episode_0098

After finishing the business, I returned to the sofa where Adelaide was waiting.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting. Miss Adelaide.”

“I am fine, Your Highness Leopold. Did you finish the story well?”

“That’s right. It was very…important. I’ll tell you later.”

Leopold, who was sitting on the sofa, seemed to be thirsty and picked up the glass that was on the table.

The half-filled dark red wine was flowing.

…Should I just have a drink too? To be honest, I’m a little thirsty.

For some reason, my neck trembled.

Honestly, wouldn’t just one drink be okay…?

It’s not the alcohol that Claire gave, and it doesn’t seem dangerous as long as Leopold is drinking it.

If it tasted like poison, I would have known it in advance.

Okay, just one drink.

Without realizing it, I picked up the crystal glass that was sitting next to me.

Lifting the veil slightly, I bring the wine to my mouth.

The scent of cherries and blackberries lingered in my nose.

I took a small sip and rolled it around in my mouth.

Refreshing taste. The slightly astringent and sweet flavors mixed well together to create a smooth harmony.

It’s a good drink.

I happily let the first alcohol I drank in almost half a year go down my gullet.

That was all I could remember.

=====[■■■■■■ ■■■]=====

Finally.

Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and enjoyed the worldly air for the first time in a long time.

It was a completely different smell from the scent of the meadows in my memories, but it was nonetheless evidence of a happy life.

A sense of liberated fulfillment runs through your veins, bringing back a longed-for sense of reality.

She looked down at her fingertips and wiggled them a little.

As if reliving a familiar sensation.

“Princess Aishangior? Are you okay?”

My blurred consciousness gradually began to clear.

Aishangior.

Aishangior Hashal.

Yes, that was her name.

‘Not that fake name, my real name.’

Finally, the owner is welcomed back and the killing spree that is about to explode is forcibly calmed down.

The energy that obeyed like a gentle sheep quietly held its breath.

“…No problem.”

‘Yeah, no problem.’

Hashal muttered to himself and looked at the person in front of him.

The imperial prince was looking at her strangely as she suddenly became quiet.

‘The name was probably Leopold.’

I was watching everything.

I was listening to everything.

The sight of something taking over her body, distorting all of her plans and doing strange things.

I barely knew what it was or what its intentions were.

The first emotion I felt was anger.

I don’t know whose trick it is, but if there are people who can do something like this, they are probably shamans or something, and I will kill them all someday.

Mother’s grave, Jahan and his younger brother.

When I saw her abandon everything she had built and run away to the West, I almost lost my mind with rage.

Does interest even know? What kind of thing have you done?

They hunted down thousands of Danes at best and maintained a tense relationship with the Westerners, tying Aishan down so that he could not move hastily.

Waiting for the warriors who wanted a war of conquest to become increasingly dissatisfied with Orhan, and eventually to support the new, prestigious master.

To throw away all that achievement in one fell swoop and end up releasing Orhan on the Great Plains.

Have you ever thought about a way to clean things up?

‘No way.’

The next emotion I had was doubt.

Because the reason for the actions of the person occupying this body was completely unknown.

Don’t you prepare diligently for something as if you know the future?

Even though he is swayed by his instincts and acts like a bastard, he suddenly changes and acts like a knight when he holds his mother’s sword.

I couldn’t suppress my sorrow when I saw it.

Maybe he wasn’t even a warrior, but he couldn’t handle his strength properly, so he only trusted his body and went on a rampage in pathetic battles, turning other people’s bodies into rags every time.

Funnily enough, he was actually defeated by a woman who seemed to have just become a master, and was driven to the brink of death by a Dane Crusader.

In the end, I was swayed by the power of mere objects.

After that, he was pushed back by a few beasts that weren’t even great warriors… until he eventually gave up all his strength and almost died.

‘After fighting the beastmen, yes. At least it got better.’

Perhaps thanks to fighting the Great Warrior, I was able to properly use the power of a master.

The last feeling I felt was helplessness.

A feeling she thought would never come to her.

Even though I looked at all of their facial features and cursed at the top of my lungs, I couldn’t achieve anything.

I wondered if I could hear her voice.

Even coming back like this was a miracle.

A brief miracle, like a midnight dream, that probably won’t last long.

Intuition whispered to Hashall.

This situation won’t last long.

‘The cause is…is this?’

She felt something small stirring inside her stomach.

A small insect that emits very weak magical energy and tries to burrow into the body.

A creature this weak and small would most likely not even be able to sense it.

The clouded mind, the foreign body that had penetrated the body, and the body that felt a fierce sense of crisis must have combined to summon the original owner.

Hashalr concentrated his killing efforts inside the body and crushed the fearful insects into dust.

It was a weak bug.

If it can’t survive in the human body, it won’t be long before it dies naturally.

“You mixed something into the alcohol. A very small thing that most people would not notice. Since the priest’s blessing is enough to make you faint, please order the nobles under His Majesty Leopold to receive treatment later.”

Hashal put down his glass and warned the prince.

Originally, it was none of her business to know whether the people of the empire died or not, but her consciousness would soon be pushed back, and she had no choice but to leave the rest to this damn usurper again.

‘So I guess I’ll have to adjust it for now.’

If the person who stole her body dies in vain, she will also die in vain.

“Now, what…”

“It is as I said. Well then, let’s go.”

Hashal nodded and got up from the sofa.

There was nothing more to say.

It’s not that Leopold didn’t hear what she said, but even though he heard it, he didn’t believe it and questioned her to confirm.

‘I gave you a warning, so you’ll take care of it.’

Suppressing my true nature and humiliating myself slowly reached my limit.

Because I was so tired from the frustration rising in my mind.

As he headed towards the balcony alone, Hashall wondered again who the bastard was that had put him in this situation.

There was no doubt that there was something magical involved.

The woman who inspected the frostbite said it was also cursed.

‘It must mean that those who were thought to have been exterminated… dared to sneak into Aishan. It seems like the work of one of Orhan’s brats.’

Hashal was convinced that her half-brothers were the culprits. Although it was just a suspicion, there was a basis for it.

Those bastards couldn’t win against her, so they were working behind the scenes for a day or two.

Besides, Khan’s children would be worthy opponents for the shamans to approach.

‘…I hope Jahan will be okay.’

Since I couldn’t go back to the east now, there was no way to check.

Hashal touched the back of his neck.

Because the anger that rose up once again made me feel dizzy.

“There, stop.”

Hashal stopped a servant passing by with a plate, reached out and took a bottle of wine from him.

Even if there were bugs in it, it was a pretty tasty drink. All I had to do was get rid of the bugs in my stomach.

Hashal came out, ripped off the neck of the bottle with his fingertips, and gulped it down.

Compared to the alcohol from my hometown, it tasted lighter and even sweeter, but as if this wasn’t bad enough, the mokuldae was constantly squirming.

“Haaa…”

Putting the half-empty bottle of liquor on the railing, Hashall looked into his pocket, took out a magic candle, and put it in his mouth.

Every time she saw Westerners smoking this over and over again, she also felt curious to try it at least once.

‘…Not bad.’

Hashal closed his eyes and savored the smoke. Enjoying the feeling of the slightly spicy peppermint scent seeping into your lungs.

It definitely felt better than I thought.

To the point where she could understand why the guy who stole my body was living off of it.

My mind became calm, my anger subsided slightly, and my heightened senses spread to my surroundings.

I can hear the moaning of thousands of things.

Her senses became so sharp that she could vividly picture her surroundings even with her eyes closed.

So much so that you can clearly see them shaking with their legs spread out in the bushes.

‘They talk about dignity and etiquette…but in reality, there is no difference in nature. Just like my mother said.’

Hashal closed her eyes and exhaled smoke into the air, thinking of her mother, Aimela.

Even though her mother was also from a noble family in the West, she often expressed displeasure whenever people talked about nobles.

He spoke with blatant contempt, saying that most of the old pride had become rotten trash.

When I felt thirsty, I would drink alcohol while moaning, and then repeat the process of sucking in and exhaling the smoke.

Her senses caught someone coming this way.

Staggering steps. Rough breathing. Violent heartbeat.

Judging by the tremors in the air, it was a man with a beefy build.

The smell that came out was a mixture of strong liquor.

‘…Who is it?’

Seeing the figure clearly heading towards her, Hashal lowered his gaze from the sky and looked at the balcony window.

Soon, the window opened wide and a middle-aged man appeared.

A face that is red and intoxicated.

A body bloated to the point where the fancy formal clothes look comical.

.

The incongruously shiny blonde hair almost made me laugh.

“Huh, you were here as expected. Princess of Kahar…”

There was deep hostility in his shaking voice.

“Do you know me?”

Hashalr asked back coldly.

It was a face I had never seen before.

Even if I look back on the usurper’s memories, I have never met a person like this.

“Gilbert Bernstein. Bernstein’s…the father of Kenneth Bernstein, whom you ruined.”

‘Kenneth?’

“Who is that?”

At the question in Hashall’s voice, Gilbert’s face instantly distorted.