Chapter 122 – Therapy
#122.
In front of the penthouse on the top floor of the hotel. Gaon spoke to Chorin one more time before going inside.
“Wait a little. I’ll call you when things go well.”
When he said it as if he were trustworthy, Chorin took it lightly and instead gave her advice under the guise of worrying her.
“Yes, I’m fine, so should Gaon be careful? Mr. Gaon is a little more insensitive than the others, so he might make mistakes.”
“… Are you saying you don’t care?”
When Gaon, who did not think she was conscious at all, reacted rather sensitively, Chorin smiled softly as if she was cute and stroked her heart as if to comfort her.
“Oh, it’s not like that. Anyway, it’s a sensitive topic, so take care.”
Gaon sent a stinging glance at Chorin, but she passed it off without any damage, armed with a smile.
‘They look at me because they’re pretty.’
He muttered to himself and then said.
“Well, I see. Hayeon is waiting for you too.”
“Don’t worry about me, Master!”
“Okay then let’s go.”
After saying hello to Hayeon, Gaon moved on. After turning the corner and crossing the spacious interior, Gaon arrived in front of the balcony, opened the door, and headed inside.
Priscilla, who was watching the night view at the sound of the door opening, met his eyes with hers. Looking at the beautiful eyes reminiscent of dawn, Gaon lowered his head.
“Long time no see. It’s only been a week, right?”
“… It’s like I promised you the other day. I hope you bring me information that will not disappoint me.”
“Of course.”
I suppress the agitation of emotions as much as possible, but even so, the emotions that can not be suppressed are conveyed intact through the eyes. To live up to that expectation, Gaon put his butt right across and opened his mouth.
“I hope you weren’t too surprised.”
“I hear it and then judge it.”
“First of all, I have to tell you the direction of the first investigation. I started thinking about who would benefit the most from the wagon overturning accident. And the answer came out easier than I thought.”
“No way…”
She is a woman who suddenly stitches the Count’s side before a month has passed since the carriage overturned. And soon after, she embraced the seed and conceived it, putting her position in jeopardy.
Priscilla could hardly think of anyone else but her.
“Yes. The second wife, who recently returned, is the target. As I focused on digging into it, information came out.”
“Is that true… ? Uh, how… !”
“Calm down. I’ll keep talking. Anyway, after digging around like that, I found out that the second lady stopped by the Barrymore estate before meeting with the Count. Actually, he said he was going to work at a bar a bit far from the main street.”
“Alcohol… House.”
Priscilla tightened her hands. Her emotions were evident in her trembling shoulders and her contorted expression.
Her resentment at the fact that a mere bar girl approached her count, and her self-doubt at having been knocked out by such a woman and in her precarious position, mixed into her muddled mess, Priscilla easily stirred her up. Couldn’t calm down.
As Gaon watched her silently, Priscilla closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, then raised her head and said,
“Go ahead, tell me. So what happened?”
“… I did some research on the bar. And I accidentally found out about the secret of the madam there.”
“If it’s a secret… ?”
“That madam was a demon. He was a doppelganger among them.”
“A demon? Doppelganger? No, nonsense!”
Unexpectedly, Priscilla stuttered her words with her shocked face. She shook her head at the unbelievable fact and tried to deny his words, but Gaon continued.
“But it is true. I already have doppelgangers in my ally’s lair. Would you like to go check it now?”
Priscilla understood it only when she met Gaon’s eyes as he stared straight at her without wavering.
‘It’s real.’
The fact that her demons were behind her son’s death made her feel indescribable.
Priscilla urged Gaon with her quivering eyes.
“As you know, a doppelganger takes over a person’s brain and steals their body. I joined forces with the party to capture the madam, and immediately got information about the second wife. What was revealed was astonishing. It is said that the king of her doppelgangers gave her instructions to devour this estate of hers. Catch a woman who is good at seducing men. The woman who became her doppelgänger in that way had a chance meeting with her countess and was accepted as her concubine.”
“… If so, there is a high probability that the king of doppelgangers is in the count’s residence. The carriage overturning accident was an incident that could not have happened without the person concerned. If so, then Sir Prause has made a false accusation.”
If it was Lord Prause, it was definitely a term referring to the former vice-captain of the Steel Knights. At the time, he was a knight in charge of escorting Priscilla’s son, Milius Barrymore, but had resigned as a senior after taking responsibility for an accident.
It is said that he is in charge of guarding the mine, which is a big source of income for the Barrymore estate. He had few balls, but the environment was barren and annoying.
‘Did they say it was an 8-star knight?’
The fact that the Doppelgänger King dared to use such a number and demoted him proves that he is a difficult person to deal with.
Need to visit sometime.
Gaon rushed to the county’s house at any moment and saw Priscilla, who was ready to tear out the second wife’s hair, and said urgently.
“Ma’am. Calm down. Please keep this conversation a secret for the time being.”
“Why? I have to tell His Excellency right now! Hurry up before it’s too late!”
The Count does not fit in, but contrary to his appearance, he is a faithful follower of the Healing Church. It was also the one who was baptized directly by the senior archbishop.
Baptism is a purification ceremony performed with holy water. As you can guess from the word purification, it affects the whole body, so even a doppelganger cannot avoid it.
Since holy water is so expensive, it is difficult to perform baptisms often unless you have a decent amount of money, but the Count had enough pockets to cover it.
Of course, that doesn’t make it safe. He’s probably trying to control the Count by mobilizing other drugs or something. If it was too late, something irreversible could have happened.
Although he knew that, Gaon could not allow Priscilla’s actions.
“… Can you be sure that the Count will believe everything she says?”
“Ah… !”
Priscilla let out a low sigh. Her mouth was bitter because she seemed to know how her count treated her from that attitude.
It didn’t make sense for Gaon to reject such a pitiful and beautiful woman and bother to embrace a woman like Calidora, but the important thing is that the count wouldn’t listen to her anyway.
“Above all, the Church will intervene if that fact is revealed. Even in the case of the Count, he might be sentenced to death for having ate with that devil.”
Gaon’s words were somewhat leapy. It is unlikely that the Count will be executed. Even if he went out as far as possible, he would end up being imprisoned in the imperial prison.
‘I’d rather die, though.’
If the Count dies, the real power will eventually be held by Priscilla. She would accept all of Gaon’s offers to help her find her son’s beast.
The reason why he dared to accept the request was to solidify his position in the Barrymore estate.
“Isn’t that an extreme idea!? Even so, I cannot sentence the Count to death simply out of suspicion!”
“I don’t know. But even so, it must be hidden. Doppelgangers may run away if you unravel the information prematurely. You won’t be able to catch the beast of the late Master Milius.”
In particular, the doppelgänger king, Kaldran Orgius, was not to be missed. In this situation, if he openly tries to run away, I can’t stop him. It means that you have no choice but to watch the guy who is idly walking away.
And it was no exaggeration to say that it would be virtually impossible to recapture him if he later changed into another body.
Even Priscilla must have realized this too late, as she let out a long breath and nodded her head weakly.
“You are right. I got excited for a while. That’s right, at least you have to catch the king of the doppelgangers. You have to be patient for that.”
“… You are wise.
Priscilla’s face contorted at the words of her wisdom. The ice that tightly wrapped her around her melted away, and her hot emotions exploded in an instant.
Water from her sorrowful eyes trickled down her cheeks and landed on her chin.
“I know, but it’s hard to bear. The man who killed my son was right beside me! However… I can’t do anything. Really… I’m sorry. … I’m sorry…”
She just looked at Priscilla, who was beating herself up. Will there really be someone who can comfort her in her other world? Even her count’s consolation would sound to her just like her deceit.
All you can do now is just watch her until you can sort her feelings out.
After a while, after about five minutes, Priscilla stopped her crying. Thinking that she looked a little embarrassed, she hurriedly took her handkerchief from her bosom and wiped her eyes and apologized to her.
“Sorry. She showed ugliness.”
“It’s not ugly. It doesn’t matter.”
After crying out loud once, Priscilla, who had been sticking to her expressionless expression all along, smiled slightly, as if her heart felt relieved.
They seem a little more comfortable, probably because the distance between them has decreased due to what happened just a while ago.
“I’m a little relieved to say it’s okay. So what should we do now? If you want to bring out doppelgangers, you can’t do it the usual way.”
“Of course I know. So I have something to ask for your understanding.”
“Are you sorry? What is that?”
It would be better to move on without saying anything if possible, but it was essential to explain the plan, so I couldn’t help it.
“… In fact, I subdued a queen ant in an ant nest not too long ago. I got the artifact he was carrying.”
“You mean artifacts? … It’s definitely not normal.”
Priscilla also looked troubled. No matter how much she was, she couldn’t help but express concern about the fact that something went wrong with her Demonic Realm, which was the main source of funds for the Barrymore estate.
She passed on her reaction and continued her words.
“Yes. Anyway, the artifact the queen ant had is called the mirror of truth, and it has the effect of only reflecting the true image. It can negate illusions or disguise magic.”
“If disguise magic works too. Could you possibly reveal the identity of your doppelganger?”
Just a year ago, before Milius Barrymore died, he was said to have been in charge of the payment for the upper house operated by the count family, so he was also smart.
Gaon nodded her head at her words, which caught her pulse at once.
“That’s right. Even if it is impossible to expel it from the body at once, it should be possible to at least loosen the connection with the body to the extent that external changes occur.”
“Okay. Then, if you find the king of doppelgangers and use the mirror, you will be able to reveal your identity to the whole world. Asking for help from the church is at least after identifying the king.”
“You’re right.”
Where did Priscilla cry sadly, she was completely calm now. Her anger, which seemed to explode at any moment, subsided and gave off cold air.
Now everything has come Now was the time to make her final offer. It was a very sensitive topic, so I looked at the information little by little.
Judging by Priscilla’s reaction, I think she could ask now.
“Ma’am. I have one last suggestion.”
“… What is it?”
“There is a person in my group who has the ability to tune people’s bodies. May I call and check on your wife?”
“You mean her condition?”
It was a somewhat unexpected reaction. That’s right, the current Priscilla was in normal health. She has only one, except that she is incapable of conceiving children.
Gaon carefully followed her words.
“Yes. Please do not misunderstand and listen. I heard through rumors that her wife was struggling with her infertility after giving birth to her first child. Is that correct?”
“… That’s right. But what about that?”
“As you may know, I am from Earth. This is where medicine developed. There, many causes of infertility have been identified. There are several of them, but in short, they may cure infertility.”
Priscilla’s eyes went wide open. For 10 years she was judged to be hopeless no matter what treatment she received, she said she could cure infertility, she deserved it.
But Gaon was confident. With Chorin’s ability, she’s infertile, so it’s easy to fix. Whether it’s stress or whatever, it can get worse again later, but infertility right now can be fixed.
As she implicitly showed such confidence, Priscilla turned her eyes back to her original state and asked:
“Is that true? I don’t even know what the cause is, but how is that possible? It’s a disease that even the healing church couldn’t cure!”
“My party’s abilities are different from normal healing abilities. As it tunes the body itself, in some ways it is more effective than divine power. So, would you like to see a doctor?”
“… I beg you. Please heal me.”
Priscilla accepted her offer without even thinking about it. Even though she didn’t know if the group was male or female, her earnest heart was conveyed in the way she allowed it without hesitation.
For her who lost her hard-won son in vain, her words that she might have her own child again must have felt like salvation to her.
Gaon stood up from her seat with a satisfied smile at the thought that the matter had been solved easier than she thought.
“Then I’ll call the party.”
“Yes, please call Sergio before that. Let me tell you in advance.”
“Yes, I will be back soon.”
After Gaon said goodbye, he immediately left the balcony.
