Chapter 81

"Do you die if you recall memories from your past life? Why...?"

"Think about it. Do you think a person can remain sane while carrying memories that aren't their own?"

"That's..."

Cordelia pondered.

Lionel's words were outlandish, but they seemed to make a certain kind of sense.

"Imagine accidentally recalling memories from your past life. You'd either become a vegetable from the shock the moment you remember, or over a few days, your memories and sense of self would blur and decay... Either way, it wouldn't last a month before your mind dies."

It seemed more terrifying than she had imagined.

She was curious about her past life, but the price of death was too high to consider recalling it.

(I shouldn't so easily think I want to know about my past life.)

Cordelia resolved to remember this.

"Well, in the case of humans, their memories are washed away after death, so they can only bring over their past life's name and a few fragmented memories at most."

"That's true... But, wait a moment."

Cordelia noticed something she couldn't overlook and looked at Lionel.

"Then why does Your Majesty, Lionel, still have your memories and exist within Prince Leonhardt?"

"Because I'm not human. Only those who wear human skin or something that believes it is human can have their past life's memories return without their mind breaking down."

Lionel smiled mockingly.

"Didn't I say? I exist to destroy the likes of sorcery. I need a body to wield power, so I created a bloodline that strongly carries my blood and reincarnated into it, borrowing its body."

"Borrowing..."

Cordelia savored the word.

The fact that Lionel was now surfacing in consciousness meant...

"Will Your Majesty, Lionel, remain within Prince Leonhardt until the person who used sorcery on the king is found?"

"That's the plan. If you don't like it, find the sorcerer quickly."

Lionel closed his eyes, signaling the end of the explanation.

When the emerald eyes opened again, it was indeed Leonhardt standing there.

Cordelia sighed in relief.

"Welcome back, Your Highness. Did you hear what His Majesty Lionel said?"

"Yes, I heard. I want to find the sorcerer who attacked my father as well..."

"But if everyone could be a sorcerer, there are too many people to suspect..."

Leonhardt and Cordelia both groaned.

The number of people in the capital alone was vast, easily exceeding ten thousand. Investigating each one would be impossible.

"Recently, Allen, an imperial soldier, has been acting suspiciously, but there's no evidence yet..."

"Sir Allen?"

"Yes. In this country, there have been no incidents involving sorcerers before. It makes more sense to think that a foreigner is involved, and it seems that Allen and his group are planning something large in the northern part of the capital in a few days."

"Large-scale plans in the northern part of the capital..."

It was suspicious.

Without any leads, the only thing they could do was keep an eye on Allen.

(But, wait. Are Allen or the people around him really sorcerers?)

Cordelia tilted her head and decided to ask Leonhardt a few questions.

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"Father, your complexion has improved a lot."

Leonhardt sighed in the king's bedroom.

Three days after the entity claiming to be Lionel dispelled the black mist, the king was fortunately on the road to recovery. Cordelia also felt a weight lifted from her shoulders.

(Good. Now, if we can just keep an eye on Sir Allen and his group...)

She wanted to believe the situation was moving towards resolution.

After visiting the king's bedroom and making some preparations, Cordelia and the others reached the late hours of the next night.

Currently, Leonhardt was in the grounds of the Royal Magic Bureau in the southern part of the capital.

When she first met Allen, he had used a large soldier as a decoy to distract her while he took her veil.

Just like that time, the suspicious large-scale movement in the northern part of the capital could be a diversion.

Considering Allen's apparent skill as a soldier, it seemed unlikely he would reveal his plans in advance, making the northern part of the capital seem like a diversion.

The most important facility in the southern part of the capital, opposite the north, was the Royal Magic Bureau.

There were other candidates, but this was Cordelia's and Leonhardt's top choice.

Without solid evidence and since only they could identify cursed objects, they were acting together.

As they were keeping watch with Leonhardt, it suddenly became noisy in the middle of the night.

"It seems we've found it."

Leonhardt stood up from the bushes where they were hiding.

Closing his eyes once, his personality switched to Lionel.

"Let's go. Follow me."

Pulling Cordelia along, Lionel marched forward.

It was a stark contrast to how considerate Leonhardt usually was when they walked together.

"That's...!"

Ahead, a familiar black mist was floating.

It was proof that someone had used sorcery.

Rushing over, they found a young boy standing in front of the dormitory where the magicians lived.

"Are you...?"

It was the boy, Julian, who had been bullied when she and Bernardo visited the Royal Magic Bureau before.

Wearing the black mist, he turned to face them, with the dormitory behind him.

"Oh, it's the cookie lady."

Cordelia clenched her fist lightly.

It was indeed the Julian she had met that day.

"What do you intend to do?"

"I'm going to burn everything, of course."

Julian answered as if it were nothing.

His casual demeanor sent a chill down Cordelia's spine.

(He seemed to have a certain acceptance despite being bullied...)

But it wasn't resignation or acceptance.

Perhaps, after being bullied for his weak magical power, he found some ease in the power of sorcery, which had nothing to do with magic.

"Julian, think again. I've heard that sorcery uses the soul as fuel. If you use sorcery, you might not know what will happen to you."

"So what?"

Julian tilted his head.

"Even without sorcery, I'm being bullied and might end up in a bad way. Wouldn't it be better to rely on sorcery and burn everything annoying, don't you think?"

"Julian..."

Cordelia realized it was too late.

The time to stop him with words had long passed.

Julian spread his arms wide and raised his ring high.

"Burn, burn! Burn everything!"

As Julian chanted, blood spurted from his right wrist and was absorbed by the ring.

From the ring, black flames erupted in exchange for the blood.

"Tch, you fool."

Lionel stepped forward with a sneer.

With just that simple movement,

"What?!"

Golden flames bloomed and engulfed the black flames.

All the black flames that had leaked from the ring were completely extinguished by Lionel.

"No way! Why are these special black flames being extinguished?!"

"There's more than one special thing."

Lionel's cold gaze remained fixed on Julian.

The black flames, which were a threat to humans, seemed to have no effect on him.

"No...!"

Julian, in a daze, bowed his head.

Cordelia felt a deep sadness for him.

(He struggled with his lack of magical power and turned to sorcery, but was still defeated by a stronger opponent...)

While his use of sorcery was his own doing, his pitiful state was also evident.

Julian, perhaps due to the effects of the cursed object, eventually fainted.

After tying him up as a precaution, Lionel's presence wavered.

"Girl, I'm going to sleep now."

"Are you tired?"

Despite overwhelming Julian, Lionel seemed to be experiencing some backlash.

"The current body is controlled by Leonhardt. What was once a trivial power for me is now too much of a burden. If I could take control of Leonhardt's body, things would progress much faster..."

"Please have a good rest, Your Majesty."

Cordelia quickly replied.

Considering Leonhardt, she couldn't accept Lionel's proposal.

"You've become quite bold with me..."

Lionel's eyes were stern.

While fear and respect for him still lingered in Cordelia, she had become somewhat accustomed to him through their conversations.

(Despite being a non-human entity and speaking arrogantly, His Majesty Lionel...)

Perhaps because he shared a soul with Leonhardt, he might not be a completely bad person.

As Cordelia thought this, Lionel's presence disappeared, and Leonhardt's consciousness returned.

With Leonhardt carrying Julian, they handed him over to the guards of the Magic Bureau. It was well past midnight.

As they walked towards the exit of the Royal Magic Bureau, the sky was turning towards dawn, and a shadow approached them.