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“It’s monstrous, the kind of stamina she has. Quite the opposite of how she looks.”
Norbert clicked his tongue as he brought up the topic of Freya.
The physician had said she wouldn’t come to her senses until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
The Grand Duke’s personal physician wouldn’t lie…
Despite her frail appearance, it seemed her body was surprisingly strong.
None of it made sense.
Her absurd physical endurance, the aura already manifesting within her body—
She’s definitely suspicious…
And yet, when they dug into her background, there was nothing incriminating enough to justify taking her life.
Just because she lost her memory doesn’t mean we can treat her like a monster.
Nor could they kill her simply for being found near the Terridana coast.
Norbert sighed.
“I’ll observe her closely while teaching her from tomorrow onward.”
“I’ll leave her education to the Count. Handle it.”
“I already gave her quite the scare earlier, so if she has any sense, she’ll stay put and focus on recovering her strength.”
Then suddenly, Norbert remembered something from his conversation with Freya.
“Oh, right. Freya… that’s what she said.”
Kardian’s hand, which had been signing documents absentmindedly, froze.
His reaction was starkly different from the bored way he had been listening moments ago.
Kardian slowly raised his head and looked at Norbert.
“What… did you just say?”
“Ah, I meant her name, Your Highness. Apparently, she hasn’t lost all of her memories. She remembers just one thing—her name.”
“……”
Kardian’s expression hardened for a brief moment before returning to normal. Norbert didn’t miss that fleeting change.
He knows that name.
Norbert pressed cautiously,
“Your Highness, do you know that—”
But before he could finish, Kardian abruptly stood up.
“Your Highness?”
Kardian’s gaze shifted toward the doors beyond his office.
“…The west annex.”
“Pardon?”
Norbert tilted his head.
The west annex? Did he mean the employees’ quarters?
Following Kardian’s line of sight, Norbert also turned toward the west annex.
“You mean the staff housing? But why…?”
Without answering, Kardian rounded his desk and strode out of the office.
“Y-Your Highness?!”
Norbert hurried after him.
The Grand Duke’s western annex.
By the time Kardian arrived, several knights had already gathered outside.
“Your Highness!”
“Your Highness!”
The commander of the Mars Knights, Jaden, along with his vice-captain Allen and a few others, rushed forward upon recognizing him.
“Your Highness, just now from the annex—”
Kardian raised a hand to cut Jaden off mid-report.
“I know. All of you will wait here.”
Allen stepped forward.
“I’ll go up first, Your Highness.”
But Kardian shook his head.
“I’ll go in alone.”
“But Your Highness—!”
“Norbert.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Kardian turned to him with a sharp command.
“Keep everyone off the second floor, and evacuate all staff outside.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Then, Kardian entered the annex alone.
“Wow… I really almost died.”
I stumbled out of the room and collapsed in the hallway.
Haa… haa…
Finally, I could breathe again.
That was really close this time.
Even after coughing up a handful of blood, the rampaging aura inside me had refused to calm down.
Every drop of blood and every organ in my body had alternated between freezing cold and burning hot.
For a moment, I truly thought I was going to die.
Then, a faint white mist began rising from my body.
Lying on the hallway floor, I looked back into my room—still filled with that smoke.
All of that came out of my body.
It looked almost like a steamy bathroom.
So damn dramatic…
I wiped the blood from my lips with the back of my hand and steadied my breathing again.
One way or another, I had succeeded.
I stretched my arm toward the ceiling and opened my palm.
Wuuuuum—
A soft, blue aura shimmered gently above my open hand.
I could clearly feel the aura circulating through my entire body.
On top of that, it was actively seeking out and purifying impurities within me.
I would’ve been happy just to break through and get the flow started, but…
I didn’t expect to reach the purification stage this quickly.
I thought it would take longer…
As expected—this body’s original owner wasn’t an ordinary person.
I knew something about this body was strange.
Now it was clear.
From the aura already manifesting in an untrained body, to awakening and circulating it for purification—
An ordinary body would never have endured it.
No matter how strong my willpower, the body has limits.
There’s some hidden story behind this body…
Just then, I felt a presence coming from the staircase connected to the hallway.
Maybe thanks to awakening my aura, I could now sense someone’s energy clearly even from quite a distance.
I slowly turned my head toward the source.
And through the fading mist down the hallway—
I saw a tall figure filling the corridor.
Huh?
Startled, I pushed myself up. My limbs trembled, making it difficult, but I had to stand.
Because the presence approaching me… belonged to the Grand Duke.
My heart dropped.
My instincts screamed danger at the killing intent that radiated from him.
Just like that moment I’d faced death on the battlefield.
Why is the Grand Duke here…?
Ah.
I’d been too noisy.
I glanced at the smoke still lingering in my room and the hallway.
I thought it wouldn’t leak out…
I hadn’t expected him to come personally, even if it had.
Step… step…
The Grand Duke began to walk toward me.
Judging by his gaze and the shortening distance, he was unmistakably headed straight for me.
At this point… he must have realized I awakened my aura.
Not that I planned to hide it anyway. It wasn’t something that could be hidden easily.
Concealing aura is a high-level skill to begin with.
And it was far beyond my current ability, having just awakened it.
Each step he took carried immense pressure—slow but heavy, unhurried yet suffocating.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he closed the distance.
His calm, haughty violet eyes made me feel like even my breathing was no longer under my control.
“So you decided not to die after all.”
“……”
His low, chilly voice pressed down on my shoulders like a physical weight.
Only then did I realize I’d forgotten to breathe.
Haa.
“Y-Your Grace.”
He glanced down at me, then slowly swept his gaze over my room.
“So, you changed your mind about dying on your own?”
It sounded like a mutter to himself, but I felt compelled to respond.
“No.”
“After doing something this reckless?”
“I did it to live.”
“……”
“I did it because I want to survive.”
His eyes returned to me.
I couldn’t tell whether he liked my answer or not—
But the oppressive aura that had weighed on me moments ago softened noticeably.
Arms crossed, he looked down at me with a loose, almost challenging gaze.
I drew in a deep breath and continued,
“I’ve lost my memory and have nothing. This was the only thing I could do right now.”
“……”
“I figured I needed to get strong enough to protect myself as quickly as possible. People around here seem awfully eager to see me dead, so if I could just awaken my aura early, then—”
He cut me off sharply.
“Who.”
“…What?”
“Who’s trying to kill you?”
“……”
You, for starters.
The words almost slipped out, but I swallowed them just in time.
“Count… Norbert, perhaps?”
“……”
I pushed the blame onto Norbert.
Not that it was entirely untrue.
Kardian rolled his eyes thoughtfully, then suddenly seemed to remember something.
“If you mean Count Norbert, don’t worry. He’ll be your teacher from now on.”
“…Teacher?”
Ah. The contract I’d signed earlier came back to me, and I couldn’t help but frown.
Kardian tilted his head slightly.
“By the way.”
“Yes?”
“You remember your name.”
Ah, the old man must’ve rushed to report already.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Freya.”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
“Freya…”
“…Excuse me?”
The way he repeated my name—soft but heavy—made my chest tighten again.
And now, even my head throbbed faintly.
Why does he say it so naturally?
Even I still wasn’t used to it, and hearing it from someone else made my throat tickle uncomfortably.
Anyone would think we were close.
He studied me quietly.
“Besides your name, what else do you remember?”
“Nothing mor—”
“Why? Are you going to lie again? Someone who’s lost their memory managed to awaken their aura. Do you expect me to believe that’s just a coincidence?”
Gulp. I swallowed dryly without meaning to.
“Now that your aura is awakened, you probably think purifying something like the World Tree sap from the temple would be easy. So you’re not even afraid of that anymore… isn’t that what you’re thinking?”
“……”
This man’s terrifying.
