IWIAHC Chapter 30

Amidst the horrific ritual the cult leader performed while spilling blood, Julius naively believed he would soon be free.

What Julius Scheiwartz had overlooked was that one complete human being was, in fact, the very container holding hair, nails, and saliva.

Blood flowing from both wrists, the cult leader chanted an incomprehensible foreign incantation.

A simple melody composed of two or three tones gradually accelerated until finally the syllables poured forth too quickly to distinguish.

At some point, Julius lost his body's center of gravity and collapsed.

The sensation of a soul peeling away from its body defied linguistic description, so even now Julius couldn't properly articulate how exactly he'd been extracted from his body.

His soul, which had been about to return toward the infinite source, became bound to earth as though shackled, and he found himself staring at his own body collapsed on the floor.

The chanting continued for some time afterward. Then, after one more gasping sound, the world fell silent as death.

Suddenly, the ownerless shell twitched. Julius stared with wide eyes at the bizarre spectacle of his own body moving of its own accord and rising.

The body clenched and unclenched its hand, twisted its head left and right, and moved various parts. Then, wearing a satisfied smile, it moved its lips.

"■■■■■!"

At the Solmon words flowing out, Julius turned his gaze to see the cult leader's body lying face-down on the floor. Only then did he understand what had transpired.

[You wicked heretic. Give me back my body. Return it...!]

Julius shouted and reached toward his body. His hand passed meaninglessly through the flesh. No matter how many times he tried, the result remained the same.

[This wasn't the agreement. How dare you—do you think you'll survive this!]

Julius screamed with all his strength. The underground dungeon shook, and stone fragments fell from the ceiling.

The cult leader, wearing the Emperor's form, glanced up at the ceiling and made a puzzled expression.

"■■?"

He spoke with a questioning lilt at the end and looked slowly around the area. Throughout this, Julius continued his futile struggles.

The cult leader narrowed his eyes and asked slowly.

"Are you here? In this place...? Still, yes?"

[Return us to our original state. This wasn't part of the deal!]

"Noble one?"

The cult leader continued looking around. Julius was, in fact, directly in front of him.

"■■■■■."

He muttered something disgruntled and approached the collapsed elderly body to check its breathing.

The cult leader's body was gasping for breath with difficulty. Blood still hadn't stopped flowing from the wrists that had been gouged open. Though breathing now, the body would clearly die from blood loss before long.

The cult leader seemed unconcerned about the death of his physical form.

After staring down at the body for a moment with an inscrutable expression, he moved toward the entrance and lay down on his side. Then, with the comfortable expression of someone taking an afternoon nap, he closed his eyes.

Until the imperial guards, finding it suspicious that the Emperor hadn't emerged for an excessively long time, entered.

Lily made her way to the kitchen with extreme caution and cooled her hands. She instinctively sensed that the series of small accidents hadn't occurred due to her carelessness.

'Then what is it? At this rate, I'll have to watch out for falling leaves!'

On the return journey, she walked down the center of the corridor, surveying all directions. This was to prepare for doors that might open from anywhere at any time.

Additionally, to avoid tumbling ungracefully on a path with nothing on it, she moved with careful attention to each step.

Perhaps thanks to her total concentration, fortunately nothing happened during the return to her room.

"Are you all right?"

Wolfram, who had been conversing with Julia, turned his gaze to Lily and asked.

"Yes. More or less. I nearly tumbled down the stairs, but at least I didn't actually tumble, so that's fortunate."

"In my opinion, whatever was attached to the Emperor—some evil spirit, misfortune, curse, or the like—has transferred to you."

Under normal circumstances, she would have asked what sort of heretical talk that was.

However, Lily immediately recalled something that fit what Wolfram described. The Emperor's ring, precisely.

"The very things His Majesty experienced until yesterday are now happening to you. Your case does seem somewhat more frequent, though. You should be careful. He even drew blood."

He moved the teacup and teapot far away from Lily as he continued.

"I thought it strange when I saw the Emperor pass today without incident. His retainers spoke as if the misfortune attached to him had finally lifted, but clearly he'd simply transferred it to you."

"But I don't understand. Why me specifically?"

Lily fumbled at the pocket containing the ring.

"That man harbors ill feelings toward anyone associated with the Duke."

"This is awkward to say myself, but I'm just an insignificant maid."

[Don't speak that way.]

Aiden interjected from the side. However, since only she could hear his voice anyway, if she pretended not to hear, it was as good as unsaid.

Lily continued calmly.

"If the Emperor wanted to inflict misfortune on someone from the ducal castle, there would have been somewhat more suitable candidates."

Lily gazed steadily at Wolfram.

"For instance, wouldn't you be better than me, sir? It's not as if any great harm comes to the ducal castle from one maid getting hurt. If the Emperor—no, the cult leader—wanted to vent even a bit of that vindictiveness, someone like me..."

[Lily.]

Aiden stopped her again. He seemed genuinely displeased, so Lily read the atmosphere and closed her mouth.

Wolfram waited briefly for Lily to finish speaking, then said bluntly.

"In that case, he must have found you particularly disagreeable."

If Wolfram's theory was correct, it was an unfair situation. Lily thought sulkily.

'Wait, how often did he even see me? We'd only just met that night. Plus I kindly guided him despite braving terror in the dead of night! Far from being grateful, he found me disagreeable?'

Lily recalled that deep night when she'd received the ring.

She'd offered thanks to the Emperor without even knowing what had been placed in her hand, and the Emperor had said to her:

—You must send it to the Duke. Your gratitude...

That had been mockery after all!

She dredged her memory a bit further. Come to think of it, the Emperor had asked her out of nowhere whether she liked the Duke. And she'd called the Duke her "gracious master"...

Lily understood why the cult leader would have found that galling. A maid who regarded the enemy of his life, the nemesis of his order, with gratitude—naturally he'd want to thoroughly vex her.

'Ugh. What rotten luck. Since I knew he was a fake Emperor anyway, I should've just cursed His Grace to my heart's content without overthinking it.'

But truly, what was there to curse about Aiden Casimir?

His appearance, blessed as though the Sovereign God had poured his heart into it? His manner, gentle as a spring breeze? The fact that he was an affectionate superior who followed one around like a puppy that loved people, giving no opportunity for neglecting one's duties?

Even trying to force it, she couldn't easily find anything.

Wolfram returned to the main point and asked.

"You said you received a ring from him? And that His Majesty's soul is bound to it?"

"Yes. It's a ring inscribed with the imperial family crest, and His Grace said it was His Majesty Julius's talisman."

She drew the ring from her pocket.

"Perhaps the Sovereign God protects the soul—eep!"

The undignified sound that emerged from her mouth was absolutely not Lily's intention.

"What is it?"

"Th-this, the color..."

Lily set the ring down on the table almost as if throwing it. In that short time, the ring's condition had deteriorated further.

"Color? Isn't it an ordinary ring?"

"Um, it looks somewhat different to my eyes. There's something like a heat shimmer, and the color wasn't good to begin with, you see? But now it's become far more severe than initially."

The light that had originally shimmered faintly in a dark red color had now rotted completely black.

'This looks downright wicked!'

She'd thought the color seemed to be growing progressively darker. At the time, she'd assumed it was just her imagination, but while she'd been away cooling her hands, the condition had rapidly worsened.

And even in this moment, the aura's color was becoming murkier moment by moment, taking on the hue of sewage.

[That's not good.]

Aiden offered a brief assessment.

"Can Your Grace see it too?"

[Yes. It's ominous enough that I'd rather not approach it.]

Truly, it was exactly as Aiden said. The aura seemed poised to immediately plunge its owner into a pit of misfortune.

She could tell precisely where her minor accidents had originated. Honestly, she should be grateful they'd stopped at bumping into things and stumbling.

'Where is the Emperor right now?'

Considering that the color suffusing the talisman synchronized with the ghost's color, the Emperor's condition was deeply concerning.

What on earth could cause such rot to set in? He hadn't been in his right mind to begin with—could there possibly be room for further deterioration?

It felt as though her headaches had doubled.