After turning the wedding hall into utter chaos per plans, Hart ran toward the bride’s room.
He left the door slightly ajar to allow Brantley and the knights to follow.
“Patrick!”
Prince Patrick was sprawled out on a long sofa. Hart examined his condition. His eyes were unfocused, almost like a doll’s. It was a dire situation, but Hart didn’t give up.
He had the medicine Hanelope had given him.
‘If I give him this, Patrick’s brainwashing will be undone. Just like it was for me.’
Just as he was about to feed the medicine to Patrick—
Bang!
The door slammed shut behind him. And from behind the curtains, where he thought no one was, a young man emerged.
“Who are you?”
“It’s disappointing that you don’t recognize me just because I’ve become a bit younger, Your Highness.”
“Your Holiness?”
“Well.. he is somewhere inside me.”
Prache sneered coldly.
‘Whether he’s the real pope or not, he’s someone definitely working with Yenna.’
Hart swiftly drew his sword and swung it in an instant. But before the blade could reach Prache’s neck, Hart’s red eyes also became vacant and dazed.
Then, just like Patrick, Hart collapsed onto the sofa.
“It’s laughable that you thought you wouldn’t be brainwashed just because you took the medicine.”
Even though the medicine had neutralized the effects of the brainwashing, Yenna’s blood still remained in his body.
When Prache used a more powerful form of brainwashing than the original spell, Hart’s body responded to the blood and fell under his control.
‘Hanelope, I’ve set up a lovely trap for you, so come soon.’
Prache’s cold laughter echoed in the room.
***
“…What?”
Yenna’s face twisted grotesquely.
She stared at me for a long time in disbelief. Then, after regaining her composure, she smiled exaggeratedly.
“Seo Dajong? Who’s that? That’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”
She continued to act like Yenna, but her lying tone and expression were all too familiar.
I coldly observed her for a moment before letting out a small laugh.
“My apologies. I must have been mistaken.”
“It’s fine.”
Yenna sighed in relief and cautiously asked, “But the name ‘Seo Dajong’ sounds similar to the naming style from the world I used to live in?”
“Yes. I also lived in another world in my past life.”
“You… had a past life?”
Yenna’s eyes widened, and not just her eyes— her nostrils and mouth were open in shock as well.
Soon, her face lit up with unmistakable joy.
“R- Really?”
Her gaze became condescending, and her tone playful. She was the despicably familiar Seo Dajong.
I was certain now.
‘Yenna is Seo Dajong.’
Yenna, or rather Seo Dajong, still didn’t seem to realize that I had figured out her true identity. She clasped my hand, pretending to be friendly, “Let’s go back. We need to clean up the mess and proceed with the wedding. You’ll help me, right?”
“I asked you to answer my question first, didn’t I?”
“What? Do we really have to act like this now?”
Just like in our past lives, Yenna was polite when she wanted to manipulate someone. But as soon as things didn’t go her way, her attitude shifted to irritation.
In the past, her sudden changes had startled me and did whatever she wanted, but not this time.
“The chocolate that His Highness Prince Patrick gifted to my father was actually made by you, wasn’t it?”
“What? That was a gift prepared by His Highness himself.”
“If His Highness prepared it, why was your blood in the chocolate?”
“!”
Yenna, or rather Seo Dajong, suddenly froze, her expression turning rigid.
I stared at her coldly.
“I know you used that chocolate, or rather that spell, to try and brainwash Dad. You must have done the same to Prince Patrick, right?”
“W- What nonsense are you talking about? Are you insane?”
Seo Dajong shouted in anger.
“It’s too late to deny it. The Emperor knows everything you’ve done. More than half the guests at the wedding are knights here to punish you.”
“!”
Seo Dajong’s face turned pale.
“Prache must have been the one who taught you that spell. Where is he now?”
Seo Dajong couldn’t respond to my sharp questioning. All that escaped her gaping mouth was a faint wheeze.
But moments later, her lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“Is now really the time to worry about Prache? You’ve been lucky enough to gain a Dad in this life, but it seems you don’t know he’s on the verge of death.”
Seo Dajong didn’t even bother to hide her true identity as she sneered at me. She seemed confident that I had discovered who she really was, and that she also knew who I was.
A cold chill ran through my spine at her attitude.
“Where is Prache?” I demanded.
“He’s with your father,” she replied mockingly. “If you don’t keep your mouth shut and do as I say, I’ll tear him apart right before your eyes.”
“What have you done to my Dad?”
“I haven’t done what I did to your mother in your past life… YET,” Seo Dajong smiled gleefully.
I wanted to strangle her right then and there. But I had to restrain myself. If what she said was true, Dad was currently in danger because of Prache.
“Follow me,” she said.
Seo Dajong led the way. We passed through the chaotic wedding hall, heading toward the bride’s room. Outside the bride’s room, Maxim, Brantley, and the knights were desperately trying to open the door. But it wouldn’t budge.
“Idiots. Prache personally sealed it, so no one can just walk in,” Seo Dajong mocked as she opened a hidden back door, slipping past the others.
I followed her inside, only to be shocked at what I saw.
Dad and Prince Patrick were lying on the long sofa, limp like dolls.
The once-bright red eyes of my father were now dull and clouded as if covered in mist.
“Dad!” I called out, rushing toward him. But before I could get close, someone stepped out from behind the curtains, blocking my path.
He was a young, healthy-looking man, someone vaguely familiar, though I couldn’t recall who he was.
Suddenly, from behind the man, a web of cold blue light shot out like spider webs, filling the room. The icy glow made the room look like a decaying, web-covered ruin.
The entire space was consumed by his eerie energy.
It was suffocating.
The divine power within me also began to surge, as if reacting in anger.
‘Could he be…?’
Just then, Seo Dajong cackled.
“Thanks to Prache’s stronger magic, even Hart was brainwashed. Oh dear, it seems like that potion you made was useless after all.”
She taunted me, leaning her face close to mine, but I ignored her.
“Prache?” I muttered.
The young man standing before me was Prache. He chuckled slyly, amused at my late realization.
“Still, that potion of yours was quite impressive. Since Hart still has Yenna’s blood in him, I could brainwash him.”
Prache spoke in a mocking tone.
“Prache, there’s no need to call me ‘Yenna’ anymore. She knows who I really am now,” Seo Dajong added with a sly grin.
“Oh, is that so? How nice to see the family reunited,” Prache smirked.
I glanced at the limp figure of Prince Patrick.
“So, the letter sent to my dad …” I began.
“Of course, it was a fake,” Seo Dajong laughed.
I turned my distant gaze toward Prache.
“You’re doing all of this to get revenge on me, aren’t you? That’s why you’ve brainwashed my father and Prince Patrick. Why did you bring Seo Dajong here?”
Prache smiled and replied, “It’s thanks to you, Hanelope, that I was able to put this girl’s soul into the broken body of Yenna.”
I flinched at his words.
“Remember when you touched the ‘Casket of Judgment’ in the basement of the Great Temple, where Yenna’s body was kept? That’s when I caught a glimpse of your memories related to past life.”
I was taken aback.
‘That incident… that was Prache peering into my past?’
Prache continued, “It was then that I saw the soul of Seo Dajong in your memories. A malicious, cunning, greedy soul, driven by survival instincts. A cruel spirit that would stop at nothing to achieve its goals. She was perfect for aiding me in my work. So, I pulled that soul from the other world, where it had been wandering after death.”
“Wandering after death?” I asked, staring at Seo Dajong.
She bit her lip, clearly unhappy that Prache was revealing her past. Prache, however, ignored her discomfort and continued with a twisted smile.
“She died after killing you, and then fell into an open manhole while trying to escape. What a pitiful end for such a vile soul. Don’t you think so?”
“Enough!” Seo Dajong screamed, her face flushed with embarrassment.
I couldn’t help but stare at her in disbelief.
“You did all those horrible things out of greed, only to die so pathetically?”
“Shut up! What do you know about me to laugh at me like that?” she screamed.
But it wasn’t even funny, it was rather pathetic.
Prache turned to the fuming Seo Dajong, and said, “Don’t be so angry. In this life, you’ll do well. You’re far more useful than Yenna ever was in the past.”
‘Yenna in her… past?’
Come to think of it, Seo Dajong being inside Yenna’s body wasn’t something that was supposed to happen according to the original story.
The original plot had already deviated significantly, but having Seo Dajong as Yenna was a completely different issue.
“Was the original Yenna not to your liking and that’s why you got rid of her soul to bring Seo Dajong here?” I asked.
Prache shook his head. “No. After repeating time about twice, Yenna’s soul became too damaged. I tried to restore her by placing her in the ‘Casket of Judgment,’ but in the end, it failed, so I brought this one instead.”
‘Repeating time twice?’
The original story began with Asta’s regression.
‘That’s when I came into this world.’
So, there was supposed to be one regression. But what did Prache mean by repeating it twice?
Noticing my confusion, Prache’s smile widened, “You wouldn’t know, of course. This is the second world, created after the second regression.”
His words meant that the moment I entered this world wasn’t in the original story’s timeline.
‘I was reincarnated after the second regression, not the first.’
