Episode 72
He bravely spoke up, but Theo knew the situation wasn’t quite in my favor.
It was just a brief clash while holding onto the collar, but Damian had considerable strength contrary to appearances. Whether it was truly the power coming from his body muscles or something else, it wasn’t pleasant to clash bare-handed.
‘No sword.’
Moreover, Theo, still an unwarranted commoner, was facing nobility on the other side. If a commoner accidentally offended a noble, they could face severe punishment, even losing a wrist as a penalty. But there seemed to be no way back from this.
“Hey. You might not know, but her dad is furious. The entire estate is in an uproar because his daughter’s missing. Got it?”
Though Theo’s tone was light, his pumpkin-colored gaze emitted a sober light.
“If I can’t take her, I’ll have to sleep outside. So, I can’t leave without her.”
“Well, sleeping outside suits a watchdog like you.”
“Haha, punk. Talkative as ever.”
Theo glanced at the chance to run away with Lillian, but because Damian was so close to Lillian, there didn’t seem to be any situation where that could happen.
‘If only there were a situation where Lillian would be separated from Damian…’
Ah, it would have been nice if my brain worked a bit better at times like this. Did Milsey tell me to study so much for this? But why did I become a knight if I was supposed to do that? I should have become a scholar, damn it!
While Theo cursed his own stupidity, Damian smiled faintly and added a desperate piece of news.
“Are you giving up already? Lillian is currently under the impression that I’m her top priority. She wants to stay by my side voluntarily.”
“Hey. The voluntary you know and the voluntary I know seem a bit different, don’t they? The voluntary I know involves removing that damn implication or whatever it is.”
Though Theo retorted irritably, such retorts to Damian were almost like throwing eggs at a wall.
“Lillian would be happier by my side too. What’s there in that house? A father obsessed with a fake daughter? Or dishonor as a fake noble lady? Or the enthusiastic cheerleading of an orphaned squire that could make Lillian happy?”
“…Damn.”
Unfortunately, this time, even Theo had nothing to say. This wasn’t his fault, but he felt a little sorry for Lillian. By the way, just to clarify, it was Cedric who was at fault. Naturally.
“You’re going to send her out without even confirming if she’s hurt?!”
If Cedric had just held Lillian back from going out, wouldn’t this mess have been avoided!
Recalling that moment, Theo felt his anger rise again and waved his hand.
“Alright, I got it. You’re right. I’ll give up taking Lillian with me.”
“For once, your opinion matches mine.”
“Instead, can I at least say goodbye?”
“As long as it’s in front of me.”
As soon as Damian gave permission, Theo brought Lillian over to his side. As he tried to sneak away, Damian called out to them.
“Stop. Don’t go any further. I can’t allow it.”
“You’re strict… I just want to have a secret conversation.”
“Keep it brief.”
Well, it seems it won’t work out like this either. Theo clicked his tongue briefly and took Lillian’s hand.
And he took a deep breath.
“Don’t tremble, just go for it.”
According to Damian’s words, Lillian didn’t seem to be in her right mind now, so she wouldn’t even remember what was said. So let’s just go for it.
He remembered seeing something like this while flipping through books to find a way to change faces with Lillian before.
[Implication through Sanctity]
The book, which roughly explained how to handle sanctity or its principles, said that implication through sanctity was essentially imbuing sanctity into one’s voice and conveying it to the mind. It couldn’t be woken up with a loud noise like snapping fingers because it was different from hypnosis.
[There are two ways to awaken this implication. The first is for someone with stronger sanctity than the one who cast the implication to break it.]
And the second is,
“Hey, I like you.”
Awakening the implication by delivering a significant emotional shock.
Theo pulled Lillian closer and whispered in her ear. It was just a simple phrase, but my heart couldn’t help but pound. I couldn’t tell if this was my true feelings or not.
Did it work?
“If it did, I should leave immediately.”
Theo glanced at Lillian, but she remained expressionless as before.
If his confession attack had worked, she wouldn’t have had that expression.
In a moment of defeat for Theo’s face.
“I understand.”
“…!”
Lillian’s voice whispered in my ear.
It was a momentary whisper that left no room for doubt, but it was enough to convey everything.
As Lillian moved away from the frozen Theo, Damian took her away.
“Are we done now? We’ll go. Goodbye.”
Only after Damian and Lillian disappeared from sight did Theo unconsciously stagger back a few steps.
“W-What…?”
He didn’t fall for the implication.
* * *
Sanctity can be explained simply. It’s the measure of love given by God.
God shares power with entities he particularly loves, and the deeper the love, the stronger and more varied the shared power. Of course, just because there’s power doesn’t mean it can all be used. Mastery had to be built up through consistent training.
For example, someone like Damian not only had powerful inherent abilities but also manifested them early. He could infuse sanctity into the power of language and use it freely, even using it to change faces. However, most people who first open their eyes to sanctity have low mastery, so they’re not able to control the power, let alone be aware of it. At this point, they commonly say something.
‘I feel strange.’
It felt like a sixth sense had been awakened.
When Lillian woke up, it was her first thought.
It was a sensation akin to growing an extra arm or finger, like having an additional sense beyond the five senses. It was clear that the world she had known so far and the world she was now inhabiting were different.
And that sensation continued to reverberate in her mind.
‘What’s this? It feels like something… whispering in my mind.’
It was a sweet voice. If she listened to that voice, everything would feel soothing.
She felt a vague desire to chase after that voice blindly, like a child looking for candy, but the new sensation that had just awakened was pounding in Lillian’s mind so loudly that she couldn’t hear anything.
‘Ah, it’s too noisy!’
Lillian eventually gave up chasing after the voice.
Only then did her vision clear. Strictly speaking, her eyes had been functioning since a little while ago, so it would be more accurate to say that the things in her field of vision were now ‘perceived.’ Only now did her mind start to process the information brought in by her eyes and other organs and begin to understand what had happened so far.
‘I followed Damian… to Damian’s house.’
She had eaten a pomegranate and lost consciousness.
And Damian had implied something to her.
When she raised her head, there was a face in front of her that she never wanted to see.
‘”They won’t accept me at Maynard! There’s definitely something wrong, something strange, isn’t there?”
“Yeah. Since Lillian is here anyway, just calm down and take your time.”
Odile. She was talking to Damian.
All the information was whispering to Lillian.
Damian had deceived her.
