Gavi stood quietly in the center of the workshop.
Half of her face was covered by a cold, hard mask, while the other half possessed the delicate contours of a young girl.
A ruby necklace hung around her neck, reflecting a dark red glow that resembled a flickering flame in the dim light.
Within her hollow eye sockets, a faint point of light pulsed on and off, as natural as breathing. She could hear and understand every word spoken by the young girl with silver hair and purple eyes.
However, she did not understand why the humans around her were all staring at her as if they had seen a ghost. Was it… was it not a matter of course that she could understand and respond?
What confused her even more was why her master was currently circling her, looking her up and down, and even reaching out to fiddle with her arms and chest.
An almost fanatical light flickered in the girl’s eyes. It was the kind of gaze that seemed intent on dismantling her into individual parts for meticulous study.
Gavi lowered her head slightly and stood still, motionless. She did not know how to respond, nor did she understand what the ‘correct’ action would be.
But there was one thing she understood instinctively: as long as she remained obedient to the master before her, she could not go wrong.
“Phew.”
After confirming that Gavi showed no further abnormalities, Eleanor finally breathed a soft sigh of relief.
She had originally come over out of concern, but seeing her younger sister in such a state of excitement, she felt a hint of helplessness.
She turned her head to look at her personal maid, Lille, who was standing beside her, and then spoke to Helos one last time to confirm.
“Since everything is fine, I won’t disturb you any longer. If you need help, remember to come to me immediately.”
“Mm-hmm! No problem!”
Helos nodded repeatedly, her voice tinged with an irrepressible excitement. In this state, her eyes were filled only with Gavi’s figure—how could she care about anything else?
Eleanor shook her head helplessly and turned to leave with Lille.
By the time the workshop door clicked shut, the sky outside was already beginning to grow light. Julius remained for a moment longer, his brow furrowed as if he were hesitating over something.
“Maybe I should stay and keep watch with you — “
“No need!”
Helos cut him off with a firm refusal. She glanced back at him with a determined gaze and urged, “I can handle this myself. You should go report to Teacher Cedric. If something really does go wrong, I’ll be counting on you to ask Teacher for help.”
“… Fine.”
The boy opened his mouth to speak but ultimately said nothing more. He gave her a long, deep look before turning to leave, heading toward the Cathedral.
Finally, only Helos and Gavi remained in the workshop.
“Phew, they’re finally all gone.”
The girl rubbed her aching arms and turned around, her pale purple eyes locking onto the golem before her.
“Gavi, stand straight. Don’t move, okay?”
She raised both hands, her fingertips trembling slightly. A translucent alchemical inscription gradually unfolded in her vision, as if enveloping Gavi’s entire body.
**[Alchemy: Analysis — Activate]**
A faint light flickered, and Helos’s eyes brightened in an instant. Complex textures and symbols surfaced on Gavi’s body like ripples on water, peeling back and analyzing layer by layer to reveal a deeper essence.
Helos’s breathing grew rapid, her gaze glued to the results appearing before her.
“This… this is — “
She froze in place, her face written with shock.
Gavi’s internal core was originally just a **[Composite Life Core]** that she had fused through alchemy and a mana core, serving as the energy source to drive her movements.
But at this moment, she could clearly see that wrapped around that core was an extremely weak, yet undeniably real, soul fluctuation.
It was not resentment.
Helos held her breath, her palms sweating slightly. Her gaze landed on the ruby necklace on Gavi’s chest.
Yes, that was it.
According to the further results of the analysis, although the necklace had been purified by Cedric and the resentment on the surface had long since dissipated, there was a high probability that a soul fragment remained deep within it.
Normally, that lingering soul should have gradually dissipated after the purification. However, after it was placed on Gavi, it had been nourished by the power of the life core and had actually ‘come alive.’
Furthermore, it had fused with Gavi’s core, becoming Gavi’s ‘soul.’
“No wonder it turned out like this,” Helos murmured to herself, a fanatical light flashing in her eyes that she could not hide.
This was a brand-new, major discovery!
But soon, her gaze dimmed again. This ‘soul’ was not complete.
Gavi had no memories from before she had a soul. She was like a blank sheet of paper, retaining only some of the soul’s instincts and emotions. She would be unconditionally loyal to Helos; there was no doubt about that.
Yet, Helos fell into a contradiction.
She gazed at Gavi’s glimmering eye sockets, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.
Should she… treat Gavi as a person? Or should she treat her as a golem?
The difference between the two was not merely a matter of what she was called. If she were a person, she would need respect, care, and freedom.
If she were a golem, she was just a tool, a weapon for combat, an existence that could be discarded at any time.
“Gavi?” Helos called out in a low voice.
Gavi slowly tilted her head, the light in her eyes flashing as if in response.
Helos stared at Gavi, countless thoughts churning in her mind, until only a deep sigh remained.
“What am I supposed to do with you?”
Gavi did not and could not answer her question. She simply stood there quietly, looming before the girl like a statue.
Yet Helos felt as though within that hollow gaze, there was a trace of… concern?
Outside the workshop, the sky grew brighter as sunlight spilled in through the mist of dawn. Helos looked at the sun through the window, raising a hand to shade her eyes as she exhaled a long breath.
She knew that from this moment on, the relationship between her and Gavi had changed completely from what it had been at the start.
She still had no answer as to how she should treat her in the future. But there was one thing she was more certain of than ever.
The current Gavi was no longer just a cold golem.
“Ugh.”
Helos scratched her head in frustration, deciding to simply toss those complicated thoughts aside for now. She turned around and let her gaze fall back on Gavi.
After a moment of silence, her eyes shifted to the workshop, which had been turned into a complete mess. It was then that the girl suddenly remembered something very important.
“Uh, Gavi.”
She looked around, licking her dry lips as she spoke with a touch of helplessness. “While I know you wanted to protect the workshop…”
She paused and spread her hands, gesturing to the absolute wreck of the room.
“There was no need to make my workshop look like it was hit by a storm, right?”
The light in Gavi’s eye sockets dimmed slightly, as if she were dejected after understanding the words.
Seeing this, Helos’s heart tightened, and she quickly waved her hands to explain.
“Ah! I’m not criticizing you! Don’t misunderstand!”
She hurried to change her tone. Her purple eyes sparkled as she forced a smile, her voice softening considerably.
“I just wanted to say—oh, right! Didn’t you only recently gain your own consciousness?”
A spark of inspiration suddenly appeared in the girl’s eyes, and she clapped her hands together.
“Well then, why don’t you take this chance to help me tidy up the workshop? It’ll also be a good way to move your body and practice your movements. What do you think?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.
Congrats on motherhood.