CHAPTER 82…………………………………………………
“Gah……”
Is this a dream?
No… please let it be a dream.
I froze at the sensation on my lips.
If I could, I wanted to vanish from this spot entirely.
The only consolation was that my reason was gradually returning.
‘No… is that really a consolation…?’
Should I curse the fact that my reason decided to come back right now?
If I had been fully in my senses, it wouldn’t have been this embarrassing!
But I couldn’t stay like this forever, so I cautiously pulled my head back.
It’s an accident.
A kind of… a minor collision!
‘Good. Let’s go with that.’
“Um, Sidhe-”
Smack!
A sharp sting spread through my arm. Sidheron had swatted my arm away.
“Uh……”
He then turned to me, his face flushed red.
‘…Why is his face like that?’
For someone usually unable to feel emotions, this should have been nothing more than a simple accident.
Could the potion’s effect have spread to Sidheron too?
Just through contact?
If so… that’s a total scam.
I leaned forward again to check when—
Splash!
A sudden wetness began seeping beneath my feet with a loud clatter.
And a memory flashed.
‘Right. I hid the potion under my clothes earlier…!’
As my gaze dropped, the sound of the door slamming shut reached my ears.
‘Huh?’
When I lifted my head, Sidheron’s figure was gone.
Instead—
Flutter.
Only the papers Sidheron had grabbed earlier were scattered across the room.
My heartbeat thudded loudly in my ears.
Sidheron hastened his steps to put as much distance as possible between himself and the room.
Yet the loud thrum inside his chest wouldn’t subside.
A heat he hadn’t even realized was inside him now boiled through his body.
He gripped his chest as if tearing at it. It wasn’t exactly pain, but something else entirely.
Even when his fire attribute overheated, it had never felt this intense.
…Then why did his body feel like it was about to burst?
Sidheron was confused by this strange phenomenon, the first he’d ever experienced.
Even in this confusion, he couldn’t understand why Lilia’s face kept coming to mind so vividly.
His aimless steps gradually slowed.
‘That was close.’
Had he ever been this close to her before?
He didn’t think so.
‘So that’s why my body feels so weird.’
Being near her always unsettled his mind.
The change was so fascinating and unfamiliar that he wanted to examine it closely.
He touched the cheek that had felt that soft sensation earlier.
‘That could have been disastrous.’
He didn’t know what exactly would have happened, nor the state of his own emotions,
But he knew one thing.
If he had stayed there, he didn’t know what he might have done to her.
…What just happened?
‘What was that expression?’
It was as if I had been teasing him.
‘…Well, technically that’s not completely wrong.’
Perhaps the potion hadn’t fully worn off; my body still felt warm, but I was able to control it to some extent now.
I stared despondently at the broken potion bottle at my feet.
If I had known its effects were so extreme, I would have been much more careful.
‘Blake… what exactly did you give me?’
But regretting it now wouldn’t change anything.
I flopped onto the sofa.
Sidheron’s startled face earlier refused to leave my mind.
‘How much of that was acting…?’
I’d assumed it was all just acting up until now, but the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
‘Could it be that it wasn’t acting at all…?’
Nah, that couldn’t be.
Yet the idea that Sidheron could feel emotions… made no sense.
‘I’m not like Adrina, completely attribute-less.’
I chuckled quietly at the thought, then froze.
‘Wait. Is it really impossible…?’
I had never considered that possibility because in the original story, Lilia wasn’t attribute-less.
‘If she had been, she wouldn’t have died so trivially.’
Yet now, Sidheron unmistakably seemed like a person with emotions.
No matter how much I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t push away what was right in front of me.
‘…Honestly, being completely attribute-less seems unlikely. But maybe something similar could exist.’
In a world with possession and reincarnation, a pseudo attribute-less phenomenon could be plausible.
‘But who should I ask?’
My gaze landed on the drawer where I had hidden the communicator.
Watching it, I shook my head.
‘That guy is too suspicious.’
Besides, the more I talked with Blake, the more I felt like he was stripping away my resources.
…Though technically, there’s nothing really to lose.
‘Better to be cautious.’
Then my remaining option…
“Sorry for contacting you so late.”
Kallak approached, his face lit with a gentle smile.
An attack with a smile, perhaps.
Meeting his face directly was still a bit burdensome, so I glanced away and took a sip of tea.
The warmth of the tea eased my tension. Good.
“It’s fine. You probably had your reasons, Your Highness.”
I was honestly a bit distracted myself.
“Thanks for understanding. I really did have reasons.”
I studied his face for a moment.
He didn’t look like he was lying.
I was curious about those reasons, but not enough to pry.
There were other things I was more curious about.
“Your Highness, you once said I would naturally come to know. May I ask how you intended to address me?”
If it’s a brilliant idea, I might as well use it.
“Oh, I was thinking of hosting a reading club.”
“…Pardon?”
A club?
My puzzled expression deepened his smile.
“What do you think? Seems like a natural way to create meetings.”
…Where exactly?
“Not good? In novels, men and women often use such clubs for secret meetings. I thought it was quite clever.”
“Uh… hmm.”
I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it.
No matter what I said, nothing seemed right.
Watching my reluctant expression, Kallak turned his head sharply to his distant aide.
“Ricador, what do you think?”
He looked at Kallak with the same reluctant expression and asked cautiously.
“May I speak honestly?”
“Go ahead.”
“It’s pointless.”
…Too honest.
“Really? That’s a shame. I thought it was a good idea. Oh, then how about this?”
“…Pardon?”
Now I was worried about what he’d say next.
“I’ve heard that the madam frequently donates to orphanages and temples.”
True enough. I nodded slightly.
“As the Empire’s sole crown prince and a duchess, you could discuss how to allocate funds to provide greater support for them.”
Unlike before, that was a reasonable suggestion.
“That seems like a good idea.”
Kallak’s crimson eyes gleamed at my approval.
“Really?”
“The most reasonable idea so far.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
“That’s regrettable.”
“Well, enough small talk. Take this.”
Kallak produced a stone from his pocket and handed it to me.
‘…A stone?’
But as soon as I touched it, a tingling sensation spread through my hand.
From experience, I could tell this stone wasn’t ordinary.
‘A mana stone.’
And a high-grade one at that.
‘How did he know I needed a mana stone?’
Before I could think about telepathy,
“You wanted to strengthen your attribute power, right?”
“Eh? Yes, yes.”
“We’ll use this for training.”
Kallak pointed to the mana stone in my hand.
“…Yes?”
“Oh, by the way, this isn’t an ordinary stone.”
“I know. It’s a mana stone, right?”
Kallak raised an eyebrow.
“…How did you know? Normal people can’t tell.”
‘I’ve trained a lot with this, of course I know.’
I simply smiled.
“How do we train with it?”
I pretended not to know.
“As you know, mana stones contain magic. We’ll extract threads of that magic and absorb them into your body for training.”
I already knew that part.
“But don’t absorb too much at once.”
What does that mean?
“…Why not?”
“The magic in the stone is raw and ancient. Putting too much in your body at once could cause side effects.”
Seeing my expression tense, Kallak smiled lightly and added,
“Nothing serious. Beginners can’t extract much magic anyway. Even when skilled, it’s impossible to extract it all.”
I knew that from experience.
‘But this seems a bit off.’
Blake had absorbed magic completely without any side effects.
Of course, exceptions exist.
“Then, is there anyone who can fully absorb it?”
Kallak’s eyes narrowed.
“Well, not with an ordinary body.”
…So it’s impossible?
“However, I’ve heard there are those who can. Though I’ve never seen it myself.”
His serious tone made me gulp.
“…Who are they?”
“Those blessed with magical power. Often called ‘Attribute-less.’”
