Chapter 5
Charlot couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind Ruslan’s words.
What exactly did he plan to do with that girl? And what did it have to do with achieving immortality?
Her first thought was of religious rituals unique to some minority cultures, and a dreadful suspicion crossed her mind.
“You’re not planning to offer her as a living sacrifice, are you?”
“You misunderstand magic. Magic is the theory of aura manipulation, not some matter of faith.”
Ruslan closed the lid of the box.
“The human body inevitably ages and decays. The common notion of immortality halts this process, but Ifenya’s discovery is different. It involves a technique to transfer the soul—the vessel of one’s aura—to a new body.”
“Transfer… you mean, into that girl?”
“Extract the soul. Implant it in a new body. You could think of it as possession, if that helps.”
It sounded like something only fraudulent mystics would talk about. Charlot felt she could barely keep up with this cascade of unreal concepts.
So, he meant to replace her current body with that of the blonde girl.
There had been a reason the secrets of this destroyed kingdom had remained buried. If the former Emperor had ever obtained such a forbidden technique, the results would have been catastrophic.
“…You really think I’m someone worth reviving through such drastic measures?”
Could it be that she held enough value to justify bringing her back through this forbidden magic?
Charlot herself wasn’t even sure. She was, after all, a notorious villainess who had ended countless lives and allegedly plotted to kill the Empress. While the latter accusation was false, the former was true, regardless of her intent.
Ruslan laughed as though her question amused him.
“The Second Prince—found dead in his residence after being placed under house arrest for embezzlement. The Sixth Princess—invited by her youngest sibling and found mysteriously dead in her own bath. The First Princess—beheaded on the spot while trying to eliminate her rivals at a ball. These are just the cases we know for sure. Assassinating royal family members was your specialty, wasn’t it?”
“So, I’m here because I’m well-suited for executions?”
“Then tell me, do you feel nothing for the Emperor who left you in this state?”
He’d hit a nerve. If anyone wanted revenge, it was certainly her.
“You mean to say we should join hands against the Emperor, bound by our mutual grudge?”
“For someone like you, it has to be a straightforward alliance of interests.”
Ruslan lifted his gaze, looking around the crumbling palace.
Outside the ruins, dawn was giving way to morning. Light seeped through cracks in the ceiling, illuminating his dark hair with a faint silver glow.
“The one who destroyed this palace is long dead. The kingdom… even if it were restored, would be nothing but fragments of a foreign land I’ve never known. Even my late mother cared more about survival than reclaiming a lost throne.”
He turned back to Charlot.
“But it’s different when it concerns my benefactor. Grand Duke Licht saved my mother and me when we were wandering the snowy mountains. …I couldn’t call myself human if I didn’t avenge him.”
Charlot remained silent.
She didn’t know why the Emperor had killed the Grand Duke, but given the attempt to disguise it as a sudden death, it had likely been a covert assassination. In such cases, the motive was almost always the same.
The Emperor must have felt threatened by the Grand Duke’s position, just as he had once felt about his elder brothers. He had probably eliminated him for that reason. Once, this would have been a task he’d have entrusted to Charlot. Now that she was imprisoned, he had been forced to seek other methods. The thought of Albert having to devise new strategies, deprived of her services, left her with mixed feelings.
“There happens to be one more person eager to avenge the Grand Duke.”
Ruslan gestured toward the box.
“This girl was originally a maid serving my adoptive sister. My stepmother had rescued her from a difficult life in another household.”
Charlot thought suddenly of her own mother, long deceased.
“My sister is still young, and the North’s resources are focused on protecting the Grand Duchess. The region is severely lacking in military strength. Aside from you, the former consort of the Emperor and a prisoner of the Ice Prison, there was no one else.”
Ruslan lowered himself slowly, bringing his gaze level with hers.
He had explained the situation in full. Now he waited for her decision.
Charlot swallowed, clenching and unclenching her fists.
Her legs, still useless, felt like dead weight. Every time she attempted to channel her aura, the damaged pathways sent waves of pain throughout her body.
This body could no longer serve her.
Even she could admit it, so to this man, her condition must have been glaringly obvious. Without such an extraordinary means, he would never have approached her in the first place.
The thought of transferring her soul was so surreal that it almost felt easy to accept. She found the idea of discarding this broken and painful shell oddly appealing.
So her decision boiled down to whether she could trust him or not.
Was his intent as genuine as it seemed?
“Is the girl… is she dead? Did she take her own life?”
“To prepare her body as a vessel, she took a poison. A potion that induces a death-like sleep.”
“How do I know you didn’t force her to take it?”
Charlot looked up, narrowing her eyes.
He could have used no coercion at all. But if he had persuaded her with kind words, this girl might have mistaken it for her own will, thinking she had sacrificed herself willingly. Charlot knew such tactics better than anyone.
But Ruslan only smiled faintly.
“That’s reassuring.”
“What is?”
“If you’d accepted this offer too readily, I would have killed you on the spot.”
He smiled coldly as he spoke.
“I can’t afford to align myself with someone so blinded by gain that they’d ignore the risks of an uncertain magic. The world may call you a villainess, but it seems you have a bit of compassion, even for a mere maid.”
“…”
“Think about it logically. If I had truly coerced her, I wouldn’t have chosen someone like her. I would have selected a body that could make the most of your combat skills.”
He had a point. The girl in the box was slender, with hands that looked more accustomed to a kitchen knife than a sword.
“But she was the only one willing to take this gamble. I respected her courage and decided to bring the forbidden magic of my homeland to life. This magic of immortality, sealed away out of ethical concerns!”
The young man, claiming to be a prince of a fallen kingdom, looked at her, his intense, crimson-like eyes shining. The fire of his gaze reached her.
“This is a domain that no human has ever conquered. Even I, as the last child of these palace ruins, can’t guarantee the outcome!”
His fierce gaze pressed her for a decision.
“What about you, Charlot Morden? If your desire for revenge is enough to risk it, then answer me!”
As his voice echoed off the broken walls, Charlot clutched her chest.
Her frail body trembled painfully in response to the rush of excitement. Amid the aches and chills, memories of her brilliant past swept over her like waves.
The days when the man she had loved stood by her side, when she and her trusted allies shared dreams of a better future.
When she had foolishly believed that even a small band of misfits from the countryside could accomplish something great.
If she accepted this impossible offer, as he described, it would mean leaving behind the body she had known since birth—the body that had once mingled with theirs.
Charlot was overwhelmed by a profound sense of silence in the ruins. Within the echoing stillness, a strange, heated sensation lodged in her throat. She couldn’t tell if it was sorrow or a tremor of anticipation.
“And if I refuse?”
“…That would be unfortunate. I wouldn’t let you go. As the Emperor’s former close ally, I’d keep you under house arrest and ask for your cooperation as an informant.”
“You wouldn’t kill me?”
“Your knowledge is too valuable.”
His tone was purely pragmatic.
He didn’t sugarcoat his words. He didn’t offer her any pity for what she’d endured.
Oddly enough, his practical approach made her trust him more.
Letting go of her chest, she steadied her trembling hand. Whether from the chill of the ruins or something deeper, she shivered. But she didn’t hesitate in her choice.
Charlot slowly placed her hand on the box.
Making up her mind, she opened the lid in a single, swift motion. She gazed at the girl lying peacefully with her hands folded, her closed lips bearing a trace of resolute determination.
She looked up at Ruslan.
“I’ll do it.”
The moment she spoke, Ruslan clasped her hand.
“You’ll kill the Emperor?”
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand me. You just happen to be on my path. The Emperor and everyone under him—they were always mine to destroy!!”
Years of loyalty, five lost years of betrayal, none of it could be forgiven unless paid in blood.
Ruslan let his hair fall over his forehead as he chuckled.
“With that much resolve, I’m reassured. Then let’s begin.”
“If it fails… will I die?”
“I’m staking my own life on this as much as yours, so don’t worry.”
For the first time, his tone softened.
It seemed the magic had already started. As he raised his hand, a faint aura hummed through the abandoned palace. The patterns on the floor glowed, as if activated by some force.
“Close your eyes. It will be over when you open them again.”
Charlot lowered her eyelids. As the warmth of his breath and the closeness of his body enveloped her, she recalled the moment he’d transferred his aura to her.
Just as she expected, their lips met. This time, she thought he seemed clumsy, and then, with a sudden pull, her consciousness was swept away.
She felt as if she were floating, like in a dream of flight, her mind reeling as though she’d been struck or intoxicated.
Unknown memories flooded her mind like a tidal wave.
A dark room in a secluded mansion. Ruslan sat on the other side. Through the eyes of someone else, Charlot watched him.
“I heard it from Lady Dorothea. The Grand Duke didn’t die naturally. He must have been poisoned by someone. That’s what she told you at the cemetery on the day of the funeral.”
“…As a maid, there’s nothing good in knowing such things. Leave.”
“Please, my lord! Without the Grand Duke, I would’ve ended up in ruin… If there’s anything a maid like me can do, I’m willing to give my life! My face, my body—I despise them, but I’m sure they can be of use somewhere!”
In that instant, Charlot realized.
Ah, these are her memories.
The memories of the body Charlot would now inhabit.
A clear and noble resolve resonated within her. It struck her that she, the villainess Charlot, would be taking over the life of someone so pure.
But then again, she would no longer be Charlot Morden. Her freckled, broken-kneed body was now nothing more than a discarded shell.
From this point on, she would be…
She opened her eyes.
She lay on an unfamiliar bed. The softness of the sheets and the luxurious canopy were strange, a far cry from anything she’d experienced in years.
A sense of recognition, like deja vu, trickled into her mind, filling her with knowledge of this place. Though she’d never been here, she somehow knew it.
This was the residence of Grand Duke Licht in the North.
She was in Count Kaitel’s private bedroom.
She tried to channel her aura. Her core was unrefined, as though she’d never trained it, but her energy pathways were smooth, absorbing and circulating air easily.
Slowly, she bent her legs. They moved painlessly, light and agile.
“…Juju.”
She murmured the name of this new body.
The soul that had once been Charlot would now live on as Juju.
She rose. A thin robe was draped over her, slightly too ornate for a maid’s nightwear. Just then, Ruslan’s voice sounded from beyond the canopy.
“It was worth risking everything. As promised, it’s all done now that you’re awake.”
He was fastening the cuffs of his shirt.
“Your aura control is practically instinctual. As soon as we implanted you into this body, you purged the poison. No further treatment was necessary.”
“Both of your kisses were terrible. It was obvious.”
Ruslan paused, his smile freezing slightly. Charlot—now Juju—remained unfazed.
“Should I be using formal speech with you? Now that I’m a maid, am I supposed to serve you?”
“It’s best if we act as close companions if we’re to be seen together. That’s why I brought you to my room.”
“Close companions?”
Juju echoed the words, and Ruslan responded casually.
“From now on, you’ll be my lover.”
“What?”
#