A Second Soul's Silent Burden
Grace's doubt was perfectly natural.
One body, one soul. That was the unchanging rule of the world.
Yet the perfect equation had shattered.
Thanks to a single exception.
As Grace's eyes widened in surprise at the unusual joint valedictorian announcement, she turned her head and there it was.
Veri.
Even from that distance, the two souls—one flickering in his chest, the other anchored in his left eye—were unmistakable.
'Why does this man have two souls?'
Grace tilted her head, utterly baffled.
She rolled her eyes, trying to find an answer.
But then the strange sight appeared in those rolling pupils.
Grace had to abandon her thoughts for a moment.
Veri's soul, floating beside him on the stage, was convulsing wildly.
First love, then?
As an ordinary commoner, there was no way he could have even a passing acquaintance with the imperial princess.
Veri had clearly fallen for Liliana at first sight.
Grace's conclusion brought an even heavier weight of confusion.
On the day the lycanthrope attacked Veri and Liliana, Grace had been preparing to heal Ian and Selina after they endured their usual hellish ordeal.
Instead, she witnessed the imperial princess carrying the nearly lifeless Veri.
Veri regained consciousness soon after.
The moment he opened his eyes and saw Grace, his chest soul flickered.
'If you haven't joined the Student Council party yet, won't you join us?'
The words seemed almost like a flirtatious invitation.
And the mysterious smile on Veri's lips left Grace thoroughly bewildered.
'Is this man saying that he doesn't care who the beauty is?'
Veri smiled because he believed the situation might resolve more smoothly than expected.
The soul's flicker was merely a reaction to meeting a real person for the first time in the novel.
To Grace, who knew nothing of that, it was a perfectly believable scene.
So she asked if he was acting out of goodwill.
The answer was cold.
The soul in his left eye was silent and steady.
The sharp, thorn-like soul in his chest remained equally calm.
Veri had spoken with the utmost sincerity.
Grace accepted his proposal without hesitation.
It was not out of pity.
She was simply glad to be needed.
Standing close to his soul, she felt that this was the best way to resolve the question that had been tormenting her.
'...Double personality?'
That was the only possibility Grace could think of.
She had never met someone with multiple personalities.
So she accepted Veri's proposal, curious about what a man with two souls—or possibly a split personality—would do next.
At the same time, the joy of being able to help someone who truly needed her power.
Grace saw it as a blessing from heaven.
Before fatigue set in during her academy life, before she clung to Ian as her safe haven.
She had met a boy who was intriguingly different from evil—closer to gray than black or white.
A girl who regretted her past and simply stared at the path ahead for her beloved.
A reclusive alchemist who avoided contact with people.
She had walked with them.
That possibility of her becoming dependent on a safe haven had vanished.
The possibility of depending on someone else had reached zero.
Grace had gained the freedom to look around her.
And she realized.
Even if the boy had fallen in love at first sight, his feelings for the girl were sincere.
Every time she looked at the girl, both of the boy's souls stirred intensely.
That was the movement one felt when truly loving someone.
One was tender affection born of infinite loyalty to a master he could not save.
The other was the same tender feeling for his beloved who stood right in front of him yet remained unreachable.
Grace could only perceive the result of those emotions.
She could not know the cause.
So she misunderstood.
Grace felt an overwhelming sorrow.
No matter the reason, even with two souls, the boy was burning them away in a futile dream of love.
She knew it would end in ruin.
For someone who could see emotions, the ending was clear.
The boy's love was reaching for a tree that could not be climbed.
Although status was a barrier between commoner and princess, the emotions themselves were far greater.
Grace saw that Liliana's grief and longing every time she touched her fiancé's ring was stronger than any emotion she had witnessed before.
Could emotions directed at someone who did not exist be that immense?
If the boy's and girl's feelings were reciprocated, perhaps the difference in status could be overcome.
...If only the boy graduated as valedictorian.
But their feelings were one-sided.
The boy's affection would never be returned.
So Grace chose to discourage him.
She believed it would end painlessly now, in the early stages of love.
It was a mistake.
Even though the boy was expressing his love, the girl had pushed him toward her and Grace.
And while the boy's heart was breaking, Grace's indifference had driven the final nail into his chest.
Grace had the advantage of seeing emotions with her own eyes but was insensitive to everything else.
That was why she had acted.
The boy, more resolute and ruthless than usual, had slain the bandits who attacked them.
After questioning the one who was left half-alive, he began persuading Grace.
Grace felt pity.
Only now did she understand why the boy's souls had been so spiky.
How could a boy of her age kill so many people without any emotional change, coldly staring at her while torturing her?
That was the life and method the boy had lived all this time.
Grace thought.
The boy's life up to now was pitiful.
The destination of the path he must now walk was empty and sorrowful.
If he had lived such a life, he might never have experienced love at all.
Grace felt compassion for the boy who had first met love that could not be realized.
Grace stepped closer to the boy step by step.
She gently took the hand holding the sword.
"W-what is it?"
The boy's pupils wavered like waves.
Even his soul flickered with surprise.
"I know your life has been hard, Veri.
It must have been an incredibly difficult journey."
"No, what are you asking?"
Grace ignored his words and continued speaking.
"Until recently, I tried to deny your love because of its pity...
Now I don't know either.
So, even though it goes against reason, I will support you.
I believe every person has the right to rewards after persistent effort."
"No, that's not what I'm asking...
Grace lifted the boy's hand and said.
"So don't waste your anger on this.
What good would it do to torment him further?"
"Wh-what...?"
"You shouldn't get used to this kind of thing...
Of course, I realized how foolish I was.
If there is someone good, then there is also someone evil."
In that moment, Veri thought.
'Damn it, Grace really can't be changed with just one shock.'
She had lived her whole life as a rofan consumer, receiving the goddess's grace.
Even for Liliana, shock therapy had been quite effective.
Veri had once again placed his faith in the power of shock therapy.
But he could not instill rationality in a human like Grace.
He knew that for Kim Bin, who had lived his entire life as a rofan dog, the only thing capable of opening the eyes of novel characters was shock therapy.
That was the foundation of his action.
For someone who had lost the will to live, like Liliana, a happy or angry revelation to snap them out of it.
For someone lost in dreams, like Grace, a chance to awaken to the cruelty of reality.
The world he had possessed was also a rofan novel.
Using the knowledge common to rofan characters in that genre was only natural.
However, it had not had a great impact on Grace.
Because the environments Liliana and Grace had lived in were different, he could not lead her to change.
Grace continued speaking.
"This man is a criminal.
He probably will not receive proper treatment.
He will have to live with this body for the rest of his life.
So, Veri, you do not need to inflict pain on him yourself.
He will regret his actions and reflect on them.
At the end, there will surely be repentance and remorse...
So, do not stain your hands with blood that is unnecessary, Veri."
"..."
This kind-hearted man seemed to have mistaken the target of his pity for a bandit rather than himself.
Veri felt dizzy after realizing he had not even scratched the core of Grace's heart.