C377. A Birthday Without Memories (2)
With a pa-ching! and the sound of her heart shattering into pieces, Yutia Bloodia thought dazedly.
Huh? Where am I? Who am I?
The sudden drop in her intelligence caused those doubts for an instant, but only for an instant.
As soon as she regained her composure, she looked at Alon Palatio with trembling eyes.
Alon Palatio looked exactly the same as she knew him.
His expression was just as expressionless as always. Nothing seemed to have changed.
However… even though it should be like that…
Yutia Bloodia lowered her gaze to Alon Palatio’s hands. The hands holding Penia’s chair were clearly full of distrust. It was a situation she couldn't understand.
But Yutia Bloodia, with her particular keenness, didn't take long to find the root of it all.
“Huegok–…”
As soon as Yutia Bloodia locked eyes on her, Penia unintentionally let out a hic! unable to look away.
It was obvious who the culprit was.
Yutia Bloodia smiled.
“Penia?”
“Yes, yes…”
“This… what… has… happened… here?”
Unable to control her emotions, her voice broke into a rigid staccato.
Penia started rolling her eyes from side to side desperately.
By all accounts, she was hiding too many things.
Yutia Bloodia tried to press her a bit more, but—
“U-um, uhm—”
Her mouth was suddenly stopped by Alon Palatio, who until a moment ago had remained silent.
“It would be better if… if you calm down a little…”
Hearing his voice, Yutia Bloodia’s smile disappeared.
It wasn't that his words were incorrect. She didn't intend to argue with him either.
But Yutia Bloodia’s mood plummeted immediately. It sounded as if Alon Palatio was defending Penia from her.
“Haa…”
Yutia Bloodia let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
She was frustrated. She turned her head to look at Penia, who was still trembling.
The cause of all this.
The shameless woman who had caused Alon Palatio to treat her as if she were an enemy.
“It seems our relationship has become irreparable. What do you think?”
Penia gasped sharply.
For a moment she thought: Did we have any kind of relationship?
But right now that didn't matter. Because at that very instant she felt a real threat to her life.
H-how do I fix this?
Penia thought desperately how to explain the situation.
“P-Penia hasn’t done anything wrong…”
But before she could even try—
Once again, Alon Palatio came to Penia’s defense.
The light disappeared from Yutia Bloodia’s eyes, who was observing her with contempt.
“Ah.”
Yutia Bloodia said nothing. But Penia understood it perfectly. The lackluster gaze piercing through her seemed to say:
“So now we are enemies?”
That was the message. Penia’s eyes quickly filled with tears. And yet, desperate, she kept moving her eyes.
She didn't want to die.
So, while struggling to find words, Penia shouted:
“L-Lord Marquess! Don’t say it like that, i-it’s Yutia Bloodia!”
Her voice trembled pitifully. Then Alon Palatio’s expressionless eyes opened slightly, as if he were surprised.
Yutia Bloodia, now with a strange magical energy and almost emotionless, was observed by Alon Palatio for a few seconds.
“Uh… um… I’m sorry.”
She apologized apathetically.
But Yutia Bloodia’s anger couldn't be calmed so easily.
That day she had arrived at the Marquess's house in a good mood.
Not only did Alon Palatio not remember her, but he had even treated her like an enemy.
There was no way her anger would dissipate with an apology.
For it to go down a little… at least Penia had to face a pitiful fate.
“Yutia Bloodia… noona?”
…at least…?
“…Huh?”
“Huh?”
“What did you just say?”
“…I’m… sorry?”
“No, the part after that.”
“I said… Yutia Bloodia noona…”
Noona…
He called her noona…
Hmm…
Yutia Bloodia’s eyes regained their usual light. At the same time, a soft smile appeared on her tense lips.
“Master, can you repeat that one more time?”
“…Noona.”
At that word…
Yutia Bloodia brought a hand to her chest without thinking.
A warm and soft sensation stirred her from the inside.
A few seconds later—
“I think we can still be good friends.”
“…Huh?”
Yutia Bloodia smiled radiantly all of a sudden.
Penia, who was on the verge of tears, stood paralyzed with the expression of a frozen brain.
“Even so, I think this situation needs an explanation.”
“Y-yes, sure… of course!”
Penia nodded with all her might. She didn't know what was happening, but at least it seemed she would survive.
Some time later.
After listening to the whole story, Yutia Bloodia spoke:
“In short, he drank the regression potion to find points for improvement in magic.”
“Yes! Up to there, there was no problem. There were no errors in the magical memories, and the imprint was recorded well. Buuuut—”
“…and after two weeks it didn't undo itself?”
At Yutia Bloodia’s observation, Penia averted her gaze.
“Well… yes.”
“It’s normal for it to disappear on its own after two weeks, right?”
“Yes. I-I’m sure the potion didn't have anything weird. I even did a test.”
“Test?”
“Yes. Since by chance there was a mage from the Blue Tower in the Marquess's house, I made him drink the same potion at the same time. Just in case there was any kind of problem.”
“And did that mage return to normal after two weeks?”
“Yes. Strangely, only the Lord Marquess—”
Penia sighed with frustration and looked at Yutia Bloodia.
“B-but I think it’s not that serious.”
“Why?”
“Because I investigated more… and I think it’s all due to the Lord Marquess's unconscious.”
“…His unconscious?”
“Yes.”
Penia continued explaining.
“I mean… in conclusion, Master is voluntarily blocking his return.”
“Yes, it seems he found some method to maintain this state on purpose.”
“But is it possible to avoid returning to normal just with the unconscious?”
“Normally it would be almost impossible… but we are talking about the Lord Marquess.”
Yutia Bloodia nodded.
She had already understood the whole situation.
“So, the Master of now is the Master from before knowing us.”
“…Exactly.”
“Who else knows this?”
“Evan, Blackie… and Basiliora. No one else. We prefer not to make it public.”
Yutia Bloodia looked sideways at Alon Palatio. The green badge on his chest was shining brightly.
“I think there is one more person who already knows.”
“Huh?”
“Well, even if she realizes, it really doesn't matter anymore.”
Through the green badge—
or rather, to someone who would surely be “spying” through it, Yutia Bloodia said it.
Then she thought a bit and added:
“Anyway, I understood the situation.”
She smiled with a dangerous touch.
Alon Palatio, third son of Count Palatio—
No, now head of the House of Marquess Palatio—
still felt terribly uncomfortable even though almost a month had passed.
Why uncomfortable?
It was obvious.
It had been barely a few months since he understood that this was the world of Psychedelia. And upon opening his eyes after blinking, everything was like a hidden camera show.
To top it off…
He, who intended to live quietly in Rodmil, was now the leader of that detestable Palatio family… and also a Marquess.
Penia Crysinne, the absolute queen of hysteria, lived with him in the mansion.
And not only that: she was something like his right-hand man (?).
Besides…
Penia had explained the whole situation to him.
“To improve magic… you say.”
As incredible as it seemed, even though he had lost thirteen years of memories,
all magical knowledge remained intact.
What had been erased were the memories.
And—
“The memories of Psychedelia, huh?”
To be exact, all magic and combat records related to Psychedelia had disappeared.
As if someone had ripped out just that part.
In any case, although he had heard everything from Penia…
All this was still strange to him.
Like the House of Count Palatio having become the House of Marquess.
Or that he could become the king of a country.
Or that he himself had become a god…
For an Alon Palatio from thirteen years ago,
it was impossible to even imagine how everything had reached this point.
Even what happened today with Yutia Bloodia.
Although Penia had explained to him about Yutia Bloodia and the others,
even so Alon Palatio was surprised on the inside.
Because Yutia Bloodia was much more beautiful than he had imagined.
Even in Psychedelia, although he had seen her,
all the Sins were partially fused with themselves,
so he had never been able to see her clearly.
That was the reason why, despite the previous explanation, he had recognized her so late.
“Haa…”
Alon Palatio sighed softly.
It had been a sufficiently confusing day,
but he intuited that tomorrow would be even worse.
Tomorrow was his birthday.
“It would be better if no one notices…”
It was logical.
A man who could found a kingdom, even become a god,
suddenly loses his memory?
It would be a disaster.
So Alon Palatio planned to hide it as much as possible, except from Yutia Bloodia.
…Another thing was if he could achieve it.
“I must do it well…”
At that moment, on the hill in front of the Marquess Palatio's mansion—
“I’m busy. I need to bring a new sculpture.”
“So? Why did you gather us all suddenly?”
“Is it something about our Master?”
“It seems so.”
“My gift is already ready, so it doesn't affect me.”
“I’m busy.”
“Well, I am free.”
Everyone, except Yutia Bloodia and Rine, was gathered.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Magrina inhaled deeply and announced:
“Marquess Palatio has returned to his memory of when he was a child.”
Rine's desperate play to stop Yutia Bloodia's solitary ‘act’ had finally been executed.
