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chapter 34
Thus, the method Lirian chose, feeling a sense of crisis about “Young Master Yak(?)” was—
“Let’s recover my memory before I get caught.”
That’s it.
Originally, she thought that as long as she wasn’t caught, everything would be fine—but her fear of Young Master Yak overpowered that.
Lirian slipped out of her room, avoiding her family’s gaze.
She dashed down the hallway—thud thud!—and hid around the corner with a swift motion.
“The people who were there that day were my little brother, the fool, and Illay.”
Her reasoning was simple: if she asked these three, she could recover her memory.
“But Illay is out.”
Lirian excluded Illay first.
Just yesterday, she had been scolded by Illay.
And if she lost her memory again, she’d get scolded again.
She disliked Young Master Yak, but she hated being scolded even more.
“The fool is out too.”
Lirian figured Jerril wouldn’t know anything.
“Then!”
Only one person remained.
Her second older brother, Yuri.
Yuri was the smartest among the four siblings. Not just smart—extremely smart.
So he would certainly remember everything that happened that day.
She peeked at Yuri’s door from her hiding spot.
Then, seizing the moment—
“Give me all your memories!”
She barged into his room.
Yuri was inspecting the Arkanse jewels that Illay had entrusted to him.
“…? Lirian?”
Yuri Ershioni (age seven, genius) was suddenly attacked by a memory thief.
“Hand them over or I’ll shoot!”
Lirian confidently shouted while firing a toy gun that blew bubbles—bang bang!
Yuri muttered,
“You’re already shooting…?”
“I’ll really shoot!”
But no one could stop the youngest when she was absorbed in “villain play.”
Yuri raised his hands obediently.
“I surrender.”
Lirian felt proud, thinking of herself as the strongest.
Yuri muttered to himself, seemingly hypnotized by his plump little sister’s cheeks, “Research…” but quickly came to his senses.
Lirian was peeking at the desk where the Arkanse jewel lay.
“Lirian, don’t touch that.”
“What’s this?”
“Illay entrusted it to me. You know Arkanse, right? The one you defeated this time. It came from there.”
Lirian froze.
This was bad—she might get caught before regaining her memory.
She fumbled a response.
“Th-then…”
“…?”
“I…remember.”
Yuri’s eyes narrowed.
“Now that I think of it, you did ask for memories.”
“Ah, no I didn’t!”
“I’m sure you did.”
Lirian broke into a sweat as she met her little brother’s suspicious gaze.
She debated whether to knock Yuri out and run away.
“Who’s there?”
Illay appeared from inside the room!
Her covert hallway operation was useless.
Illay peeked through the curtains and spotted Lirian sneaking away.
Three… two… one.
“….”
“…Huh!”
Lirian tried to run, but Illay, experienced with these situations, caught her.
He lifted the little troublemaker and seated her in a chair.
Thus, the “memory thief” was captured in just three minutes.
“Why are you here?”
“You told me to hand over my memories.”
“What?”
“I-I didn’t lose my memory!”
Sitting across from Lirian, the same-age pair exchanged interrogating glances. Yuri looked surprised, and Illay turned pale.
“You don’t remember?”
“…I don’t remember.”
Lirian shrank her head like a turtle.
“Yes….”
I’m doomed. I’ll get punished by Young Master Yak.
Lirian sulked. Her antennae drooped along with her mood.
“Goodbye, Rose… Live well in Cookie Garden.”
She even gave a proper farewell to her doll friend before her shoulders were suddenly grabbed.
Lirian blinked.
Illay’s pale face filled her view.
“How much did you forget?”
“Huh?”
Lirian’s eyes widened at the unexpected reaction.
His blue eyes shimmered.
“Could it be…”
His voice trembled slightly.
“You forgot me… again?”
Huh?
Startled, Lirian blinked as Illay bit his lip.
With a choked voice, he said,
“You said you had returned. You said you remembered me. And yet… you forgot again?”
Gasp!
Lirian was shocked he knew about her return, which she hadn’t told him out of sulking.
Then,
“I returned too….”
He said this almost like a confession.
Red warning lights flashed above Lirian’s head.
“Illay’s upset!”
So Illay also returned, meaning he remembers everything from the past.
Lirian must have been sulking while pretending not to know.
“When someone’s upset, you pat them!”
Remembering what her family used to do when she was upset, Lirian placed her small hand on Illay’s head.
Pat pat.
She gently stroked it.
His soft, shiny silver hair was not only nice to look at but also pleasant to touch.
Lirian felt happy while comforting Illay.
“I didn’t forget you, Illay.”
Illay’s eyes shot up.
“You… forgot me?”
He looked at her dumbfoundedly, his face twisted into a tearful smile.
“…Of course not.”
“Hehe.”
Yuri, standing a step back, shook his head at the returning pair lost in their own world.
“Hey? I’m here too.”
“Then do you remember the last time before returning, when we destroyed the temple?”
“How could I forget? You were angry and destroyed everything.”
“Wow! That’s right!”
“Hey? If you’re going to have a private conversation, can you do it in my room?”
Lirian and Illay chattered happily about the pre-return events.
Feeling left out, Yuri sighed and decided to squeeze himself between them, thinking he might end up stuck in his own room.
“So what did you forget?”
“Huh? From after we saw the abyss in the temple until I woke up.”
“So there’s no memory of being a Sword Ghost?”
“Oh, right! From after I met old me.”
Realizing the gap in memory, Illay murmured quietly, relieved.
“So you came because you were curious about that incident?”
“Yes!”
The same-age pair nodded at each other.
“Wouldn’t it be better not to know?”
“But it’s your own affair. Not knowing your own affair isn’t right.”
“That’s true.”
“I read in a book that overprotecting and hiding too much isn’t good for child development.”
“What book did you read?”
“Homunculus Theory?”
Illay immediately regretted asking.
Yuri nodded.
“Alright. Then Lirian, you can come too.”
“Where?”
“To Father. Illay has a question for him.”
Lirian nodded happily, drawing a question mark with her antennae.
As long as she didn’t get punished by Young Master Yak, anything was fine.
“Great, let’s go… huh?”
“Got you.”
“Got me?”
Lirian jumped up from the interrogation chair and immediately found her arms grabbed—one by Illay, one by Yuri.
Confused, Lirian heard them say in turn:
“Memory thief.”
“Ah.”
“Caught in the act.”
“Ahh!”
Eventually, Lirian was taken away as a criminal in the act.
Caesar sat in his office today, once again giving off the “man with a story” vibe.
Sigh.
His sighs grew longer with each day.
“It doesn’t seem like her decision-making has improved.”
After observing Lirian wash her face and brush her teeth for several days, he confirmed that her decision-making hadn’t become perverse like it had in the temple.
Still, he was uneasy.
He knew how suddenly corruption could strike.
The atmosphere grew gloomy, as if Caesar had lowered the room’s temperature by two degrees.
Knock knock.
“Who is it?”
He instinctively asked sharply, pausing.
It seemed something similar had happened recently…?
“It’s Illay, Duke.”
Yes, this was it.
After revealing his return, this was the boy’s first visit. Caesar suspected it might be important.
Curious, he allowed him in.
“Come in.”
“Thank you.”
Illay entered—but for some reason, didn’t close the door completely.
The door must be heavy for a child.
He thought of calling an expert later to lighten it, and gestured for Illay to take a seat.
Caesar had already decided that Illay was a child he needed to take care of.
As before, he took a snack from the drawer and offered it.
“…Thank you.”
Illay paused, nodded, and ate half a cookie before setting it down.
“I came with a question today.”
Caesar nodded, silently saying, go ahead.
“Do you know about the ‘Fairy Race’?”
“…!”
Caesar’s fingertips twitched.
As he looked at the child with stiff eyes, Illay calmly presented something before him:
A half-cut gray jewel and a piece of paper.
[Analysis Report (Author: Yuri)]
[…Therefore, this substance is speculated to be the spirit stone, known as the heart of the Fairy Race. However, due to the small number of research samples, certainty is not possible, so verification by an authoritative institution is recommended.]
He had done this before—present evidence first, then interrogate.
Caesar silently examined it.
The fully faded Arkanse jewel.
“…What are you trying to tell me?”
He looked up, meeting Illay’s gaze.
Illay finally spoke a fragment of the truth.
“Did Lirian inherit the blood of the fairies?”
