ALL NOVEL Chapter 36
“Ah…”
Thump! Thump!
Elysia felt her own heart pounding fiercely. As she stood before the man she had been searching for, her mind turned blank, as if she had become a complete fool.
Soon, questions began to flash through her now-blank mind.
Even if he’s a professor, as a man, he shouldn’t be able to just waltz into the female dormitory. How did he get here?
Wait, more importantly, why did he come?
Could it be… he knew I was looking for him and came to find me…?
“Ahem.”
At that moment, a deliberate cough snapped her out of her thoughts. She flinched and turned to see…
“Princess Elysia, do you have a moment?”
“…President?”
A stunning woman with fiery red hair, golden eyes, and an overwhelmingly explosive figure stood there.
Ines Karandar, the President of Labyrinth Academy, was there. Elysia had been so distracted by the man in front of her that she hadn’t noticed Ines’s presence.
Realizing who it was, Elysia immediately bowed.
Ines, a powerhouse of the Karandar Family, one of the strongest among mortals, and someone even the Emperor of the Empire couldn’t treat lightly.
Moreover, Ines was the one who had allowed Elysia back into the academy despite knowing she was being consumed by a demon, and had even kept it a secret. Elysia owed her respect.
“President, it’s an honor to—”
“No need for such formalities. Lift your head.”
As Ines said this, she straightened Elysia’s posture. Elysia opened her mouth to speak.
“But…”
“More importantly, may we come in? There’s something we need to discuss regarding your situation.”
“Ah…”
At the mention of her “situation,” Elysia’s gaze instinctively shifted to Yujin, who was standing there with a calm smile.
Perhaps this had something to do with Yujin, the new professor. Ever since he had intervened yesterday, the nightmares, hallucinations, and voices had stopped.
There was no rejection or side effects, unlike when she had borrowed power from other Transcendents’ relics.
Maybe… there was a way. That was why she had been looking for him in the first place.
“…Understood. Please, both of you, come in.”
Elysia decided to let them in. There was no reason to refuse.
“Then, pardon us.”
“Excuse us.”
With that, the two entered the princess’s dormitory.
The dormitory was, in essence, luxurious and high-class, but aside from the necessities, it was rather sparsely furnished.
Still, the three of them took their seats at the table and sofa in the spacious room.
Yujin and President Ines sat side by side on the long sofa, while Elysia sat across from them.
As they settled in, Elysia glanced at the empty table for a moment.
First, she opens her mouth.
“I’m sorry. We don’t even have light snacks or tea properly prepared… It seems difficult to offer you proper hospitality.”
“Not at all. It’s already ridiculous to expect hospitality when I barged in so suddenly. I should be the one apologizing for showing up without notice.”
“No, it’s my issue that brought you here, so there’s no need for you to apologize…”
“Enough. Let’s stop this. It’s a waste of time to spend it on unproductive conversation.”
“…Understood.”
The President, cutting off the flow of the conversation, spoke, and Elysia nodded as well. Even so, she kept glancing at Yujin, clearly aware of his presence.
Noticing this, the President also opened his mouth.
“Right, you must be curious about the person I brought with me.”
“……”
“Normally, even professors aren’t allowed to bring men into the female dormitory… but this matter is serious enough to warrant an exception, so I brought him personally. The reason… you probably already know, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
Elysia nodded. The President, recognizing that she roughly understood the situation, also nodded and spoke.
“Have you introduced yourselves to each other?”
“I personally introduced myself, but I haven’t heard an introduction from Her Highness the Princess.”
The man who had been quietly sitting, Yujin, finally spoke up. He said,
“Well, it was an awkward situation at the time, so shall I reintroduce myself? Nice to meet you, Your Highness Princess Elysia. I am Han Yujin, newly appointed as a Magic Studies Professor. As you can tell from my name, I come from the Eastern Continent.”
“Han Yujin…”
I see. So he’s from the Eastern Continent. But the Eastern Continent isn’t exactly known for being familiar with magic, and yet he’s a Magic Studies Professor…
Elysia pondered Yujin’s introduction for a moment. However, no matter how much she thought about it, he was someone she had never heard of before.
It couldn’t be helped. The name Han Yujin, which had spread widely less than a week after the publication of his spacetime magic thesis, was unknown to Elysia, who had been struggling alone, consumed by a demon. She had no time to pay attention to outside news.
After briefly mulling over Yujin’s introduction, she placed a hand on her chest, displaying a royal demeanor, and bowed her head.
“Nice to meet you, Professor Yujin. I am Elysia von Arsedium, the Second Princess of the Arsedium Empire.”
It seemed only proper to show respect to someone personally brought by the President and who had somewhat resolved her issue, so she introduced herself to Yujin.
Hearing this, Yujin smiled softly and said,
“Nice to meet you, Your Highness. You look much better than yesterday.”
Startled.
At those words, Elysia recalled the events of yesterday. Herself, losing control and being driven by magic, running in despair, shedding tears, and then rejecting him as he approached, shouting…
Until.
Remembering the disgrace from that time, her face naturally turned red as she spoke.
“…I would appreciate it if you could forget what happened back then.”
“Haha, if Your Highness asks me to forget, then I will forget.”
“Ahem.”
At that moment, the President cleared his throat again to lighten the mood.
“It seems the introductions are over… Princess Elysia, may I ask a few questions first?”
“Ah… Yes, of course.”
Elysia also composed herself and looked at the President. The President spoke.
“First, let me tell you that Professor Yujin here is already aware of your issue. So, don’t be too surprised if I mention it in front of him.”
“Yes, I know.”
When they met yesterday, he had instantly seen through the Demon that had taken over her body. Perhaps he had already heard everything from the President.
The President continued.
“First of all… you don’t seem to be suffering much right now. In fact, you look somewhat at ease.”
“…To be honest… yes, that’s true.”
“Did you have any nightmares?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Hallucinations or auditory illusions?”
“I didn’t see or hear anything.”
“Then, do you have any idea why that might be?”
“Well…”
At that question, she glanced at Yujin. The President nodded.
“Just as you thought. It’s because Professor Yujin here took some measures yesterday.”
“Some measures…”
At those words, she gently touched the flower that had bloomed in her right eye and asked.
“What do you mean by ‘some measures’…?”
“It’s simple. I sealed the demonic energy that was taking over Your Highness’s body.”
“……”
Yujin answered the question. Hearing his response, Elysia made a blank expression for a moment before asking.
“Is that… even possible?”
“It’s unfortunate to say this, but if it weren’t possible, Your Highness would still be suffering from mental anguish right now.”
“……”
She couldn’t argue with that. If it weren’t for the measures Yujin had taken, she would have woken up with nightmares, hallucinations, and auditory illusions as usual.
But apart from that…
“However… no court mage in the royal family could do something like this. Not even you, President…”
“Well…”
The President felt at a loss for words. In truth, the President himself wasn’t confident he could achieve such a thing. It was the Seed of a Transcendent, after all.
Sealing the power of a Transcendent? That’s a difficult task within the realm of mortals.
The President knew it, and Elysia knew it too. Perhaps she knew it best of all, being the host of the Seed of the Demon.
“…Yesterday, Yujin…”
“I remember the magic the Professor used.”
Elysia, who had said that, stared intently at Yujin.
He still had his eyes half-closed, as if they were shut, with an inscrutable smile on his face.
“I may be a novice when it comes to magic, but even at a glance, it was clear that the magic was beyond human comprehension. I couldn’t even grasp its form properly.”
“……”
“I have one question. Professor Yujin… are you really human?”
At that question, Yujin’s smile deepened. After a moment of being startled by that smile, Elysia watched as Yujin opened his mouth.
“Your Highness, the Princess. I am a Professor, but I’m not the type to explain things in tedious detail or enlighten others step by step. If anything, I’m more of a questioner.”
“……”
“I have no obligation to explain that to Your Highness. In fact, I have no intention of explaining it. However, there is only one thing I can say to you.”
Yujin continued, still wearing that enigmatic smile.
“Your Highness, do you wish to solve your own problem?”
“…That is…”
Of course. Who would want to live while being parasitized by a Demon? Dark Sorcerers might consider it an honor, but she certainly didn’t.
Above all, she didn’t want to live in pain like this, only to eventually disappear because of the Demon.
“Then, I shall make you an offer you cannot refuse.”
Yujin, understanding her thoughts, continued with a laugh.
“I will help you solve your problem. In return, Your Highness must grant me one thing I desire.”
As he said this, Yujin extended his hand.
“Ah…”
Elysia felt as though this was akin to a contract with a Demon.
Endlessly sweet, yet dangerous… like a spider’s web.
As she looked at it, she wondered if perhaps she was fantasizing about something.
Like the prince from the fairy tales her mother used to tell her when she was a child.
In reality, it wasn’t like that at all.
But she literally couldn’t refuse him…
“…Yes.”
And so, she took hold of that contractual hand.