🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 52
Adrian reached his hand through the prison bars. At the same time, an invisible force burst from his fingertips.
“Bona.”
His eyes were cold, yet his voice was startlingly gentle.
“…!”
Bona, who had been half-turned away, snapped her eyes wide open.
A flood of waves rushed into her, and an overwhelming sense of bliss surged up, almost driving her insane.
“H-Hhuh—!”
The long thirst and hunger she had endured were now filled to the brim, as if she had eaten her fill.
The tingling sensation that made her legs tremble caused her knees to buckle, and her body collapsed to the floor.
Before she realized it, she was free from the power that had been restraining her. Bona didn’t even think to wipe away the drool dripping from her mouth as she lifted her head.
And she saw—
“Ah…!”
Tears streamed down her face.
According to legend, there existed an absolute guide—someone who could heal and purify any ability user in the world.
The Legendary Guide.
To ability users, that person was like a god.
It was said that the moment one felt the guide’s waves and recognized their existence, the entire world would change as if heaven and earth had been turned upside down…
I always thought that was just a lie to deceive us.
Especially for someone like her, whose ability rank was high, she believed it would be completely useless.
But in this moment, face-to-face with him, she accepted this god that belonged to only their kind.
“My God…”
Her voice, heavy with emotion, trembled uncontrollably. To this stranger she had never seen before, Bona fell to her knees in reverence and bowed her head.
“I have something to tell you.”
Before her great God could even open his mouth, Bona confessed everything she knew. She knew that, at this point, this was the only value she had left.
“I see.”
Only after hearing everything did his reply come. Even with that single, short word, Bona’s eyes turned bright red with deep emotion.
“Well done.”
“Ahhh—!”
With that simple praise, Bona felt an ecstasy so extreme that it seemed as if every hole in her face began to leak.
“Now…”
Her god slowly lowered his head and whispered, his voice kind, his face smiling softly.
“Kill yourself.”
Even at the cruel command, Bona, wearing a blissful expression, wrapped her hands around her own neck.
And then—thud—her body fell to the ground.
Adrian didn’t bother to check and simply turned away. His face, emerging from the shadows, was grim.
He had delayed longer than expected. And his power…
Looking at his hand, now half-transparent as he could no longer maintain his true form, Adrian quickened his pace.
Upward, upward… until finally, he reached her side.
“…Jay.”
His violet eyes trembled faintly. Fingers that were barely holding their form brushed across the sleeping features of Jade.
“We need to seek the sunstone. For me…”
A whisper so quiet it was barely audible.
The shadow, as if it would kiss her, leaned close to her forehead—
And vanished.
The next morning, chirp chirp! Birdsong entered with the sunlight.
“…Hm?”
Even after waking up, Jade lay sprawled in bed. Then she flinched—she couldn’t feel the weight of the necklace she always wore.
“Ah—Adrian!”
No way! She couldn’t lose it so carelessly!
Springing upright in a panic, Jade spotted the pretty, bright-pink stone lying beside her pillow and let out a sigh of relief.
“Whew, that scared ten years off my life.”
Clutching Adrian (in stone form) with both hands, she gathered mana at her fingertips.
“Hmm~”
When she closed her eyes, the mana circuit became clear in her mind. The cool, refreshing mana flowed through her like water and easily transferred into Adrian (stone form).
“That’s strange.”
She fed him mana every day, yet he felt so empty now. Jade furrowed her brow.
Well, I’ll just feed him as much as I can for now.
After all, she had absorbed plenty from Harris anyway.
Blinking drowsily, Jade soon felt dizzy and collapsed back onto the bed—she had given Adrian (stone form) too much mana at once.
“So exhausting…”
Glaring unhappily at the stone, Jade groaned and lay back down.
When she closed her eyes and focused, she could feel again the black slot she had absorbed from Harris using the Absorption Technique.
From that slot, she extracted only the mana, converting it into her own through her mana circuit…
…
The mana in the air, drawn in with her breath, mixed with her internal mana, while the impurities from Harris’s mana were filtered out.
“Ugh.”
Focusing to catch every step of the process, Jade groaned.
This feels more like an ability user than a guide.
She recalled the traits of ability users.
Just like machines that malfunction when overused, ability users suffer various side effects if they keep using their powers.
And the most common side effect is the mana circulation circuit becoming murky, contaminating the mana.
When that happens, they can’t use their powers properly—and even if they can, they soon feel pain or lose control.
That’s when they need a guide.
That’s why Harris often loses control.
But her mana circuit was perfectly clean, as always. Jade frowned.
If I really were an ability user, after all that skill usage in the dungeon plus the Absorption Technique, I’d need guiding by now…
Yet she didn’t feel that way at all.
“What the heck is this?”
Jade Lian—the real identity of this body—was becoming more and more of a mystery.
“Hybrid dual-core new type?”
Mumbling random ideas, Jade buried her face in the pillow.
“Whatever, I don’t know anymore…”
If she really wanted to find out, she’d have to go into a dungeon again to check.
But she never wanted to suffer like that again just for a crappy reward!
…All that matters is that Adrian comes back to life!
Kicking her legs on the bed, Jade reached her usual conclusion.
If she could just save Adrian, all her problems would be solved.
The fear that she might be deceiving Harris would be gone, and she’d learn Jade Lian’s true identity.
“Adrian…”
…At this point, it was basically brainwashing. Jade let out a long sigh.
Or maybe it’s self-brainwashing.
Either way, she had to save the main character of this world.
“When is Harris going to give me the dungeon clear reward?”
After refusing repeatedly, Harris had finally agreed to give her the dungeon reward instead of the inheritance—telling her to sell it or keep it as she pleased.
Only a born rich guy would give away something so rare without a second thought.
He really was amazing. The best! Her Harris was the best S-class!
Once she got it, she’d try using it. She wondered if Alucas had delivered the message properly.
Lost in thought, Jade tossed Adrian (stone form) up and down before planting a kiss on it.
“Just wait a little longer, Adrian.”
I’ll definitely save you, oppa-chung.
“I’ll even call you ‘oppa’ then.”
If she just called his name, he looked like he’d smack her… In her palm, the stone sparkled in the sunlight, as if responding.
“Oh, you’re awake!”
“You’re up early today. You know today’s the day of the banquet, right?”
“Make sure you get all cleaned and polished today!”
But when the maids arrived, Jade didn’t notice—the stone was securely tied back onto the necklace and disappeared under her collar.
The day of the grand banquet had arrived.
Count Artu, who had been invited early (or more accurately, had come ahead of time to beg for forgiveness), made his way quickly to the Great Hall.
“The lineup of guests is quite impressive.”
On the path from the west wing to the central hall, Count Artu’s mood soured as he saw the flood of incoming guests.
“To think that after such a scandal, the position of young duke is being returned to the son of a disgrace…”
“…I cannot accept it.”
Count Artu’s son, the young count, ground his teeth.
“The old man must be senile!”
“Shh, lower your voice.”
Though he agreed in spirit, Count Artu was cautious.
This was the Duke of Godwin’s main estate, and his daughter was involved.
Somehow, his daughter had been imprisoned for attempted murder of the former duke, and Baron Retos, who had arrived with her, had also been jailed for attempting to kill the heir.
How did this happen? There’s no way it could’ve been exposed this quickly!
Though the evidence was clear, Count Artu refused to believe it—because the incident had taken place in the Godwin main estate.
Who knows how the former duke, who was blind to my grandson to the point of handing him the heir position, might have manipulated things!
And the claim that a mere maid was an ability user? Ridiculous.
How could an old man without proper modern detection devices even know?
But the damage was done. Count Artu had to hand over an entire mine just to save his daughter’s life.
It must have been because of that guide.
The real reason Harris Godwin—the disowned legitimate son of Norman Godwin—had been exiled was now quietly known: the manifestation of his ability.
And the moment he entered the main estate, he had brought along a lowly guide woman.
No matter how attached he was to his first woman, to be so shameless regardless of time or place…!
This is why those raised lowly could never compare.
Such precious blood, wasted.
“Tsk.”
Count Artu clicked his tongue.
If Penelope failed to secure the inheritance, the plan had been for her to aim for the position of mistress of the house instead.
But to think the man who was supposed to be her husband had lost his mind like that—it was infuriating.
Well, given that his mother died and his father was practically absent, I suppose it’s no surprise…
What could a parentless child possibly know? If he truly became heir, he would need strict training.
Still… being the father-in-law of the new Duke of Godwin wouldn’t be so bad.
