No—more precisely, it looked like they were aiming for the flamberge. The unidentified human charged toward the flamberge and hurled the object in their hand at Basileon. Basileon reflexively closed his eyes and ended up letting go of the sword.
Clang—!
The flamberge fell to the floor.
‘Now!’
Taking advantage of the moment Basileon closed his eyes, I thrust my hand inside his clothes. I rummaged through his garments, searching for the mirror that had swallowed Ella. According to the information Lilith gave me, I had to separate Flamberge from the mirror.
‘The sword fell to the floor, but… I think I need to move it further away.’
But I couldn’t find the mirror. I was sure Basileon had kept it inside his chest, yet there was nothing I could feel.
“That can’t be right!”
“…Were you looking for this, by any chance?”
Suddenly and unexpectedly, Basileon thrust the mirror right in front of my eyes.
“Aaah!”
Bang—!
Because of that, the possession was broken, and Evan collapsed onto the floor. Basileon looked back and forth between Evan and me. He was on edge.
“….”
“Basileon, I possessed him because of you. To wake you up!”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
Surprisingly, Basileon answered calmly. It seemed his reason had fully returned. Was it because he’d dropped the flamberge?
“By the way, you… how did you come to your senses? You were holding that mirror, too.”
My mind suddenly cleared after the sword left my hand.”
“I thought so. …How did you end up losing control and doing something like this?”
Basileon showed me the mirror he was holding.
“This mirror. Carrying it on my body, I started hearing whispers. Before I realized it, I was looking into it. It repeatedly commanded me to draw the flamberge…. In the end, against my will, I drew the sword—and after that, I don’t remember anything.”
“Because you were carrying two heirlooms at once?”
“Most likely. Heirlooms are objects imbued with power, after all—it’s possible. I was careless….”
“….”
While Basileon spoke, my gaze drifted somewhere else. I could see his loosened shirt, rumpled from my frantic searching. And inside it—exposed skin, and… also…
“Hey. Your clothes—fix them.”
I couldn’t bear to keep my eyes open and covered my face with my hand. Then I heard Basileon chuckle to himself.
“That reaction’s like you saw some hideous monster.”
“What are you—!”
“Not at all. If anything, Evien looks embarrassed.”
Evan suddenly cut into the conversation. Basileon’s eyebrow twitched, clearly displeased.
“So even after sticking together that long, you still don’t know anything about Evien.”
“…Evan!”
That was clearly a provocation. It looked like Basileon might pick up the flamberge any moment.
“Don’t!”
I blocked the flamberge with my body and stopped Basileon. In the end, Basileon bit back his anger—but I couldn’t stop him from grabbing Evan by the collar.
Crash—!
“…Looks like you’re barely clinging to that pathetic life.”
Basileon seemed intent on crushing Evan’s spirit.
“You must still be alive only by someone’s mercy.”
“I’ve died by your hands so many times I can’t even count them—dozens, no, hundreds. If sparing me just once counts as mercy, does that really qualify?”
Basileon glared fiercely at Evan.
“Then kill me. Go on. I’ll just revive anyway. And you’ll keep living forever, doing that same damn thing over and over. Is that what you want?”
At those words, Basileon slowly loosened his grip on Evan’s collar. Had something in his heart shifted?
“Kill me. Kill me!”
Evan roared at Basileon.
“….”
But Basileon avoided his gaze. Evan quietly pointed his index finger at the flamberge.
“Do you know how many times that sword pierced my heart? Do you have any idea how agonizing it is to endure that every single time—and how horrifying it is when all those memories come flooding back?”
By then, the other survivors had gathered, watching Evan and Basileon. Lilith looked at Evan, emotions surging to the surface. And my chest hurt too.
A man forced to commit atrocities because of a curse. Survivors whose memories had now returned, yet who still had to die again and again, losing those memories each time. None of them chose this. And I was afraid that, earlier, by defending Basileon in front of Evan, I might have hurt Evan even more.
There was no comparing whose curse was heavier—everyone here was pitiable. Would those gathered here ever be free someday? I, too, had once suffered from the aftermath of terrible memories. Even now, I haven’t escaped them completely. That was why watching them hurt so much.
‘If only they could be freed from even a little of this suffering….’
That was when it happened.
“Evil spirit?”
Mary, who was standing nearby, stared at me as if she were seeing something bizarre.
“You… how are you even crying? You’re not even human.”
Only then did I realize tears were dripping steadily from my eyes.
“Right.”
The atmosphere was bleak. From the survivors’ point of view, Basileon was undeniably the villain.
“Don’t act like you’re a victim—you murderer!”
“Evan, stop!”
Lilith and Mary restrained the rampaging Evan. It wasn’t because they felt sympathy for Basileon. They were simply afraid Basileon might pick up the flamberge and rampage again.
As Lilith pulled Evan away, she whispered to me.
“…Later. When things calm down.”
I nodded slightly in agreement.
* * *
The survivors all left the area. In the silent, dim corridor, only Basileon and I remained.
“….”
Basileon sat down haphazardly on the floor, and from some point on, he didn’t move an inch, like a stone statue. The servants of the Duke’s castle approached to light the lamps in the darkened hallway. They stole glances at Basileon’s condition, and after finishing their task, moved on to other areas. The corridor had become a mess due to Flamberge’s power.
“The lord doesn’t seem well at all… this is troubling….”
From afar, I heard the servants whispering. They wanted to repair the damaged fixtures and clean the corridor. But Basileon sat there, back against the wall, the flamberge planted into the ground, unmoving.
Intimidated by his dark aura, the servants lost their nerve.
“Basileon.”
“….”
“Basileon!”
No response, no matter how many times I called. As I waved my arm in front of his face, I suddenly realized something. Basileon had his eyes closed.
‘…Is he asleep?’
Aside from me, no one dared approach Basileon. I could see the ghost servants from earlier in the distance. They peeked their heads out, watching Basileon and me. For now, I left Basileon alone and flew over to them.
“Hey. Do you happen to know why Basileon’s like this?”
“W-Well….”
“Then is this the first time he’s acted like this?”
The ghosts hesitated, glancing at one another.
“If we’re being precise, it isn’t the first time.”
“If it’s hard to talk about, that’s fine.”
“No. If it’s you, Evien… this much should be all right.”
It seemed my reputation among the ghost creatures had improved somewhat.
“Do you know what the lord was like before he became the head of the family?”
“Before he became the Head of the Family?”
That meant—did I know Basileon’s past from before he reached adulthood? Honestly, everything I knew was what Adolf had told me.
“So you really know nothing. The people of this family believed in the Evil God, carried out grotesque acts at its command, and were eventually betrayed. This is the result.”
But as for why House Ravenwood believed in the Evil God, or what those grotesque acts were—I didn’t know the details.
“That’s all I remember.”
I relayed to the ghosts exactly what I’d heard from Adolf.
“Gasp!”
The ghosts recoiled in shock—along with others passing nearby.
“Ah, right. The Evil God….”
At the mention of that word again, the ghosts began to back away, as if ready to flee.
“Wait, wait! Sorry. I won’t say it anymore. Please, tell me.”
“Please don’t utter that dreadful name…!”
They looked ready to drop to their knees and beg me to stop.
“Okay. I’m sorry….”
Only after hearing that did they continue.
“The lord was, in truth, a very sickly man.”
“Sickly?”
“And the previous Lord was a person without blood or tears. To the point that even his own bloodline was no exception….”
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