NOVEL NEXT Chapter 218
“Gufel?”
The young and beautiful Gufel aged rapidly. Instinctively, I realized that if I received all this power, Gufel would die.
“What are you doing? Let go of this!” No matter how hard I tried to shake off her hand, it wouldn’t budge, as if a strong magnetism had formed between our hands.
Gufel, whose hair had turned completely white, remained elegant and beautiful. She scolded me in a gentle voice. “I’ve been abandoned by my creator anyway. Dying slowly and withering away was the fate given to me. What use is it for someone like me to have such power?”
“Gufel!”
Before she crumbled into white sand after transferring all her power to me, she said, “Never trust Ozworld.”
As she finished speaking, darkness descended again, like a black curtain covering my sight.
* * *
When my vision returned, the cold air of a space made of stone and metal filled my lungs, and I gasped for breath.
“
Gasp
!”
Ding!
[The Constellation ‘Bet Your Life on Theresa’ has sponsored 1,000,000 coins.]
[Why did you suddenly collapse
ㅠㅠ
Are you okay?]
I feel dizzy.
My whole body throbbed, each cell acutely awakening. I had felt this sensation only once before, at the moment Clyde died at the altar of light and when I was sentencing Samuel to punishment. It was a transcendent state.
The beating of my heart shook my entire being. The sweat running down my cheeks pooled on my chin and dropped to the floor, thundering in my ears.
“
Ugh
…!” Intense dizziness overwhelmed me, causing nausea.
Why is this happening? Is it because of that star power?
Though it wasn’t a deadly pain, I was in such a bad state that I couldn’t stand straight.
Twitch.
Then, I noticed Euges’s fingers move.
Is he waking up?
As I lifted my sweaty face to look at Euges, I saw him opening his eyes. Euges frowned in confusion, and then our eyes met.
“I had collapsed… Why is that?”
Seeing my condition, Euges propped himself up. Feeling like I should say something, I managed to part my lips.
“Your Majesty… Are you alright now?”
Before I could hear his response, I passed out.
* * *
The emperor’s bedroom was bustling with an unprecedented situation. Chief Chamberlain Bein, the servants tidying up the room, the imperial doctor, Jeffrey, and both Euges and Theresa lying on the bed. Even more unusual, none of them had covered their shoes with cloth, a breach of protocol never before seen during Euges’s reign.
The imperial doctor seemed to have finished examining and reported Theresa’s condition to the emperor. “The flow of her mana is unstable but is quickly stabilizing. She will wake up soon. There’s no need for major concern.”
Hearing this, Euges raised an eyebrow. “Concern? Why would I be concerned? Do you think she’s my lover just because she’s lying in my bed?”
Although the imperial doctor thought it was far stranger to have someone not in such a relationship in bed, he quickly apologized after Euges’s sharp response. “I misspoke, Your Majesty.”
Euges, clearly annoyed, waved his hand dismissively, and the imperial doctor quickly left the room. Although Euges had reacted sharply, it was considerably mild compared to his usual demeanor.
After the servants swiftly tidied up the room and decorated it with magic flowers Theresa had brought, Jeffrey broke the silence. “It’s fortunate there are no major issues. There’s no need to inform the Squire family.”
Theresa had been at the imperial palace for less than an hour. It wasn’t uncommon for young, unmarried ladies trying to impress the emperor to faint from not eating for days at parties. Although Jeffrey didn’t think the current Theresa would do such a thing, he dismissed it as a convenience for the imperial family.
Jeffrey glanced at Euges, who had given up his own bed and was now sitting cross-legged on a sofa beside it.
What exactly happened here?
Euges had made the palace off-limits to almost everyone for several days, then suddenly went out looking for Bein loudly. By the time Bein and the necessary servants arrived at the bedroom, Theresa had already fainted and was lying on the bed, meaning the emperor had personally laid her there.
Jeffrey’s gaze landed on Theresa’s beautiful sleeping face. She was known to be pretty. She was at the age where her beauty was at its peak. But every time he saw Theresa Squire, her beauty seemed to outshine itself excessively. So much so that even Euges, a notorious misanthrope, seemed to have taken a liking to her.
“Still, just in case, it might be best to offer some compensation to smooth things over once Lady Theresa wakes up. How shall we proceed, Your Majesty?”
Euges, indifferent, responded with irritation. “Deal with it as you see fit.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After Jeffrey left the room respectfully, Bein quietly followed suit. Euges had no intention of keeping them there, but he chuckled at the absurdity of leaving a single, unmarried lady alone in his room.
“What are they expecting?”
He was aware that Theresa’s reputation in the imperial palace was not ordinary. Yet, leaving her to her own devices had led to this situation.
“Absurd.”
Euges realized the moment he woke up that his headache had vanished, thanks to the potion Theresa had given him. Even her concern for him while collapsing was annoying.
“I’m curious about your true intentions.”
The moment in the magical garden when Theresa said she would become fond of him haunted Euges like a curse. Now, he found himself expecting something from a person he thought no longer existed.
That was displeasing. His own emotions felt disgusting and repulsive. And he was afraid of becoming a fool again. But the more he denied his feelings, the worse his headaches became, and nightmares appeared daily.
Theresa had been the main cause of the recent frosty atmosphere in the imperial palace. Unaware of this, everyone covertly admired Theresa like a hero, which irritated him.
“
Tsk
.”
Euges clicked his tongue and summoned the Squire’s arcane magic book, which he had taken from the treasure room along with Theresa. The book, as large as Theresa’s torso, didn’t seem too big in Euges’s hands.
“Daring to touch the arcane magic book without my permission.”
He had long realized that Theresa’s collapse was due to the Squire’s arcane magic book because the lock was open.
“It’s an empty book. I don’t understand why she fainted.”
It seemed there was a mechanism in the magic book that reacted only to blood relatives. Therefore, no emperor in history had ever opened the book.
Euges flipped through the book with a look of disinterest and then closed it. “Two families were set against each other for a useless book.”
A hundred years ago, the scandal of Willow’s successor eloping with a governess and insulting the eldest daughter of the Squire family was actually a plot orchestrated by the imperial family. The union of the two families was a threat to the Rodrigo imperial family, and they coveted the Squire family’s arcane magic book.
Contrary to what was publicly known, the book was not a book of magic. It was a ‘bible’ that could be used as a means to communicate with Demon God.
Euges stared intently at Theresa’s serene face, felt his stomach churn, and turned his head away. “What exactly are you?”
He was angry because he couldn’t understand why she seemed so special.
* * *
Jiiiiiit.
[“Hello, Shin Jiwoo. It’s been a while. Have you been well?”]
The old television broadcasts a black-and-white image and the worn-out sofa. It was the place I had visited before. On the screen, a beautiful boy was playing the piano.
Today, it seemed the boy was here to speak on behalf of the leader of the ‘Ozworld Company Victim Union.’
Is it Beethoven’s piano concerto?
My younger sibling, who majored in piano, used to make the same mistake repeatedly and, out of frustration, once destroyed a piano.
That was the song he was practicing at that time.
I shook off the old memories and addressed the boy. “Ozworld has been quiet, and you’re here, so something must have happened to him, right?”
[“Indeed, you have good judgment. As you said, there’s been a problem in the Pantheon. No, rather, it was caused.”]
“Are you sure you can tell me such important information so easily? What if I betray you?”
[“You would never do that.”]
I had felt it before, but their trust in me was peculiar, not born out of belief in my character.
It’s similar to the attitude of someone who holds leverage. Not that they seem to corner me with my weakness.
“I visited the planet ruled by the Emperor Signio today. Did you send me there?”
[“This time, it wasn’t us. Perhaps your world sent you to give you what you needed?”]
Was that possibly Gufel’s star power?
I don’t want power obtained through someone’s sacrifice.
Seeing my somber expression, the boy started playing a quiet and soothing piece as a form of consolation. It was Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune.”’
[“There’s always a reason behind Gufel’s actions. Don’t blame yourself.”]
“Did you know Gufel?”
[“Yes. Very well.”]
The boy briefly smiled before changing the subject.
[“I came today to ensure that Ozworld remains unaware of your new star power. When you wake up from this dream, it will be concealed.”]
I realized I didn’t know the person’s name. “What’s your name?”
“
Ah
, have we not properly introduced ourselves? Call me Hardy.”
I have another question.
“What was the last thing you said last time? I didn’t hear it.”
The boy murmured, “
Ah
, that?” and looked at me.
[“I said you could become Ozworld’s wish.”]
“Wish?”
What did that mean?
[“
Oh
, it’s late. Saying ‘wish’ wasn’t meant to be a profound metaphor. Think of it in its literal sense. Goodbye.”]
Tuk.
The TV turned off.