Chapter 275: Isaac's Imagination(3)
Chapter 275: Isaac's Imagination(3)
Life at the Helium Royal Palace was almost identical to the last winter break. Aside from Marie and Adelia joining the group, there was little difference.
Occasionally, Marie would express curiosity about life in Helium and we’d head out together, but for the most part, we stayed within the palace walls.
When I was working, Marie was considerate enough not to disturb me, instead choosing to explore various parts of Helium with Cecile. Thanks to that, I found myself with a lot more time alone.
Well, I wasn't exactly alone. My dependable exclusive maid, Adelia, was always by my side.
Adelia wasn't wearing the specific maid uniform she’d used for night service, but a standard one. However, the skirt was still short, and the addition of a garter belt added a touch of sexiness.
No matter how many times I saw it, Adelia looked incredibly good in a maid uniform.
Part of it was her height and great figure, but considering her usual reliable image, you can probably guess the vibe.
A dependable guard knight on the outside, a devoted maid on the inside. Adelia was a woman who perfectly embodied that kind of unexpected charm.
Still, that wasn't enough to break my concentration. Except for breaks, I continued writing without giving her so much as a glance.
Adelia, sharing the mindset of being professional during work hours, simply stood there quietly without any unnecessary movement.
"Young Master. Your posture is slipping."
"Ah. Thanks."
Of course, she didn't forget to provide appropriate support, like correcting my posture or giving me a massage every now and then.
Because I’d been writing alone for so long, I had a few habits I wasn't even aware of. Adelia corrected these in meticulous detail.
The massages were the same. No matter how good the chair is, sitting for a long time or having a strange posture will inevitably strain your muscles.
My concentration and stamina were exceptionally high, but it seemed Adelia could see the bad habits I was forming.
"I've told you time and again. Keep your back straight and both arms on the desk. And..."
But there's a reason habits are called habits. They're called that because they aren't fixed in one go.
Consequently, Adelia dropped a carpet-bombing of nagging on me every time I slipped back into a habit.
I’d heard similar things whenever I trained with her, so it didn't bother me. If anything, it was proof of how much she cared about me, so I could accept it happily.
"Noona."
"Concentration is good, but... yes?"
"Can't we drop the formalities when it's just the two of us?"
Perhaps it was her personality—wanting to follow rules strictly—or maybe it was how she’d been trained as a maid, but she continued to use formal speech even when we were alone.
When others were around, it was necessary to maintain my authority and for the sake of appearances, but there was no need for it when it was just us.
Besides, no one was going to show up unless they were close friends, and I’d already made it known that Adelia was my woman.
I made the request casually, but Adelia was firm.
"I cannot. I am on duty."
"Do you know the word 'inflexible'?"
"I do. But one must separate public and private matters..."
Adelia trailed off and looked at my face. I simply stared back at her without saying a word.
Then, Adelia's face seemed to flush slightly, and she cleared her throat before speaking quietly.
"...Fine. If that's what you want, I have no choice."
"Hm?"
Why the sudden change of heart? I was momentarily puzzled, but since it was a positive reaction for me, I let it slide.
Honestly, we’d been like siblings before, and now we’d even shared a bed; using formal speech just because she was 'on duty' felt awkward.
It felt like we’d finally gotten close only to be pushed apart again. I always felt that words held a variety of powers.
"Isaac. Writing the Xenon Biography is important, but your health should be the top priority. If you keep up those bad habits, you'll definitely have problems later."
Of course, dropping the formalities didn't mean the nagging stopped. Since the barrier maintained during work hours had crumbled, she let it out like rapid-fire.
Following her nagging, I loosened up my body by stretching once every hour.
As everyone knows, once you fall into deep concentration, it's very hard to snap out of it.
I had strong endurance by nature, but perhaps because of my divine power, I didn't even feel my body getting tired.
"Regular hydration is also essential. I thought your skin looked dry; have you not been drinking any water?"
"I don't particularly feel thirsty, though?"
"Feeling thirsty is already a sign that your body is severely dehydrated. Just drinking water consistently would solve half your health problems."
I suppose I should say she lived up to her background as a martial studies assistant instructor. Adelia took flawless responsibility for my health, at least regarding my 'body.'
Beyond that, she served me with the utmost devotion, peeling fruit to put in my mouth or bringing various health foods.
She even managed to procure things despite being in the Helium Royal Palace rather than our mansion, where it would have been difficult to ask for favors.
Thanks to her, my mouth was never bored, and because I took a break every hour, my writing was never interrupted.
'Let's see... first, Gluttony gets completely trashed by Jin...'
I munched on an apple-like fruit Adelia had put in my mouth while looking at the hologram. The hologram was, of course, generated from the typewriter.
The overall content of Volume 21 involved Jin's awakening and his complete control over his inner evil. The plot would then develop with the awakened Jin utterly crushing Gluttony.
Fortunately, he returns to his original self due to his love for Lily, but Jin is a first-generation Demon born between a devil and a human.
Though his reason returned because the power of love was great, his body becomes closer to a devil than a human. I’ll even add that his inner evil occasionally stirs.
This single setting provides the probability for Jin to absorb Diabolus's soul and eventually emerge as the final boss.
The black mana possessed by devils, not Demons, has a sticky, slime-like quality that adheres well. Jin uses this characteristic to absorb Diabolus's soul.
'With this, Wrath, Lust, and Gluttony have retired in order, and what's left is...'
The remaining Seven Deadly Sins were Pride, Envy, Sloth, and Greed.
In this setup, Sloth is the 'vessel' intended to hold Diabolus's soul, and that vessel is crafted by the Dwarf who represents 'Greed.'
The Dwarf is a character who fits the common 'mad scientist' cliché. Driven by the greed to personally create a being that surpasses the gods, he constructs Sloth.
But that's content for the very end; the character scheduled to appear after Gluttony is 'Envy.'
Envy is a character who was Kair's top disciple and Xenon's senior fellow disciple, but fell into corruption and became a devil due to a certain incident.
I’d roughly established the setting for his fall, but the key was how to unfold it. Envy's psychology was that complex.
'He's set as an illegitimate child of a kingdom, but...'
As soon as the setting of an illegitimate child came to mind, I glanced at Adelia. When she noticed me looking, she tilted her head with an expression asking if I had something to say.
Her sky-blue eyes were filled with affection and concern for me.
'Should I just pivot back to the original story?'
Actually, there was another setting related to Envy besides this one. One was the abandoned illegitimate child of a kingdom I just mentioned, and the other was just a run-of-the-mill, pathetic villain.
According to the original plan, Envy could be seen as Xenon's perfect antithesis. They both received teachings from Kair, but unlike Xenon, Envy viewed the world through a negative lens.
Furthermore, unlike the naturally good Xenon, Envy is full of vanity. Because of that, he uses Kair's teachings only for evil, eventually committing acts a human should never do and turning into a devil.
And then, without a shred of self-reflection, he just envies everyone, claiming the world is out to get him—a pathetic villain like that.
However, after the recent overlapping incidents and seeing the film at the exhibition, my mind was starting to waver.
Rather than a villain who was pathetic by birth, I wanted a character who fell because the world truly wouldn't leave them alone. Adding the illegitimate child setting to that would be perfect.
'But then he'd be a bit pitiful...'
I glanced at Adelia again. A woman who was nothing but beautiful on the outside, but who had countless scars engraved within.
A year ago, she was abandoned by her family right before my eyes, and she almost lost me because of Hiriya's shallow pride.
Fortunately, Lina played the role of a shield perfectly; if I had been an ordinary noble instead of Xenon, she would have been taken away helplessly.
And the Envy in the newly established Xenon Biography would suffer all of these tragedies.
Born as the illegitimate child of royalty, raised in a miserable home environment, he meets a woman who could soothe those wounds, only to have even her stolen by his half-brother.
Unlike Xenon, who transcended race to be with Mary, he is a man who had everything taken from him—a truly perfect antithesis.
'Ugh...'
Just imagining it is horrific. Even I would resent the world if that happened. Or I would have ended my life long ago.
Thanks to this backstory, it's a setting that fits the emotion of 'Envy' perfectly and has high realism.
I could hardly say it lacked realism when Adelia had almost suffered such a thing herself.
If I went ahead with this setting, I could give the Ters Kingdom a massive middle finger, but doing so might arouse suspicion from Hiriya's side.
Particularly, this part would be poking right at Adelia's trauma, which made me feel quite uneasy.
"...Noona."
"Yeah?"
"Um... there's just one thing I want to ask, is that okay?"
"What is it?"
So, I sought permission directly from the person involved—or rather, the motif—Adelia.
When I cautiously brought up the subject, Adelia's questioning expression vanished, and she flinched slightly.
She then fell into thought for a long time, her fine brow furrowed. I waited patiently for her to speak.
After waiting for about thirty seconds, Adelia maintained her furrowed brow, glanced at me, and finally opened her heavily closed lips.
"I don't mind?"
"As I thought, it's not oka— wait, what?"
"I said I don't mind."
Despite it being deeply connected to her, Adelia had given her consent easily. I stared at her with a blank face.
Perhaps my expression was funny, because Adelia chuckled and slowly approached me.
Rustle—
"What does it matter if you put it in a book? Those things won't happen anymore. You're not actually going to Hiriya, are you? Like you're putting foreshadowing or bait in the book?"
"I'd rather bite my tongue and die than do that."
"Right, right. I'd bite my tongue and die too if you went to Hiriya."
She wrapped her arms around me and spoke in a voice full of affection. But the content of her words was chilling.
Regardless of the content, there was no denying that it poked at Adelia's trauma.
Furthermore, with people accepting the book's contents as holy scripture, the world wouldn't stay quiet.
Perhaps the perception of illegitimate children would worsen, or it could be the opposite. Maybe criticism would be directed at the Ters Kingdom, which served as the motif.
It could improve the character's depth, but it meant I didn't know what the outcome would be.
'In my heart, I want to ask Lady Mora to see the future, but...'
I can predict the future with the divine power I've gained so far. However, the amount of divine power consumed to predict the future is terrifying.
Even Kate, who was said to have received a blessing, only received a vague oracle to find me. I'm the special case; even for a Cardinal, predicting the future is difficult.
Moreover, I had to save that divine power for the night's activities. Just as a large breakwater is needed to stop a large wave, the setting for Envy would bring a great storm and was difficult to predict.
If I pushed forward like this, there was a high probability that the Ters Kingdom—specifically Hiriya's side—would figure out my identity.
'Honestly, I've got nothing to be ashamed of, right?'
So what? I have zero interest in that side. The one I cared about was Adelia.
I happily accepted Adelia's consent and pulled her toward me.
As I pulled, Adelia let out an "Oh," but tumbled into my arms. A subtle atmosphere began to flow between us.
"Bad things might be said about illegitimate children. Are you really okay with that?"
While Adelia was flustered, I sought confirmation from her once more. This was something I had to ask two or three times to get a definite answer.
She looked at me, stunned by my question, and then let out a chuckle. It was a smile that said I was hopeless.
Then, she slowly leaned her head forward, gave me a light kiss on the lips, and answered with a confident smile.
"Have you ever thought about me being an illegitimate child while being with me?"
"Hardly ever."
"I haven't consciously thought about being an illegitimate child since I've been with you, either. I'm just your exclusive maid, and Isaac's concubine."
How does she pick only the prettiest things to say? As I've mentioned time and again, Adelia is a woman who deserves to be loved even if it weren't by me.
It was just that she hadn't been able to radiate that charm because she was bound by the frame of being an illegitimate child. But as the chains that oppressed her were released, she was showing her natural charm in its entirety.
At that, I gave a soft smile and gently stroked her cheek.
"Noona."
"Yes. Tell me."
"I'd like to receive service tonight as well. Is that okay?"
At that question, Adelia's sky-blue eyes went wide, and she answered with reddened cheeks.
In a voice full of aegyo, shy yet wanting to be loved.
"...Yes."
A more tightly woven story was beginning to take shape.
*
At that same time, while Isaac was spending happy days at the Helium Royal Palace.
"Hello. Excuse me, but are you Sir Gartz Balak?"
"That... is indeed my name, but why would my benefactor's mother...?"
"It's nothing else, I just want to find my son. Excuse me, but as Isaac's mother, there are things I need to confirm, so I summoned you. Could you perhaps take me to Helium, where Isaac is?"
"..."
Anna, who had found Gartz's summoning paper in Isaac's room, had finally summoned Gartz.
'Why is this happening only to me...?'
Gartz felt the greatest crisis in history.