Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Weight of the Princess
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Soul communion.
It was easy enough to say, but since this was my first time as well, I hadn’t expected anything particularly grand.
I figured that simply linking the two souls would do the trick.
“What is this place?”
Looking around, I found myself in a vast room—one that definitely didn’t exist in my memories.
The wallpaper was antique, and luxurious furniture filled the space. These were opulent pieces comparable to those in the royal palace, but with a heavier, more old-fashioned vibe.
I took a step toward the door to head outside, and an immediate sense of wrongness hit me.
My forearm was far thicker than Deus’s. With the yellowish skin tone typical of East Asians and a modern-style suit on my body.
“Huh?”
An old speech pattern slipped out naturally. Startled without realizing it, I checked my body.
Looking in the room’s mirror, it was really Kim Shin-woo. My original appearance.
This had happened exactly once before.
When I’d met Deus in soul form.
‘Does that mean I’ve become a soul and entered Elenoa’s now?’
I needed to stay calm.
I couldn’t tell if this was soul communion or a continuation of a dream. I guessed it was some phenomenon caused by Remegaton’s power resonating with the fragment of Mack.
But that wasn’t important right now. First, I needed to find Elenoa.
If my thinking was correct, she had to be here somewhere.
Both personalities together.
With the thought that meeting those two would end this situation, I turned the doorknob and stepped out.
Creak.
A stately corridor stretched before me. But it was only after emerging that I could be sure.
This was the royal palace.
The kingdom’s distinctive crest and the neatly laid red carpet floor were proof.
‘Guess I should head to Elenoa’s room first.’
I made straight for her quarters. I’d thought I might run into someone along the way, but surprisingly, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
‘If this is a dream world, it’s probably still incomplete. That’s why details like this are missing.’
Since no one was around to see anyway, I broke into a run down the corridor. Unlike Deus’s body, which had been pickled in drugs and booze, this one was easy to move in.
I hadn’t realized it because I’d grown used to it, but moving like this really drove home how much Deus had abused his own body.
‘Or maybe it’s just because I’m a soul?’
I wasn’t sure, but either way, I’d reached Elenoa’s room.
And astonishingly, a fierce scolding echoed from within.
“Is that proper behavior right now!”
Cracking the door open slightly, I saw a young Elenoa standing there with a woman who looked like her mother.
Elenoa’s mother.
Hiran Luden Griffin.
This was the first time I’d seen her in person. From what I knew, she’d died of illness long ago.
The young Elenoa stood with her mouth tightly shut and her head bowed, offering no resistance to her mother’s reprimand.
“Again! Do it again!”
At Hiran’s shout, Elenoa stepped back cautiously, bowed at the waist, and greeted her with elegant poise.
But.
Slap!
Hiran struck Elenoa across the cheek. She’d hit her so hard that Elenoa’s body flew backward, yet Hiran showed no sign of relenting.
“Are you joking? Is that what you call proper? You idiot! You’re a princess! The face of this nation! If that’s the best you can do, what does that make you? That was just acting! You need to draw out your true elegance!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Shut up! From now on, you get hit every time you mess up. A mage can erase any marks anyway!”
Hiran roughly yanked the trembling, struggling Elenoa to her feet by the wrist.
Elenoa tried the greeting once more, but the moment Hiran raised her hand again in dissatisfaction.
Clack.
I’d stepped into the room and grabbed Hiran’s wrist.
“W-What are you!”
Hiran snarled at me furiously. But my mana had already surged aggressively into her body, flinging her up and slamming her into the wall.
Thud!
It was just a dream anyway.
Hiran, Elenoa’s mother, was long dead.
“Get a grip.”
Elenoa stared at me blankly. She didn’t seem shocked that I’d taken down her mother—instead, her body began to shudder.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
I could tell right away from her tone.
This Elenoa was the second one, the one burdened with her royal duties.
“Huh? I was just...”
“Do you remember a bit now? Pull yourself together.”
“Huh? Wait, who are you?”
She pointed at me and scowled. I answered her indifferently.
“Deus Verdi.”
“What? You’re nothing like the Deus I know—worlds apart. Who are you?”
Elenoa was flustered, but there was no time to explain. Hiran, pinned to the wall, was slowly rising.
And she was growing enormous, her back bending to touch the ceiling. Her elongated arm slammed the door shut, blocking our escape.
“How dare a princess chat with a man!”
At the curse-like scream, Elenoa and I both whipped around toward the door.
I unleashed my mana once more, shattering her hand and the door itself as we burst out.
My mana felt strangely more responsive than usual.
As I thought that, Elenoa clicked her tongue and replied.
“It’s dream mana. Willpower matters more than talent or effort.”
“Really?”
“But precise control isn’t possible.”
I spun around and pulled up my mana with all my might.
The massive Hiran, now missing one hand, lumbered toward us with heavy thuds.
Boom!
A wave of mana crashed over her like a flood, shoving her back until she tumbled out the window.
“Definitely. I can use more mana than I normally could, and it’s fine.”
I nodded, impressed. Elenoa gaped at me in a daze.
“Won’t that drain your mental strength? Make you dizzy or something?”
Mental strength was a vague concept, but mentally, I was steady enough that it didn’t faze me much.
“...You’re really Deus?”
I scratched the back of my head as she stared at me questioningly.
“More precisely, a man using Deus’s body.”
I didn’t want to introduce myself as Deus in this form.
I extended a hand to the little girl.
“Kim Shin-woo. That’s my real name.”
“Kim... Shin-woo?”
She took my hand, looking puzzled, but I had no intention of wasting more time.
Hiran’s grotesquely distorted face was already glaring at us from beyond the window.
“She won’t even die.”
Elenoa eyed Hiran coldly, then patted my thigh.
“Carry me. Escaping seems better than fighting.”
“...”
“And I think I know where the other Elenoa is. Let’s go there.”
“Where?”
Truth be told, I didn’t really want to carry her, but with Hiran crawling toward us on all fours, Elenoa’s short strides wouldn’t cut it for escape.
“The rooftop! I sense the other half there.”
As she answered, I hoisted her onto my back. Hiran slammed her forehead into the ground and bellowed.
“Princess! Strange man! On your back! Insane! Insane! Insane! Come here! Get over here!”
Hiran pursued us at terrifying speed. Instead, I blasted mana head-on to repel her.
Pushing past Hiran as she smashed into a wall, I leaped through the window she’d been hurled from.
The outside scenery wasn’t properly rendered.
And the sensations were off—the palace walls loomed like skyscrapers.
Maybe this was how the palace had seemed to Elenoa as a child.
“Kyaa!”
I poured out mana to soar into the sky. Elenoa clung desperately to my neck, but I didn’t feel choked.
Unable to cast precise spells, my body whipped about like it was caught in a gale.
Yet I felt no dizziness or nausea.
“There!”
Elenoa shouted amid the fierce, artificial wind battering us.
I glanced back questioningly, and she shot me an annoyed look.
“Why’d your speech change?”
“...”
“It’s just so different. The old Deus was kinda... obnoxious in how he talked?”
Maybe it was because she was royalty.
She spoke without any reservations at all.
Was this the kind of thing imperial dignity covered?
“I’m doing it on purpose to differentiate.”
I explained briefly and moved on. Elenoa looked confused at first, but being sharp, she’d figure it out soon enough.
We soon reached the building’s edge and floated down to land on the rooftop.
Beyond the rippling scenery—like a watercolor painting spilled with water—crouched a blonde girl.
Unlike the little Elenoa, she looked like a 17-year-old.
The moment we approached her.
“Don’t come closer!”
Her tearful voice carried utter despair.