It almost felt as if time had stopped.

Ivan's breath caught at his throat as his eyes involuntarily trembled.

'W,what?'

An unfamiliar yet familiar feeling crept up down his back, forcing the hair on his body to rise. The feeling was something he had felt before but had started to forget with the passing of time.

He thought he'd never feel it again, and yet...

Gulp.

His stomach started to churn and his palms started to grow sweaty.

...W-what is going on?'

Despite Ivan's best attempts at trying to remain calm, he couldn't.

The faceless figure beside him seemed to strip away all sense of rationality from within him. "You look nervous."

His ears tickled at the sound of the voice. The tone was soft, and yet, it made Ivan's legs buckle faintly.

'How is this possible?'

This made no sense at all.

As one of the Seven Monarchs, Ivan had seen all that there was to see. He was at the pinnacle of humanity, and rarely anything could arouse such emotion from him. It was impossible!

Especially since the higher one's tier, the more powerful their mind was.

That was unless...

'An Emotive Mage?'

That was when it all clicked in Ivan's mind.

'Yes, this is the only explanation.'

The reason why his body was reacting the way that it was. It was because a powerful Emotive Mage was influencing his mind.

Upon reaching such thoughts, Ivan was able to seal all of his emotions and calm down forcefully.

"Oh?"

This was enough to surprise the faceless man.

"....As expected of one of the Seven Monarchs. You're indeed quite capable."

Pulling his hand away from Ivan, the Faceless Man moved away and headed for where Atlas was. With the Faceless Man's presence, Atlas immediately stepped to the side and stood next to the red sofa where the Faceless Man sat.

Ivan stared at the Faceless Man without saying a word.

"There's no need to be so tense."

The Faceless Man said, dismissively waving his hand forward and shattering the tension that lingered in the air.

Ivan closed his eyes briefly and sat himself down.

Though he appeared calm, a strange discomfort crept into his mind. It was an unsettling

feeling, like being dragged down into a murky, poisonous pond.

While the Faceless Man had no face, a smile seemed to form on his face upon noticing how obedient Ivan was being.

"Don't think too much. In this situation, there's no point in thinking too much."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ivan asked, his brows furrowing tightly.

Unfortunately for him, the Faceless Man didn't answer him and merely leaned back on the chair while crossing his legs.

He glanced at Atlas.

"You were being quite hasty there, weren't you?"

"...I apologize."

Atlas lowered his head in apology. Ivan's fist clenched silently upon witnessing the scene. A certain thought entered his mind.

'Could he be the leader of the Inverted Sky?'

Atlas was quite powerful.

As far as Ivan could tell, he was quite high up in the rankings.

There could only be a few people that could make him behave like that. The more Ivan's thoughts drifted in that direction, the tighter his fists became. A certain title lingered in his mind all of a sudden, and his heart started to pound.

"The one who walked among us.'

"Uhm?"

As soon as the name crossed his mind, the Faceless Man turned his head and looked at him. It was almost as if he could read his mind, and Ivan felt the chill from before return.

It engulfed his mind and made his muscles stiffen.

'it's fake. Don't fall for it.'

He immediately tried to repeat what he had done before, but to his horror, he realized that it wasn't working. His heartbeat only grew faster with each second that passed and his mind grew more and more flustered.

'It's.. It's...'

"Are you feeling alright? You don't look so good."

Seeing the state Ivan was in, the Faceless Man leaned in with a look of worry, but his actions

only made Ivan feel more frantic as he moved away.

His vision started to blur all of a sudden.

"Come now, let me check."

Just as he stood up, a certain voice pressed his right ear and a hand squeezed down his shoulder, rooting him in place.

"!!"

Ivan felt himself lose control of his entire body. His mind squirmed with panic, and his eyes rigidly turned to face his right where a Faceless figure appeared.

Wasn't he just...?

How?

That was when the words from before rang in his mind, 'Don't think too much. In this

situation, there's no point in thinking too much.'

He didn't understand then, but now he did.

...Before him, whatever he did, it was useless.

"Hmm, your heartbeat is abnormally fast."

Ignoring Ivan, the Faceless Man tilted his head while musing over the situation.

"You're sweating quite a lot. Your face is pale, and your pupils seem dilated."

Turning his head to face Ivan directly, the Faceless Man shook his head.

"I'm afraid this is serious."

Ivan opened his mouth but found the words unable to leave his mouth. His entire demenour shifted, and just as his face changed, the Faceless Figure's hand phased through his chest

from the back and grabbed the bottom half of his face.

"You, sir... Are experiencing something called fear."

"!!"

Phasing through his body, the Faceless Man stopped right before him. His Faceless features

started to bend unnaturally, forming a broad and creepy smile that sent chills down Ivan's

entire body.

"Do you find me scary?"

Clench.

Ivan's face tightened as his teeth clenched tightly.

He didn't really feel threatened by the Faceless Figure.

He could tell that he couldn't really do anything to him, but it was something else that was

bothering him.

It was invading his mind, slowly eroding it with each passing seconds.

Ivan knew it, and yet...

He found himself unable to extricate himself from it.

Just what sort of sorcery was this? In all his years of life, he had never experienced anything

like this before.

Pat. Pat.

Feeling a gentle pat on his cheeks, Ivan saw the Faceless Man distance himself away from him

and sat back down on the chair.

"Well, while what you're experiencing is not exactly a disease, it is still rather troublesome.

In the state that you're in we can't really have a proper conversation, can we?"

"Alright, okay."

Sitting back down, the Faceless Man shrugged his shoulders.

"I am indeed at fault here. Let me fix you right now."

As he lifted his hand and pressed it downward, the massive purple circle visible only to the

Faceless Man within Ivan's body began to shrink. Almost instantly, Ivan felt his breath

steady, and the sweating ceased.

"Haa... Haa..."

Astonished, Ivan looked at the Faceless Man in front of him.

'It really was Emotive Magic...'

But to be able to influence him to this extent, what sort of level had he reached? Ivan had met

many Emotive Mages in the past, but none of them were at this level.

They were terrifying, but Ivan had ways to deal with them.

However, the same couldn't be said for the figure that stood before him. He seemed to have

reached a level that was above his own understanding.

"Good, it looks like you're back to your normal self."

With a light tone, the Faceless figure leaned back on the chair.

"....So, I don't know where to start."

The Faceless man looked at Dawn.

"I never really intended to come here to intrude. I only came here to speak with Dawn before I

was presented with that scene. Normally, I'd turn a blind eye, but taking into consideration

the reason why you're here, I'm afraid I'll have to step up."

With a shake of his head, the Faceless Man sighed.

"It's a bit troublesome to stop in, but I've never really seen Dawn this worked up before. It's a

nice change of pace."

Raising his hands, a gentle snapping sound echoed throughout.

Snap!

All of a sudden, Ivan's body turned completely still and his eyes went out of focus. A powerful

silence descended the room shortly after as Sithrus turned his head to look at Dawn.

"What do you think?"

"....Erasing his memories of the event will not work. He will still be reminded of the Keeper

that is imprisoned."

"So no erasing."

Sithrus leaned his cheek against his propped-up fist.

"Then? Kill him?"

"No."

Atlas's words made the smile on Sithrus's face widen.

"Of course not. That would cause unnecessary chaos and suspicion on you."

Atlas faintly nodded his head.

"Kuh."

Bringing his hand over his mouth, Sithrus withheld a chuckle.

"Of course it would. What was I even thinking in suggesting this? So silly of me~"

Atlas remained silent.

He was accustomed to how Sithrus behaved. He was a man with a thousand faces. It was hard

to tell what his real personality was.

At moments he was lighthearted when he was serious, and at moments serious when he was

happy.

His face never revealed how he felt inside.

...And that was what made him so scary. Because it was impossible to read his thoughts while

he could read your thoughts with a mere glance.

".....

A threatening silence suddenly plummeted over the room and Atlas felt a faze on him. When

he met the gaze back, he was met with a serious expression.

"You know, before we deal with any of this, I'm really curious now."

"How may I help alleviate your curiosity?" "....By telling me about this disciple of yours."

Interlocking his fingers together, Sithrus cocked his head faintly.

"What about him makes you go so crazy?"

***

The silence felt stifling.

It was dark, and yet, I found it hard to sleep. All I could think of were the words that Delilah

whispered not too long ago.

'After all, you wanted to be engaged with me.'

I felt my face slowly wince.

My head similarly started to throb.

"It's not like I didn't expect her to know, but..."

I really didn't think she'd take it so seriously. And the way she was acting? Surely...?

"Hua." Squinting my eyes, I didn't know what to make of the situation. I had been so surprised and

taken aback back then that I wasn't even able to deny her words.

But did I like her?

Er... Could I even afford to like someone at this point in time?

I had been so preoccupied with finding my brother that I hadn't really thought about it.

However, if I really had to pick someone, then she... "Ah, fuck."

I ruffled my hair in annoyance.

This really was messing up with my mind.

Especially with the notification that flashed in my vision.

That...

It really was annoying.

Lvl 1. [Love] EXP + 7%