Chapter 28

Fakes don’t want to be real

~ 28 ~

“Th, this is my first time hearing about this… wh-why didn’t anyone tell me?”

A long time had passed before Lillian could say that.

Lillian murmured how much shock it gave her even though her mind was still in turmoil.

“Simply because it’s not a good story to tell. The imperial family hates it.”

“The Imperial… family?”

“No matter how important a family is to an empire, there are still people who stumble over some strange facts that the said family was pardoned or that there was something else going on. Oh, and of course, I was excluded!”

Hilvia drew a line and supported the choice of His Majesty, the emperor.

“Nevertheless, you can’t go anywhere revealing what I told you. Do you understand, Princess?”

“Sure. Of course. However-”

Lillian secretly lengthened the end of her words.

Her voice must have been mixed up with her ‘cute voice’ which she used to stab people in the past. Psychke who had been engrossed in their conversation came to her senses.

“That emerald necklace. Was it called Keitan? What happened after that? It’s an important piece evidence, so could it be hidden in the imperial palace?”

“I thought the same way, but they said no. The necklace must have been lost.”

“Lost?”

“Yes. I heard that there was a thief who broke inside while they were still stunned to see that the gift has poison?”

‘A thief in the Imperial Palace?’

Even if a thief broke into the mansion of a high-ranking nobleman, it would be rather ridiculous if it was the imperial palace that had been stolen from.

It was definitely nonsense.

‘It’s really strange.’

It is weird that the emperor pardoned the attempted murder of the royal family, and it wasn’t even mentioned in the history. The evidence had disappeared on top of that. In addition, the emperor hates to dwell into this matter again.

At this point, it can be assumed that the investigation which happened 20 years ago wasn’t even properly conducted.

‘Come to think of it, 20 years ago… was when the former Duchess of Lestir died suddenly. It may have gone unnoticed because of that incident.’

“Hmm, lost. Hmm…”

As Psychke was contemplating what happened back 20 years ago, a voice which wondered where the necklace which has poison into it bothered her ears.

“If His majesty didn’t know that that it has poison, it would have been created by a skilled craftsman. I wonder who made it.”

“Oh my, princess. You ace curios about everything, oh, why is this turned off?”

The sound was cut off at the end of the startled voice. It was as if Hilvia had misplaced the eavesdropping ban magic stone.

Isolet and Psychke quickly exchanged glances. They then hurriedly left before the next table could see if they had eavesdropped on them.

* * *

It was the time when the sun had set, and the darkness had come.

Psychke sent Isolet back first. He also asked for her understanding because the duke has some things he has to tell him.

“I certainly did my best. Please talk to me later when you’re finished.”

He looked like he was being dragged into hell.

He thought Psychke knew how much Verndia tormented him, so Psychke said with a pity.

Alone, she headed to the alley where she and Aiden last parted.

The Silkisia mansion is nearby.

She raised her vigilance so that she could draw a dagger at any time when necessary. Still, on the other hand, she had other thoughts.

‘So it was Lillian.’

Before she returned time, Lillian smiled slyly to her as she watched Psychke faced death.

Thus, Psychke presumed that it was Lillian who framed that she stole the necklace. It seemed to be right considering how much attention she paid to the necklace.

‘Are you going to do the same thing again this time?’

She said she was no longer in Silkisia, but Lilian said she had lost everything, and she hated her.

It can’t be concluded hadn’t for the possibilities.

‘I don’t get beaten up like I did back then.’

Psychke clenched her fists. Then she looked around.

As the surrounding was quiet, Aiden didn’t seem to have arrive yet.

‘He’s a little late.’

She was thinking that it was around this time when she and Verndia broke their marriage. Did she miscalculate it? She was killing time by kicking his cold feet against the cold wall.

Footsteps, she felt something approaching.

It wasn’t the sound of a single footstep. It wasn’t the sound of human footsteps too.

Psychke drew her dagger. And she swung straight in the direction she felt the presence from.

– Kiieek!

The creature blew up and its blood splattered. Something like wolf howled with its waist cut in two.

He had a bright red body. And a red jewel on his forehead. Finally, the black blood which flowed from his waist.

It was no ordinary creature.

‘Monster?’

The only creatures with black blood are beasts made with forbidden magic.

There was no time to wonder why it was here. She could feel them coming from her behind.

Psychke immediately leaned over and thrusted the sword in the opposite direction.

She cut through its body.

‘Is there three of them over?’

The beasts clamored to bite her, even when it was suffocated.

Psychke moved her feet away from its teeth, sharpening her senses.

Her unrecovered body was thrown somewhere. But she didn’t drop her dagger. Black blood dripped down her short sword.

‘Why are the beasts here?’

Forbidden magic was a magic that required vitality as much as it has excellent effect. It wasn’t something that could be done by somewhere anywhere he wants.

She doesn’t feel good about this.

She has to escape.

‘But, if I go on my way like this, Aiden…’

What if he gets attacked alone?

… No, what if this situation was a trap he had prepared in the first place?

It was then that she licked her lips, unable to decide.

“….!”

Psychke, who raised her head at the sudden feeling of getting attacked, doubted her eyes.

Ah, that’s why she didn’t notice until just before the attack.

There was a wave in the empty air, and a lump came off like clay.

That was the only way she could explain it.

The clumps that came off, distorted her view, and created black wolves.

It looked as if there were ten of them.

‘I have to run.’

Now was the right time for the unfinished wolves to close their eyes.

However, knowing that, her feet did not manage to run.

The speed of creating magical beasts was too fast. In her current state, she could not even take five steps and seemed to be caught behind.

‘I can’t do anything…’

If it’s an unavoidable battle, it’s better not to look behind her.

Psychke raised her mana.

A much cruder blue power than that of Verndia surrounded the dagger.

I was worried, but fortunately, the cursed ability didn’t fluctuate as much as in the auction house. It was similar to usual.

– Krruuuu!

– Kun! Kung! Kung!

The completed beasts exposed their teeth. As soon as they opened their eyes, a red jewel settled on their forehead, and their body turned red.

It meant that they were ready to attack.

Psychke grabbed the dagger as hard as she could.

– Kung!

In the narrow alleyway, the beast in the middle of the front row rushed in. With that as a starting point, the rest moved as well. The puddles and corpses trampled upon by them spattered black blood.

“Ugh!”

A grunt came out of her mouth. It was different from the ones she met at the auction house. These monsters are stronger and bigger.

She has bad physical condition and a short sword at that.

In extremely difficult conditions, Psychke cut and cut again.

Five, seven, ten—

After that, she felt giving up.]

Unlike the first three she had defeated; this one showed no sign of ending.

‘I think I’ve killed at least twenty. Why isn’t it over yet then?’

She didn’t realize what was wrong until she rolled on the floor to dodge their attacks.

They had no body.

“Ha…..”

Even though they looked the same, they had different abilities, and the bodies of the torn-up beasts were returning to their masters, wriggling as if they were alive.

In a word, the reproducibility was too great.

‘What should I do?’

Psychke gritted her teeth, knocking down the two that rushed for her arms and heart.

It was just a meaningless question she asked. She already knew the answer.

If she can’t defeat it, she must tie their feet up.

That way she can run away.

To survive.

And for that—

‘…I have to live somehow. At least now.’

In the past, seeing that no one mourned her death, Psychke has realized something.

An earnest desire to be recognized and loved by someone.

In this life, one more was added to her wish.

If she received love, of course it will happen eventually.

It is not impossible to achieve it even if she does not need to be loved.

If other heard her wish, they might wonder why she wants that.

She can’t die until she fulfilled that wish.

Even if she had to use to cursed ability of hers.

– Kung! Kung!

Her thought was long, but the action of the other party was quick.

She reached out to the demonic beast that jumped to the side where she did not raise her sword.

She could feel the energy that forcibly confined in her body and spread all over.

Blatantly–

Again, it didn’t go as what she planned. She tried to freeze only her snout, but half of her body and the wall of the alley behind her were already covered with ice.

Puk. A lump of ice that had landed on the floor made the monster unable to get up, with only its free hind legs rattling.

She bit her lip while freezing the beast which she had just cut off its body.

‘Let’s run away as soon as it’s over. Then it will be fine.’

There are about five minutes before the ice let out.

No one will come in the meantime anyway. There’s no sense of movement around.

Thump, thump. Ice, the size of a child’s head, was created randomly in mid-air, fell. There was nothing inside the ice.

Psychke tried not to see them and focused only on the beasts.

This was the reason why, according to the people, they regarded her powers as a curse.

Control is impossible.

Freeze anything without identifying who are her real enemies.

She is no exception of her power, or even the formless air.

It was quite different from the freezing magic that was cast only when there was a specific target.

It was the time when all the beasts were frozen and the last one remained.

“……Ugh!”

The ability that was randomly bouncing finally paid off. She had frozen her feet.

She scrambled before she froze completely.

The anger caused by the brief gap was great. The fangs of the demonic beast, which she had not cut properly, came close to her eyes.

She had drained her energy to lift her dagger. Her selfish ability only froze the lower half of the beast.

Oh, is this the end? Psychke squeezed her eyes shut.

“This, crazy! Princess!”

Kwang!

Purple flames rose like a wall.

“Princess!”

The voice of a man she thought betrayed her followed.