Side Story 2: The Story of Jean Emilia
Chapter 7
Emilia, after hearing the full story from Gran, rushed down to the basement.
“What…! What nonsense! Why would Jean make something like that! It doesn’t even exist! It’s impossible to create!”
She was breathless, her chest tight. A chilling sensation ran through her body, her hands trembling.
Betrayal. But she didn’t know who she felt betrayed by.
Gran, who had married her to keep an eye on her?
Jean, who was still keeping the basement sealed with a barrier?
Her master, who knew everything but hadn’t told her anything?
His Majesty the Emperor, who had bestowed upon them worthless medals and a rotten territory, and was now trying to discard them?
“…Jean.”
The central part of the basement was still sealed with a barrier, but Emilia didn’t hesitate and tore it apart.
A foul stench assaulted her senses the moment the barrier was broken.
‘The same smell as Mother…’
It was the smell of death, a smell she had become accustomed to on the battlefields.
Emilia carefully stepped inside. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been down here. It felt like a lifetime ago.
A sticky liquid clung to her shoes with every step she took. It hadn’t been like this when Jean had first built his workshop in the basement. Emilia felt a shiver run down her spine, as if she had entered the belly of a beast.
Jean was at the very back of the cave. Emilia’s pace quickened as she spotted a human figure for the first time since entering the cave.
“Jean…!”
“Emilia.”
Jean greeted her with a smile, as if he had been expecting her.
Emilia felt a sense of relief, seeing his face, identical to hers. His face, at least, hadn’t changed. Hers hadn’t either.
But her smile quickly faded as she saw “it” standing next to him.
“…What have you done?”
“It” vaguely resembled a “ribbon.” But Emilia knew instinctively that it wasn’t a mere “ribbon.”
“…Did you… turn the divine beast into a chimera?”
Emilia asked, her voice trembling with a desperate plea. Jean remained calm, despite her sister’s anguish.
“Yes, I turned the divine beast of Crimea into a chimera.”
“…Why?”
She wasn’t angry, she just felt drained. Emilia clutched her stomach and collapsed to the ground. Jean looked at her with cold eyes and asked,
“Did Master tell you?”
“…No, Gran did.”
“Gran… Was he in cahoots with the Emperor?”
It wasn’t surprising, as Gran’s family had always been close to the Emperor. But it had been a mistake for the Emperor to choose a fool like Gran.
Emilia, clutching her stomach, stood up and grabbed Jean’s arm.
“Let’s run away, Jean.”
Her brows furrowed.
The elixir of immortality couldn’t be created. He had even turned the divine beast of Crimea, the Emperor’s last hope, into a mere chimera. The Emperor was going to die, and the Imperial Family would execute them for stealing his lifespan. They were no longer needed.
“….”
Jean stared at her silently. He slowly removed her hand from his arm.
“No.”
Emilia’s hand hung in the air, empty. Her blank eyes reflected his face, identical to hers, yet so different.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
“!”
Emilia instinctively clutched her stomach.
“…I know, Master told me.”
“Jean… I…”
Emilia lowered her head, unable to speak.
“If I run away with you, I’ll have to take care of you and your child, won’t I?”
“….”
His eyes narrowed.
“Emilia, you’re too much of a burden.”
Year 28 of the Imperial Calendar.
In the middle of winter, the snow falling heavily.
The elixir of immortality hadn’t appeared, and the Emperor was dead.
The Imperial Knights, following the late Emperor’s last will, surrounded the Lopetrefer mansion.
“What are we going to do…? What are we going to do?!”
Gran screamed, tearing at his hair. Only Emilia, Gran, and their newborn baby, not even a hundred days old, were left in the mansion.
The servants who had been working at the mansion had all been dismissed by Emilia before the Emperor’s death.
Emilia watched the Imperial Knights surrounding the mansion from the window.
Jean was gone. He had run away with the divine beast chimera. But she didn’t blame him. It was the best choice he could have made in his situation.
“Emilia! Use your magic to defeat the Knights!”
Gran shouted, but Emilia remained silent.
“Emilia! Emilia! Are you listening to me?! Are you trying to die?!”
“It’s not that simple.”
If Emilia attacked the Knights, it would literally be the start of a war. And if a war started, Lohn would most likely be devastated. She remembered Crimea, scarred by war.
‘…I can’t let that happen to Lohn.’
This was her country, her city, a land filled with people she loved.
She could have escaped Lohn with her child, even after being rejected by Jean. But she hadn’t run away for the same reason.
Love was like a curse.
She had come to love everything about Lohn, even though it had hurt her and driven her away.
“Ugh…!”
At that moment, Gran’s hand tightened around her neck. Emilia, lifted off the ground, struggled, her legs kicking in the air.
“You’re going to save those bastards who are trying to kill us, over your family…? You’re crazy. Both you and your brother are crazy!”
“Ugh…”
Gran let out a chilling laugh.
“Hehe… I’ll sacrifice you and save myself, at least. Mother will be worried about me.”
Emilia grabbed his hand, her nails digging into his skin, trying to weaken his grip, but it was no use.
She could have easily incapacitated him with a little magic power.
But she didn’t. She hated Gran with all her being, but she couldn’t bring herself to harm him, let alone kill him.
‘… Guilt…? …I don’t know. I don’t know, Master…’
— Waaaaah!
The baby’s cries suddenly came from the other room. Emilia’s mind snapped back to reality.
“…Emilia, do you want to see our child die? Hmm?”
Gran, sensing her change, loosened his grip and tried to reason with her.
“Our child, our baby… We have to save our baby, at least. Are you going to let our baby die? Hmm? Emilia…!”
He shook her shoulders. But Emilia just lowered her gaze, unable to give him the answer he wanted.
“Y-you… You…!”
Gran, his patience running out, raised his fist. But that was as far as he got. A white magic bullet pierced his chest.
Gran’s body slumped forward, collapsing against her. Emilia stared blankly at the blurry figure behind him.
“Jean…”
She thought she was hallucinating. Jean couldn’t be here. He had already abandoned the mansion and run away.
Jean slowly approached her. Snow was still falling heavily outside the window.
“Sister.”
Jean knelt down on one knee and met her eyes. He gently stroked her hair.
His expression was the complete opposite of when he had coldly rejected her in the basement.
“You’re not Jean or Emilia anymore, you’re the Duke Lopetrefer.”
The room was dark, and the wind blew in through the open window. The candlelight flickered and died, and the candlestick fell to the floor, rolling away.
“I want to… go back to the hut… one more time…”
Jean, after saying those words, collapsed to the ground.
“Jean…? Jean…! Jean!”
Emilia shook his limp body, her tears flowing freely.
“Jean, wake up… Please…!”
At that moment, she heard the sound of a small glass bottle rolling across the floor. She looked up, and the divine beast chimera she had seen a year ago was standing there, silently watching her. Like a judge, here to pass judgment on her.
Emilia picked up the bottle that had rolled towards her. A colorless liquid was shimmering inside.
‘The elixir of immortality…’
She instinctively looked down.
“….”
Two men were lying at her feet. Her husband on one side, her brother on the other. The Imperial Knights were still outside, waiting to kill her.
The wind blew again. Emilia’s long, dark hair, the color of the night sky, swayed like a dancer.
Her lips parted. And then, she clasped her trembling hands together. It was her turn to choose.
Spring, Year 29 of the Imperial Calendar.
“You’re finally awake.”
Jean opened his eyes in Karina’s mansion.
He stared at the chandelier above him, taking a deep breath. He still couldn’t believe it, he fidgeted with his hands, he touched his cheeks.
“…Why am I alive?”
Had the plan failed?
He slowly sat up. Karina was sitting in a chair next to the bed. She sighed deeply, then picked up a hand mirror from the table and handed it to him.
“See for yourself.”
Jean, taking the mirror, couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Emilia gave you the elixir.”
Karina mumbled.
His black hair and black eyes were gone from the reflection.
His hair and eyes were now a dazzlingly bright color.
It reminded him of the divine beast of Crimea’s fur.
“You really did create the elixir of immortality.”
Karina said, her voice filled with anger.
“What were you thinking?”
As she had said, Jean had been unable to resist his curiosity and had created the elixir of immortality. And then, he had made a promise to the divine beast chimera that he would carry the elixir with him, so no one else could use it.
“It seems like it gave it to Emilia.”
Jean mumbled to himself. But Karina still had something to say.
“That day, after Emilia gave you the elixir, the Knights who had been surrounding the Lopetrefer mansion suddenly returned to the Imperial Palace.”
“….”
“And from the next day on, the person named Jean Lopetrefer Kel ceased to exist.”
“….”
“No one remembered Jean, except for me and Emilia. Not even the servants in my mansion.”
Karina gripped his shoulders tightly.
“Jean… You overwrote their memories. You tried to erase yourself from the world, even at the cost of your life.”
Jean had tried to protect Emilia by making himself a non-entity. But his efforts had been in vain, as Emilia had chosen to save him.
“Why didn’t you run away with Emilia?”
Jean looked out the window, his gaze distant. He could see the divine beast chimera in the garden. It was napping peacefully. The sight was so serene that he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Because Emilia truly loves this place.”
He had known that her happiness was in living in Lohn, not in running away with him. So he had killed Gran and himself, the two biggest obstacles in her life.
Karina, after a moment of silence, asked the question that had been bothering her,
“Jean, only you and Emilia remember you in this world. Did you adjust the spell so that it would be like that?”
“…No, of course not. It was a spell I wasn’t even sure would work, even at the cost of my life. Erasing myself from the entire world… I was crazy.”
“Then… how did this happen?”
Karina, her chin resting on her hand, pondered the strange phenomenon. Jean, watching her, chuckled.
“It might be a curse.”
“Huh?”
“Master, you might be cursed to remember me.”
“…I see.”
“Yes.”
It was an absurd boast that the usual Jean would never have made. But Karina, instead of arguing, just laughed along with him. A curse to remember you. That wasn’t so bad.
“Master, what’s going to happen to me now?”
Jean touched his brightly shining hair.
“Well, you’re a non-entity who suddenly came back to life, so you can stay here and live with a new name. It wouldn’t be bad to become a Yermel. The genius mage Jean Yermel. It has a nice ring to it.”
Jean chuckled at his joke.
“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t belong here. You know that.”
“Then?”
Jean thought for a moment, then answered slowly,
“I have to leave. To another place.”
Jean, at Karina’s request to see Emilia one last time, entered the Lopetrefer mansion for the first time in a long time.
“Who are you…?!”
The servants panicked, not recognizing the second master of the mansion. A mint-haired beauty had somehow entered the mansion, even though the guards were clearly at the gate.
Jean felt a little awkward, even though it was a path he had chosen.
Jean Lopetrefer Kel no longer existed in this mansion.
“Jean.”
The only one who remembered him slowly descended the grand staircase of the entrance hall. She had thought it was Jean the moment she heard the servants report an intruder in the mansion.
She dismissed the servants with a gesture and hugged Jean tightly.
“Emilia.”
“Jean, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lose you.”
“…No, thank you for saving me.”
Emilia cupped his cheeks and gazed at her brother’s face. His eyes, a different color than hers, were filled with warmth.
“…If you’re leaving, take my name with you, Jean.”
“Huh?”
“I’m no longer Jean or Emilia, I’m the Duke Lopetrefer. You, who are no longer a Lopetrefer… can be Jean or Emilia.”
“….”
Her absurd logic easily convinced him. Emilia smiled and stroked his hair.
“So use my name… Jean Emilia. That’s your name now.”
“…Okay.”
“…Jean, I have one favor to ask.”
Emilia said with a resolute expression.
“Even if I die, don’t forget me. Even if you forget the Lopetrefer family, don’t forget my children… And be happy. Until the end of the world.”
Jean Emilia would probably never forget her earnest voice. Because it was the first request he had ever received.
He reminisced about the distant past, a time he couldn’t even pinpoint. What year, what month, what day was it today? Time only flowed slowly for him.
Jean, who had been Jean, then Jean Lopetrefer Kel, then Jean Emilia, had returned to the small hut.
He opened the door, his bag in hand, and the high priest, who had been lying on the bed, rushed towards him.
“Jean, Jean!”
He had somehow followed him all the way here, even though he had thought his life as an experimental subject was all he had. He wasn’t a bad roommate, he took care of Michaela and did the chores.
“Where are you going?”
The high priest, his hand trembling, grabbed his arm and wouldn’t let go.
“I’ll be back. Take care of Michaela while I’m gone.”
Jean said, instead of revealing his destination. Michaela, who had been playing in the yard, was fast asleep, exhausted.
Michaela, now walking, was becoming more and more active, and both he and the high priest felt like they were doing manual labor every day.
“Hmph, is Michaela your kid?”
Jean smirked at the high priest, who was glaring at him.
“She’s not my kid, she’s going to be my disciple.”
“Seriously! Anyway! Where are you going?!”
The high priest ruffled his hair, frustrated. After observing him for a few years, he seemed to be the type who needed a lot of affection. Well, that was probably why he had created a cult in the first place.
“I received a request. I’m going to take care of it.”
“A request? You said you didn’t need to take any more requests because you had received so much money from Marie.”
“…I did, but this client is special.”
Jean took out the envelope he had been carrying inside his clothes. The sender’s name was written on it:
[From the Karina Magic Formula Theory Research Guild. Your disciple, Olim.]
“…You had a disciple?”
The high priest clung to him and stared at the envelope, asking anxiously. He must have been afraid of being abandoned. But he didn’t have the courage to ask to see the letter.
“Think what you want.”
Jean said casually, putting the envelope back inside his clothes.
“How long will you be gone?”
“It’ll take a few days just to get there without Rem… A few months, maybe. But I’ll be back within six months.”
It had been a while since he had parted ways with the divine beast chimera, Rem. He wondered how it was doing. It was a picky eater.
“Six months?! …Sigh, how am I supposed to take care of Michaela by myself?”
The high priest mumbled to himself, resigned.
Michaela. She’s not a Lopetrefer anymore either. We may have forgotten about the Lopetrefer family, but your blood is still here.
“Ten… your follower, is living next door. Ask her for help.”
The high priest’s face turned pale at the mention of her name.
“To think I would meet my former follower… Ten… here…”
Ten, after leaving Lohn, had returned to her hometown and become a baker. And her hometown happened to be this remote mountain village. He had never imagined they would be from the same village.
“She still calls you ‘High Priest.’”
Another strange thing was that Ten still called the high priest “High Priest.” The brainwashing must have worn off, but she seemed to be used to the title.
But the high priest, not at all happy about their reunion, shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself.
“She calls me ‘High Priest,’ but she curses me out.”
“Hahaha!”
He was an annoying guy, but he was fun to be around.
“Send a letter to the Yermel count family if anything happens.”
“Yermel? The Yermel in the capital? You’re going to the capital?!”
“Hahaha! Maybe.”
Jean laughed at him and left.
He whistled.
It was a beautiful day.
He felt like playing hide-and-seek.