Chapter 232: Turns Out, A Lady’s Heart Is Like A Reed (2)

Lee Han was not sure if he could use such an expression in a medieval fantasy world, but the feeling which came to him naturally was…

…I feel like I am watching someone being possessed by a yokai.

Crack-!

Crack-!

Every time the sound of bones cracked in the body of ‘her’ who had taken on the appearance of Arno, her height changed and her facial skeleton changed. The body then took on the skeleton of a woman, and curves began to appear all over her body.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that a man was changing into a woman in real time, and it was such a strange sight that made him wonder if a yokai, especially a nine-tailed fox, really existed.

Her hair also happened to be short and white…

Crack-!

…But before long, it had grown long enough to reach her waist.

“Whew.”

A beautiful woman that appeared to be in her 20s, or even in her teens, exhaled. She then roughly tying up her waist-length white hair with a handkerchief as her red eyes shining with a strangely sinister look.

Gulp-!

At that moment, a sound of dry saliva being gulped could be heard in the room. However, no one really knew who did it. Whoever it was, no one could really blame them. After all, anyone would feel tense at the strange presence she exuded.

Then, she who emitted an overwhelming presence to those who gathered opened her mouth.

“Elza, give me a cup of tea too.”

“…”

However, she made a request that was somewhat disappointing.

At that moment, Elza sighed at the Sword Duchess’s request and pressed her forehead with her finger.

“I respect you, Your Grace. But every time you act like this, I feel like my life is shortened. To think you’re playing this kind of prank.”

“I’m sorry, Elza. But my acting is still good, right?”

“…”

“Don’t be angry.”

“…Huuu!”

She confidently asked for tea and sat down with a mischievous smile adorning her face. Beside her, Levy and Kunta were frozen like ice.

“Don’t be so nervous. Looking at you, people might have misunderstood that I’m going to do something bad.”

“…Kunta wants to run away.”

“Didn’t I tell you to not be so nervous?”

She patted and stroked Kunta’s head, and every time she did, Kunta’s huge body flinched like a prey caught by a predator.

At that moment,

“A-about Arno…”

Levy asked where the real Arno was with a cool expression, making the Sword Duchess smile brightly, perhaps because she was impressed by her calm attitude.

“My grandson is probably fast asleep in the underground training grounds right now. He’ll wake up soon.”

“…”

“Don’t look at me like that. I just sparred with him to see how much his skills have improved. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I-I see…”

“…You don’t believe me, huh? How disappointing.”

Unlike with Kunta, the Sword Duchess seemed to be much more affectionate towards Levy, and it seemed like she liked Levy.

At that moment,

“Mother, just what are you doing!”

Iliad looked at her with a cold and serious face.

“What did you do to Arno?”

“I told you just now, we were just sparring. My grandson happily jumped in when I said I would spar with him. I used my strength a little… And then I accidentally knocked him out. I was wondering what to do about it, so I just decided I will ‘disguise’ myself as my grandson for a moment.”

“Do you want me to believe that?”

“It’s true, Iliad. If you need confirmation, ask Arnoe when he wakes up.”

“…”

“…I admit that my prank was too much, so don’t glare at me too much. You’re making me sad.”

“Whew!!”

For the first time, Iliad, who had always been so kind, couldn’t hold back his anger. On the other hand, she seemed to humbly admit her mistake.

She didn’t apologize or bow her head, but since there was probably no one in the current kingdom who could demand an apology from ‘the Sword Duchess’ , what was happening could be called an achievement in itself.

But…

“…Sir Totle, I’ll apologize on behalf of my mother. I never thought she’d do something like this.”

“It is fine, so don’t be sorry.”

More importantly,

…It’s a well-known fact that Aura User always had one, two, or even three loose screws.

However, Lee Han couldn’t bring himself to say such things and swallowed them back inside.

If he said such things in front of the person concerned, he couldn’t even imagine what kind of a mess he’d get into.

“So, dear. Just how did you know I was in a ‘disguise’?”

“Disguise? Not transformation?”

“Iliad, you can nag me later.”

She was still maintaining her own pace, and the person who was being asked just scratched his cheek.

“…Well, I didn’t do anything special.”

Lee Han then decided to try to please this wilful Aura User for a while.

“At first, I thought it was really the Wolf Cub, I mean, Arno. But after having some conversation with you, I felt something off.”

“Where?”

“In the muscles.”

“…?”

“Friends or lovers may betray you, but muscles will never. Your muscles are different from Arno’s muscles in many ways. Since It’s a body that I trained myself from time to time while I also made most of the parts like the arms, legs, shoulders, and back, In other words, it’s ‘my work.’ If I don’t know the difference, I should abandon the title of instructor.”

“…”

“Of course, even after I found out, I was going to pretend not to know. I didn’t feel any bad intentions, and I didn’t smell any blood, so I guessed it was just a ‘joke’… But, after some point, you started to attack me with your spirit in a strange way, Ma’am. You attacked me from all directions while I didn’t even know who was attacking me… I was sweating so hard I was going crazy.”

Rustle-!

Lee Han lightly pulled up his shirt and showed them his soaking wet clothes. It was the cold sweat from blocking the spirit.

“It was scary.”

It wasn’t a joke, Lee Han truly felt scared. Her spirit attack made Lee Han feel like he was being stabbed hundreds of times per second by a wasp stinger. It was almost like the murderous intent of that Killer Star Spear Bastard. It was a spirit that would make even elite mercenaries and knights fall over.

“I held out for about 30 minutes, and now I’m dying. That’s why I asked you to stop, Ma’am.”

Lee Han shrugged at that moment.

However, contrary to his seemingly light tone, his eyes were sharp.

“…Your eyes are not friendly at all.”

“There is no reason for me to be friendly when you treat a guest like this.”

“…”

It meant that Lee Han was on the verge of getting a little angry.

“No, let me correct it. What should I expect from an Aura User? It was a sin to expect hospitality from Aura User.”

Thud-!

“Hmm…”

Lee Han then placed the dagger he received from Baltar on the table.

And then,

“Let’s go, the home visit is over.”

“Master?”

“Do you want to play a little more?”

“…No. I’ll go with you.”

Levy prepared to follow Lee Han like thread following a needle. As if she was telling him that she wouldn’t be where he didn’t want to be.

“Sir Totle…”

“Milord, let’s meet separately somewhere else next time.”

“…Let’s do that.”

Iliad seemed to know nothing, so Leehan did not feel any dissatisfaction toward him, and since Lee Han was someone with personality he liked, when he made plans to meet again, Iliad just nodded his head, saying that he understood Lee Han’s feelings.

“…”

At some point, the situation was sorted out and the atmosphere became relaxed again. However, even during that time, the Sword Duchess remained silent. It was as if she was observing the other person.

And when Lee Han really took the stance to leave,

“…I apologize.”

“?”

“I know I played a mean prank. So, can you give me a chance to apologize?”

“…”

“Of course I won’t just apologize verbally. Will you accept my apology?”

“…Hmm.”

Lee Han looked at her, Felicia, with curious eyes at that moment. He never thought that the day would come when he would hear an apology from an Aura User.

Lee Han felt like It was hard to receive a sincere apology from someone in power. After all, it felt like they were saying  ‘I’m sorry for you being a fool.’

“…Let’s first check if the Wolf Cub is safe or not.”

By the way, Lee Han was the type of person who thought that only those who apologize should be given a second chance.

Thud-!

“First of all, let me explain myself. I didn’t really try to attack you with my spirit. If it were someone else, they might have felt a little strange, but they wouldn’t have reacted as sensitively as you did. Maybe you felt threatened by my ‘observation’ because your senses are dozens of times more sensitive than the average knight.”

“That’s just an observation?”

“I got interested because Baltar said he sent you here. Now I think I know why he sent you.”

Felicia put down the dagger she had been fiddling with.

“Well, it’s definitely true. It’s one of the daggers I planted in the past. With it, you can ask me for one favor.”

“…Favor?”

“When I was weak In the past. I received help from countless people. And this dagger is the one I gave out back then. I gave one to each person I owed my life to. There were about ten of them, and nine of them had already been returned, this is the last one that came back.”

“…”

“D-Don’t stare at me like that. I already apologized…”

“But I didn’t say anything?”

“You looked at me like, ‘You dare threatened and even played a prank on someone who brought you something so precious’”

“If you know…”

“That’s why I said I’m sorry…”

Felicia trembled with a look of helplessness as she apologized again.

“Sigh…”

This woman is an Aura User?

…Even if she’s over 90 years old, why does she have such severe mood swings?

As far as Lee Han knew, Felicia was older than Baltar. But for some reason, her words and actions were as moody as those of a teenager.

Isn’t she just looking young on the outside?

“…Sir Totle, I apologize again. She wasn’t like that in the past. I also wondered why she changed like that…”

“Change?”

Iliad apologized again and made a complicated expression toward Felicia. Rather than a gaze directed at his mother, his gaze seemed more like a gaze directed at his reckless daughter.

He wondered why he was giving her that gaze, but Lee Han couldn’t help but understand why he was making that expression when he heard the story that followed.

“…Nine years ago, my mother conducted some kind of experiment.”

“Experiment?”

“It was an experiment to spread all of her life force or aura into each and every of her cells. She kept it a secret from the family and conducted the experiment on her own body. During the experiment, my mother became younger.”

“…?”

“Haa….”

When Lee Han made a face that seemed as if he was saying he did not understand for a moment, Iliad frowned. Even after he explained it, he still thought that there was no word to define this ‘mysterious phenomenon’.

That’s why he had no choice but to explain at length what he had seen in order to help Lee Han understand.

“…She literally became younger. My mother already looked younger than her age, but the experiment turned her into a ten-year-old child. That’s not all, as if to prove that she wasn’t just disguising herself as someone young, she gradually grew older. In other words, she was truly ‘rejuvenated.’”

“…”

“…It was very hard. She must be over ninety, but her actions and mental age are all like those of a teenager. Not only is her mood swings severe, but she is also very mischievous. I just don’t know what’s happening.”

“…Ah.”

“Sir Totle.”

“N-no. It’s nothing.”

“??”

“…”

To be honest, Lee Han was a little shocked. Why? That’s because Lee Han knew what this phenomenon was defined as.

The name of this phenomenon, which first appeared in the book ‘Biographies of the Immortals’ from the Western or Eastern Jin Dynasty, was said to have originated from the fact that some Elders did not simply become younger, but rejuvenated themselves to look younger.

Body Reconstruction.

…Lee Han began to seriously suspect that this world might be a novel of the Investiture of the Gods or Journey to the West disguised as a romance novel.