Chapter 84
At his words, I looked for any items I usually carried with me.
“For now, it seems the only thing I have on me is this necklace.”
I took off the necklace and handed it to Joy, who began to examine it while letting out a low sigh.
Eventually, Joy shook his head and returned the necklace.
“This isn’t it. So it seems it’s not an item you carry on you.”
Joy then asked if there were any items I had received from Delos that I kept nearby.
“Oh, if that’s the case, it should be at my family home in the capital.”
“Really? Then there’s a good chance the medium is there too.”
Finishing her sentence, Joy spoke with a slightly relieved tone.
“The brainwashing spell can be undone if just one of the two mediums is damaged. This should be relatively easy to resolve.”
Listening to Joy, I asked him with a slightly dazed expression.
“Are you going to undo the brainwashing spell yourself?”
Joy replied in disbelief.
“Of course! Is there anyone besides me who can lift your curse?”
“No, I just didn’t expect you to help so easily. You wanted to leave quickly, right? That means you’d have to go to the capital with me…”
Having observed Joy up to this point, I noticed that he had always wanted to leave this place.
If I hadn’t collapsed yesterday, he would have likely left the Duchy of Ballestain today.
“Well…! Ahem, plans can change, right? Who knows how things will go?”
Joy seemed about to argue with my words but quickly shifted the topic and calmly sat down.
Watching him, I sincerely thanked Joy.
“Thank you for offering to help.”
I vividly remembered when I first met him, adamantly declaring he never wanted to get involved with nobles.
Even though I knew better than anyone that the curse on my body was no trivial matter, I was incredibly grateful for his willingness to help.
“…Don’t say thank you. I don’t deserve such words.”
As I offered my thanks with teary eyes, a suddenly gloomy voice returned.
“Actually, I knew from the beginning that you were cursed, but I pretended not to because I didn’t want to get involved.”
Joy’s voice, speaking with his head bowed low, was filled with guilt.
“I’m really sorry. You can curse me all you want.”
Joy apologized while bowing so low that the crown of his head was visible.
Looking at him, I smiled faintly and patted his shoulder as I spoke.
“Did you curse me, Joy?”
“What? No! When did I say that!”
“Then you don’t need to apologize to me. The one who should be apologizing is someone else.”
I was surprised to learn that Joy had known about the curse from the start, but it was just surprise; I didn’t feel any strong emotions.
Rather, I felt grateful that he had saved me from collapsing.
“You weren’t obligated to save me, right? There must have been a reason you kept it hidden, but what matters is that you chose to save me anyway.”
“…”
“Thank you for saving me.”
As I thanked Joy once more, I saw him bite his lip.
“…Hmph. You’re so foolishly kind.”
After taking a few deep breaths, Joy returned to his usual demeanor.
“Well then, I’ll rely on you from now on.”
“Don’t worry. I will definitely lift your curse before I leave.”
As the atmosphere became warm and friendly, the air in the office lightened.
I lowered the corners of my mouth and asked Joy.
“So what you’re saying is that I’m under a black magic curse, it wouldn’t be surprising if I were to die soon, and at the same time, I’m also under a brainwashing spell?”
“Yep. That’s exactly right.”
Seeing my heavily sunken expression, Joy cautiously nodded.
Staring blankly into the air, I suddenly burst out with a low laugh.
“Haha.”
That laugh, which seemed to express disbelief, didn’t easily fade away; instead, it grew stronger.
“Brainwashing, huh? So I’ve really been turned into a puppet.”
It was the moment I finally understood why I had been unable to move a muscle and had been helplessly manipulated by Delos all those long years.
I wasn’t the strange one.
As I realized this fact, a sense of relief washed over me, accompanied by an uncontrollable rage.
“Why on earth…”
With a strange expression that prevented me from laughing or crying, I buried my face in my palm.
On the day I was revived, when I encountered Delos again—who had abandoned me to save himself—I felt contempt for him but had no thoughts of revenge.
‘In the end, it was I who chose to stay by Delos’s side until the very end.’
I had thought everything stemmed from my wrong choices, so I focused solely on changing the future, with Delos not even crossing my mind.
But now, it seems that the beginning and end of all those nightmares were intentionally created by Delos.
“What on earth…?”
Not only did he take away my power, but he also dominated my mind.
“Um, are you okay, customer?”
Joy, who had been watching me mumble with a dazed expression, spoke up timidly.
Seeing him anxiously observing my complexion, it seemed my expression was quite serious.
I lifted my slumped body and leaned my head against the window, opening my mouth.
“I’d like to get some fresh air.”
After experiencing a mental shock, I desperately craved the cool breeze.
“Huh? Just go outside then.”
Joy tilted his head as he replied, sounding as if he was questioning what the problem was when I could go out right now.
“I want to be completely alone without any escort, but it’s not easy to do that right now.”
“Oh, come to think of it, the security around the castle seems to have tightened lately. Is something going on?”
“Well, I don’t really know the reason either.”
Recalling my last conversation with Evan, I bit my lip tightly and finished speaking.
To make matters worse, after the argument with Evan, I had completely lost my strength.
“Um, wouldn’t it be okay for just a moment?”
“What do you mean?”
“Getting some fresh air.”
At that moment, Joy suddenly jumped up from his seat, threw open the window, and reached out his hand to me.
“When you’re not feeling well, you should do what you want, right?”
“What do you… Ah!”
Before I could finish my sentence, I felt my body lift off the ground.
“Customer, are you sleeping? It’s time to wake up now.”
Startled, I shut my eyes tightly, and a playful voice reached my ear.
When I opened my eyes wide and looked around, I saw my body, which had just been in the office, left alone outside the castle.
“What did you do?”
“The magic we used when we climbed the wall together before.”
As I lifted my head, I could see my office clearly from the fifth floor.
It seemed that he had used a spell to float in the air and jumped down from there.
“Is there anywhere you want to go? Today, I’ll take you wherever you want.”
Joy confidently patted his chest, saying I could just name the place.
His unusually kind demeanor, as if trying to lift my gloomy spirits, made me smile without realizing it.
“I don’t really have a specific place in mind. I don’t think I should be away for too long…”
“Then I’ll take you wherever I think is good.”
After hearing my words, Joy boldly led the way, saying he had just the right place in mind.
It was about ten minutes after we left the castle.
“Tada! How about this? It’s a great spot for some fresh air alone, right?”
As we arrived at our destination, Joy turned around and urged me to look at the scenery before us.
I lifted my gaze and gasped in awe at the landscape, which was painted white before my eyes.
