(EP-224.1) #4

224 – Discovery #4

Zzz, zzzz-.

Aira slept well. Getting a good night’s sleep was also a sign of good health.

But when I brought her the cross, her face contorted as if she was suffering from a toothache.

“Ugh-.”

It happened again.

“Ugghh….”

How fascinating.

But I feared Aira might wake up and ask, “Theo, what are you doing?” So I quickly returned the cross to my pocket.

“Hnnng….”

Then Aira groaned and tossed in bed.

Thump, thump.

My heart pounded as if I was doing something wrong.

She should be waking up soon. I was not sure if it was because of the late night party in the hills last night, but Aira’s sleep felt very deep.

“… Aira-nim, are you still sleeping?”

“…….”

No response came.

Only the steady sound of breathing could be heard. I was scared for a bit that she might have fallen into a coma again. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Since it had come to this, why not try one more experiment?

I took out a garlic clove I had prepared from my storage《Squirrel Cache》. Then I gently brought it close to Aira’s nose.

“Ugh, uh-.”

Aira groaned heavily and tossed her body to the other side.

‘Indeed.’

This confirmed what I was suspecting.

That there was a big demonic entity lurking within Aira.

It was so immense and malevolent that I wouldn’t be surprised if it ate away the fairytale princess out of Aira and turned her into a tyrant.

Perhaps Aira’s family’s tragic fate was also closely related to this.

According to the book I borrowed,「Feast of Souls」, malicious spirits would induce nightmares or misfortune to seize the host’s body.

It was said that it could devour the body of the person whose mind got exhausted.

Certainly, Aira’s mind fitted as it was filled with doubts after the horrific events that had befallen her family.

In many ways, it was similar to the symptoms of possession. And to devour the mind of someone formidable like Aira, the culprit would be none other than Solomon’s great magic.

「You have calmly judged the situation!

You have gained experience points through the talent 《Calm Thinking》.

All job experience +5」

Calm Thinking kicked in, which basically confirmed my thoughts without needing to ask anyone else.

Indeed, that was how it was.

Now, the gaps in the original episodes that I couldn’t understand were filled.

Ding-.

At that moment, the elegant grandfather clock in Aira’s room chimed.

As much as it was nice to experiment on the sleeping Aira, it was time to wake her up.

I gently cleared my throat, ensuring my voice was neither too loud nor too soft, neither too high nor too low, and whispered softly into Aira’s ear.

“Aira-nim, it’s time to wake up.”

“…….”

Seureureuk-.

Aira’s delicate eyelashes fluttered. Soon, her jet-black pupils moved around before settling on my face.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Hm… Indeed.”

After that, I pretended as if nothing had happened before gently combing Aira’s hair, helping her put on stockings, and fastening the buttons on her clothes.

* * *

“So, like this. Tie the stems together to form a wreath. If you infuse it with some magic, it can be preserved semi-permanently.”

Aira gave a lecture on how to make a wreath while being surrounded by people in the park, where the ongoing festival was.

━Is this how you do it? Like this?

━Ugh, I can’t do it either. Queen Aira is amazing.

Many women learned how to make wreaths from Aira, imitating her. Watching her, Aira seemed just like an ordinary princess or queen.

“Tarantera-nim, I don’t know for sure, but didn’t the Queen’s expression become a little gentler after coming out of the dream?”

When I turned my head, I could see Lily admiring Aira from a few steps behind.

At some point, Lily had become Aira’s aide and she proved to be quite capable in many ways, providing valuable assistance.

I watched her for a while.

Then, Lily’s brows furrowed as she suddenly looked flustered.

“Why, what? If you have something to say, just say it!”

“Hey, I have some things to attend to briefly, so I need you to keep an eye on Aira-nim. Got it?”

“Hmm, you didn’t have to tell me. Where are you going? Not that I’m curious. But if Her Majesty asks, we need an answer.”

“Well. Tell her that I went to the administration office for a moment to check on the Queen Contest votes.”

With that, I turned around and set off down the path to unravel the questions that had been swirling in my mind.

First, as I had told Lily, I went to the tent being used as the election management camp and took care of various signing and paperwork.

After roughly finishing up, a young female staff member who had been organizing documents suddenly said.

“That stack of papers would have taken me another two hours to go through. You’re a fast worker, Sir Theo.”

“It’s what I’ve always done. Is there anything else I need to check or sign?”

“No, there isn’t.”

‘Good.’

With that, I slipped away from my seat and headed towards the research building where the professors’ labs were clustered. In fact, the reason I set aside time was precisely to visit here.

“Are you there?”

I was looking for Balan, who was now working as my secret subordinate. Ttok-. I knocked on the door and heard a stir from inside.

━Who is it? Um, it’s a holiday today. I don’t accept meetings without appointments.

“Professor Balan, it’s me. Theo Gospel.”

━Ah!

Edited by: faker