Chapter 84  

Hans called the man in the black hood. He smelled like a rotting corpse, but Hans didn’t care. It was because his sense of smell had been dulled by being so close.

“Master?”

Only after Hans called the other person again did the man turn his back.

Unlike the terrible stench that makes one dizzy when one approaches him, his appearance was surprisingly intact. Because it was the same as the appearance the gutter rat had had in his lifetime.

‘A shell made of human skin.’

Hans remembered something he had made once with the skin of a snake. He named the creature taxidermist.

Actually, he was a little happy back then. He was flattered. Because he felt like a god who created new life.

Then the gutter rat, who had been watching the process from start to finish, called out to Hans.

“Make me too.”

“Yes?”

“I want you to make me that too.”

A body of eternal life that does not die.

That’s what the gutter rat wanted. He decided that he would become a chimera himself, and ordered Hans.

“But, as the Master saw, that creature is unstable. Don’t you know that unless you swallow a taxidermist and nurture it in your body, you can’t survive?”

In order to keep the chimera moving, it had to inject endless energy. And it had to be in the body of a truly living being.

“At least in a few years it might be possible to make it perfectly. But now it’s too early…”

“Child. Please think hard.”

The gutter rat said, interrupting Hans’s concerns in the middle.

“Energy can be absorbed, and you can keep polishing the body.”

That’s a good way!

Hans, who had no conscience since getting a job in the gutter, found the last king of immorality that even Hans could not think of.

He said, ‘Oh, as expected the Master.’, and he was admired. It was just like that at the time when he didn’t do what he thought of and just continued living.

But now…….

‘Can you say that it is alive?’

Hans thought. He didn’t know he was going to be successful. It was the creature he helped create, but it was bizarre.

‘Human…… chimera.’

He had nothing else to say.

Neither alive nor dead.

“Now that you have absorbed enough energy, you must start.”

“Are you talking about it already?”

“Yes. It looks like our tail will be trampled on soon.”

Hans said after putting his fingers through the curtains and peering out.

“Hmm, I haven’t even picked a suitable shell yet.”

After that, the gutter rat said as if he found it genuinely pitiful.

Hans almost made a sneer without realizing it.

‘The gutter rat was obsessed with good-looking and beautiful things when he was alive.’

Even now, even now that the gutter rat had become a monster, he wondered if he still cared about the appearance of human beings. No matter how he thinks about it, it’s not normal.This situation and the gutter rat. And himself.

“It’s disposable after all. If this job is done safely, you can go back to a new one. It will be difficult if there is a trace.”

“That’s right.”

The man muttered and laughed.

Then, even Hans, who felt quite accustomed to the gutter rat’s new appearance, had no choice but to feel a sense of creepiness.

It was bizarre, as if something that was not human was mimicking a human being.

“Bring any shell.”

At the rat’s command, the wizard had no choice but to answer, “Yes, Master.”

***

“Wow, the Young Madam is finally making her debut in the social world!”

Marronnier was so moved that she even had tears in his eyes. She had no complaints about Aria leaving Valentine’s estate.

However, since she became Aria’s dedicated handmaid, she had one thing she’d always dreamed of.

“I wanted to brag about our Young Madam, who is more lovely than a fairy and more sacred than an angel!”

Marronnier was excited at the thought that she could finally achieve one thing on her bucket list.

‘Debut in the social world…….’

Could the current situation be wrapped up in such a romantic word? Aria trembled.

The place she was heading to today was not a fancy banquet hall. It was a battlefield full of enemies everywhere. In fact, it should have been called a participation in war rather than a debut in the social world.

‘It’s strange to have called Lloyd at this time.’

Lloyd had already visited the Emperor. Naturally, the diamont case ended with ‘the mistake of an official’.

But Lloyd couldn’t go back. Because today was the anniversary of the founding of the Fineta Empire. All nobles entering the political world must enter the palace to attend ceremonies and meetings.

‘Besides, this year’s Founding Anniversary is at the same time as the social season.’

The capital was crowded with nobles from all over the country.

The Emperor blocked the way out so that Lloyd couldn’t go back immediately after looking at his business.

‘If he made up his mind to fight the Emperor, of course Lloyd will win…….’

No matter how much, he couldn’t blow his fist while saying ‘Damn Emperor!’ because he wasn’t allowed to go back. Valentine’s indirect rebellion—such as the wedding—was indescribable, but if confronted head-on, they could be detained.

Even if it was Valentine.

‘That’s why neither Tristan nor Lloyd tried to set foot in the Imperial Palace in the first place.’

Because they’re the ones who would wield their swords first if they can’t communicate. How frustrating it must be for the Emperor who can’t speak and can’t even wield a sword.

‘It looks like a lot of planning.’

It seems that the newly elected priests of Garcia have also arrived.

‘Did Veronica come too?’

She was sure Veronica would come. It was highly probable. It was because Gabriel called for the saint, telling her how to increase her divine power.

No, actually, she didn’t say she would come, but it sounds like she would, considering the obvious results.

Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, she was supposed to come anyway. It was certain that the time had advanced from her previous life.

‘Then there will be a welcome banquet.’

Somehow, her back hurts already.

“Ahhh, so beautiful.”

As Aria immersed herself in many complex thoughts, Marronnier adorned her with constant admiration.

Anyway, she doesn’t have to go out and get belittled.

– Is it pretty?

“No, I think I’m going to go blind.”

“……”“Gasp, close your eyes. Young Madam!”

Suddenly? Aria glanced at her mirror and reflexively closed her eyes.

Then Marronnier whispered in her ear in a very serious voice.

“Did you know that? The legend of Narcissus, who saw himself reflected in the lake and fell in love with himself and eventually died. Little Madame should never look in the mirror.”

She clenched her fists and added, “Because you’re so beautiful!”.

Aria was stupid for taking it seriously.

Aria decided to just leave Marronnier who was decorating her with a lot of effort.

‘I think she’ll just take care of it herself.’

She smiled very proudly as she put on a sky blue velvet dress on Aria. The see-through cloak and gloves that reached her elbows were engraved with mystical patterns of shiny silver threads.

‘Clothes are wings.’

It’s really like wings.

In particular, the sky-like cloak that naturally hangs like flowing water. Every time she moved, it cut through the air as softly as a fairy’s wings.

‘This is really the best.’

A fourteen-year-old cannot have charisma, majesty, or dignity.

Aria decided to emphasize her mystery as much as possible among the strengths of her appearance. Then she exudes an atmosphere that, that she was somehow inaccessible, in a different sense.

“Wow, you’re a fairy that no one can deny because I decorated you with full determination.”

Marronnier muttered in admiration.

It wasn’t overly excessive makeup, and although it was set to a subtle level, it truly made her a fairy.

“Little Madame, did I say I love you today?”

She said it at least ten times. But Marronnier never got tired of speaking out her confession of love.

Aria smiled softly and nodded her head.

“Love…….”

It was then.

“I think we have to leave soon.”

Lloyd, who she doesn’t know since when he was, leaned against the door and tilted his head.

He said, tapping his fist lightly over the door only after Aria stared intently at him.

“Knock, knock.”

What kind of person knocks after coming in?

Marronnier, who had spread her arms to hug Aria tightly, staggered backwards from that position and crawled into the corner. She was struggling to run away from the threat of murderous energy.

‘It feels like something like this has happened before…….’

But it was different from then.

Once upon a time, Lloyd would growl and openly threaten if there was anything he didn’t like. Now, Lloyd didn’t speak harshly or made a harsh face.

Just being there gave people unspoken pressure.

“Shall we go, Wife?”

Aria heard her name as ‘Wife’ was unfamiliar to her, so she fiddled with the tip of her earring for nothing.

Dressed neatly in the banquet white robes, Lloyd was shining enough to say it hurts. But it was definitely unfamiliar.

– It’s white for some reason.

His hair is black, and his eyes are black. Why did Lloyd, who would wear even black shoes and use black interior furnishings and decorations wear pure white?

“Um, trying to be an angel today?”

…… That’s not it.

Aria wanted to tell him that it wouldn’t be, no matter what Lloyd did.

But when she saw his smiling face as if he was ashamed of himself as he spoke…….

‘Angel.’

He looks like an angel.

The angel was neither Gabriel nor Vincent, who claimed to look like an angel, appearance-wise.

Aria realized that the angel was Lloyd.