IBTHM Chapter 33

It was certainly true. Hades was a man who would readily storm the imperial palace and stage a coup if it was for Abel's sake.

The fact that this now extended to me made something in my chest feel strangely fluttery, though...

In any case, encouraged by Hades's answer, I pulled out the medicine I'd hidden in the sleeve of my dress.

Hades tilted his head curiously at the medicine I'd presented, wrapped in a palm-sized cloth.

Without asking questions, he accepted it and immediately unwrapped it.

"Isn't this the medicine you've been taking?"

"That's right. Your Grace, could you possibly find out what kind of medicine this is?"

At my request, Hades blinked slowly before asking.

"Didn't you say the temple makes and sends it to you?"

"Yes, exactly. So I've been taking it without knowing precisely what it is. But there's something about it that's making me suspicious..."

I didn't elaborate, but as I trailed off with worry in my voice, Hades immediately seemed to understand.

His puzzled expression had already sharpened into something keen enough to fell a flying bird with a glance alone.

Without another word, Hades pocketed the medicine.

"It'll take about half a day. Wait for me—I'll be back."

I was surprised.

"You're not going to... ask anything else?"

"What's there to ask? You're making this request because something seems suspicious."

"True, but in case you forgot... this is medicine made by the temple. Secretly investigating what it is means..."

"Were you worried about that? About investigating the temple's background?"

Hades lifted his chin with that characteristic arrogant expression and snorted.

"Do you really think I'd act while constantly worrying about such things?"

"Right, right. You're absolutely right. I was worrying over nothing."

"Anyway, half a day should do it."

"...That's all it'll take?"

"That's even allowing generous time. I can return as quickly as possible. I have 'someone' who can look into it right away."

Hades immediately began preparing to leave without delay.

This was one thing I really appreciated about him.

Perceptive as he was, he didn't bombard me with endless questions, didn't interrogate me, and didn't refuse my request either.

Really, if only he wasn't so full of himself, he'd be a man fully worth fangirling over just as much as Abel...

Before leaving the room, Hades let out an "Ah" as if remembering something forgotten, then came to stand before me.

He suddenly placed his large hand firmly on top of my head.

When I looked up wondering what this was about, Hades was smiling with an expression of such gentleness—completely at odds with his cold features—as he spoke.

"Don't worry."

"What? Worry? No, I'm not particularly worried about anything..."

"Your expression isn't like you."

"Ah... was it?"

At Hades's words, I unnecessarily raised my hand to touch my cheek.

The ominous intuition that had come out of nowhere must have made me unconsciously show my anxiety.

"You don't need to worry. I promised I wouldn't let there be anything for you to worry about, didn't I?"

"Yes..."

"I'll be back."

Leaving only those words, Hades swept out of the room like the wind.

He must have truly been concerned—his awkward attempt at comfort somehow calmed the storm inside me.

I stood there in a daze, staring at the door Hades had left through for a long moment before returning to my room.

While waiting for Hades, I sat at my table with pen and paper, lost in thought.

Aisha Esclife.

I wasn't even a supporting character. That's why I'd thought I had no direct connection to the grand currents flowing through this novel.

But looking at how things were unfolding now, that was completely wrong.

'House Esclife' wasn't mentioned by even a single line in the book, but the 'temple' was.

Deborah was a priestess belonging to the temple, and she was the female lead.

Moreover, the temple was an important center of power that appeared tediously from the novel's beginning to its end.

If House Esclife was connected to such a temple in any way, it was no longer just a passing minor role.

The reason I never suspected this medicine.

I picked up my pen and began roughly scribbling on the paper.

First, the 'temple' that manufactured this medicine was portrayed as 'absolute good' in the novel Persona.

The priests and priestesses comprising the temple were all white-attribute imperial citizens, and according to the setting, they were generally good people.

Their abilities themselves were based solely on healing attributes meant for helping others.

How could they possibly be depicted as villains?

There were countless episodes portraying the temple as absolute good.

To give just one example: Abel and Deborah's first meeting.

As an independent power bloc from the imperial family, the temple had to pay taxes like other noble houses to maintain territory within the empire.

Well, even on Earth where I'd lived before opening my eyes here, didn't individual citizens have tax obligations? Similar logic.

So the temple had been surviving on income from white-attribute priestesses' healing pilgrimages and various donations, but around the time Deborah was promoted from apprentice priestess, they unfortunately fell into such financial hardship they couldn't even pay taxes.

The reason? They'd been freely caring for lower-class citizens who couldn't afford to pay for receiving their sacred rites even when sick.

The priestesses doing the work needed money for food and clothing, but income was minimal, and unable to help it, the temple borrowed money here and there until reaching the brink of bankruptcy.

The one who magnificently saved the temple then was none other than our Abel.

By generously donating the diamond mine Hades had tried to give me as a dowry, Abel saved the temple and met Deborah.

Looking at just this alone, wasn't there absolutely no reason to suspect the temple?

It was a place filled with people dedicating themselves to saving even one more suffering person, wearing down their own lives in the process.

Second, I was clearly someone whose body had problems without taking this medicine.

Having experienced nearly glimpsing death's door after not taking the medicine, this needed no further explanation.

So in conclusion, I hadn't been an idiot mindlessly taking medicine of unknown origin.

There simply hadn't been anything to suspect!

'But now I have a strong intuition that I can't not suspect it.'

What if.

What if the temple had been deliberately making me take this medicine for some reason?

'Why would they feed strange medicine to a powerless country baron's daughter? Surely they're not conducting human experiments?'

Whatever the reason might be, I simply couldn't imagine the temple having bad intentions.

The temple's thoughts would be Deborah's will, and Deborah was the female lead. Throughout the story, Deborah was a character who devoted herself to the temple and worked alongside them.

And Deborah was kind. If an angel had manifested in the human world, it might well be Deborah.

...That description appeared in the story as our Abel's inner thoughts.

Not my thoughts, not the author's thoughts.

I just got goosebumps.

For a moment, my spine went cold.

Rubbing my goosebumped arms, I thought about it.

Persona.

Unlike other romance novels, it was a story uniquely unfolding from only male lead Abel's perspective.

Only Abel's psychological state was revealed in the story, and all judgments and descriptions of everyone else were based entirely on Abel's personal assessments.

Simply put, even if someone was a tremendous villain, if our unworldly Abel judged them to be good, the structure meant I could only read descriptions portraying that person as 'good.'

What if, truly, the temple was actually a mastermind organization that had been deceiving even Abel?

I desperately hoped not, but reasonable suspicion that it might actually be possible tormented me.

Because at that very moment, I remembered something unfortunate.

'Why is the question I wanted to ask the author surfacing now of all times? My intuition has never been wrong.'

I'd read the novel so thoroughly you could say I'd licked every page, and thus knew everything about this world.

But there was just one thing I absolutely couldn't understand.

The question I'd been determined to ask if I ever met the author before dying was exactly that.

Q. Author! Why on earth is the novel titled Persona?

Persona.

Latin for 'mask.'

We commonly use it when expressing a 'false personality.'

So perhaps.

Excluding protagonist Abel, whose inner thoughts were narrated in first person.

Every premise I knew about the other characters.

Might be 'false.'

"Ahh!!!"

At that moment, I let out a startled shriek.

Bang—my door burst open simultaneously as if the person outside had been equally startled.

Hades stood there.

For some reason, his complexion had gone pale and his expression was furious as he strode toward me.

Hades roughly threw something down in front of me.

Looking at it, I saw it was the medicine I'd asked him to identify.

"Aisha. What on earth..."

Like someone unable to contain his rage, Hades gripped my shoulders tightly and spoke through gritted teeth.

"...have you been taking this for all this time?"