai, now in Ray’s body smiled. “Good thing I reached here before he woke up.”

Back in time:

When Kai was rushing to Ray, he arrived just a few minutes before Ray woke up. During that time, Kai quickly and carefully took Eva’s ear-piece from Ray, now in his body, to himself, now in Ray’s body.

Now to present:

“Let’s go and see what I can do.” He mused to himself, as he started to walk towards the library.