Chapter 169

Chapter 169

Isabella had awakened.

Upon hearing the news, Seongjin set aside his busy schedule and rushed to the townhouse from the morning. As he was planning to leave the capital for a while, he didn’t want to leave even a slight risk factor behind.

However, when Seongjin actually faced Isabella in the drawing room, he was a bit puzzled by the unexpected situation.

‘This is surprising.’

He had thought she would completely collapse after losing her sense of self, but Isabella seemed more intact than expected.

Of course, it was only on the surface.

[Her soul is extremely blurry. She’s definitely not in a normal state.]

According to the Demon King’s assessment, she looked unstable enough to drop dead at any moment.

But despite her hollow eyes, unlike Riccardo who had shown only utter despair, a glimmer of hope could be seen in her.

‘Could it be that she still thinks there’s a chance for a comeback?’

On the other hand, the way she rubbed and tugged at her skirt with her left hand was clearly Isabella’s habit when she was nervous, which Seongjin had seen several times at Salon de Merci.

Seongjin carefully examined her presence.

It wasn’t the Isabella he had first met, but it was also completely different from Sigurd Sigurdson, whom he had encountered when he secretly infiltrated the mansion some time ago.

‘...Father did it!’

Seongjin had to admit that it was right to keep her alive.

He didn’t know what the point of striking the top of her head was, but anyway, the Holy Emperor had cleanly cut out the Puppetmaster from her.

“Hey, Sigurd Sigurdson. You look healthier than I thought.”

At the casually thrown greeting, she avoided his gaze while breaking out in a cold sweat. Oh, look at that?

“He has left me, Your Highness. Now, I am Isabella...”

[She’s lying.]

Even without the Demon King’s words, the moment Seongjin saw her eyes darting around, peeking at his reaction, he realized.

‘She’s maintaining her sanity precisely because she thinks of herself as Sigurd Sigurdson!’

Unlike Riccardo, who had half-heartedly maintained his hollow ego and completely collapsed as soon as the supporting personality disappeared, Isabella’s perception of herself as Isabella was already faint.

Then, what Seongjin had to do was clear.

[What are you trying to do?]

At the Demon King’s puzzled question, Seongjin smiled in a way that looked mean-spirited. Then, he began to berate her, lowering his voice.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

To roughly summarize what Seongjin did afterward:

First, reinforcing the idea that she was Sigurd Sigurdson.

Second, nevertheless, properly persuading and controlling her from recklessly doing something stupid.

[Persuasion? Even though you threatened to kill her?]

‘Shut up!’

Of course, he admitted that the process wasn’t entirely peaceful and beautiful communication.

Anyway, with just a slight hint, the timid Isabella trembled.

Seeing the light of hope slowly fading from her eyes, Seongjin thought:

If she tried to become Isabella Scarcepino for a long time, whether voluntarily or involuntarily,

Surely, someday, even if she partially recovered her incomplete sense of self, she would be able to avoid collapsing.

Then, Seongjin suddenly realized that he was relieved by that thought and was briefly seized by a strange feeling.

***

Preparations for the trip to the North were proceeding smoothly.

For the time being, he decided to take only Edith as his dedicated maid. Since she was also a fairly strong Aura user, she wouldn’t have much trouble even if they went to a cold region.

However, Seongjin was a bit worried about the “gall bladder-flavored tea” she would serve during the trip. Well, Commander Bruno would manage it well.

‘By the way, haven’t I become rather picky about taste these days?’

Considering that the tea he drank at the Scarcepino’s wasn’t to his liking at all.

It was probably because of Chief Chamberlain Louis and Commander Bruno. After experiencing the ultimate taste that tea could produce every day, at least in terms of tea, his palate might have transformed into a sommelier-like delicate one. At this rate, wouldn’t he become unable to drink tea anywhere?

He glared at Commander Bruno, who was standing beside him for no reason, and he stroked his mustache in puzzlement.

As for the members of the Monster Special Task Force, it was decided that Sir Valerie and Dame Sharon would accompany him.

Of course, both of them planned to disguise themselves as resident knights to hide their identities as Inquisitors and Exorcists.

“I’m thinking of bringing a banned book as a pastime. If I read something like that, no one will suspect me of being an Inquisitor, right?”

Seongjin looked at Sir Valerie, who was babbling like that, with somewhat pitiful eyes.

“The branch chief is a lousy person, but his eye for talent is undeniable. If he says you can do it, you can. You’re talented and diligent. You’ll definitely become a knight soon.”

“Yes...”

“Stop worrying and let’s go have lunch. Put away the wooden sword and come.”

Aslan nodded and stood up.

As he was walking alone towards the warehouse, he heard the sound of someone’s conversation from the half-open warehouse.

“This is very different from what we initially discussed, isn’t it?”

‘...Branch Chief?’

What kind of change of heart was it? Recently, Branch Chief Justin had been staying at the Guild for several days without disappearing somewhere, meeting various people.

It seemed another guest had arrived. But why were they in the warehouse instead of the Guild Master’s room?

“What exactly happened? You said it was a formation that binds souls? Didn’t you assure me that it would definitely work properly this time?”

Aslan was startled by the branch chief’s rarely agitated voice. It was unlike his usual lazy and drawling tone.

And what? Binding souls?

With an ominous premonition, Aslan held his breath and quietly listened to the conversation.

“What I initially gave you was definitely a leash. But what is this?”

Next, he heard an unusual deep voice.

“You split a single leash in half and even heat-treated it again afterward. As a result, the circuits are completely misaligned. It can’t possibly function properly like this.”

“That couldn’t be helped. What you gave me looked like an ornate necklace. How could it be suitable for disguising as a prisoner’s restraint?!”

The two seemed to be arguing with something placed on the table between them.

Their figures weren’t clearly visible through the gap in the door, but at least the object they had between them was clearly in sight.

‘That’s...!’

Aslan immediately recognized the familiar object.

Although it was completely broken in half.

‘It’s the handcuffs Bart was wearing!’

“I hid it in molten iron and further concealed it with thick iron. Otherwise, he would have instantly recognized that this was an object from the Imaginary World.”

“You did something unnecessary. If you had used the original form as I told you from the beginning, you could have easily trapped the Guardian inside the Homunculus.”

“But I had to be careful. The moment he noticed, everything would have been over!”

“As I’ve said repeatedly, the circuits of the Imaginary World cannot be hidden by adding something to them. The reason he didn’t recognize it this time was likely because the circuits were already damaged, rather than because you covered it with iron.”

Then, a soft sigh followed.

“When do you think he will come into a puppet’s body for such a long time again? Because of your unnecessary caution, we missed a golden opportunity that may never come again.”

“Hmm...”

Aslan, pale as a sheet, took a few steps back.

He couldn’t fully understand the conversation, but one thing was certain: it wasn’t good news for Bart.

‘I need to warn Bart... warn His Majesty!’

At that moment, creak. The warehouse door suddenly opened wide without warning.

“But wait a minute. What have you been eavesdropping on so interestingly, little Aslan?”

“...!”

Aslan’s feet froze at the eerie energy flowing from the warehouse.

Despite his endlessly light impression, Branch Chief Justin was a Sword Master. There was no way he hadn’t noticed the boy approaching the warehouse from the beginning!

“B-Branch Chief. Why on earth...?”

Didn’t you say you were His Majesty’s old friend?

Justin was watching the boy, whose mouth was stiff and tightly pressed by Aura, with an amused smile.

Then, a man approached from behind him and asked:

“Shall I dispose of him as is?”

Only then could Aslan properly see the guest’s appearance.

He was a tall man, comparable to Justin. He wore a luxurious robe embroidered with delicate patterns and a flashy half-mask on his face that one would expect to see at a festival.

“No. Bart knows this kid. He occasionally asks about his well-being through informants. It would be problematic if he simply disappeared.”

Then, Justin turned around and asked the guest:

“There’s a simpler way. Can you erase this kid’s memory?”

“Of course, I can.”

Beyond the half-mask, cold blue eyes emitted a chilling light.