Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Chapter 42
However, Declan did not respond to my desperate cry.
‘Hey, I’m going through this hardship to rehabilitate you, but I’d rather die than this!’
With that thought, I got up quickly, stood in front of Declan, and made an X with my hands. Although he just glanced at me before turning his head away again.
‘Are you ignoring the one who’s begging for help now?’
I glared at Declan.
“Why are you asking this…”
Gerald lowered his voice with a serious expression on his face.
“What is wrong?”
As an unusual atmosphere suddenly enveloped us, I quickly returned to Declan’s side while Gerald continued asking.
“Did your Majesty feel a strange aura circulating around Her Highness?”
I was startled and quickly looked at Declan. There was a slight look of surprise on his face as well.
“Strange aura… What exactly are you talking about?”
“Did you not know? I thought you knew because you were talking about the soul…”
“Don’t go round and round, be specific.”
As Declan furrowed his eyebrows, and Gerald responded quickly. “Spirit, the wave of the soul. It often appears in the objects that the dead have.”
He then leaned over and stared closer at the doll.
Declan, who normally would have blocked his view quickly, did not block him this time.
‘Wave of the soul? Maybe, it was because of me?’
Just in case, I pushed my face to Gerald.
“Can you see me?”
I even asked aloud.
‘Just recognize me…’
Because that alone can change my future, suddenly, expectations and hopes reappeared. Nonetheless, he didn’t make eye contact with me…
As I struggled to subdue my disappointment, I thought of other possibilities.
‘Maybe he felt the wave but did not see the shape?’
When I glanced at Declan, he gave me a look that said, let’s wait.
“It contains a fragment of a soul.”
No one had ever known so much. At first glance, Declan was also a little surprised at his words, too.
“Is it because of a curse or black magic?”
“No. If that were the case, I would have taken immediate action. Would I have left a threat to Your Majesty’s safety?”
Gerald jumped and uttered proudly.
“So, you mean there’s no such thing as a curse on our Chloe?” Declan asked, stroking the doll’s head.
“I can swear by my name.”
As Gerald tapped his chest as he spoke, I could feel that Declan was relieved.
‘He must have been concerned about what I said that I didn’t want to be cursed…’
It tickled my heart to see him checking the same thing every time we met the shaman.
“If it’s a piece of soul, whose soul are you referring to?”
“Of course, the Princess who was the owner.”
Gerald pointed to the doll.
“When a person dies, regrets remain in this world. Sometimes, a part of the soul resides in the things that they loved while they were alive.”
“…Is this the soul of our Chloe?”
I looked at Declan, feeling anxious at the one beat late response. His face was as expressionless as usual, but his eyes were sunken.
“I can’t be sure until I check the soul either.”
“You’re talking as if you have a way to identify souls.”
“It’s just one of my humble talents.”
At that, Gerald shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
“Well, would you mind checking it out here?” After stroking his chin as if to measure something, he then spoke to Gerald.
“Here, you mean?”
Although Gerald replied confidently, he was somewhat hesitating.
“Didn’t you just say you can do it?”
“Of course, I can. Though your Majesty’s expectations may not be the same.”
Saying so, Gerald revealed his fears. It was because he was saying it might not be Chloe, and that Declan may be disappointed because of that.
“I promise. I will not question you or punish you for anything. I will give you enough reward.”
As soon as Declan’s words fell, Gerald exaggeratedly exhaled a breath of relief. Meanwhile, though it was just for a moment, the word ‘reward’ flashed greed in his eyes.
“I am only touched by Your Majesty’s grace.”
Gerald took a few deep breaths and then closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, Declan placed his hand on the scabbard that was worn around his waist. If there was a problem, it seemed that he was going to use the sword right away.
After muttering for a while, Gerald reached out towards the doll.
The sound of the incantation grew louder and louder, and something like blue smoke came out of his hand. At that moment, the smoke that wrapped around the doll and circulated gradually began to take on a certain shape.
“…Chloe?”
As the smoke disappeared, Declan’s voice trembled.
He blinked his eyes over and over again in an unbelievable situation. However, the child standing in front of him was the same as he had seen in the vision.
“I did it by any chance, but after all, it was the princess.”
Gerald was not at all surprised by this situation, and nodded his head as if he knew it would.
Then, he bowed down to Chloe’s soul.
“Greetings to the flower of the empire, Her Highness the Princess.”
No matter how strong the wishes of the dead are, does it make sense to have two souls in one thing…?
‘Then, why didn’t I feel it?’
If we had the same soul, I would have been able to see and feel it, right?
‘Is it because of that headache and black smoke?’
For a moment, it felt like cold water was poured on my head.
“Your Majesty, please share your words with the Crown Princess.” Saying that, Gerald had a face that was thrilled by his power.
‘…What is Declan’s expression now?’
If it’s really Chloe’s soul, it’s definitely a good thing for him. It’s something to celebrate.
Still, I couldn’t turn my head.
‘I might be thrown away.’
For a moment, I was taken aback by the voice I heard from the depths of my heart.
‘If he could talk to Chloe, he wouldn’t need me anymore.’
Frightened, I buried my face in both hands.
“Are you, really Chloe?”
I wanted to cover my ears. His voice filled with hope made me even more anxious.
‘I’m so mean…’
Knowing how much he missed Chloe. Knowing what kind of pain he lived through when she left him.
‘But now, I have nothing but Declan.’
Faced with the problem of survival, all I could see was me.
“Chloe, let me hear your voice.”
Declan’s sorrowful heart was buried in his voice.
“Brother.”
As soon as I heard Chloe’s voice, I raised my head. I gazed at her with a strange feeling of incongruity, but her appearance was the same as the illusion.
“Chloe, I hope to see you again.”
“Brother, I really missed you.”
Chloe bent her eyes softly.
‘No…’
This was not Chloe’s voice.
Even though I haven’t heard it a few times, it was so intense that it was still vivid in my ears.
‘That’s not Chloe.’
I looked at Gerald quickly, but his face was calm. It was as if Declan didn’t seem to feel strange at all.
‘Does it sound different because of my greed?’
I doubted himself in a confused mind, though that was not the only thing that was strange.
‘If it was Chloe, as soon as she saw Declan, she would have cried because she was glad he was alive…’
If she was the one who threw her body to save Declan, she certainly would.
However, her soul over there was just repeating the words that he wanted to see. With that in mind, I got up and walked closer to Chloe. Nevertheless, even when I waved my hand at her, she didn’t give me a glance.
‘If she’s really a soul, there’s no way she can’t see me.’
I was certain.
I have to stop Declan. If he thought this was Chloe, he would lose his reason, so I had to stop him before he went further.
At that, I took a deep breath and looked at Declan, but was at a loss for words at the corners of his wet, red eyes. It was painful to see that I couldn’t even take a step even though I was excited to run right away.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry about this.”
A single tear fell from his eyes.
‘I can’t do it…’
I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to check it because it wasn’t real.
“Why are you sorry, brother?”
Chloe’s soul also wept.
‘Hey, that’s surprising. How is that possible?”
It wasn’t just the magic of delusion that made Declan tempted to Jennifer in the original story. The decisive reason was that she hallucinated Declan with her enchantments.
Hallucinations about Chloe…
‘If it’s a hallucinatory magic like Jennifer, it shouldn’t be visible to me.’
Still, whatever it was, I had to convince Declan that the soul was a lie.
‘I’ll try it once.’
I burst between the spirit of Chloe and Declan, pushing my face close to him.
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