Chapter 22: Veil of Corruption – (1)
“The Head Maid… is missing?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Lincia asked with a pale face, and the administrator lowered his head deeply.
The news of Melina’s disappearance arrived at dawn the next day. She had vanished without a trace, as if she had evaporated from her quarters. The royal guards scoured the palace thoroughly the moment it was reported, but in the end, they couldn’t find her.
Later, attendants came forward claiming to have seen Melina stumbling down the corridor near the central hall the night before.
‘So that’s why she seemed strange yesterday…’
I regretted not calling out to her then.
“Why aren’t we launching a full search? Isn’t that the first thing we should do?”
“There’s something Your Highness needs to see first.”
Lincia urged him with clear urgency in her voice, but the administrator responded with practiced calm.
At his gesture, a servant stepped forward, holding a carefully wrapped piece of cloth.
Inside was a shallow bowl of pale gray powder—and several ominous black spellstones.
“We discovered these in Melina’s room.”
“What… is this?”
“It’s powdered root from the Tarvia tree, which only grows in the far northern forests. A deadly, delayed-action poison. Even a single spoonful can kill a wyvern in agony. It’s strictly banned under imperial law. Possession alone is a serious crime.”
“...Poison? Then what is something like that doing in Melina’s room?”
“I believe these spellstones may explain.”
The black spellstones shimmered with a sinister light, as though on the verge of detonating.
“According to Rowan’s analysis, the magic stored inside these stones spreads a corrosive mist. That too is forbidden magic. And this particular spell…”
The administrator hesitated. His lips parted, then closed again.
“Why? What is it? Tell me now.”
Lincia pressed, and the administrator finally spoke, biting his lip as though the words themselves tasted bitter.
“…This is the same magic the cult used during the Foundation Day massacre.”
“…What?”
“It’s hard to believe, I understand. But the evidence is too clear.”
He adjusted his glasses, steadying himself.
“It appears Melina was in contact with the cult—and that she may be the one who targeted Your Highness.”
Thud—Lincia’s arms dropped helplessly to her sides.
She opened her mouth but no sound came out at first. When she finally did speak, the words floated weakly in the air, vanishing like mist into the cold morning breeze.
“No… That can’t be true.”
“…”
“Melina has served the imperial family faithfully for decades! She cared for me since I was a baby! There’s no way… No way she would…”
Lincia couldn’t continue. Her voice crumbled.
She couldn’t bring herself to say the word betrayal.
Her eyes drifted, searching for something—someone—to ground her. Eventually, they landed on me.
“Freud?”
“...Yes.”
“This has to be a mistake, right? Something doesn’t add up. It doesn’t make sense…”
But the administrator answered in my place.
“Your Highness, I understand how confusing this is, but you must stay calm. The facts are—”
“I wasn’t asking you!”
Lincia snapped, clenching her eyes shut and shouting. Her voice cracked with raw emotion.
“...My apologies.”
The administrator shrank back under her glare, lowering his head.
“Freud? Say something—anything.”
“...I…”
I fell silent.
The poison found in Melina’s room—she must have planned to put it in Lincia’s tea to assassinate her. That’s how it went in the original storyline.
But in this timeline, Melina’s dead-end route had already been avoided. My status screen confirmed that.
If I had to guess, it must have been because of the conversation we had yesterday. But I couldn’t understand why she changed her course of action. In the first place, what motive would Melina have to poison Lincia? If the cult ordered her to do it, why did she hesitate? And how did she even get involved with them?
Everything felt like a tangled knot of variables. I couldn’t come to a conclusion yet.
“Freud…”
When I said nothing, Lincia stumbled back a step.
She collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her hands.
“This doesn’t make any sense…”
Her legs trembled, the anxiety plain on her face.
I wanted to comfort her, to give her some reassurance—but I had no words.
With no one else daring to speak—including the administrator and the attendants—the silence only grew heavier. Suddenly, Lincia stomped her foot and covered her face with her arm.
Then came a soft, choked sob.
As the system alert hovered before my eyes, I bit down on my lip.
****
It was well over half an hour before Lincia finally stopped crying.
She tried to hide her tear-swollen eyes. Her makeup had run, leaving dark streaks down her cheeks.
“Freud,” she said at last, voice barely above a whisper.
“Please… find Melina.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Hearing my reply, Lincia’s shoulders sagged in exhaustion.
“…I’m going to rest. Just for a little while.”
She rose unsteadily to her feet and walked slowly toward her room.
No one dared stop her.
Her hand reached for the doorknob—
Rumble.
The floor trembled slightly.
Then the tremors began to grow. The vase on the nearby table shook violently.
“…Huh?”
One of the nearby attendants tilted their head in confusion.
Suddenly, the shaking intensified. Chairs scraped and tumbled to the ground.
“W-What’s going on?!”
The administrator spun around, looking in every direction. No one had any answers. They could only exchange bewildered glances.
The low rumbling crescendoed into a thunderous explosion that rocked the entire hall.
BOOOOM.
The grand chamber shuddered. The vase flew into the air, and the attendants were thrown to the floor.
I rushed over just in time to catch Lincia, who had lost her balance at the threshold.
“Wh-What is this…?”
The administrator, now missing his glasses, fumbled blindly in panic.
Shit.
What the hell is happening now?
The question was answered a moment later.
A royal guard burst through the doors, breathless and wide-eyed.
“We have a situation!”
He struggled to catch his breath, then shouted in desperation:
“It’s a cult attack!”
“What?!”
The room fell silent in shock.
The administrator ran up and grabbed the soldier by the collar, shaking him furiously.
“What are you talking about?! How could the cult possibly get in here?!”
“I—I don’t know! But there was a massive explosion near the conference hall! The knight-commander, Millia Liantour, is engaged in battle alone!”
“What?!”
At the mention of Millia’s name, even the administrator went speechless.
As if to confirm the truth, another deafening explosion rocked the palace. The floor beneath us trembled like it might give way.
In my arms, Lincia’s face had gone completely pale.
“Damn it! Mobilize the troops! What are you all doing?! Gather every unit outside the chamber!”
The administrator roared, his voice echoing through the hall.
But the soldier, face drained of color, could only mutter in terror.
“Th-The thing is…”
His gaze turned silently to the window.
We all followed his line of sight—and what we saw defied belief.
A translucent, violet veil was slowly descending outside.
It formed a dome over the entire grand hall, its ghastly glow radiating a clear message: nothing would be allowed in—or out.
“...A barrier?”
Someone whispered the word with a shrill voice.
“This is impossible…”
Click.
I clicked my tongue and stood. At the same moment, I drew my sword. A silver gleam flashed as the blade slid from its sheath.
I knew this barrier.
A dome conjured by borrowed power—an outerworld incantation.
In the game, it had been used by the corrupted Lautrec in Act 5 to isolate the knight headquarters.
It was one of the more cinematic moments, so I remembered it vividly.
Which meant whoever was behind this was a powerful enemy.
If my guess was right, it was likely the woman I saw two nights ago.
The aura she gave off had been overwhelming.
“Millia’s in danger.”
I said that and kicked the door open.
Her death was originally supposed to occur during Act 4. But with all the divergence from the game’s storyline, I couldn’t be sure she was safe now.
My body moved on impulse.
“No!”
But then—
A small hand grabbed my sleeve.
I turned. It was Lincia.
Her lips were trembling. She slowly shook her head, her teeth clenched.
“You promised…”
“……”
Her tear-stained eyes shimmered with emotion, pleading.
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I opened her status screen.
Without hesitation, I invested the remaining points into Combat Ability.
It wouldn’t bring about a drastic change. But even a single point could expand my range of choices. Especially when it came to combat power—something notoriously difficult to raise early in the game—it could make a huge difference in moments like this.
It was something, at least, to give me peace of mind.
Besides, around Lincia were capable figures: soldiers, the administrator, Rowan—all strong in their own right. This room itself was protected by layers of magic. Even in an emergency, she wouldn’t be defenseless.
“…Forgive me. But I have to go.”
“Freud!”
“I’ll be fine.”
I smiled gently.
“If danger comes—don’t hesitate. Fight back.”
Lincia’s smudged face twisted with emotion.
Leaving her behind, I ran out.
Each step felt heavier than the last—even to me.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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