Chapter 49
The day of the procedure arrived.
"It's a procedure to recover Princess Iomene's mind by protecting both of your minds through the miracle of mental stability, while completely releasing the blocking magic in stages. Powerful miracles and delicate magical procedures must be performed simultaneously."
After adjusting the complex magic circle installed inside the Magic Tower, the court mage explained to the Emperor like that.
"I understand it's a procedure that uses the characteristics of conjoined twins, where if one side's mind is injured, the healthy opposite side can recover it. Is that correct?"
"Exactly, Your Majesty."
"The goal is for Almene's intact mind to transfer to Iomene, recovering both of them, right?"
"That's right."
"Conversely, what's the possibility of Iomene's negative memories and emotions transferring to Almene and causing problems?"
At those words, the court mage nodded worriedly.
"Of course it exists. Completely releasing the block means all memories, emotions, and thoughts of both will be shared in real-time. There's a sufficient possibility of joint collapse rather than mental recovery."
"That would be the worst case."
"But we can't artificially block the minds of conjoined twins, which should normally be connected forever. This artificial and forced blocking could eventually fester to the point of damaging the very soul the two share."
His Majesty the Emperor rubbed between his brows with a complicated expression.
It was natural to be worried.
If left alone, it was harmful to both in the long term, but if released, there was a possibility of both minds collapsing together.
As if reading the Emperor's mind, the court mage calmly continued his explanation, "Of course, the possibility of both princesses getting better is higher. Both have a strong will to recover, and multiple priests will cast very powerful miracles of mental protection. And above all."
After saying that, the court mage looked at me.
"We have the Saint, don't we? Even assuming the worst case, there's a possibility if the Saint steps in."
It wasn’t wrong.
I had the ultimate cheat-level skill called Absolute Hypnosis.
Of course, my Absolute Hypnosis was a skill that made the other person absolutely follow my orders, not a skill to delicately repair a broken mind.
So it would be best if the worst situation where everything had to be staked on my skill didn't come in the first place.
I was just playing the role of reassuring everyone as a last resort. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Don't worry too much, Your Majesty. I'm here."
Even though I was going to leave soon anyway, my wish for the two sisters, Iomene and Almene, to be happy is genuine.
Today's procedure.
I intended to lead it towards recovery somehow.
At my words, His Majesty and Her Majesty's expressions became a little more comfortable.
"I understand. Begin!"
"Yes."
Priests of the Lilia Order and court mages approached the two princesses.
Iomene snarled a little anxiously at that sight, but she seemed stable when I held her hand by her side.
"It's okay, Iomene. Don't be nervous."
At my words, Iomene stopped snarling.
"If I get better, kiss."
I nodded.
"Yes, I'll give you one. So you must get better. Okay?"
At those words, Iomene smiled happily and became quiet.
After calming Iomene, it was Almene's turn.
She, sitting next to Iomene, extended her trembling hand to me.
"I'm nervous, Saint. Could you hold my hand too?"
I nodded.
Almene and Iomene.
I held both twin princesses' hands.
"It'll be okay. Both of you. You're both strong. And even in the worst case, I'm here. Don't worry too much."
Almene smiled faintly at my words.
After taking a deep breath for a moment, Almene then nodded.
"Please begin. I'm ready."
"Me too."
Iomene also nodded with a serious face.
At those words, all the priests and mages in the room started moving.
The huge magic circle drawn on the floor spewed light, and priests of the Grace Order began pouring holy power onto the princesses' heads.
"We've cast the miracle of mental protection!"
"Princess Iomene's emotional state is good!"
"Slowly! We must release the blocking magic in stages, not hastily! If the magic circle activation is ready, we'll begin!!"
Iomene's right eye.
The blocking magic engraved on Princess Almene's left eye began to shine.
Both of them gripped my hands tightly at the same time.
"Blocking release. We'll begin."
The moment the mage's tense voice rang out.
"Ugh...! Ahhh!!"
Screams burst out simultaneously from both princesses' mouths.
"Endure! You must endure! Almene! Iomene!"
At my words, the two princesses desperately tried to endure the pain while gripping my hands as if to crush them.
They gripped so tightly that blood started flowing, but I couldn't even feel the pain.
I can just heal with body modification.
You two, please.
Please be safe.
Was my wish granted?
For nearly an hour.
The two princesses endured well.
The procedure also progressed smoothly.
"Phase 2 release complete! Now the last! Entering phase 3, release!!"
Everyone performing the procedure was drenched in sweat.
At the court mage's words as he wiped cold sweat from his forehead, I looked at the two with an anxious face.
Please.
Please let nothing happen.
I hope they can just get better cleanly like this without me needing to step in...
"N-no!! Ahhhhh!!"
Almene suddenly let out a sharp scream.
Iomene also suddenly rolled her eyes back and started convulsing, as if having a seizure.
Unfortunately, it seemed the limit had come.
"It hurts!! It hurts!! It's painful!! S-stop!! Please stop! Please stop!!"
Along with Almene's screams, the priests casting the miracle of mental protection on her head became flustered.
"The miracle is collapsing!"
"Mental state is very unstable! At this rate, it will collapse!!"
"It's hard to endure!"
Almene looked like she was going mad with pain, and Iomene's convulsions were getting worse and worse.
"Saint!! Help me! Please!!"
And finally, the line I least wanted to hear flowed from Almene's mouth.
Damn it!!
Should I order them not to feel pain with Absolute Hypnosis?
No.
It's normal to feel pain.
I don't know what side effects might occur if I forcibly tell them not to feel it.
Think!! You idiot Kim Min-gyu!! Think!!
What order should I give to keep both of them safe?
How can I make both of them overcome this moment?
Come on! Please…!!
There it was.
A way to save both of them with Absolute Hypnosis.
[Activating skill Absolute Hypnosis!]
Hypnosis was cast on both of them simultaneously.
What I could do wasn't the great feat of restoring the two's minds.
I could just help the two endure a little more easily.
Please.
Please endure.
I begged and begged as I gave an order to the two princesses.
"Happy memories! Recall happy memories!!"
***
It was something she had started with a firm resolve.
Iomene.
Her other half.
The being who had been painfully unhappy for 16 years.
She wanted to save her.
That was why Almene firmly insisted on the procedure.
It was something that had to be released someday, anyway.
Moreover, the Saint was here too.
She believed he would surely help her.
She started with that mindset, but when Iomene's 16 years of accumulated painful memories began to beat her, Almene realized she had made a mistake.
She endured desperately.
But no matter how much she endured and endured, there seemed to be no end to the painful memories.
At some point.
Almene finally sensed that her limit had come.
She gripped the Saint's hand with enough force to crush it.
It hurts.
It's painful.
She wanted to avoid it.
"Saint!! Help me!! Please!!"
Iomene's pain, like black waves, roughly beat Almene as if to swallow her.
After spewing out a scream, like a death throe.
Slowly.
Almene began to sink below the surface, consumed by the waves.
If she sank underwater like this, that would be the end.
It was clear that she, too, would become a being with a shattered self, similar to Iomene.
It was pathetic.
Is my will and courage to save Iomene only this much?
Just as she was sinking in fear and regret.
One intense command forcibly pulled her up above the water.
"Happy memories! Recall happy memories!!"
Amidst the memories full of pain and darkness rushing in like a flood, one tiny memory arose.
Father.
The memory of the Emperor hugging Almene came to mind.
The memory of enjoying tea time with her mother and father in a well-decorated garden bathed in sunlight arose.
The memory of seeing a cute puppy too.
The sensation of beautiful paintings and clothes made of soft silk.
Moments when sweet and soft desserts made her mouth happy.
And when she first heard about Iomene from her father and mother.
The moment she made up her mind to save her also came to mind.
Waves of pain still rushed in.
Iomene's memories of having to be in pain every week for 16 years and being left alone in loneliness were trying to scrape away Almene's mind and self as they were.
But Almene desperately clung to her happy memories and endured those waves.
Happy and good memories were protecting her.
Compared to the fierce waves rushing in, the happy memories seemed fragile and foolishly small, but no matter how much they were hit and shaken by the waves, they never disappeared.
Using those small and fragile-looking memories as a cane, Almene endured and endured, and at some point.
She realized that the waves were no longer crashing.
Calmness came to her.
And in that calmness, Almene could hear the sobbing of a young child.
A young child whose mind had been eaten away by pain and loneliness, still unable to grow and collapsed, was crying sorrowfully.
Almene approached that child.
And called the child's name.
"Iomene."
At those words, the young child, bruised and injured and full of self-harm scars on her body, raised her eyes.
"It hurts. It hurts."
Iomene burst into tears.
"It hurts so much. I'm lonely. There's no one. I want to die. I don't want to live anymore," Iomene muttered foolishly.
Almene, as if understanding.
Hugged Iomene.
"I know. Now, I can understand everything too. But you know."
Almene handed Iomene the happy memories that had protected her from the waves.
The small lumps of light.
"There are still many happy and good things in the world. Your pain will be a burden that we two will have to bear together from now on. But my happiness will also become memories that we two can enjoy together."
Iomene carefully.
Took the light.
Tears quietly flowed from her eyes.
Iomene caressed Almene's light and then burst into a smile.
A clear and distinct voice, not a clumsy, childlike voice, flowed from Iomene's mouth.
"I want to try the baumkuchen and desserts you ate. The cookies and cakes, too."
At Iomene's words, Almene smiled while shedding tears together.
"Let's eat them. We can eat them."
"I want to hear the words 'I love you' from mom and dad."
"They'll surely say it. They'll definitely say it."
"I want to walk barefoot on the grass under the warm sun like you did, Almene."
"Of course we can do that. And I also want to like you..."
Almene to Iomene.
No.
One person's happy memories quietly declared to their own unhappy past.
"I want to keep seeing the face of the man I love in the future."
The terrible memories too.
The happy memories that seemed about to float up too.
Now they all belonged to one person.
There was no difference anymore.
Now the only difference was the names distinguishing their bodies.
***
"Mental block release! Both of your self-states are good! It's perfect! A perfect success!!"
Along with the court mage's excited voice, both princesses opened their eyes simultaneously.
The magic circle that had been keeping one eye of each closed was no longer there.
The two looked down at the saint holding both their hands with their eyes wide open.
Blood was flowing because they had gripped his hands so tightly that their nails dug into his flesh, but the saint didn't show any sign of it.
"Iomene. Almene. Are you okay?"
The saint's eyes were full of only worry as he looked at the two.
At that gaze, the two seemed unable to hold back any longer. They threw themselves simultaneously.
They jumped into the saint's arms.
And they began rubbing their faces against the saint's body at the same time.
"I-I'm sweating a lot right now…!"
It was good.
Even that sweat smell felt like an intense pheromone.
We love him.
We love this man in front of us.
We love this man who saved us and finally made us happy so, so much.
Really to the point where our breath stops.
“"Thank you."”
When the two princesses said that while shedding tears, the saint soon smiled and quietly hugged them.
"I'm glad. I hope both of you become happier than all the pain you've felt until now."
That was the plan.
The two were determined to be happy.
After hugging the saint tightly, Iomene and Almene stood up.
The two turned their gaze to the Emperor and Empress, who were sitting on one side watching them with anxious expressions.
Almene carefully stepped back and pushed Iomene forward.
Iomene slowly approached her parents.
She smiled.
She was smiling and sobbing at the same time.
"I... I'm back. Mom. Dad."
It wasn't clumsy.
It was a clear and accurate voice.
"It hurt so much all this time. So much..."
She opened her arms.
"Hug me. Tell me you love me."
At those words, the Empress rushed to her daughter, throwing away all dignity.
She was crying too.
It was tears mixed with happiness and guilt.
"My daughter."
The Empress hugged her daughter.
"My beloved daughter. Ah... God. Lilia. Saint. Thank you so much. Thank you..."
The Emperor, even more slowly.
With a face weighed down by guilt and regret, began to approach Iomene.
"Can I... Can I love you? Can I hug you and tell you I love you? Can you forgive me? Iomene?"
The Emperor was crying too.
And Iomene smiled at such a father.
"Hug me, Dad. And tell me you love me."
The Emperor hugged Iomene tightly.
"I love you. I love you, Iomene. I really love you."
Iomene started crying like a child.
She wailed and wailed miserably, as if spewing out all the pain of 16 years at once.
But strangely, there was also a relieved smile on her face.
The Emperor and Empress hugged Iomene even more tightly.
Everyone in the room quietly watched that scene.
There was no Emperor, Empress, or Princesses there.
There was only a saved father, a forgiven mother—who were not the august rulers of the empire—and two daughters shedding happy tears.