38. Heart-Stealing Constitution (1)
Knocking Oranha unconscious with a chop to the back of the neck had been an act of pure instinct.
Thud!
After catching Oranha’s collapsing body before it hit the floor and laying him down on the sofa, I turned back toward Kkotseorin.
They were standing there with a blank, devastated expression, one hand clamped over their mouth.
The moment someone made eye contact with a person who bore the trait ［Heart-Stealing Constitution］, their heart would be stolen from that instant onward, and the effects of that curse could never be reversed.
In other words, today, in this very room, Kkotseorin had effectively lost the vassal they cherished most.
“Ah…”
Staring at the unconscious Oranha, Kkotseorin let out a faint sigh.
Whoooooosh…!
Jolt.
Then Oranha’s body suddenly jerked, foam rising at his mouth as a tiny vortex of mana began to form around him, and Kkotseorin hurriedly checked his condition.
They placed a hand on Oranha’s head and let a green light flow into him, only to feel the current of his mana twisting into chaos.
Snap!
Then his upper body sprang upward like a compressed spring and nearly slammed into Kkotseorin, so Baek Yuseol hurriedly pressed him down and stopped him.
“How is he?”
“…Not good. His mana is completely tangled. It’s almost like…”
Kkotseorin, who had almost said mana rampage, swallowed the words.
For a mage, there was no greater humiliation and no worse accident than a mana rampage, a phenomenon in which every last bit of mana within the body burst loose at will and exploded like a bomb.
A person who suffered a mana rampage lost all their mana and could never again live as a mage.
Kkotseorin knew better than anyone how much Oranha loved magic, so they poured in all the mana they could muster, trying desperately to stop it somehow.
‘This is seriously insane.’
Watching Kkotseorin struggle to stop Oranha’s rampage by any means possible, I couldn’t hide my complicated expression.
Hadn’t Oranha been described in the setting as a rather remarkable mage? Under normal circumstances, he would never have been weak enough to get knocked out by a mere hand strike from me.
In the original work, there was a line that appeared often:
‘Those who gaze upon Kkotseorin’s face wither away pining for them.’
But that only applied to ordinary people.
The more accomplished the mage, the longer they could endure Kkotseorin’s curse.
Still, just because they didn’t die of lovesickness didn’t mean they were safe. Their mind would fall into turmoil, the mana within their body would twist, and there was always the possibility of a mana rampage that could drag everyone nearby into disaster.
Oranha had met Kkotseorin’s eyes from an extremely close distance for several seconds, and maybe because of that earlier incident, his mental strength had already been weakened. He was now completely unable to control his own mana.
At least knocking him out had limited the damage to this extent. If I hadn’t, he might have exploded on the spot and brought down every building in the area.
“Haa…”
Cold sweat poured down Kkotseorin’s face as they continued to inject mana, their expression painfully sorrowful as they looked at Oranha.
“I told him again and again not to let anyone come close…”
Why was it that, once again, someone had refused to listen and allowed things to come to this?
But whether Oranha had listened or not, in the end this had happened because of Kkotseorin’s curse, and a heavy lump of guilt settled in their chest.
How was Kkotseorin ever supposed to cast off this burden that only grew heavier and heavier?
Oranha was one of the very few people who gave Kkotseorin any peace of mind, and so all they could feel was bewilderment and resentment toward the way he had suddenly changed today.
If only he had stayed by Kkotseorin’s side as he always had—an aide, a friend, and someone to talk to.
—Your Majesty! Are you alright?!
The royal guards outside had sharply sensed the friction of mana that had erupted in the reception room and shouted from beyond the door.
Kkotseorin hurriedly put on their mask, then suppressed the curse as much as possible by controlling their mana before replying.
“Yes. An emergency patient has appeared, so please come in quickly.”
At that, the door flew open and the royal guards poured inside in a rush, only to freeze in shock.
“T-this is…!”
Because the person collapsed on the floor was none other than the king’s own aide.
As they watched Oranha’s body twitch and creak, unstable mana leaking out between the spasms, the guards hurriedly moved Kkotseorin behind them.
“Your Majesty, please step back first. The aide is unable to control his mana. We are about to transfer him to the Cradle of the Celestial Spirit Tree immediately, and you could be caught in it if you remain here.”
“No. There’s no time to move elsewhere. We must deal with it here at once. And if a full rampage occurs, I will stop it myself.”
“But—”
“Do not make me repeat myself, Captain Limeceril.”
“……My apologies. I will summon the medical staff at once.”
As the members of the knight order rushed to act, Stella’s mages and medical specialists arrived not long after.
On top of that, even saints came running in a crowd, chanting prayers as they began to erect barriers all around the room, sealing off the space entirely.
The barriers were meant to prevent the shockwave from escaping.
But it was useless.
If Oranha, a 6-Class mage, truly underwent a mana rampage… then the force unleashed would be at least at the level of a 7- or 8-Class phenomenon. These flimsy barriers would be shattered with ease.
And with Kkotseorin currently in an extremely weakened state from not receiving the power of the World Tree, there was no leaning on them, either.
“We went to look for Headmaster Eltman Eltwin because it’s an emergency, but his whereabouts are currently unknown. We were told that after the last incident, he disappeared, saying he was ‘taking care of the remaining vermin,’ and there has been no word since…”
“…I see.”
To make matters worse, even Eltman Eltwin had vanished.
“Your Majesty! The mana rampage is growing more violent!”
“Urgh… Everyone, evacuate at once!”
As the situation worsened by the second, I quietly watched Oranha.
There had been incidents like this in the original game too. Talented mages would make the mistake of facing Kkotseorin and then rampage, causing enormous destruction all around them.
To be honest, the game developers had probably prepared those as “events,” but from a gamer’s perspective, they were just annoying and infuriating.
What kind of nonsense was it that the player had to babysit every random extra’s rampage on top of everything else?
And so, the hardened veteran players who hated wasting time on the extras’ mana rampages eventually came to use extreme measures on anyone exposed to Kkotseorin’s curse.
‘Kill them before they rampage.’
A very simple method.
And a very cruel one.
At the moment, though, it was impossible.
No matter how unpleasant Oranha’s actions had been, he was still a vassal deeply favored by Kkotseorin, and there was no way Kkotseorin would allow him to die so easily.
But tragically enough, Oranha would rampage, cause massive damage to the surrounding area, and ultimately die—and that would leave a deep scar in Kkotseorin’s heart.
There was only one method left.
“Your Majesty.”
Baek Yuseol spoke carefully to Kkotseorin, whose face had gone tight with urgency.
“There is one way.”
The best possible way to suppress the mana rampage and completely prevent him from turning into a Black Mage as well.
And it wasn’t a method that only I knew.
It was a method everyone here knew.
“If we strip away his mana… we can save him.”
Wouldn’t it be better to survive, even if stripped of mana, than to die in a rampage?
At those words, everyone present agreed inwardly, though none of them had dared say it out loud.
Because Oranha was the vassal the Elf King Kkotseorin treasured most.
To a mage, magic was like their very arms and legs. To strip away someone’s mana was to inflict a torment worse than having all four limbs severed.
Even if he survived today…
Oranha would likely never be able to live a proper life again.
“……The decision must be made by Your Majesty.”
When even the knight commander, who had been silently waiting, added a word, Kkotseorin’s gaze trembled violently.
Could they really, with their own hands, cripple the vassal they had cherished above all others?
This had happened because of them in the first place—was it truly right to do such a thing?
What if…
What if he came to resent them?
“Ugh…!”
“C-Captain… forgive me, I can’t hold on any longer—khk!”
One by one, the members trying to restrain the mana rampage collapsed.
Captain Limeceril was able to endure only because he was at least a 7-Class mage, but even for him, fully subduing the rampage looked impossible.
Unable to bear the sight of those dear to them falling one after another, Kkotseorin finally shut their eyes, tears welling, and forced themselves to make a decision.
“Please… strip away Oranha’s mana.”
The next day arrived.
A small incident had taken place inside Stella’s main building, but the distinguished guests left for their respective homelands without ever learning of it. The interschool tournament, which had been unusually noisy and filled with accidents and incidents, was now over, and Stella Academy had grown quiet.
Zeliel sat blankly in a first-class hospital room within Stella Academy, staring out the window.
Because of rehabilitation treatment, she had been told not to move around for the time being, and so she had been forced into taking leave.
It had been a deeply disappointing interschool tournament.
To think she had even missed the Magic Survival awards ceremony. She had heard something rather entertaining had happened there, and regretted not seeing it with her own eyes.
Lying in bed, Zeliel stared vacantly out the window.
Her burns had healed quickly. The finest priests from the Holy Kingdom had come in person and poured divine magic over her in great waves, so it would have been stranger if scars had remained.
But the scars on her mind had remained dark and vivid, tormenting her still.
It wasn’t because of the shock of being attacked by a Black Mage.
No…
It was because of a certain “emotion” she had felt at the moment of death.
Emotion was something that had always naturally existed in intelligent life, and yet for some reason, such things had always felt foreign to Zeliel.
She had been so accustomed to performing emotions that she could even deceive her own father, but this might have been almost the first time she had ever truly felt one.
Even now, when she thought back on that moment, she could remember it with perfect clarity—
Baek Yuseol’s black eyes, darker and clearer than the night sky itself.
With that gaze, glittering as though it contained the cosmos, he had saved her.
‘Why?’
The first question fell into the lake and sent out ripples. Those tiny waves struck the shore and returned, creating still more questions.
‘Didn’t Baek Yuseol hate me?’
Baek Yuseol knew her well.
Excruciatingly well.
Otherwise, why would he have set such horrific conditions through the Oath of Mana?
‘Did he let me live… so I could taste even more unbearable pain?’
If he had saved her for that reason, then he had to be even more deranged than she was.
“My lady. I brought strawberries.”
The hospital room door opened, and her bodyguard, Seong Taewon, stepped inside.
Strawberries were the only fruit Zeliel truly liked, so whenever something unpleasant happened, he would bring them even without being asked.
“Thank you.”
Zeliel put on a mask.
A mask called a smile.
If she smiled like this, the people beneath her would be delighted.
And yet—
“…My apologies. It seems the strawberries do not suit your taste very well today.”
“What? No, I like them. Why would you say that?”
“Well…”
Seong Taewon stole a cautious glance at her before speaking carefully.
“You don’t seem to be in very good spirits today, my lady…”
She hurriedly touched her own face.
Why?
For some reason, she had failed to put on the “smile” mask.
No matter how hard she tried to smile, the expression would not form.
Forcing her voice into calmness, Zeliel replied,
“I’m just… a little tired.”
“I understand.”
“Has all of my luggage been packed?”
Because of the Oath of Mana, she could no longer see her father now—but Zeliel would not stop.
With no time to lose if she wanted to save him, she could not afford to halt simply because a minor obstacle had appeared in her path.
‘Once I save Father properly, I can smile and see him again someday in the future.’
So for the sake of that day, she would bury her current emotions deep inside.
“If everything is ready, then let’s head back as well.”
“Yes. I will call for the private aircraft.”
Seong Taewon bowed his head and turned to leave the room, then suddenly stopped and spoke as though something had just occurred to him.
“Ah, and that stone fragment that was in your private room.”
“What? Was there something like that?”
After thinking for a moment, she remembered it. Some time ago, after concluding the Oath of Mana, Baek Yuseol had handed her some absurd stone fragment as a so-called gift and then left.
Ridiculous.
For him to present that kind of trash as a gift to Zeliel, the richest person in the world, was itself an act of disrespect.
“Throw it away.”
Zeliel gave the order without a second thought…
But Seong Taewon, looking troubled, began to explain hesitantly.
“Well… while I was sorting through your belongings, I got personally curious and briefly showed it to one of Stella’s archaeologists.”
“What did you say? How dare you touch my belongings—”
No matter how worthless the object was, it still crossed a line. Zeliel was just about to reprimand him.
But before she could, Seong Taewon hurriedly continued.
“As it turns out, the results were something I believe even you would find extremely interesting. They said that stone fragment is actually part of an ‘Ancient Carmenset Stele’!”
“…What?”
At that moment,
Zeliel’s thought process came to a complete stop.
“W-what… did you just say…?”
“There is no mistake. Even Stella’s archaeologist was so shocked that he brought in other researchers and used special equipment to examine it properly, and they all confirmed it was a Carmenset stele fragment!”
Ancient Carmenset.
Wasn’t that…
the very thing Zeliel had spent her entire life searching for in order to save her father?
And now it had suddenly appeared here?
And by Baek Yuseol’s hand?
“Ah…”
The strength drained from Zeliel’s legs. Unable to think at all, she simply sank back down onto the hospital bed.
She needed…
just a little more time to think.
