Chapter 483: Mysterious Woman [2]

Chapter 483: Mysterious Woman [2]



"....Hu!"

I snapped out of the vision with a deep and cold breath.

When I came to, two pairs of eyes stared straight in my direction.

"What happened, human?"

"Human?"

"That..."

Holding the side of my head, I moved out of the bed and closed my eyes. The scene from the vision replayed in my mind over and over again.

'Did I... hear correctly? Did I say...'

I thought back to the woman who stood behind Leon and my body involuntarily shuddered. I tended not to think about Julien's family. They weren't my real family and the more time I spent with them the more likely I felt they would find something wrong with me.

Perhaps they already had, but it was such thoughts that made me avoid them.

At least, that was how I previously approached the situation. Things had changed, but I still kept a certain distance.

That was why I never asked about Julien's mother.

Who she was, and why she wasn't present. I had assumed she had passed away given her absence.

I thought about asking Leon, but he didn't know either.

Nobody seemed to really know.

....There was one person who knew, but he was the last person I wanted to talk to.

Aldric Evenus.

That man... He was simply too dangerous.

I preferred to keep a distance from him.

Ding!

Bringing me out of my thoughts was a low chime that was soon followed by a notification.

[◆ Main Quest Activated: Puppet Master]

: Character Progression + 531%

: Game Progression + 17%

Failure

: Calamity 1 + 17%

: Calamity 2 + 11%

: Calamity 3+ 18%

...A quest notification.

'Puppet Master?'

Seeing the name of the quest, a lot of what I had seen started to make sense.

'Yes, the first clue was Leon's eyes. In the vision, he's obviously being controlled by someone. Could that be someone by Julien's mother?'

If it were the past, I would've immediately come to that conclusion, but I no longer felt this was the case.

After what had happened with the previous quest, I no longer trusted the visions. There was a chance that the 'Puppet Master' wasn't actually Julien's mother.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

There was also a chance that she was, but I couldn't exclude the possibility that she wasn't. I needed to thread carefully.

One lapse in judgment and the entire scenario might flip over.

...I couldn't afford to fail again. Especially since I was still unaware of the consequences that would come from failing. I had been paying close attention to the girls, and through my observations, they all acted the same way.

Despite failing the mission and their meter increasing, they still looked normal.

And that only made me more anxious.

As an old quote said, 'The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown.'

...It was the lack of understanding that made me anxious.

The less of something I understood, the more anxious I felt.

"Human?"

"Oh, right."

Realizing that I had been ignoring Owl-Mighty and Pebble the entire time, I quickly apologized and looked at them.

"I'm afraid you're right, Owl-Mighty."

"Is someone controlling my body?"

"Most likely."

"...How can you tell?"

Looking at Pebble, I pointed at my head.

"Because I see."

"You see?"

Pebble cocked its head, looking a little confused but somewhat understanding. It made sense

considering all they had seen.

"The future. I can see it."

***

"What do you think?"

"...He looks healthy."

"Yes."

In one of the hotel's private rooms, the Empress and Emperor sat next to each other while thinking about Leon. Although he seemed a little sick, he looked healthy overall.

The two of them felt glad with the sight.

...And given their power and influence, it was also very easy for them to seal all information.

"Like I said, I wouldn't normally allow you to enter such a dangerous place, Amell, but we

don't have much of a choice. We need the trades in order to sustain the current troops that are fighting in the Mirror Dimension. Don't expose yourself to much danger and listen to those of the House of Myron. So long as you behave accordingly, nothing should go wrong."

'Behave accordingly?' Overhearing the last words, Amell frowned. Why did it seem like he was hearing the word over

and over again?

...And why did it feel so ominous at the same time?

It couldn't be that...

"Amell?"

"Ah, yes. I will.."

Amell raised his head and hastily nodded his head.

"Father, please don't worry. I'll take care of this matter and make sure nothing goes wrong.

You can count on me."

"Good."

With a genuine smile, the Emperor stood up. Placing his hand over the Empress's shoulder,

the two started to fade.

"Knowing you, I know you will stay true to my words. I'll come visit again once you come back

from the Kasha. Have a safe journey there. Take care of your brother while you're there."

"Thank you." Similarly standing up, Amell bowed.

"I'll make sure to come back safely."

***

The next day.

Early in the morning, the cadets assembled in the estate's reception area. Their faces were

relaxed, and they appeared refreshed-unsurprising, given the top-tier facilities the estate provided.

With their minds and bodies relaxed, they seemed eager to tackle the upcoming task.

"Everyone please wear these clothes. From the moment you put these clothes on, your identities will change. You will no longer be the most promising and talented cadets in the Four Empires, but simple and humble servants from the House of Myron."

The Head Maid, a woman with short black hair and brown eyes, handed each cadet a set of

gray uniforms. As they took the uniforms, their expressions shifted to frowns.

Kiera in particular looked unimpressed by the plain design of the uniform.

"Shit, so I'm going to be a servant?" "...That's what she said."

"No, she didn't. She said something else."

"Stop. Don't make it harder than it needs to be."

"Yup, that's what she said."

||||

Aoife's eyes fell on Kiera's neck. That long and slender neck of hers. She had the sudden urge

to squeeze it.

'No, I need to hold back. I can't kill her now. There's too many people looking.'

"Are you thinking of killing Kiera?"

"Uh?!"

Startled, Aoife quickly turned her head to find Evelyn already dressed in her servant attire, her

purple hair neatly tucked back. If not for her face standing out so much, Aoife would've taken

her for a servant.

Holding onto a bag of chips, Evelyn cocked her head at Aoife.

"...Hmm, you're holding yourself because too many people are watching, right?"

How did..!?

Aoife's eyes widened in shock. Seeing her reaction, Evelyn nodded her head.

"As I thought."

Satisfied, she bobbed her head once more and retrieved her hand from the bag of chips. She

left shortly after that, leaving Aoife standing there completely dumbfounded. At the same

time, she heard her soft mumble, 'I'm getting good at this.' 'What just happened? Did she just...?'

"To ensure that you don't stand out, you will also be given a few things to hide your true

appearance. Please wear the masks that will be given to you."

Walking up to Aoife, one of the servants handed her a mask that changed her appearance

completely. Taking out a small mirror to see the changes, she tapped on her face a few times. 'It's still not too bad.'

The mask automatically changed her hair and eye color-both currently brown. She looked

quite plain.

Still, when all was said and done it wasn't anything too bad.

"Wait, why is my mask like this...?"

And when it was all said and done, she had it better than some people.

Turning her head to stare in a certain direction, she hastily covered her mouth.

"Puut."

That...

She definitely had it better than him.