I was flustered because Ares suddenly reacted strangely.
I had only asked what it was.
While I stood there, confused and unsure of the reason, Sibellius gave me a strange look too.
“What kind of idiotic nonsense is that? The Black Pain is something your family has kept for generations—only the head and heir of the house know its location.”
I never heard of that!
Black Pain? It never appeared or was even mentioned in the original story.
I thought it was a joke at first, but they didn’t seem to be joking.
“Stop with that kind of prank. There’s no way the heir of Hyperion wouldn’t know. Ares herself just said she and Ceres were the only ones who knew about the place.”
Damn it!
The real Ceres must have known before I possessed him? And Ares knows that too?
Of course she’d find it suspicious since I asked about something I should know.
Even if I didn’t know, that was a critical mistake.
“Ceres, you?”
Ares looked at me in shock. I hurried to explain.
“Actually—!”
“Don’t tell me… your memory still hasn’t fully returned?!”
“…Huh?”
Before I could say anything, Ares blurted out something bizarre that threw me off.
“My memory is fine.”
“The fact that you’re asking about that is already proof your memory is confused. Have you forgotten? You fell down the stairs and hit your head!”
Ares suddenly pulled out a backstory I’d never heard before.
Not just me, even the two nearby were caught off guard.
“Ceres hit his head?”
Alios asked in disbelief.
“What are you talking about? I’ve never seen Ceres suffer a head injury.”
“Of course not. It happened a few days before he met you.”
…What?
“Ceres hit his head in a fall down the stairs, and for a few days after that, he stayed in a dazed state. But on the day he met you, he suddenly snapped out of it and spoke as usual.”
Was that in the original story?
I searched my memory and found a vague clue.
There was a monologue from the original Ceres, explaining how sickly he was.
He said something like, ‘Maybe I was too sick lately. I can’t even remember what happened.’
So that wasn’t just illness—he had hit his head and forgotten things?
Then I possessed him right at the moment he regained consciousness?
“Wait a minute.”
I tried to get a clearer understanding of the situation.
“Why did I fall down the stairs? Wouldn’t I usually be escorted by a servant?”
“…So you don’t remember that either.”
Ares hesitated for a while before answering.
“You and I had an argument.”
“What about?”
“…If you forgot, there’s no need to know. You did something that made me angry. You refused help and tried to go down the stairs alone.”
Ares avoided giving specifics and muttered the rest like a monologue.
“You tried walking on your own and ended up slipping on the stairs. Even after urgent treatment, you seemed dazed for a while.”
“I did that?”
“But perhaps because your subconscious remembered our fight, you avoided talking to me, even though you still spoke to the servants.”
Ares’ eyes softened with concern as she held my shoulder.
“And then, on the day Lady Alios came, you suddenly snapped out of it. I found it hard to ask whether you remembered what happened, so I just assumed you’d recovered.”
“Well, I guess that’s not wrong…”
“Why didn’t you say your memory was still unclear?”
Alright, this was a critical moment.
I had to give a good excuse, or I’d be under suspicion later.
“I thought if my mother found out my memory wasn’t complete, she’d be too worried.”
If they were going to hand me a convenient ‘amnesia’ setup, I might as well use it.
“I’m actually still missing pieces. There are some things I should obviously remember, but I just can’t recall them.”
“Then you should receive treatment right away!”
“I don’t think that’ll help. I’ve already tried healing myself several times, but nothing changed.”
“Why not?”
“Maybe because it’s not a physical injury, but a psychological one?”
I made up a vague explanation, and Ares flinched slightly.
“A psychological cause…?”
“If it’s related to the mind, maybe even holy power can’t fix it. We should probably wait for it to heal naturally.”
“…Then I guess there’s no other way.”
Ares backed off reluctantly, and the other two approached.
“Ceres, why didn’t you say anything about this!”
“You even stayed silent during treatment!”
Alios looked worried, and Sibellius looked exasperated.
I brushed it off vaguely for them too.
“You both know how noble society works. I’m the only heir to the Count’s family. I couldn’t just go around announcing that I’d lost my memory.”
“That would’ve caused a huge scandal.”
The moment I mentioned noble reputation, Alios, a noble herself, immediately understood.
“Tch. So it’s all about noble pride.”
Sibellius, who wasn’t a noble but had lived long enough to see every ridiculous thing nobles do, also accepted it.
It was tense at first, but thanks to the convenient ‘amnesia’ excuse, I managed to escape the situation.
And then—
“I can use this.”
“What?”
“Mother, you should ask Empress Baiol to send me back.”
I said, a spark of inspiration flashing in my mind.
After discussing it with the group, we headed straight for the Imperial Palace.
****
“Ceres, you’ve finally returned!”
Baiol looked genuinely happy to see me.
But when she saw Ares and Sibellius behind me—
“Ares? Sibellius? What are you two doing in the palace?”
She looked at them as if they were part of a nightmare.
“Sibellius, did you forget you’re not allowed in the palace without my permission? Ares, you came here without even sending word—have you lost your mind?”
She scolded both of them, especially keeping a wary eye on Ares.
She must’ve thought they came to take me away.
“Return Ceres to us.”
When that turned out to be true, Baiol’s expression twisted in fury.
“Why should I?”
“Ceres is not in a normal state right now. He’s suffering from partial memory loss.”
“…What.”
Baiol was caught completely off guard by the unexpected response.
Then she looked at me, startled.
“Don’t tell me… your health is failing again?!”
“No, not exactly. Something happened before I met you.”
I tweaked the story about falling down the stairs and explained it lightly.
“I kept it hidden until now, but I can’t keep lying. I’m going to rest at home for a while.”
Baiol looked at me with doubt.
“Suspicious. Are you trying to deceive me?”
“I’ll show you proof.”
I glanced at Ares, giving her a signal.
Then, from her empty right arm, a black sword appeared.
“Black Pain!”
Baiol immediately recognized what it was.
“Ares, you’ve gone completely mad! Black Pain is the object your family has sealed under the command of the First Emperor. How dare you draw it without a direct order from the royal family?”
“I brought it out to rescue Ceres from the evil half-demon.”
Baiol’s expression shifted into something strange.
“What are you saying?”
“I happened to hear that Ceres had been taken by Sibellius, the half-demon. I believed she might harm my child, so I had no choice but to bring it with me.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? That girl was acting on my orders to heal Ceres.”
“How would I know that? Your Majesty never informed me of any such thing.”
Baiol fell silent. She couldn’t deny it—because it was true.
“I didn’t know. So I drew Black Pain and went to confront Sibellius. But I encountered Ceres on the way, and he told me the truth.”
“So?”
“Thanks to Ceres, the misunderstanding was cleared up, but then a far more serious problem arose. When he saw Black Pain, Ceres asked what it was.”
Ares pointed to Sibellius, saying someone else had witnessed it as well.
“Yes, I saw it too. He couldn’t even recognize an artifact his family has kept for generations,” Sibellius added with a sigh, playing along just as we’d planned.
That was the brilliant idea I’d come up with.
By admitting to memory loss, we created a situation where Baiol had no choice but to let me go.
Of course, we left out the very sensitive detail that Ares had nearly committed treason by brandishing Black Pain against the empire.
“He’s in such poor condition he doesn’t even recognize a key heirloom every successor must know. He needs time to recover at home. Please allow it.”
Ares pressed hard, using the memory loss as a reason.
Baiol hesitated.
“Can’t he rest here, in the palace?”
“Are you saying… you won’t let him go?”
Seeing she still refused, Ares’ expression turned serious.
In that moment, an aura flared up around Black Pain in her hand.
“What the—?!”
I couldn’t help but exclaim. Since when had she become a Sword Master?
I was stunned. Baiol’s eyes went wide too, but the others reacted calmly—as if they already knew.
Alios turned to Ares, unsurprised.
“So you really did become a Sword Master.”
“I turned my aura off when we arrived, but I guess it still leaked a bit?”
“Even without seeing it, I could tell. We’re both Sword Masters now—I can feel the presence. You’re still unskilled at hiding it. Be careful.”
“…I’ll remember that.”
The two of them spoke in a way only Sword Masters could understand, while I grew increasingly anxious.
Sure, it was impressive Ares had achieved something the original character never did in the novel, but this hadn’t been part of the plan.
I glanced at Baiol. Her expression was not pleasant.
“Why did you show your aura? Are you threatening to stab me if I don’t hand Ceres over?”
Her words were cautious, suspicious.
“I’m only asking for a gift.”
“A gift?”
“The birth of a Sword Master is a national celebration. Monarchs have always bestowed gifts on such occasions.”
“So… you’re asking to take Ceres home as your reward?”
“You gave one to Lady Alios when she became a Sword Master, even if it wasn’t with a happy face.”
Ares continued calmly.
She wasn’t asking for much.
Just forgiveness for her child’s rudeness… and permission for him to recover at home.
She was appealing to Baiol’s mercy.
“Th-this is…”
Faced with such a plea, Baiol had no words.
Her eyes shifted, finally landing on me.
“Ceres, what do you want…?”
“Obviously, I want to go home. Let me go already. If you miss me that badly, just call me again later.”
“……Alright.”
Seeing how firm I was, she gave up.
“Go home and get plenty of rest.”
“I planned to, even without you telling me. You should rest too. And stop bothering Sibellius—sorry for all the trouble.”
With Baiol’s permission, I was finally able to return home.
And in true obedient fashion, I did absolutely nothing for a while and got some real rest.
“Lady Alios, you rest too. And don’t come around for a while.”
“What? Why?!”
“My son needs to recover, and you coming here all the time would be a distraction.”
Ares blocked her, so even Alios, who used to visit daily, couldn’t interfere.
I lay in bed all day like I did when I was sick.
Took strolls using my now-improved body.
Prepared for upcoming events from the novel.
I was enjoying my vacation to the fullest.
****
“Ceres.”
One day, Ares came into my room with an uneasy look.
“A woman named Airan has arrived with a group of priests, demanding to see you.”
Now?