Theoron covered his cheek and gritted his teeth. "They're all here. It's going to be all over. I came to take you away. Come with me."
"No, you come with me. My father promised that he'll let us marry." Catherine held his collar and shook him violently
Theoron slumped down on the soft and plush blue carpet. Catherine sat in front of him, holding his hand and looking into his eyes with intense emotions.
He knew what the problem was. This wasn't working. They couldn't convince each other. Theoron had no evidence for the things he said. His mind was clearly tampered with and even any truth-detection treasures wouldn't help.
Without enough evidence, it's foolish to expect Catherine to run away with him. If he went out in public and slandered Lord Jorand, he'd be the one treated as a lunatic and captured.
No one with a sound mind would actually think a Province could ever win against a Duchy.
"…What should I do?" Theoron held Catherine's soft and cold hand and looked at the ground with a lost gaze.
Seeing him on the verge of breakdown, Catherine started sobbing.
'…This stupid fucker, he's too useless.' Listening to their conversation from the next room, Varian curled his lips in disdain.
[He has genuine problems, Host.]
'If I were in his position, I'd have knocked her out and taken her away. Talks can come later when the Duchy is literally about to be burned.'
[That sounds more like a villain.]
Varian smiled nonchalantly. 'As long as you get the girl at the end of the day and are happy, does it matter?'
[Even though it's for a good cause, knocking her out, in other words, forcing her against her will, seems dishonest for her feelings.]
'Ideally, you shouldn't do that,' Varian shrugged. 'But when the alternative is much worse, then there's no choice. It's still not morally correct, but hey, do I look like a highly moral person?'
[So, as long as the alternative is much worse, it's okay even though your actions would go against your lover's wishes?]
'Er, yeah?' Varian suddenly felt he was being led around by the System.
[Is that what the host thinks about Enigma? She clearly has feelings for you. You realized it early on but didn't even bother to respond. In the end, your own wives forced her on you.
The alternative here, Enigma living a life of loneliness, witnessing the stark contrast between your treatment of her and Sia is also very terrible. It's a living hell she can't get out of.
But you hated it. A lot. You just didn't want to take out your anger on your wives. So, you left. Isn't that hypocritical?]
Varian's expression darkened. 'Since when did you care about my love life? I thought Miss Logos was too high-end to care about the lowly lives of mortals?'
[Don't dodge the question.]
Varian exhaled deeply and looked up into the night sky. Three moons, two purple and one white shone softly.
'Enigma and I are in a fundamentally unequal relationship. She had been watching me for years, but I only knew her for months. The time we spent together is a fraction of what I spent with Sarah or Sia just in the past year.'
[There's an underlying assumption you're making with no basis. Why do you think she wants as much attention from you as your other two wives? Or even love? A small bit of what you give them might be plenty for her.]
Varian fell silent. 'I don't know.'
[Or maybe deep down, you do down. But you just don't want to think about it.]
'Oh, you're damn right.' Varian was a bit annoyed and obviously irritated. 'Piercing through my layer of lies and making me feel guilty? Happy now?'
[Very.] Logos' voice was cheerful and very, very annoying. 'Many times, you don't think you have a choice. That it'll be fine if you just go with the flow and do the necessary. But don't lie to yourself, host. You always have a choice. By choosing not to act, you are still making a choice.'
— — — — —
"…this is madness, why are you behaving like this?" Catherine slumped on the sofa weakly.
"I'm sorry. I can't convince you. I don't even know what to do. I want to run away, but not without you." Theoron covered his eyes and sighed in defeat.
"Alright, fuck it." A sudden, unexpected voice startled them both onto their feet. They looked ahead with vigilant eyes, like cats that got found stealing food.
"Y-You, didn't you leave?"
"Were you eavesdropping?"
Ignoring their shocked gazes, Varian said. "Your love story, I'll solve it."
"What the—"
Varian took out an inscribed cloth and slapped it on Theoron's face. The Prince froze and collapsed back onto the sofa.
"What did you do to him?" Catherine caught him in her arms and glared at Varian.
"Used a treasure to fix his broken brain, duh." Varian lied with a straight face and used the cloth as a cover to use his spirit power.
Theoron who already fainted with a single slap from Varian twitched as a foreign power invaded his mind.
"…C-Can I trust that you won't harm him?" Catherine looked at Varian with a conflicted expression.
He wasn't the hero she thought he was. A hero wouldn't ask for the treasury's key. So, she didn't know how to view him.
Varian simply smiled and drew a pattern on the cloth covering Theoron's forehead.
A light projected out and began to display fleeting images with sounds.
Catherine's eyes widened as the images passed.
A familiar man, her about-to-be father-in-law, proclaiming revenge.
Dozens of powerhouses kneeling in front of him and vowing vengeance.
His meeting with several of the infamous drug lords of Centaurus. A meeting with even Havocs where he passed some special materials to them.
A meeting with a few key members of Centaurus—including a few notable alchemists!
Catherine covered her mouth as her body collapsed helplessly on the carpet.
Her eyes were shaking violently and her lips trembled while her body twitched. She seemed uncomfortable, gasping for breath, struggling to even stay in place.
Theoron rubbed his eyes and his vision slowly returned. The first thing he saw was the floating image of memories he couldn't perfectly recall.
"Yes! Cathy, this is what happened! Trust me!"
Catherine's eyes were blank and her voice was hoarse. "W-What should we do? C-Can we show this to my father and have him stop?"
"It wouldn't work." Varian shrugged. "Memories can not just be revealed, but they can also be manipulated. Barix will just claim the neighboring Duchies hired a powerful Spirit awakener to mess with your alliance.
And it's not like you have any physical evidence, right? What's more, Princess, his memories might've been manipulated. Unless a very powerful Spirit comes, it's hard to tell."
Catherine fell into silence.
"I wish you good luck." Varian didn't stay any longer.
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