After the tumultuous tea party, I was about to throw myself into bed when there was a knock at the door.
My senses, sharpened by the many attempts on my life lately, had felt the presence at the door.
I opened the door with a relaxed face before my escort could even tell me.
“Come in, sis.”
I recounted the events that had transpired in her absence.
Marquis and Marchioness had been much less disrespectful to her since I’d confronted them.
I told her about my attempts to push Vin away, but to no success.
“Do you want me to tell you why he won’t go away no matter how hard you push him?”
She said, tying the ends of my hair, which had been braided the whole time we were talking, with a string.
Oh, she’s the writer, she knows the psychology of her babies!
“What is it?”
“You don’t want to push him out.”
……No, it wasn’t, it was just my sister knowing me!
“You were telling him to go away, but your eyes were begging him to hold on to you.”
“…….”
“You honestly enjoy being held by him, don’t you?”
How can she know this so well, like she’s seen into my mind?
I was embarrassed that she could see right through me, so I kept my mouth shut. She continued.
“Now that I’m out of the picture, I’m not going to care if you’re running around with Vin or filming the drama of the century.”
“Ugh……. You’re telling me to stop making shitty drama, and if I want to live, I should push him away, I get it.”
“I didn’t say anything, but if that’s what you’re getting at, then fine.”
My sister patted me on the shoulder as I pushed the last flower into place.
Then she tapped me on the shoulder to turn around and show her the front.
“Hmm…….”
She frowned as if she didn’t like it.
Then she gently brushed a stray hair out of my face like she was polishing a work of art.
“You know, just because I decided to walk away doesn’t mean I’m going to sit by and watch you die. I’m going to do everything I can to keep you alive.”
“……Do you really think I’m going to live?”
I dropped my eyes and sighed heavily.
The Crown Prince and Isvino.
They’re still normal humans, so they can do some things, but Mona White is not a normal human.
She is the closest thing the world has ever had to a god, immortalized solely through the power of magic.
So far, she’s only posed a physical threat as Rapel Isdon, but if she tries to use magic to kill me, I’m sure I’m going to get my ass handed to me.
“Sooner or later, Mona White is going to use her magical powers to kill me.”
“Well- I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“Because she wants to be the best at everything without having to use her magical powers, so why would she be willing to break her own rules and pride so easily?”
Medicine, politics, academics of all kinds. And swordsmanship…….
Mona White wanted to be the best at everything, not just magic.
Now that she’s Rapel Isdon, she’s going to try to kill me with her sword.
But that was before I showed up.
Would one stick to their rules and pride in the face of someone who threatened their identity?
The answer was already there.
“She’s already woken up twice, once for harming me and the second time to shut you up.”
“I’m puzzled by that, too. Even if you rationalize it by saying that Rapel Isden knows how to do some simple magic, what kind of magic did she use on me…….?”
She fell silent as she spoke.
Sith Heather’s contemplative blue eyes were fixed behind me.
Thud. Thud. I turned my head, feeling my heart racing.
I felt like my soul was about to be ripped out again, just like last time.
“Hi.”
Before I could turn my head. A half-cracked voice pierced my ears.
The face of the creepiest man I’ve ever known comes into view.
“I have come to reclaim my body.”
Isvino’s1(In case y’all forgot this is Irillin possessed Isvino’s body, so I’m gonna be using she/her pronouns) violet eyes flashed against the moonlight.
My bedroom is on the ninth floor, and she’s still inside through the window.
“You don’t even recognize this, fake. As a child, I used to hang these magic strings from every floor.”
Hoo- She blew on it, and the string in her hand vanished.
Apparently, it had been enchanted to become invisible.
“So, what did you do with my body today? Ah, Did you play a little brother-sister game with him?”
Isvino asked, looking at my sister.
In her eyes, the sight of someone lowly like Sith in the same room with Irillin Heather was unbelievable.
“I wish you’d stop ruining my image, and if that bastard gives me any more trouble when I get my body back, I might just stab him in the back.”
“….That’s not going to happen, even if I die.”
My sister tightened her lips and glared fiercely at Isubino.
“You know what I’m talking about, Sith. I guess that fake only confessed to you?”
The fact that she didn’t seem alarmed by words was surprising.
Was Irillin that perceptive?
Perhaps she grew up as Isvino, just like I grew as her.
If so, it’s likely that she’s also acquired ice magic, which is Isvino’s main talent… this is a huge problem.
If she’s adopted Isvino’s abilities, she’s going to be a lot harder to deal with.
It’s magic that’s dragging me down again.
“Isvino Adelen.”
I forced out the name, pushing down the panic that instinctively filled me.
A snap. Isvino’s face flashed before me as he closed the gap in an instant.
“Irillin Heather. That is my name, you know?”
There was madness in the violet eyes staring down at me.
It looked like she’d stomp me to death right now if she could.
“Yes. Irillin.”
“Ha, ha!”
Isvino laughed out loud.
It was almost as if she was glad to be called by her original name after so long.
“I am Baek Mo-na.”
I was equally pleased to hear it.
It’s been a while since I’ve said it out loud.
I hadn’t been called that by my sister because of the damn spell Mona White had put on her.
“You want your body back, then take it.”
“That’s bullshit. How am I supposed to take my body back? You took it from me, so it’s your job to put it back.”
“I don’t know how. I was suddenly trapped in this body against my will…….”
“Really? Then there’s only one way out.”
I felt a chill run down my arms and legs, and before I knew it, I was wrapped in an ice cube that stretched out and enveloped my entire body.
By the time I recovered, my body was already bound.
“We’ll just have to kill you for now, and who knows, maybe when it’s empty, it’ll call its host back.”
Isvino’s hand slowly drifted towards my throat.
* * *
“I need to ask you something.”
Vin stopped one of the maids on the way into the guest room.
Irillin’s personal maid, her name must have been Wendy.
She stopped in her tracks, carrying a teapot on a tray.
Her face was deathly white.
“Yes, sir. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have, Your Excellency the Duke of Ortega.”
“What is Irillin’s favorite food?”
“Hmm……. I seem to recall that she was good with anything salad-like.”
“Hmm.”
Vin was feeling strange.
All the way from Serom to Abert, he hadn’t seen Irillin eat a salad once.
Even her personal maid hadn’t kept up with her recent eating habits.
It was understandable since she hadn’t had much opportunity to stay at the manor since returning to Abert.
“That was a long time ago. I’d like to know what she’s been eating lately.”
“Well, recently……. Her eyes used to light up at the sight of a steak.”
“‘Hmm, how about grilled? What’s her favorite?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but… when she went out for Medium Well done, he’d suddenly stop eating and go to the theatre, swinging his sword around, and when we went out to Well done, she’d stay and look round the restaurant.
“Medium Well Done.”
“Uh…Is that alright sir?”
“That would be a good reference.”
Vin nodded and started to resume his walk, but Wendy called him back.
“I, Your Excellency the Duke……. Maybe it’s just my mood, but I’ve been thinking about something else.”
“What?”
“That….”
Wendy stammered and told him what had happened at the noon tea party.
Snowy white hair, violet eyes. Clearly not normal behaviour…
She was definitely reminded of someone.
There’s no way the Marquis and Marquise would invite him unless they were insane, and he’s wandering the grounds?
Vin chewed his lip.
“Irillin is in danger.”
* * *
“Ugh….”
Isvino’s hand began to tighten around my throat.
If I could just pry it away, I’d be able to escape quickly, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even crack the ice block.
I guess magic is the only thing that can counter magic after all!
But I still haven’t learned how to handle the mana I absorbed from Mona White last time…….
Come on, you know how to use magic, shouldn’t you be able to do something about it?
“Haaa…”
But even she was in the same boat as me.
“Think of a way to give me my body back, right now. Do you think I want to watch my beautiful face die?”
I don’t know! If I did, then why haven’t I left this body, where I’m waiting to be killed by three people!
Isvino seemed to understand what I was saying with my eyes.
“You don’t know? Yeah, you’re doing this because you don’t know. Hmm……. I would have tried to talk to you if I could, but I guess you’ll just have to die.”
The grip grew stronger.
What often happens in fiction, when a near-death experience awakens latent powers, was not happening.
The mana I had stolen from Mona White was just the right ingredient for that. Please, work, my body!
But as is often the case with reality, none of that nonsense happened.
My consciousness just drifted further and further away.
Then, just then, it happened.
