Chapter 53………………………………………….
Mineva smiled and said,
“Do you… have psychic abilities?”
Cassius didn’t deny it; he simply looked at her. She smiled faintly and continued,
“After wandering around for a few days, I realized all the Omegas were dead… except one. Since you could read minds and respond accordingly, you must have easily gained their favor. Making them your personal Omega must have been very easy.”
From her words, I realized what Cassius’s ability was.
Cassius apparently had psychic abilities.
Specifically, the power to read other people’s minds.
The joy of being recognized by him lasted only a moment before it left me feeling dazed.
“So… His Highness has been reading my thoughts all along?”
I had been happy that we seemed to have so much in common, but in reality, Cassius had been reading my mind and preparing the right responses all along.
All to obtain me, the last remaining Omega in the world.
I had trusted Cassius just as he wanted.
I had thought it was okay to reveal all my secrets.
Exposing myself entirely was no different from being completely stripped bare.
Feeling a strange sense of shame, I bolted out of the room.
Seeing him made me so embarrassed I felt I might go insane.
Cassius, holding the woman by the neck, read a few of her thoughts.
He had used his ability, but the thoughts were faint, as if behind a veil, and he couldn’t read them clearly.
“Has she been trained to counter psychic abilities?”
He felt he would need to use a stronger power to read her fully.
The woman started babbling recklessly.
Did she even know that Sonia was an Omega?
He couldn’t let someone who knew her secret go free.
Cassius looked down at the woman, who looked exactly like Sonia.
Many assassins were skilled at disguises.
And she had chosen to disguise herself as Sonia.
Because she had worn Sonia’s appearance, he had intended to kill her the moment she entered the room—but he couldn’t.
After exchanging a few pointless words, he finally recalled why he might need to spare her.
He needed to read the disguised assassin’s mind to find out how she knew Sonia was an Omega, and also to locate Sonia.
“No need to linger any longer.”
He needed to find her as soon as possible.
Cassius planned to extract information about Sonia from the assassin’s mind before breaking her neck.
He used his ability.
The black rose vines wrapped around Cassius’s chest extended further, reaching his collarbone.
The curse spreading caused a severe headache, but he could endure it if it meant finding Sonia.
The captured assassin struggled in pain.
Insulted that she stubbornly maintained her borrowed face to the end, he used a stronger power.
And he learned the truth.
The body he was choking belonged to the real Sonia. Sonia’s soul had left, and an ancient being had taken over her body.
The spirit-only Sonia had followed to reclaim her body.
Mineva, sweating and smiling faintly, struggled to endure the choking.
“Your precious lady… must have heard everything I just said. What will you do?”
He released her hand.
“Cough, cough!”
As air rushed into her lungs, Mineva coughed violently.
He approached her, who had collapsed on the floor coughing. There was no trace of ease in his expression.
“Touched the wrong person,”
Mineva thought.
In that moment, Cassius gathered divine power and submerged her in water.
The body she had borrowed from Sonia floated in the water.
Her flowing silver hair was beautiful, but there was no time to appreciate it.
No, he even hesitated to look at her face, thinking of the secrets Sonia might have wanted to keep hidden.
What would Sonia think upon learning the truth?
Would she find him disgusting?
Cassius had been exposed before as a child.
The first was a servant who had cared for him. Instead of speaking, he made a face that seemed to show he had seen something disgusting.
Next was his first friend. He said,
“You read all my thoughts? That’s creepy!”
The word “creepy” had left a deep scar on young Cassius. He distanced himself from the friend and fled to the palace.
He didn’t even try to explain that he hadn’t deliberately read thoughts.
He had been afraid that revealing too much would make them despise his existence, so he ran.
Naturally, they drifted apart.
Then, for knowing his abilities, he was exiled by the former ruler.
He later took the throne and tried to track the friend down, but he couldn’t find him.
The servant, who had disappeared long ago, had likely been eliminated.
Everyone connected to him had met misfortune.
Even Isaac, who had stayed by his side for a long time, had a similar reaction. Though verbally okay, his thoughts couldn’t hide his disgust. Still, he stayed close because he had kept the secret.
Even his birth parents had been horrified.
How would Sonia react?
If she called him disgusting, Cassius felt he would hate himself.
He hated Mineva for creating this situation.
He glared at her with eyes full of anger.
“You won’t reach enlightenment peacefully.”
Reading the ancient woman’s thoughts, he understood Mineva’s goal.
She wanted to leave the mortal world and return to the divine realm.
He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of dragging him into her vile mood.
Cassius used divine power to separate Mineva’s soul.
Then, using water imbued with purification to make a blade, he split her soul in half.
─Aaaah!
Mineva, having left Sonia’s body, screamed sharply.
There were quite a few paladins stationed outside Cassius’s bedroom besides the knocked-out guard, but none could hear Mineva’s ghostly voice.
Her torn soul dispersed, likely returning to her dead body.
The water surrounding Sonia’s body scattered. Her floating body slowly collapsed onto the bed.
Her body was limp.
Sonia, her soul gone, neither looked at Cassius with disgust nor uttered denials—she was just calm.
As long as Sonia’s eyes and mouth remained shut, he couldn’t be hurt. Ever.
Cassius, standing dazed for a while, walked to the bed.
He couldn’t leave her like this just because it was easier for him.
The longer the soul and body remained separated, the harder it would be to reunite.
He carefully embraced Sonia’s empty body and left the room.
Hearing Mineva and Cassius’s conversation left me in shock.
Cassius had psychic abilities!
My mind was in chaos as I returned to my room.
I thought Lucius and Ash would still be there, but they weren’t.
I wanted to be alone, and it was perfect.
I couldn’t sit on the bed, so I slumped into a corner.
─Aaaah!
A sharp scream came from the upper floors.
It was Mineva, who had taken over my body.
She had returned to her own voice and was screaming in agony, meaning she had left my body and been subdued by Cassius.
I closed my eyes, wishing this whole situation were a dream.
My emotions were a complete mess.
I wanted to scream, yet at the same time, I wanted to hide somewhere no one could find me.
If it had been my real body, would I have cried?
Or perhaps I would have punched my pillow in frustration.
I didn’t know what to do.
I stayed crouched in the corner for a long time, alone, when I heard:
“…Sonia.”
I looked up. Cassius’s voice came from outside the door.
“Can you hear my voice?”
For some reason, I didn’t want to respond, so I kept my mouth shut.
Without asking, Cassius barged in, holding my body.
Not seeing me, he entered facing forward and gently laid my body on the bed.
Looking at me, he said:
“I wasn’t sure if you would be here, but I thought you might be in the bedroom. If you can hear my voice, please return to Sonia’s body.”
─……
“If you remain separated from your body too long… you may remain in this state forever.”
He hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully.
“You don’t need to forgive me, but please take back your body.”
After saying this, he stared at me for a long moment before leaving.
Through the slightly open door, I heard his voice in the hallway.
He repeated that if the soul stays apart from the body too long, it would be hard to return, that my body was on the bed, and that I didn’t need to forgive him.
I stepped slightly outside the door.
He lowered his head from staring into space and headed downward, not to his own room upstairs.
He seemed intent on going to where I might be and repeating the same words.
Cassius would probably wander around, repeating this until I reclaimed my body.
I felt a pang of pity for him.
