Chapter 377: A Birthday Without Memories (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 377: A Birthday Without Memories (2)
Crack—!
With the sound of her heart shattering, Yutia stared blankly.
Eh?
Where am I?
Who am I?
A momentary lapse in intelligence brought these questions to her mind, but it was fleeting. Soon, she regained her senses and looked at Alon with trembling eyes.
Alon looked exactly as she remembered. His expression, too, was his usual stoic mask. Nothing seemed to have changed.
And yet, something was definitely different.
“…….”
Yutia lowered her gaze to Alon’s hands. Those hands, currently gripping Penia’s chair, were filled with a wariness that anyone could see.
It was an incomprehensible situation. However, with her characteristically brilliant mind, Yutia Bloodia had no trouble finding the culprit behind it all.
“Hic—”
The moment Yutia’s eyes landed on her, Penia let out an involuntary hiccup, unable to even turn her head away.
She was clearly the guilty party.
A smile spread across Yutia’s lips.
“Lady Penia?”
“Y-Yes?”
“How. Exactly. Did. This. Happen?”
Her voice was clipped, failing to regulate her emotions. At that, Penia’s eyes began to dart around frantically, avoiding Yutia’s gaze. She looked like someone with a very heavy conscience.
Yutia was about to pressure her further, but—
“U-Um—”
Unfortunately, her mouth was stopped by Alon, who had been quiet until a moment ago.
“P-Perhaps it would be best if you calmed down first…?”
At the sound of Alon’s voice, Yutia’s smile vanished. He wasn’t wrong, and she had no intention of arguing with him. However, her mood plummeted instantly. It sounded as if Alon had stepped in specifically to protect Penia from her.
“Ha….”
An empty laugh escaped Yutia’s lips. She felt hollow. She turned her head to look at the trembling Penia—the root of all this. The one who had dared to make Alon treat her like an enemy.
“It seems our relationship has reached a point of no return. What do you think?”
Penia gasped, sucking in a sharp breath. For a split second, a corner of her mind wondered if she and Yutia even had a relationship to begin with, but that wasn't important right now. She was currently feeling a very real threat to her life.
‘H-How do I fix this?’
Penia thought desperately. She needed to figure out where to start and how to explain everything.
“U-Um, Lady Penia didn’t do anything wrong…”
But Alon took her side once again, rendering her frantic thoughts useless.
At that, the light vanished from Yutia’s eyes as she looked at Penia with contempt.
“Ah—”
She didn’t say another word. But Penia knew exactly what that dull, lifeless gaze was saying to her.
‘So, we’re enemies now?’
That was exactly what it meant. Tears welled up in Penia’s eyes under Yutia’s stare. Even so, Penia’s mind raced. Naturally, she didn’t want to die.
In a desperate attempt to save herself, she cried out in a trembling voice.
“M-Marquis? You shouldn’t speak like that! This is Lady Yutia!”
Only then did Alon’s eyes widen slightly in surprise, breaking through his stoic expression.
Yutia, whose emotions were now almost entirely suppressed as she emitted an eerie mana, watched him. Alon stared back at her for a moment before offering a simple apology.
“Oh… um… I’m sorry.”
But Yutia’s anger was not something that could be easily soothed. She had entered the Marquis’s estate in a great mood today, only to find an Alon who didn't remember her—and who had even treated her with hostility. Her anger was the kind that wouldn't fade just because he apologized. To even begin to appease her, Penia would have to suffer a gruesome fate—
“Yutia… Noona?”
A gruesome… fate…?
“……Pardon?”
“Eh?”
“W-What did you just say?”
“……I said I’m sorry?”
“……No, after that.”
“Yutia Noona…?”
“…….”
Noona…
Noona, huh…
Hmm…
The light returned to Yutia’s eyes. Simultaneously, a smile graced her stiff lips.
“Instructor, could you say that one more time?”
“……Noona?”
At that word, Yutia involuntarily clutched her chest. A soft, fuzzy feeling swirled inside her. After a brief moment, she spoke.
“Mmm—I think we can continue to be great friends as always.”
“……Huh?”
Seeing Yutia suddenly beam with such a radiant smile, Penia’s brain seemed to short-circuit, her face still tear-streaked and frozen.
“Still, I think I’m going to need an explanation for this situation.”
“Y-Yes! Yes, of course…!”
Penia nodded vigorously at those words. She didn't quite understand what was happening, but she knew she had survived.
* * *
After some time had passed and Yutia had heard the whole story, she spoke.
“To put it simply, you drank a Potion of Regression to find a way to supplement your magic?”
“Yes…! Everything was fine up to that point. There were no errors in his magical memories, and the engraving was applied correctly. But—”
“……It hasn’t worn off even after two weeks?”
At Yutia’s point, Penia averted her eyes.
“Well… yes.”
“Normally, it should have worn off automatically after two weeks, right?”
“Yes. T-There was definitely nothing wrong with the potion. I even ran tests just in case.”
“Tests?”
“Yes. Just to be sure, there was a mage from the Blue Magic Tower staying at the estate at the time, so I had him take it at the same time as the Marquis. I wanted to see if there were any potential issues.”
“……And that mage returned to normal after two weeks?”
“Yes. Strangely, only the Marquis—”
Penia let out a sigh with a troubled expression and stole a glance at Yutia.
“B-But you don’t have to worry too much.”
“And why is that?”
“I thought it was strange too, so I checked everything… and it seems this is due to the Marquis’s subconscious.”
“……Subconscious?”
“Yes.”
Penia began to explain various details to Yutia once more.
“So… in conclusion, the Instructor is intentionally preventing himself from returning to normal?”
“Yes. It seems he found a method and is purposely maintaining this state.”
“But is it really possible to subconsciously prevent yourself from returning?”
“Normally, it would be nearly impossible… but this is the Marquis we’re talking about.”
Yutia nodded as if she understood. She had grasped the general situation.
“So, the current Instructor is the version of himself from before he knew us.”
“……That’s right.”
“Who else knows about this?”
“For now, Evan, Blackie… and Basiliora? No one else knows. It’s not exactly a good idea to let the word out.”
At Penia’s words, Yutia turned her gaze back to Alon. She noticed the green badge on his chest glowing vividly.
“I think at least one more person knows.”
“Pardon?”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter even if they’ve realized it by now.”
She spoke those words toward the green badge—or rather, toward whoever might be ‘peeking’ in through it. After a moment of thought, she continued.
“Anyway, I understand the situation perfectly.”
She wore a smile that looked somewhat dangerous.
* * *
Alon, the third son of the Count Palatio family—no, Alon, the head of the Marquis Palatio family—still found his current situation extremely awkward, even though nearly a month had passed.
Why was it awkward? It was only natural.
From Alon’s perspective, it went like this:
Not long after realizing this was the world of Psychedelia, he had closed his eyes and opened them to find himself in the present, as if he were on a prank show.
And that wasn't all. He, who had planned to live a peaceful life in Roadmill, had somehow become the head of that notorious Count Palatio family—no, the Marquis family. Furthermore, Penia Kraysinne, the undisputed Queen of Hysteria, was living with him in the estate. And she was in a position similar to his right hand(?).
On top of that, Alon had heard the explanation of what had happened from Penia Kraysinne.
‘To supplement magic… I see.’
As if to prove her words weren't a lie, although about thirteen years of memories had vanished from his head, his knowledge of magic remained perfectly intact. What had disappeared were strictly his memories.
And.
‘The memories of Psychedelia, was it?’
More accurately, all records related to magic and combat from Psychedelia had vanished. It was as if that specific part had been surgically removed.
Anyway, even though he had heard the general story from Penia, the situation was still awkward for him. For instance, the fact that the Count Palatio family had become a Marquisate. Or the fact that he was in a position where he could become the king of a nation. Or the fact that he had become a god….
To the Alon from thirteen years ago, it was impossible to imagine how things had unfolded and what events had overlapped to create this situation.
Even Yutia Bloodia, whom he had met today, was a surprise. Although he had received some explanation from Penia about Yutia and the others beforehand, Alon was still inwardly shocked.
After all, the Yutia Bloodia he met in person was even more beautiful than he had imagined. He had seen her face in Psychedelia, of course, but by that point, the Sins had all assimilated with their respective sins to some degree, making it impossible to see their faces clearly. That was why Alon had been slow to recognize Yutia despite Penia’s explanation.
“Whew—”
Alon let out a low sigh. He was already confused enough today, but he instinctively felt that tomorrow would be even worse. Tomorrow was the birthday of the Marquis of Palatio—Alon’s birthday.
‘…She said it’s best not to get caught.’
It was a given. A being who could declare a kingdom at any moment, or even become a god, had suddenly lost his memory? That would surely lead to all sorts of trouble.
Therefore, Alon intended to hide his memory loss as much as possible, with the exception of Yutia.
…Whether that would go well, regardless of his intentions, remained to be seen.
‘…I hope I can hide it well.’
While Alon was lost in thought, on a hill outside the Palatio estate…
“I am busy. I must bring a new statue.”
“……So? Why did you gather us all so suddenly for an ‘urgent matter’?”
“What is it? You said you had something to discuss regarding our mentor?”
“Exactly.”
“I’ve already prepared all of Brother’s presents, so I don’t really mind, but…”
“I’m busy.”
“Mmm—well, I’m free, I suppose.”
Everyone except Yutia and Line had gathered in one place. Seeing this, Magrina took a breath and opened her mouth.
“It seems Marquis Palatio’s memories have regressed to when he was a child.”
““……What?””
Line’s desperate move to stop Yutia’s solo run had been played.