Chapter 355: Side Story — Luce's Case (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 355: Side Story — Luce's Case (2)
Luce leaned back against the sofa, her expression unreadable. She reached out, staring at the wedding ring adorning her finger. It was a silver band set with a gemstone that occasionally shimmered with iridescent, rainbow hues.
“Aren’t you bored?” I asked, breaking the silence. She seemed lost in thought.
She didn’t take her eyes off the ring. “Not really. I’m never bored when I’m with you.”
Is this the main difference between her and Dorothy?
Dorothy tended to be blunt whenever she found something tedious. Luce, however, didn’t seem to feel even a hint of boredom. She was genuinely content just being in my presence.
“Why is that?”
“Because you’re the only one who looks like a person to me.”
“Huh…?”
I’m going to assume you mean that in a good way.
As the night deepened into the early hours of the morning, Luce made a quick trip to her lab and returned with a stack of books. She began skimming through them, her eyes darting across the pages with incredible speed.
Luce’s dream was to become the Tower Master—and not just any master, but the one at the very top. Since the position demanded exceptional intelligence, her photographic memory was an invaluable asset. But beyond raw talent, the role required an overwhelming amount of reading and comprehension.
“You’re working hard.”
It was a charming sight. I always admired seeing someone put in genuine effort.
“Do I look pretty right now?” Luce asked without looking up.
“What’s with the sudden question?”
“You’ve been staring.”
“How did you know?”
“Because I couldn’t hear the sound of you working anymore.”
I see.
Luce turned to me, a gentle smile playing on her lips. “Shall I make you some tea?”
“You can leave that to the servants…”
“I want to make it for you.”
“Then I’ll gladly take you up on that.”
Luce brewed some black tea.
Isn’t she being unusually proactive?
I wondered if she’d slipped something into the cup, so I used my ability to read her psychology. There was nothing unusual—no hidden intent, no malice. It was just plain black tea.
I guess I can drink this with peace of mind.
I finished the tea and returned to my tasks. Eventually, I managed to clear the entire workload.
“Ahhh.”
I stretched my stiff muscles and looked over at Luce. She was still sitting quietly, flipping through her book.
“Luce, am I bothering you?”
“Not at all. I like having you near.”
“Then do you mind if I rest for a bit?”
“How?”
I switched off the desk lamp, plunging the office into darkness. Only the small lamp beside Luce’s sofa remained lit, casting a soft, warm glow over the corner of the room.
“Phew.”
Exhaling the tension from my body, I sat down next to her. As I leaned my head against her shoulder and closed my eyes, a faint, alluring scent drifted past my nose. Now that the urgent work was finished, a wave of lethargy washed over me. I just wanted to relax by her side.
“…”
Silence filled the room. For a long moment, Luce simply stared at me.
“Do you want to lie down?”
“Huh?”
Luce gently guided my head down until it rested on her lap. The delicate fabric of her skirt brushed against the back of my head.
“This works, I guess,” I murmured, smiling up at her. The lamplight illuminated her soft expression.
I closed my eyes again. As I rested on her thighs, she began to gently stroke my hair.
“You’ve worked hard, Isaac. Sleep well.”
Her voice was an intimate whisper, tickling my ear like an angel’s lullaby. The tenderness in her tone soothed my mind, dragging me down into a deep, heavy drowsiness.
“Yeah… I’ll sleep for a bit.”
Without a second thought, I drifted off.
*
Chirik.
What is that sound?
The sharp crackle of electricity and the heavy clinking of chains intertwined, piercing through the fog of my sleep. Dazed, I tried to move my arms, but the sound only echoed louder through the space.
Is it echoing?
The realization snapped my consciousness back to the surface. As I slowly forced my eyes open, the blurred image of a woman with rose-gold hair came into focus. She was sitting in front of me, hugging her knees to her chest, watching me with a meaningful smile.
“Did you sleep well?”
The aquamarine eyes pinning me in place belonged to Luce.
“Luce…?”
The space was eerie. The lighting was dim, just barely enough to make out my surroundings. The air was humid and heavy in my lungs, but the chill in my chest didn’t come from the dampness. A realization I had long feared suddenly struck me, bringing me to full alertness.
“What is this?”
I scanned the room, regaining my composure.
This is one of the sealed cellars in the annex.
It was a place where no one ever set foot. I felt a foreign weight on my wrists and ankles. Looking down, I saw that I was heavily restrained.
What kind of shackles are these?
I had never seen such sophisticated, solid restraints. They appeared to be magic tools that had absorbed Luce’s mana to its absolute limit, using it to reinforce their structural integrity. I could practically feel her sheer determination radiating from the metal.
Did she develop these herself?
You couldn’t find something like this on the open market. Even in this situation, I couldn’t help but be impressed. She must have crafted them specifically for this.
I could break them if I really put my mind to it and used enough force, but…
There was no way Luce didn’t know that.
For now, I decided to talk to her.
“Aren’t you tired of doing things like this?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
“Not yet. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.”
That wasn’t the answer I wanted.
“I remember you saying you didn’t like this sort of thing… but just for today, I wanted to be alone with you. I had no choice.”
Whether “having no choice” applied to kidnapping your husband was debatable.
“If I didn’t do this, you’d just go back to that leech again, wouldn’t you?”
“Leech?”
Who is she talking about?
The answer came to me instantly. If there was someone I visited frequently in the palace—someone who would drive Luce to this level of jealousy—it could only be Dorothy.
So she sees Dorothy as a leech…
I remembered how, back in our academy days, Luce used to refer to everyone around her as "fish." Whether she liked someone or not was secondary; in her eyes, I was likely the only one who truly qualified as a "person."
“Haa… honestly…”
Among all my wives, Luce was undoubtedly the one with the most grievances regarding the harem. Even if she had accepted it on the surface, the seeds of her dissatisfaction had never been uprooted. She had merely compromised. In a way, her actions were understandable.
But that wasn't the real issue.
Why didn’t I see this coming? I definitely read her mind.
Confusion swirled in my head. I had checked her thoughts, yet I was still blindsided? Me? Had my ability weakened? No, that was impossible. I couldn't make sense of it.
“More importantly, what’s going on? It’s obvious you planned this,” I said, feigning composure.
Luce placed her hands on the floor and crawled toward me. Slowly, like a child. She brought her face so close that her warm breath brushed against my lips.
“Don’t you think reading people’s minds is rude?” she whispered, her voice laced with her breath.
“…”
My jaw tightened. She knew?
I had anticipated she might find out eventually. The question of when she found out was meaningless now; the inevitable had simply become reality.
But still… the timing was completely unexpected.
“Whenever you had the slightest doubt, you’d read my mind. I really… hate that,” Luce whispered softly, her tone as calm as a serene moonlit night.
Her composure only made my internal chaos worse. We hadn’t seen much of each other lately, but this felt incredibly dramatic.
“…How did you know?” I asked honestly. How was any of this possible?
“The method was simple.”
“What was it?”
“My head.” Luce tapped her temple lightly with a finger. “I just had to manipulate it.”
“…What?”
In response to my confusion, purple sparks of lightning mana flickered from the finger pressed against her head.
“By precisely applying electrical stimulation to my brain, I made it possible. Memories, emotions, and ultimately, the mind itself. I can manipulate abstract concepts however I want—though I’m not sure if it would work on anyone else.”
“That makes no sense…”
“I convinced myself that the sedative in the tea was an essential health ingredient. And so, my husband drank it without hesitation, despite being so cautious with me before.”
I was speechless. Is that even possible?
Are you in your right mind, Luce?
I couldn't wrap my head around it. The idea, the method, and the sheer resolve required to execute it…
People were naturally immune to their own magic. Even if they chose to be affected by it, the brain usually resisted. Luce had been willing to risk permanent brain damage just to bypass my ability.
“But at some point, Isaac, you stopped using that mind-reading ability as often. It made me so happy. It felt like I had finally become someone you could trust,” Luce whispered, her voice sounding more captivating than ever.
“Why would you… do something so reckless? It’s dangerous!”
I had been so busy managing the harem and buried in work that I had overlooked a fundamental truth. The person I was dealing with was Luce Eltania. She was a woman capable of irrational, extreme behavior at any moment. I never expected her to weaponize my own trust against me.
“Isaac…”
Luce’s lips curved into a smile, her eyes shimmering with joy. She pulled my head forward, burying my face against her chest.
“Thank you for worrying about me, but you don’t need to. You know how good I am at controlling my mana. Besides, it only works on specific memories. You don’t have to worry about me forgetting you or hurting my brain. I’m competent, after all.”
“No, that’s not what I mean…”
“But you know, I have something to say.”
Her lovely voice turned ice-cold in an instant. A chill crawled up my spine. She pulled me back from her embrace and produced a crumpled piece of paper.
It was a photograph taken outside in the pouring rain. It depicted a man and a woman in the middle of an intimate, physical encounter. Anyone could see it was Dorothy and me.
One photo, then another…
Crumpled like paper balls, she smoothed them out one by one, laying them out before me like a grim tapestry.
How did she take these? More importantly, how did I not sense her?
At the time, I had been swept up in the moment with Dorothy… but even so, my senses had never failed me like this before.
“You… how?”
“You thought I didn’t know?” Luce spread the photos across the floor. “I forgot. Because I made myself forget.”
Luce extended her index finger, and zzt—lightning mana crackled along the tip. That spark answered everything. I finally understood. Luce, the woman who remembered everything, had developed the ability to selectively erase her own memories at will.
“And when the time was right, I ensured the photos would find their way back to me. Seeing the fragments of memory naturally brought the pieces together.”
She had bypassed [Psychological Insight] by literally not knowing she was lying. At this point, I couldn't help but be impressed by her genius.
“Luce… these photos. You used a magic tool, didn’t you? Something that can fly and take pictures… something you built.”
The angles made it obvious.
“Yes. I made it.” Luce nodded calmly.
In my past life, they would have called it a drone.
“Haa.” I let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.
Luce lowered her head, staring at the photos scattered across the dingy floor.
“According to our agreement, this shouldn't have happened before the wedding… That senior really has no redeeming qualities.”
Luce’s voice was low and heavy with resentment.
“I was the one who suggested it,” I countered.
“I don’t care. Whether you started it or not, the point is that if I show these photos to the other wives, there’s going to be a massive backlash.”
Luce lifted her head again. In the darkness of the cellar, her aquamarine eyes glowed with a vivid, predatory light.
Fine, I get it.
“So? You want me to stay here like this for the day?”
Luce knew a threat like this couldn't keep me tied down forever. At most, it was a move to cause a bit of trouble.
Let’s hear what she actually wants.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? You know what I’ve always wanted.”
Zzzzz.
Thin strands of faint light began to illuminate the cellar walls.
“When did she set this up…?”
Luce had rigged the lighting beforehand. The cellar ceiling was an oval structure that connected to the first floor; the strands of light crisscrossed the room, forming the distinct shape of a birdcage.
It was intentional. Luce had always harbored a quiet, deep-seated desire to trap me like a bird in a cage. While it didn't fully brighten the eerie cellar, it allowed me to see her face clearly.
Luce’s expression was cold, but her cheeks were flushed with heat.
“Isaac.” Luce gently stroked my cheek. “Be mine today.”
Her voice was thick with an overwhelming, suffocating affection. She looked so beautiful in that moment that a thought escaped my lips before I could stop it.
“…You’re adorable.”
As if to silence me, Luce leaned in. The moist, warm sensation of her lips enveloped mine.