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by fnovelpiaChapter 35: Glacia
By the time Glacia headed to the bathhouse.
Si-woo was on his way to the place where she resided in order to strategize for the gate conquest.
“Since it’s where the boss stays, there must be something useful, right?”
Fortunately, he had plenty of time.
Even without water or food, a Hunter’s body could endure for several days, and as long as Glacia remained under his allure, the gate wouldn’t be overflowing with monsters.
If any issue arose, it would be due to Glacia’s rampage—since she had yet to fully regain her sanity.
That would happen the moment she realized that Si-woo wasn’t actually the hero.
‘Glacia is overlaying the image of the hero onto me.’
Glacia was captivated by Si-woo’s allure, but she didn’t love him.
The one she loved was a fictional being.
Because she projected the figure of the “hero” onto Si-woo, the effect of his allure was weaker on her compared to others.
No matter how formidable the monster or Hunter, if they completely succumbed to Si-woo’s allure, it would be game over.
With enough time and effort, they would even accept an order to take their own life.
‘It’d be better if they at least had a firm ideal type.’
The image of the ideal partner that women desired.
Si-woo had the ability to distort even the most steadfast standards for choosing a mate.
However, if Si-woo was simply being projected onto an already completed standard.
If someone recognized a completely different person, with a different name, personality, and preferences, as Si-woo and fell in love with that illusion—there was no way to handle that situation.
‘Even a single misplaced word could trigger a rampage.’
Of course, he knew this from experience.
There had been people who projected characters from manga or novels onto him.
It was because of such people that he even started learning how to act.
If he showed even the slightest trait that deviated from the imagined character, they would reveal expressions that bordered on hatred.
“Not as high up as I expected.”
Arriving at the top floor, Si-woo pushed open the door that seemed to lead to Glacia’s room.
“The room’s more ordinary than I thought.”
Just like the castle’s structure, Glacia’s room was made of ice, yet its interior was unexpectedly plain.
So plain, in fact, that it felt strangely out of place.
Considering her manner of speech and the overwhelming atmosphere she exuded, Glacia reminded him of a medieval noble, so he had expected the room to be filled with lavish ornaments and antique furniture.
‘At this rate, there’s even less furniture here than in the house I used to live in.’
Despite the vast size of the room, it looked barren apart from a bed and a desk.
“Well, maybe she just doesn’t care for unnecessary decorations in her room.”
More importantly, he needed to find some clues first.
As he carefully began searching Glacia’s room, Si-woo made sure not to leave any traces behind.
Though she was a monster, Glacia was hardly different from a human.
If she had managed to suppress her madness to the point of regaining reason and being able to hold logical conversations, then she might also be capable of sensing even the slightest disturbance in her space.
He couldn’t allow her to even entertain the thought that he might be the culprit.
Glacia’s idea of what a “hero” was supposed to be—Si-woo wasn’t entirely sure.
But at the very least, he was certain that such a person wouldn’t be the type to rummage through a woman’s room without permission.
As he carefully searched the room, his senses suddenly picked up on something.
A faint trace of mana was emanating from a small drawer in the desk, drawing his hand toward it.
“This is…”
Inside the drawer was a single book.
The letters engraved on its cover resembled those found on skill books.
However, the mana it exuded was far weaker—nothing compared to an actual skill book.
Still, if it could serve as a clue, it was worth looking into.
With that thought in mind, Si-woo picked up the book.
And found himself opening someone’s diary.
The diary was written in an unfamiliar language.
Yet, Si-woo could understand it.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he read through the words, despite never having learned the language before.
The entries were written sporadically, spaced apart by months at a time.
It seemed the writer only recorded their thoughts when they felt like it.
Even so, the content was simple.
Day by day, the mother’s condition worsened.
And before long, incidents began to unfold within the territory.
Solving one problem would only bring forth two or three new ones.
The writer’s mind was clearly deteriorating, burdened by an unrelenting cycle of hardship.
Hope visited her for a brief moment.
But it was just that—brief.
The diary went blank after that.
There was no need to ask why.
“The hero… huh.”
Was this where it all began?
Glacia’s desperate search for the hero.
It all began here.
“…Kidnapped?”
Glacia’s full name was Glacia von Drake.
Then… was the owner of this diary someone else?
She wasn’t “rescued.” She was taken as a mere test subject.
By Si-woo’s standards, it was unthinkable for a noble to grant their family name to something as lowly as an experimental subject—something even lower than a slave.
And yet, those people had done exactly that.
Something beyond his comprehension.
Si-woo could read no further.
The diary continued, the magic translating its words still active.
And yet, the text was no longer human writing.
With each turn of the page, the letters grew more distorted.
Dark bloodstains and sickly yellow blotches—likely pus—covered the pages, further revealing just how horrific the experiments at the Drake estate had been.
Si-woo kept turning the pages.
Past the illegible scrawls, past the blood and rot.
Until he reached the final page.
Glacia had written her last words.
Si-woo read through Glacia’s bucket list.
Each wish was simple.
So simple that, had she lived an ordinary life, she wouldn’t have needed to write them down at all.
“If this is all she wanted, it won’t be difficult.”
Closing the diary, Si-woo made up his mind.
He had read her story without permission.
So he would pay the price.
By making her dream come true.
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