“Has the memory alteration begun?”

Seoden followed him into the bedroom and answered.

“Yes. As soon as you left, I cast the hypnosis spell.”

Aster went straight to the bed.

He looked down at Ariel who was lying there with her eyes closed peacefully.

“How many days will it take?”

Changing memories through hypnosis was no easy task. To look into someone’s memories through hypnosis was quick, but to create completely new ones was another matter. Changing even a small fragment of a memory could take hours. This time the task was to create a whole new set of memories, from infancy to adulthood – essentially creating the identity of a completely different person.

They also had to integrate these memories seamlessly so that Lady Blante would accept them without resistance, requiring additional fusion work throughout the process. 

As a result, the process would take not just hours, but several days – possibly more than two weeks if it dragged on.

Seoden placed a hand on Lady Blante’s forehead, then withdrew it as he replied.

“It will probably take about ten days.”

“That’s quicker than I expected.”

“It may be because her original memories are completely sealed… She’s showing less resistance to accepting the new ones.”

“I see.”

Such an extensive memory alteration should, by its very nature, evoke strong instinctive resistance.

But for there to be no resistance at all…

It meant that, regardless of the seal, she had truly abandoned her original life of her own accord.

Aster looked at Ariel’s face, which seemed more peaceful now than when she first arrived. Gently, he took her hand.

Polymorph.

A powerful disguise spell.

Soon the crimson hue began to fade from the crown of Lady Blante’s head. Her platinum hair was now free of any trace of red. Her sharp, feline eyes softened into a more rounded shape. Her nose and lips were also subtly altered. Lady Blante’s original features had been completely transformed.

She now had a face so different that no one could possibly associate it with Ariel Blante.

A completely unrecognisable face.

The spell, cast directly by the Mage Tower Lord himself – a 9th Circle Archmage whose power far exceeded that of ordinary transcendents – was impenetrable. Unless someone of similar transcendental power intervened, the spell could not be undone, nor could her true face hidden beneath it ever be seen.

When Lady Blante opened her eyes, she would truly begin a new life.

As a final touch, Aster considered the colour of her eyes, finally settling on a shade of violet.

If she were given platinum blonde hair and blue eyes, she would truly look like a doll meant to replace Faelin. 

Although Aster had told himself that this was a way to give Lady Blante what he couldn’t give Faelin, and perhaps even for his own sake, he had no intention of turning Lady Blante into a mere doll to replace Faelin. 

After finishing the Polymorph spell, Aster released her hand. 

“I need to rest. Seoden, please take care of Lady Blante… no, Lady Lariette.” 

“Yes.” 

He hoped that at least she could find some measure of happiness. 

With a heavy sigh, Aster left the room. His steps were slow and heavy as he made his way to the top floor of the Mage Tower. 

To the place where Faelin rested. 

* * * 

“Damn, I asked you to stop, but even to the end…” 

Lowell’s uncharacteristic curses echoed through the barracks, but the target of his wrath – the Mage Tower Lord – was already gone.

All that remained was Kylance, gasping for breath.

Lowell gripped Kylance’s arm. Holding a body bigger and heavier than his own was no easy task, especially since he wasn’t a knight to begin with.

But if he let go now, his master might truly collapse.

Lowell couldn’t help but resent the Mage Tower Lord.

There was no denying that his master had committed grave sins… but the living must go on, didn’t they?

The Mage Tower Lord’s words were no different from telling his master to die. To tell someone who clung to the belief that Lady Blante was still alive, who endured for that hope, that even her body wouldn’t return to him… it was unbearably cruel.

At that moment, Kylance clutched at his chest.

“Urgh…”

Kylance’s face contorted in pain.

Startled, Lowell called out, “Isn’t anyone outside?”

But only silence answered him. Lowell suddenly remembered that he had dismissed the soldiers earlier to ensure a quiet conversation between the Mage Tower Lord and the Grand Duke.

Damn it.

This time the curse was on him.

No one would come, no matter how long he waited.

Unless he went out and called for help himself.

“Your Grace, that won’t do. I’ll get a healer, but for now please lie down on the bed…”

But before Lowell could finish, Kylance grabbed his hand.

His breathing was still labored, but there was no visible pain on his face.

Of course, his haggard features and hollow eyes didn’t look like those of a living man.

Kylance shook off Lowell’s hand and forced the strength back into his body.

“Your Grace!”

Lowell tried to hurry back to him, but Kylance held up a hand to stop him.

He took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his trembling hands.

Sensation slowly returned to his body.

Not yet. He couldn’t collapse – not yet. He still had to save Ariel.

Kylance gave Lowell a command.

“Lowell, inform the royal capital to send more soldiers. Since the mages have retreated, we’ll need to increase the number of personnel going out by ship. Also, it’s been over a day since Ariel went missing, so her condition could be critical. Make sure each ship has healers on board.”

Lowell hesitated. Healers? 

At first he was relieved that Kylance, who had collapsed momentarily, seemed to have regained his composure. But that wasn’t the case. If anything, his obsession was stronger than before. 

An irrational belief that Lady Blante was still alive. 

Even though the Mage Tower Lord had cruelly laid the harsh reality before him, Kylance refused to accept it. 

Or perhaps he had no intention of accepting it. 

As Lowell watched his lord descend further into madness, he began to question the wisdom of continuing the search. 

Rationally, it made sense to continue the search, if only to find a body. 

But what if they found nothing? What then? 

Without the mages, even finding the body would be a difficult task.

As time passed, Lowell feared what would become of his master. Would he… lose his mind completely?

Given his current state, that seemed all too likely.

No, perhaps Kylance was already slowly descending into madness.

The words of the Mage Tower Lord echoed in Lowell’s mind: He is destroying himself.

At that moment, Kylance called out to him.

“Lowell.”

Meeting Kylance’s dark eyes, Lowell hesitated before slowly parting his lips.

“Yes. I will request additional personnel from the royal capital.”

Even though he knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, Lowell couldn’t disobey Kylance’s order.

If he didn’t, it felt as if his master might collapse completely at any moment – or worse, die.

Like Lady Blante, this time it was his master who was driven to the edge of the cliff.

“We need to widen the search area.”

Kylance spread out a map on the makeshift wooden desk and searched for regions connected to the Cascade Coast, calling out place names one by one.

“Send word to this estate as well, and have them search along the coast.”

“Yes.”

As Lowell turned to leave the barracks, he heard Kylance’s low murmur.

“Ariel is alive. She must be alive.”

In a situation as vast and uncertain as the open sea, with no answers in sight, Lowell swallowed a heavy sigh as he left the barracks.

He could only hope that Kylance’s story would not end in tragedy.

Later, the royal capital dispatched a large number of soldiers and healers to the Cascade Sea to search.

As Kylance had requested, a massive search was launched in all the port cities connected to the Cascade Sea, and ten days passed.

Despite the extensive search, Lady Blante could not be found.

The soldiers grew exhausted, and even the high society began to lose interest in the matter of Lady Blante.

People began to say:

Lady Blante is already dead, her body is nothing more than fish food in the depths of the ocean.

And the Grand Duke, who keeps watch on the Cascade Coast to find her, has gone mad.

They muttered that he was likely to follow Lady Blante into death.

These words spread and spread until they reached the Emperor’s ears.

Through none other than the Duchess of Viasteus.

The following dawn, at a time when everyone was still fast asleep.

A figure with the hood of their robes pulled low and four knights in black uniforms rode out of the royal capital.

“We will ride non-stop until we reach the Cascade Coast.”

A deep voice, heavy as the night sky.

The roar of the largest black stallion echoed through the ground, followed by the pounding of five sets of hooves thundering across the earth.

—

A cloudy dawn, so dim that even the moonlight was barely visible.

The crashing waves of the Cascade Coast roared in the background.

But more distinct than the waves were the voices of soldiers, weary from the relentless search.

“It’s been over ten days. How much longer are we going to do this?”

One of the soldiers on the night shift spoke particularly loudly. Another soldier standing nearby glanced over and said in a low voice.

“Shh, watch your mouth. What if the Grand Duke’s knights hear you?”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? If this search had any hope it would be different, but it’s been over ten days. If a body had turned up, it would have done so long ago. And yet, even after searching here and all the nearby harbours, we still haven’t found a single piece of clothing. You can’t honestly say that you don’t think this is all pointless.

“Well… that’s…”

The soldier couldn’t bring himself to deny it, because his comrade was right.

Even among the Grand Duke’s knights there were murmurs that it was pointless to continue the search.

And yet the Grand Duke refused to stop the search.