‘My own appearance… Why can’t I remember it?’
Something was wrong; Lillian’s memories were becoming distorted.
She began to recall her life.
Since the moment of her birth, she had been the most precious treasure in her parents’ eyes.
She was loved, cherished like a pearl in one’s palm, and envied by everyone.
She possessed the highest status, the most opulent upbringing, and the most brilliant talent.
At age 4, she had read countless books; at age 6, she could compose essays; at age 9, she participated in political councils; and by age 13, she commanded the court officials.
Her father had long ago entrusted the kingdom to her as regent.
First, because she truly possessed the capability, and second, because her talent was peerless.
She was a natural leader.
Not only was her appearance striking and her intelligence extraordinary, but her charisma was also among the world’s elite.
There was only one thing that only she and her parents knew: she possessed no Mana at all.
As for how they had hidden this until she turned 18, the day of her coronation, that was naturally thanks to the perfect protection provided by the King and Queen.
In truth, Lillian had long since grown weary.
In a world shielded by such artificial lies, she was not happy.
Even as the strongest successor to the strongest ruler since the start of the New Era, she could not find a shred of joy.
She did not fear the lie being exposed; rather, she hated how the entire world seemed to revolve around a fake “Child of Destiny.”
That was who she was.
Because of this, she had yearned desperately for Atiste’s appearance.
Having read countless legends, she longed for that “mysterious person” who had solo-killed the Demon King 500 years ago and vanished with the Demon King’s corpse.
In the legends, he was a terrifying monster who descended upon the world every few years or decades to bring about Calamity.
‘If he appeared, he could surely take me away from such a “hypocritical world”…’
Yet, even so, Lillian still could not remember what she had originally looked like.
On the contrary, while she searched for the answer, her body had already finished its self-reconstruction.
Atiste placed a mirror in front of her.
This time, she could clearly see her reflection.
She wore a magnificent outfit with a black base accented by white ruffles, a skirt of layered white gauze, deep purple silk stockings, and black high heels adorned with bows.
Her face had become even more beautiful and lovely — so much so that Lillian’s first instinct was to doubt it was her.
The crown atop her head had also changed into a silver-black Thorn Crown.
However, the magic wand in her hand had vanished.
In short, the person in the mirror seemed to be her, yet also was not.
her hair had become smoother, and her expression appeared more spirited.
The aura of “indifference” that had once resided in her soul had dissipated.
It was no wonder she couldn’t remember her former self; this “reconstructed body” before her was clearly much purer.
“Is this… me?”
Lillian asked the mirror.
Atiste immediately denied it.
“No, this isn’t you. The real you is already dead. Now, you are my work of art — an eternal object reshaped by the Crystal of Myriad Splendor.”
“Then what is this throbbing in my heart?”
Atiste stood beside Lillian, entering the mirror’s frame as well.
Atiste’s proximity caused Lillian’s heart to race.
He placed his hand on her shoulder, drawing their distance even closer.
In the mirror, Lillian’s cheeks grew flushed; she felt as though she was losing her composure.
“Do not be anxious. Every reaction you have is merely your original soul controlling this vessel,”
Atiste explained.
“Conversely, as your soul merges into this ‘eternal body,’ your soul also becomes its vessel. You and eternity are now inseparable.”
“How can… such a thing be?”
Lillian could hardly believe it.
“Admittedly, you appear ‘alive’ right now, but you are effectively no different from a chair.”
“It doesn’t matter. My thoughts remain, my soul remains, and most importantly, my admiration for Master Atiste remains.”
Atiste showed no reaction to her words.
In his eyes, Lillian was nothing more than a “work of art.”
“Master Atiste, in my eyes, you are magnificent. You are my idol.”
“Discard those superfluous emotions. You are now my property; you only need to obey my every command.”
“Yes, Master Atiste.”
Lillian was willing to be completely subservient to him because he had shattered her “boring” former life.
She had thought her entire existence would remain that way forever.
“That reminds me, where did that girl Eileen go?”
Lillian spoke without a hint of emotion.
“I don’t know. I was captured by you two and then killed. I don’t even know where this place is.”
“Good. That’s exactly the reaction I want. You are becoming more perfect.”
With that, Atiste expanded his Mana Perception Domain but found no trace of Eileen’s Mana within the fortress.
He left Lillian there and teleported to the exterior of the fortress.
He searched again, but Eileen was nowhere to be found in the vicinity.
[System Notification: All high-energy targets near the Host have disappeared. Re-scanning Host status.]
Again?
This System always appeared when it wasn’t needed.
This time, Atiste decided not to give it the satisfaction of a response.
His priority was finding the missing Eileen.
Atiste began to worry.
‘She wouldn’t have actually run away from home and decided never to come back, would she?’
Though she had thrown tantrums like this before, she had never truly vanished like today.
[Current mood of Host detected: Perplexed]
[In the spirit of providing humanitarian service, this System shall resolve the Host’s troubles]
‘Hoh, what’s this about? Might as well give it a try.’
“System, my maid is missing. Can you help me find her?”
[Request received. System is searching…]
[Search complete. Is the person you are looking for named: Reina?]
‘Fine, I shouldn’t have expected anything from this System.’
[Reina’s Personal Information:]
Age: 19
Hobby: Swordsmanship
Class: Hero
Current Level: Awakened One
Atiste no longer wanted to deal with this piece of junk System; it had never been reliable.
However, the name “Reina” sounded familiar.
It was very close to the name of the Hero from 500 years ago, Reiner, though the gender didn’t match.
[Current Location: Underground Magic Cave — floor two]
[Current Status: Near death]
Atiste had no intention of caring about such irrelevant information.
[Would the Host like to go and provide rescue?]
The System interface popped up with [Yes] and [No (If the Hero dies, this Worldline will collapse)].
‘What does the Worldline have to do with this?’
Still, Atiste didn’t think the System was merely being alarmist.
Since this System was hit-or-miss and unpredictable, what if it actually decided to be useful for this specific choice?
Having finally crafted a perfect work of art like Lillian, Atiste didn’t want to fast-forward straight to the end of the world.
He could only grit his teeth and press [Yes].
[Main Quest accepted. Initiating mission countdown.]
[Time remaining until Hero’s death: 5:00 minutes]
Atiste froze.
‘There’s a death countdown too?’
Completely ignoring Atiste’s internal complaints, the timer on the System screen began to tick down.
In 5 minutes, the Hero would die, and the world might head toward collapse.
Atiste couldn’t help but sigh.
He never expected that someone as invincible as himself would one day have to work for a System.
He had to hurry.
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