Chapter 27
A Masterpiece and a Failure
The hellish pain felt like an eternity, never-ending.
Each second felt like hundreds of years.
Her mind, unable to bear the pain, would shut down, only to be forcibly turned back on by the agony.
It felt as if the inside of her head was burning black.
How much time passed like that?
"See? It's nothing now, is it?"
Her father's voice awakened her as if from hell.
Felix gazed fondly at his daughter, who lay sprawled on a pool of blood like a puppet with severed strings.
He gently approached Luise, who had stopped convulsing, and caressed her soft skin beneath the torn dress.
It was soaked with blood, but the wound that had pierced her heart had completely disappeared.
A bright smile spread across Felix's face as he confirmed this.
"Rejoice. You will live forever, Luise."
Luise heard her father's voice seeping through the gaps in her returning senses.
Her father's voice was as gentle and kind as ever.
But it was more cruel than ever before.
Through her fading vision, she saw Shed collapsed on the floor.
Looking at him, Luise realized.
Ah, nothing can be undone.
Faced with utter, perfect despair, even her tears had dried up and would no longer flow.
Traitor, sinner, demon, Heretic…
She knew the weight of those flamboyant charges.
Yet, Luise Ideana brazenly lived on because she couldn't find a way to die.
She had to live, a monster cursed with immortality.
"Why are you hiding that power?"
The Heretic asked, looking down at Liana's abdomen, which had not yet fully recovered from the wound.
She knew she wouldn't die and took the knife for Shed.
That meant she knew her power well.
Yet, she was deliberately hiding her power.
Even setting aside the internal injuries caused by Divine Power, she should be able to recover from such a wound quickly, but she was suppressing her regenerative abilities to prevent the wound from healing, to appear like an ordinary person.
Since she couldn't die anyway, it would only prolong the pain.
It was a ridiculous stubbornness.
"If I were you, I wouldn't live so foolishly."
The Heretic criticized the foolish young lady.
His eyes seemed filled with resentment and despair.
A word her father had said once flashed through her mind.
"Don't be upset that I used you as a test subject for the spell. I only gave you the power when I reached the stage of certainty."
Felix had said that there were failures before he created Luise.
He wasn't such a heartless father as to easily sacrifice his only daughter.
He wanted the strongest and most complete power to belong to the Ideana bloodline.
Someone who wouldn't betray him, who would obey him because they were bound by blood, and who would elevate the name of Ideana.
Therefore, he sacrificed many 'sacrifices' before using the ancient spell on Luise.
But as far as she knew, all the 'sacrifices' had died.
However.
"I, a half-baked thing, have to live in pain every day, but you have that power and you're just living like that…"
The 'Heretic' remaining in Ideana.
He was clearly one of the many 'sacrifices' her father had made.
Probably the last test subject he experimented on just before completing Luise.
Therefore, Liana couldn't help but feel an inevitable sense of kinship with him.
"Aren't you afraid of that power that harms people?"
When Liana asked in a trembling voice, he burst into laughter as if he was dumbfounded.
"Harms people?"
He shook his head.
"I'm not harming people. You need malice to harm someone. I'm just living. Like a person eating a chicken to live."
She could hear his teeth grinding as he muttered.
"I need sacrifices to live. Human sacrifices. Lupus would be even better."
Left unfinished, he was different from Luise.
He was unstable, and if he couldn't maintain his power, his mind and body would collapse.
Therefore, he had to constantly take lives to maintain the power of Black Magic.
Endlessly, so that the water wouldn't drain from the bottomless vessel.
"So don't hate me too much. Especially you shouldn't, right?"
The Heretic stared at Liana with wide eyes.
It was Ideana who made him like this, and the reason was to complete Luise Ideana.
So, at least she shouldn't call him a sinner.
She, who had perfect power through the sacrifice of countless trials and errors, couldn't criticize him, a failure.
"You made me like this, got that power, and even disposed of the other test subjects with your own hands."
At the Heretic's words, Liana clenched the blanket tightly.
"S, save me!"
Liana squeezed her eyes shut, recalling her hands, which had been stained crimson.
Just then, she heard the sound of quick footsteps outside.
The Heretic turned his head and looked at the door.
"A nuisance has appeared."
At the same time, the door burst open.
"You're back earlier than I thought."
The Heretic stepped back, looking at the man standing in front of the door.
He had collapsed one side of the mansion to divert attention, but Shed seemed to have already dealt with it and returned.
No, did he come back before it was completely resolved?
The intruder's eyes narrowed as he looked at Shed.
"Heretic…!"
Shed, who discovered the intruder, drew his sword. Blue light flared over the sword without hesitation.
"Don't be like that. I just came to talk for a moment."
The Heretic slowly stepped back and waved his remaining hand.
He needed to kill, but he wasn't an ignorant fool who would rush in without thinking.
He knew very well that he could never beat Shed Lester with one arm not even perfect.
"See you next time."
Darkness spread from the Heretic's body once again.
In an instant, he disappeared like smoke.
As Shed tried to chase after him, Liana grabbed him.
"Your Excellency…!"
Shed stopped when Liana grabbed his sleeve.
Shed met the green eyes that looked up at him as if pleading.
When the eyes that had been closed were now looking up at him with fear, the blue light surrounding his sword faded.
His eyes, which had been flushed with hot excitement, instantly cooled down.
“…Wait.”
Shed said coldly and went outside to call a doctor.
Liana shrank her aching body at his more indifferent voice than usual.
What had happened after arriving in Paradell?
Her memory had stopped after meeting that Heretic.
She belatedly looked around at where she was.
A very familiar, nostalgic landscape.
'This is…'
Although it was old and faded with time, she could immediately recognize where this was.
The old Ideana Count's mansion in Paradell, the bedroom Luise Ideana used to use.
Although the old furniture had been broken and cleared away, the scenery of the lemon tree and stone wall outside the twisted window was exactly as she remembered.
At that moment, the doctor Shed had called entered the room.
"You're really awake…!"
The middle-aged man's face was etched with a deep sense of relief for some reason.
Shed Lester followed behind him.
He frowned and said nothing.
Liana felt crushed by the deep silence.
The old Ideana mansion, Luise's room where she always had nightmares, the Heretic who had disappeared without a trace.
The headache and pain in the affected area caused by the fever, and the mixed guilt, swelled up like an untreated wound.
The surroundings were quiet, and only the doctor silently tended to Liana's wounds.
During that time, Shed watched Liana getting her wounds treated with his arms crossed.
Liana fidgeted with her trembling hands and watched Shed's expression. His cold gaze, silently looking at her, piled up anxiety in her heart.
He didn't question her about what she had talked about with the Heretic.
Why? Impatience grew over the long silence.
While the doctor was treating her wounds, the pain stabbed at all her senses, but her nerves were all focused on Shed.
Perhaps, if he finds out that I can use Black Magic…
If he finds out that it was none other than Luise Ideana who killed his brother and countless Lupus that he hated so much…
She bit her dry lips.
"Miss Liana, do you have a headache or any discomfort?"
Then, the doctor, who had unwrapped her bandage, broke the silence and asked.
The nerves that had been focused on Shed finally dispersed.
“…I can bear it.”
Her body ached as if it was being torn apart every time she breathed, but she could still bear it.
Fortunately, she had long been accustomed to enduring pain.
To the point where screaming and struggling felt meaningless.
So, she didn't want to make a fuss about this much pain and cause trouble.
However, the old memories overlapping on this familiar landscape were a bit overwhelming.
Her head throbbed, her vision occasionally blurred, her chest felt stuffy, and she felt nauseous.
"You have to tell me exactly what your symptoms are."
The doctor looked at Liana with a serious expression.
The fever on her pale face was so hot that it was hot to the touch, and her eyes occasionally lost focus and became unfocused.
Blood was showing again on the wound that had not yet healed.
She hadn't eaten or drunk anything properly while she was collapsed, so there was no way she could have any strength in her body.
Frankly speaking, it was amazing and admirable that this small woman hadn't died.
It seemed that this frail body had managed to survive and save him, who had almost been killed by Shed Lester.
Liana nodded in front of the doctor who was looking at her seriously.
“…I have a bit of a headache and I don’t have any strength, but that’s all.”
Liana forced a smile.
