Another Deception

Black withdrew from the inner room and quietly closed the door behind him, waiting in the outer chamber.
Time passed slowly in the silence, every minute stretching unbearably long.

After about half an hour, the inner door was gently pushed open.
Noa stepped out and spoke to Black.

“That memory has been erased.
Her current recollection should stop on the way to Swan Lake.
As for how to explain the missing segment after she wakes up, that will be up to you.”

Black let out a breath of relief and nodded.
“Thank you, my lady.”

Noa waved her hand lightly, signaling that formalities were unnecessary, but her expression turned serious.

“However, at this point, there are a few things you must understand.
What we call ‘memory erasure’ is, in essence, burying the memory deep within the subconscious and sealing it so it cannot be actively recalled.
The memory itself has not disappeared.
If she experiences a sufficiently strong emotional shock, the seal may still loosen.”

She paused briefly before continuing.

“Secondly, the dragonification has only been suspended, not eliminated.
Her condition is already unstable.
Neither you nor I can guarantee that the dragonification will not resume without warning.”

Noa’s gaze sharpened, the weight of her words pressing down heavily.

“Once she fully falls and becomes a Dragon-Corrupted, then no matter how revered she once was as a Saintess, in Her Majesty’s eyes she will only be a dragon threat that must be eliminated.
When that happens, even I may not be able to protect her.”

Black had anticipated this.
He nodded.
“I understand.”

He knew full well that Noa’s intervention today already carried great risk and represented a significant concession.
For an Emperor-Tier Sage, directly eliminating an unstable individual on the verge of dragonification would have been far simpler.

Seeing his solemn expression, Noa knew he had taken her words to heart and slightly softened her tone.

“As for Randolph, over the next few days I will mobilize all of the Dragon-Slaying Guard’s informants to search for his whereabouts.”

After leaving headquarters, Black carried the unconscious Kristine to a street along the route from her home to Swan Lake.
He found a tavern, rented a room, and gently laid her on the bed.

He carefully washed the blood from her hands and lightly covered her with the thin blanket provided by the room.
After finishing, he sat down on the chair by the bed, his gaze resting on the sleeping girl’s face.

The real difficulty lay ahead.
How was he supposed to explain an entire morning that no longer existed?

He did not know how much time passed.

A faint whimper came from the bed.
Kristine’s eyelashes fluttered slightly before she slowly opened her eyes.

Her ruby-like eyes were dazed at first, unfocused.
She turned her head with some effort, her gaze sweeping over the unfamiliar ceiling before settling on Black sitting by the bed.

“…Black?”
Her voice was hoarse.
A moment later, awareness returned and she gasped.

“Ah! Where is this…?
Why am I…?”

She tried to push herself up, but a wave of intense dizziness hit her, and she weakly fell back onto the pillow.

She couldn’t remember.
Her memories felt as though they were shrouded in thick fog.

What she could recall stopped at this morning.
She had been wearing a sky-blue dress, carrying a wicker basket filled with care and anticipation, walking along the road toward Swan Lake with her heart pounding like a startled deer.
The sunlight had been warm, the breeze gentle, and she had silently rehearsed what she wanted to say.

And then… nothing.

Only a vague sense of unease and a hollow emptiness remained.

Seeing her awake, Black leaned forward slightly.
“Awake?”

He deliberately kept his voice calm and natural, picked up a cup from the table beside him, and handed it to her.

“Drink some water first.
I added a bit of calming potion to it.
It should help with the headache and be good for your insomnia.”

“Sleeping potion? Insomnia?”

Kristine took the cup blankly, growing even more confused, her face filled with uncertainty.

“Black, what exactly happened?
I… I remember I was going to Swan Lake to find you, and then I can’t remember anything after that.”

Her questions came one after another, tinged with panic.

Meeting her puzzled gaze, Black showed a perfectly measured look of helplessness.

“I waited for you at Swan Lake for a long time and never saw you.
I got worried, so I retraced the route you might have taken.”

His tone was unhurried, as though he were simply recounting something that had truly happened.

“As a result, I found you collapsed by the tree-lined path some distance away from the lake.
The basket you prepared had fallen over, and the food was scattered everywhere.”

He shifted slightly and pointed toward the corner of the room.

Kristine followed his gesture.

Her wicker basket was there, clearly stained with mud.
The dishes and desserts inside were also dirty, and the bowl that had held the Silver Lily Lotus Soup was completely empty, presumably spilled.

Seen this way, it really did look like she had dropped it.

Kristine suddenly understood.
She trusted Black; he wouldn’t lie to her.

Thinking about it, she had already been exhausted from the Sacred Rite, then stayed up all night choosing clothes, her heart racing nonstop until she ended up sleepless.
Fainting halfway through made sense.

Yet understanding it didn’t stop her heart from tightening when she saw how her entire morning’s effort had turned into such a sorry state.

The confusion over the blank memory was replaced by a sharp wave of sadness.

“How could this happen…”

She murmured softly, her voice trembling.

The romantic invitation she had imagined all night long had ended in humiliation because she fainted halfway there.
All of her careful preparations had come to nothing.

She lowered her head, silver hair falling to obscure most of her face, her shoulders slumping.

Black watched her quietly for a moment.

Then he suddenly stood up, walked over to the basket, and picked up a small biscuit whose edge was still relatively clean.
To Kristine’s astonishment, he put it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed.

“Hey, it tastes pretty good.”

Turning back to her, he gave a thumbs-up and smiled.

“The sweetness is just right, and the texture is nice and soft.
Your cooking is even better than I imagined, Kristine.”

“You—!”

Kristine was stunned and hurriedly protested.

“Stop, stop! It’s dirty, don’t eat it!
If you want some, I—I can make it again!”

Flustered and embarrassed, a bit of color finally returned to her face.

Seeing her attention diverted, Black quietly let out a breath of relief.

Kristine held the cup with both hands and took small sips.
The warm water mixed with the herbal scent slid down her throat, clearing her foggy head somewhat.

She quietly lifted her gaze and looked at Black at such close range.
The lines of the boy’s profile were a little blurred in the dim light, but the calm aura he gave off made her feel inexplicably at ease.

She suddenly thought of the letter.
And of those three words.

I want to see you.

“Black…”
After hesitating for a moment, Kristine spoke softly.

“Mm?”
Black turned his head.

“I received your letter.”
“You wrote to invite me to Swan Lake…
You must have had something important to tell me, right?”