Bam!
"Your Majesty, he is the Vice Minister of Finance!"
"Ugh. Please, please save me."
It was clearly the Vice Minister of Finance who had been absent from the mission due to a problem. However, he had been caught a little while ago while confronting the Knights Templar disguised as an Ametrine soldier.
"Feed me."
Endymion nodded, his eyes fixed on the Duke.
Then, the knight took the bottle of medicine he had just confiscated from the vice minister and stuffed it into his mouth. The vice minister belatedly resisted, but the medicine had already passed through his esophagus.
"Ugh! Kwaak!"
The vice minister twisted his waist and screamed. And... The skin on his face melted away as if it were being burned. His bones were reconstructed, and all his hair fell out and grew back again.
A few seconds later, the deputy minister with short brown hair transformed into a handsome man with dazzling silver hair.
"Ugh, huh?!"
"This, this is Minister of the Interior Killian Oberon?"
The knight stuttered in astonishment. But something was strange.
The silver-haired man's appearance was unmistakably that of Killian Oberon. Even his voice was like that.
However, his lustered speech and actions were subtly different from the always calm Killian Oberon, and he felt a strange sense of incongruity.
"Chiara Soar attacked my Queen with her face changed. She drank the black wolf's potion."
Endymion gestured to the bottle he had thrown earlier, which was now lying on the flоог.
"What if that had the same effect?"
A few hours ago, during the Cheryl negotiations in the main castle, an intelligence agent under Endymion's direction had secretly found it in the Duke's room. Surprisingly, it was the exact same vial that the vice minister had just consumed.
And it was already empty Inside.
"There is no need for one person to exist in two at the same time. If the Vice Minister of Finance had to be Killian Oberon."
"..."
The Duke's breathing became increasingly ragged. Endymion twitched the corners of his lips.
"Who did the real Killian Oberon turn into?"
As soon as the cold question was dropped, a silver lightning bolt shot out. The high-voltage magic power was so dangerous that even a simple touch could cause fatal injuries.
Phagec!
The silver lightning engulfed Endymion and broke the rainbow protective spell that had been activated. The knight who witnessed it was shocked and tried to stop it, but it was too late.
Swish-!
But then something amazing happened. The silver lightning that seemed ready to bite Endymion at any moment disappeared somewhere like the black magic that had disappeared earlier.
"Your Majesty! Are you alright?!"
The blow was fatal. The blood vessels in the Duke's wide-open eyes burst, and his gray eyes turned bright red.
"Cough!"
Crunch. Crunch.
With a sound of bones snapping, the Duke's entire body twisted. The skin on his face peeled off and crumbled, his dark blond hair fell out, and the Duke became a grotesque figure...
"Cough."
He became a handsome man with long silver hair.
"As expected."
Endymion recited expressionlessly.
"You and Duke Joel never had an alibi that overlapped. And yet Cheryl's policies cleverly followed the same path."
"Cough. What, what, how!"
Killian gritted his teeth and shouted. Endymion aimed for Killian's neck with a cold gesture, leaving no room for escape.
"A few months ago, Duke Joel disappeared and then reappeared. If you killed the real Duke and used drugs to change your face and pretend to be him, then that would make sense."
It was all a trap. The King, who had found out everything, had summoned the delegation to reveal that Joel and Killian Oberon were the same person. The Cheryl negotiation was just bait.
Ugh.
Killian gritted his teeth, realizing that he had been fooled. He tried to use magic.
But strangely, from the moment he was attacked by the King, his magical power did not recover. His black magic power was completely emptied as if it had been ripped away, and the silver magic power that remained was only enough to cast one spell.
"I will give you one last chance to confess before you die."
He tried several times but failed.
'Why?!'
He was becoming increasingly impatient. Unable to use magic, he was no different from a doll.
"You're so cheeky. You need to learn manners first."
The long legs kicked the lower body. Killian was in an instant in a humiliating kneeling position.
"Where is your base?"
His whole body trembled with humiliation. Killian struggled with the tip of the knife stuck in his chin.
"Huh! Do you think I'll answer that honestly?"
But the King showed no mercy, and when his thigh was crushed, he exploded.
'You stole my woman, and now you're trying to ruin my plans?!'
The future they had prepared for was finally right in front of them.
He never doubted it from the beginning. That the doll-like girl she fell in love with at first sight would eventually stand next to him. That future where she would wear a crown on high and look down on millions of people kneeling.
'It can't end like this!'
Killian, his strength rising from anger, gathered all his remaining magical power and charged forward.
'Let the cursed one fall to the curse!'
Ssw...
Amplification magic began to be cast. It was a magic that forcibly increased the effect of something, and its characteristic was that if it failed, the target would take the full damage.
'They say the curse was stopped by the Queen's magic, but since it's hereditary, traces will remain in the blood. Regardless of whether I succeed or fail, I won't lose out!'
The moment Killian clenched his teeth and quickly grabbed the King's leg...
Puck-!
"Do you think I'm asking because I don't know?"
If you put your mind to it, you can find out where the base is.
The King spoke quietly and grabbed Killian's hand as he rushed towards him.
"Why are you giving me a chance anyway?"
Kwak-.
"Not for you, but for my Queen."
Clang-!
It was only a momentary contact, but the magic was forcibly broken with tremendous force. At the same time, not a single drop of magic remained in Killian's body.
"Because my Queen will be shocked."
"Huh, huh. How...!"
The magic failed, but the King seemed completely unscathed. The curse didn't seem to be amplified. Instead, Killian, whose magic power had been completely sucked out, clutched his chest in frustration.
"This is the last. If you surrender, we will postpone the immediate execution."
Hia pride was crushed, along with his throat feeling like it was going to burst.
'You're telling me I can't have it now?!'
His silver eyes widened in rage and humiliation. He rushed at him in a frenzy, pulling out a poisoned dagger from his bosom.
"That damned bastard! She's mine!"
However, he could never defeat the King, who was significantly inferior in physical condition.
"My Queen was never yours."
The dagger fell, and Killian's eyes widened as his vital point was cut.
"Cough!"
The King's face was expressionless when he spoke of the curse, but it changed terribly at the word 'mine'.
"That's a fair price to pay for you."
"Ugh! No, don't..."
In Killian's consciousness, the fragrant and gentle Julia faded away. The wealth and honor, as well as the powerful magic extracted from the blood of tens of thousands of people, also faded away.
Killian stumbled, his mouth foaming at the mouth. But ambition no longer had any power over him.
"..."
Thud. Clank.
The wizard, whose entire body turned black, fell. Killian Oberon, the leader of the Black Wolves, who was a strong wizard but cruel and terrifying, was defeated in this way.
"...Get out. Take him and secure the evidence."
Endymion, dropping his sword, gave the order.
"Yes! I will investigate and report back to you after finding out what happened!"
The knight who had been watching the execution of the enemy immediately responded and ran out, grabbing the unconscious vice minister.
Sling.
Endymion sharpened his sword. Then, with a cold face, he passed the enemy's corpse and left the room.
'First of all, calm down.'
Because Julia must have been very surprised.
Endymion's steps quickened as he recalled Julia's last, bewildered face.
The moment he ran down the stairs and crossed the quietly murmuring air to reach the entrance of the building.
For a moment, he felt dizzy. As Endymion reflexively grabbed onto a large pillar and stopped, his mind started spinning as if it had been waiting for him.
Wheein-!
'This is a disgrace to the mighty Semele. We must never let this weakness be known!'
'How can you get married when you can't even touch life?'
'Princess Ametrine will arrive in three days.'
'It's a drug that erases memories.'
Childhood memories.
'You don't remember anything before you got married? Well, it was a long time ago, so I guess it's just natural forgetting. But since you asked, I'll make it for you!'
And the memory recovery potion that Boris gave him yesterday.
The memories that had been forcibly eaten were released. They had been buried without time to sort out the confusion. It seemed to be the aftereffects of the magic that Killian had failed earlier.
Endymion gritted his teeth against his worsening headache. But his body refused to listen, perhaps because Killian had brought back the curse that had disappeared.
"Mion!"
"Julia..."
His vision collapsed. Endymion lost consciousness as he watched Julia running towards him through his blurred vision.
"Your Majesty!"
Boris and Adele were shocked, and the knights who came running quickly carried him to the nearby main building.
"Why are you doing this? What the hell is the problem!"
Julia cried out as she turned pale, but the doctors could not find any problem at all.
"I... I don't know the cause at all. His Majesty is in perfect health right now, so why is he unconscious..."
At those words, Julia's mind went blank, and she bit her lip. Then, suddenly, she felt the golden magic entering Endymion at a faster rate than usual.
"Boris, just a moment."
"Yes?"
Julia hurriedly sent the doctors out and told Boris and Adele what was happening.
"Now, just a moment. Yesterday, His Majesty said that he couldn't remember anything from his childhood, so I made him a magic potion. Could that be the problem?"
"Yes?"
Boris added, "No way," and said that he didn't know whether he had taken it or not. Julia bit her lip as she recalled the situation report from the knight who had been with her until the end.
"I don't know exactly, but I think Killian Oberon is the problem."
"No way! If he took the medicine, the magical attack may have caused damage while his memories were not yet stabilized. What should we do, Your Majesty? Should I go to the Magic Tower and forcefully wake up the Magic Tower Lord?!"
"No."
Then you might have problems with Pal, too.
Julia looked down at Endymion, who was lying expressionless with his eyes closed.
What kind of memory could it be? And what kind of magic was Killian trying to use...?
"...Boris. Is there any magic that can stabilize your memories?"
Julia asked, placing her hand on Endymion's forehead. Boris flinched, then spoke cautiously.
"Yes, it exists. You can enter into consciousness directly and calm the confused part. However, if you don't calm it down, there is a risk of being trapped in it!"
"Can you do it?"
"Huh?! That's too dangerous...!"
"Can you do it?"
Boris nodded hesitantly at Julia's quiet but powerful voice.
"Then I will do it. I must wake up before His Majesty is in danger, before the black wolves find out."
Boris said that he only knew the theory and that it was too dangerous. However, convinced by Julia's lecture, Boris ended up bringing his magic book and drawing a magic circle.
With Adele's help, the memory entry magic was quickly completed.
"The time limit is one hour. Your Majesty, if you are having trouble, draw this magic circle right now and break it!"
Boris gave a quick warning. The completed magic circle hummed uneasily. Julia nodded as she stepped onto it.
"Please take care of the back."
The sun hadn't risen yet, so there was plenty of time to deal with the crisis. Julia spoke clearly and injected her magic without hesitation.
"Yes, yes!"
"Be careful, Your Majesty!"
Woof, phew-!
The magic circle glowed golden, and soon Julia's sleeping body was laid down next to Endymion.
***
'Have we arrived?'
The state of the magic circle that brought her there was unstable. It seemed like she had to hurry.
In the dark consciousness, Julia, who had successfully entered, looked around. She was busy searching for what the confusing memories were.
'Ah.'
In the distance, a low castle stands alone. At the very top of the castle, a familiar black hair sways.
'Over there!'
Julia had a hunch and ran over.
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