Chapter 15: Why Are You Being Like This?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: Why Are You Being Like This?
Katya’s world had always been divided into two colors.
Black and white.
Not metaphorically. The world she perceived with her own two eyes was strictly split into those stark shades.
They said it was a side effect of the Divine Power forcibly protecting her body, causing all her physical senses to malfunction.
Heat, cold, the flow of air, the texture of clothing, taste, smell…
If she had never known those sensations to begin with, it might have been bearable. But because they had been violently “stolen” from her after she first offered her vow, the deprivation drove her mad.
A body that felt absolutely nothing. Out of all her broken senses, only her eyes and ears remained intact.
Yet, even those eventually began to warp under the crushing weight of the Divine Power coiled inside her. She still vividly remembered the despair she felt when it first started, even though it felt like a lifetime ago.
The dead appeared black. The living appeared white.
And when she looked at herself in the mirror…
She was always gray.
A human who was only alive because she couldn’t die.
In a world split into black and white, she alone existed in that liminal gray. It was as if she had been completely isolated from the rest of reality.
It was excruciatingly tedious. So tedious that she didn’t care what happened to anything or anyone.
At least, until just a moment ago.
“What the hell—!”
Lionheart’s scream echoed from the side.
A bullet, carving a trajectory so blindingly white it seared itself into her optic nerves, flew straight at her. The moment it finally pierced her heart—
It hurts.
That long-forgotten sensation returned to her.
In that exact moment, the Divine Power entrenched in her body was violently pushed back and suppressed by an external force—something no one had ever managed to do before.
Her physical senses were restored.
It was a mere split second. A brief, fleeting moment as her heart was pierced, but…
Color returned to the world.
Vivid, brilliant, multicolored.
A landscape she thought she would never see again burst into view.
The pitch-black night sky. The moon casting its pale, silver light. People’s expressions. Their faces. The chill of the air. The crimson blood splattering around her.
A world that wasn’t just black and white, but exactly as it truly was—just like everyone else’s.
And standing right in the center of it all was…
…a man named Aiden Kellermain. He held a smoking revolver, his eyes locked dead onto hers.
“—”
Like molten iron, his image melted and seared itself permanently beneath Katya’s eyelids.
She kept him perfectly in her sights, feeling as though even blinking would be a tragic waste of time.
As the Divine Power dwelling within her vanished, her legs gave out, and she collapsed.
Yet, even as she fell.
Continuously.
On and on.
Right until her consciousness faded and the world went completely dark.
Katya kept her eyes fixated on that man.
As if she would absolutely never let him go.
* * *
The cleanup, as always, was handled with incredible efficiency.
Rounding up the remnants, seizing the smuggled weapons, and detaining the unconscious Katya—all of these tasks were wrapped up in a matter of hours.
Of course, despite such a clean resolution, there was bound to be at least one person who felt thoroughly uneasy.
In this case, it was Aiden, who was currently glaring at his status window with an incredibly serious expression.
At any rate, it was a relief that no one had died, Noel was fine, and Aiden himself was unhurt.
But strictly speaking, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that for Aiden, the real work started now.
— Skill Info
◆ Dharmic Power: Savior’s Oath
※ Unique – Only this character possesses this skill!
Restriction: Save the world.
The sole oath dedicated to the Goddess of Ascension Urgan. Power increases significantly when performing actions related to the dedicated oath.
— Quest Info
◈ Act 1, <Imperial Capital Rift>
— You have established close relationships with key figures of the main scenario.
— Your existence is officially integrated into the scenario. The scenario will be reorganized around you.
…The milk was already spilled.
Aiden let out a wry chuckle.
It was something he’d had absolutely no intention of doing, but he had ended up doing it anyway.
Of course, now that he had come this far, he didn’t particularly regret it.
If the protagonist isn’t here, everyone dies anyway.
As long as that guy was missing, Aiden was the only one who knew the future of this world and could prepare for it.
Above all else.
The people who would be swept away by the apocalyptic future arriving in the protagonist’s absence included Aiden himself and his family.
There was absolutely no reason not to step up.
He slapped his cheeks with a sharp smack and took a deep breath.
Now that his path was set, it was only natural that he had to move much more proactively than before.
Most of all…
Nothing is following the original work.
Starting with the absence of the protagonist.
Then Katya’s sudden appearance, the mystery of who was actually leading the weapon smuggling ring, the bad blood between the Emperor and the Second Imperial Prince…
While the overarching framework of the original scenario hadn’t deviated too much from what he knew, the details filling it in were worlds apart from his memories.
Therefore, what he needed right now…
…was to bridge the gap between this real world, where the gears were spinning out of alignment, and the original world he knew.
Only then would he be able to properly prepare for when the real Act 1 officially began.
He already knew the general progression. However, he would have to dissect the characters involved in that episode’s development one by one.
♠ Main Quest
◈ Act 1, <Imperial Capital Rift>
Chapter 1 will begin shortly!
Aiden narrowed his eyes and stared at the translucent window floating before him.
If it’s Chapter 1…
It had to be the Ghost Knight Incident in the Imperial Capital.
It was an incident forcibly triggered by the weapon smuggling organization to escalate chaos within the city.
Every night, at a very specific time, a ghost knight clad in armor would suddenly appear and roam the streets, leaving the citizens terrified night after night.
The protagonist’s role had been to subjugate that ghost knight and protect the peace of the citizens.
In the original work, the main scenario truly kicked off around this time, with the protagonist getting involved with Noel.
“…”
Of course, Aiden himself had completely skipped that entire process and snatched the position of Noel’s fake husband right from the start.
“Ah, Aiden.”
“…Good work.”
Speak of the devil. A visibly exhausted Noel trudged into the room.
It was rare for someone like her to look this drained, but given the sheer scale of the mess they had to clean up, it was entirely understandable.
Having to single-handedly manage the fallout of a foreign royal causing such a massive scene… it was hard to even fathom the sheer volume of paperwork and politics she had been subjected to.
“How is the Princess doing?”
“She’s being surprisingly cooperative.”
Noel took off her hat with a heavy sigh and ran a hand through her hair.
“Since there were no casualties to begin with, we’ve agreed to keep things quiet for now rather than blowing the incident out of proportion.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s a relief, though not entirely satisfying.”
Just like with Prince Daniel before, the authority wielded by royalty was beyond imagination.
To be completely frank.
Even though both instances were clearly self-defense, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if a threat was made against Aiden’s life. He had, after all, harmed two members of the Holy Kingdom’s royal family.
If they were willing to sweep it under the rug, it wasn’t a bad outcome for him either.
“They said the Holy Kingdom is sending an additional delegation to discuss the matter,” Noel added.
“A delegation?”
“Setting aside Princess Katya’s situation, the issue regarding custody over you—Aiden, a man who can wield Divine Power—remains unresolved. They said they would go through official channels this time and send a large-scale delegation, though it will take some time to arrive.”
Which meant…
…someone holding a remarkably high position within the Holy Kingdom would be coming over.
To see Aiden, they had first sent a princess, and now they were sending someone of an even higher caliber…
“…”
Aiden quickly ran the numbers in his head.
He already had a rough idea of who the high-ranking figures in the Holy Kingdom were.
If such a person were to come as an envoy in the near future, what he needed to do was…
“That’s great.”
“Pardon?”
Aiden replied, a sharp grin forming as he gritted his teeth.
“Because I intend to collect every single debt they owe me.”
After all, he was the one who had been picked on twice in a row by the Holy Kingdom’s deranged royalty. If they were coming all this way, it wouldn’t make financial sense for him unless he squeezed them dry for compensation.
Seeing this, the corner of Noel’s mouth twitched upward.
“Are you plotting something?”
“I am. Definitely.”
“…I must say, I’m quite looking forward to it.”
Just let them try and come.
I’ll make sure they experience something very entertaining.
As he chewed on that vindictive resolve, Noel sighed and continued.
“And… Princess Katya did set one condition in exchange for staying quiet and not causing another scene right away.”
…Setting conditions just to refrain from throwing a violent tantrum really showed exactly what kind of person she was, but…
…he had to hear it first.
“A condition?”
When Aiden asked in bewilderment, Noel scratched her cheek.
It was her subtle way of expressing her own bafflement.
“…She requested an interview with you, Aiden. She insisted that you absolutely must come.”
* * *
Aiden scratched his head and stared blankly ahead.
When he heard that Katya was detained in a holding cell in the basement of the Imperial Capital Command, he had expected a somewhat grim, heavy atmosphere.
But seeing Katya sprawled out star-shaped on the bed, happily rolling around right in front of him, he immediately discarded those expectations.
There wasn’t a single shred of the terrifying violence she had displayed earlier; she just looked like a lazy housecat…
“She seems… freer than I expected?”
Given Katya’s volatile personality, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had used every possible means to physically restrain her. Yet, aside from simply being locked inside the room, there didn’t seem to be any particular restrictions on her.
At his words, Noel gave a bitter smile.
“…Actually, the atmosphere was extremely hostile until just a moment ago.”
“Was it?”
“The moment we said we would bring you here, she became exactly that docile.”
“…”
It was genuinely surprising that a princess who had just rampaged like a wild monster would become so completely docile just for a meeting with him.
But instead of expressing his bewilderment, Aiden simply nodded slowly.
It wasn’t an entirely incomprehensible reaction.
— Quest Info
◈ Life is Beautiful
— Katya Heinkel Craven desperately desires something from you. Do your best to help her fully experience ‘sensation’!
★ Successfully made the target feel “pain.”
★ You have dealt with the incident wisely. Speak with the character to claim your reward.
Ever since he received the quest, he had anticipated that he would become more deeply entangled with her.
Whether he liked it or not, the moment he provided the “stimulus” of pain to someone who couldn’t feel any sensation whatsoever, it was impossible not to draw her undivided attention.
I don’t know what the reward is, but…
According to the prompt, the application method of the Weaver of Fate would change.
It likely meant that the “relationship” between him and Katya would fundamentally shift because of his actions.
Though it was still unknown exactly what direction that shift would take.
…I just hope it’s nothing too bad.
He sincerely prayed for that much.
Of course, since he had successfully achieved the goal of making her feel sensations, the reward probably wouldn’t manifest in a form that harmed him. But one could never be too sure.
It was hard to find anyone with a personality as violently fickle as Katya’s.
She might still harbor some kind of twisted grudge against him for shooting her…
“Ah.”
While he was lost in his thoughts, Katya noticed Aiden approaching the holding cell bars and immediately sprang up.
“You’re here!”
Hearing her incredibly bright, energetic voice, Aiden’s expression crumpled into a bizarre grimace.
It wasn’t just her voice; plastered across Katya’s face was a flawless, beaming smile that seemed to utilize every single muscle she had.
She looked exactly like an overly excited pet reuniting with a master it hadn’t seen in years.
“…”
What on earth is this?
It was a deeply unsettling scene, akin to watching a bloodthirsty dinosaur trying to act cute.
“You know, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things!”
Even as Aiden stood frozen in shock, Katya energetically continued, completely unbothered by his silence.
“I’m not going back to the Holy Kingdom!”
“…”
Aiden slowly turned to look at Noel with a completely dumbfounded expression.
It was a silent demand for an explanation, but seeing Noel’s jaw hanging open in shock, it was clear this was breaking news to her as well.
“…”
No.
Setting aside how she intended to pull that off, what she would actually do here, or if it was even politically possible…
…he had to ask this first.
“…Why…?”
The moment he barely managed to squeeze the question out, her answer shot back as if she had been eagerly waiting for it.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Literally.
She looked at him with an expression that genuinely asked why he would even bother asking something so blatantly obvious.
Katya continued, her bright, beaming smile perfectly intact.
“Why would I ever go back there when you’re here?”
“…”
Along with that sentence—which somehow sent a violent shiver crawling down his spine—a system window suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.
— Quest Info
◈ Life is Beautiful
— Related quest cleared.
— The application method of ‘Weaver of Fate’ on ‘Katya’ has changed!
— Bond Type has changed to ‘Obsession’!
— The target will now pay close attention to your every move, and the importance of her relationship with you will become extremely high in her overall mental state.
— Additional copyable skills have been unlocked!
…Uh.
What?