Fairy Trap

Zair recalled the spirit that he temporarily let possess his body when he signed the contract with Canael.

It was a contract that used the ‘soul’ as a medium.

The soul that wrote the words in the contract at that time as he had ordered, was locked in a glass bottle as it had been in the past.

Then, on the same day that Sethian was allocated as the crown prince, the reconnaissance spirit, who returned just in time, informed him that Sethian was alive and that he had obtained their contract in his hand. As soon as he heard those words, he immediately shattered the soul that signed the contract for him. As the soul shattered, the words he had engraved must have completely disappeared, so by now, his contract in Sethian’s hand must have been blank.

As much as he believed in Canael’s Deputy-Guild Master Pair’s skills, but as his opponent was Sethian, he had no choice but to be careful with the contract which could be a weakness. Even if he succeeded, by the time he ascended to the throne, he planned to erase the contract as scheduled. He wouldn’t leave the pair unharmed either.

‘Should I say that it’s fortunate they took care of it on their own?’

Of course, it was not a situation that could be called ‘fortunate’ because Sethian was safe, but it became a weakness to his other siblings, and the assassin pair, which would become an obstacle in the future, disappeared. He’ll have to find another way to get rid of Sethian, but he thought it wasn’t too bad for now. Thanks to the fact that he survived and used golden magic, he was able to roughly grasp the identity of the golden butterfly.

Just as Zair’s head was filled with Sethian and the golden butterfly, the wizard who was quietly drinking tea softly opened his mouth.

“The golden butterfly that Prince Zair saw.”

Wondering if it’s fate since he was thinking about the golden butterfly at the same time, Zair’s eyes naturally showed interest.

“Since it is a ‘living soul(生靈)’[1], there must have been an original body, so why did it settle into a new body?”

“What does that mean?”

“As the prince knows, this golden art is ‘the magic of creating a perfect human body based on the information of the soul.’ There is no need for this living soul to settle permanently, but there is also no coercion.”

It wasn’t too difficult to figure out what the wizard was trying to say.

If it was a dead soul, there would be no body to return to, so it was natural to settle in a newly created place. However, if the body is still alive and well, there is no need to insist on entering a new body that needs to be persistently filled with vitality.

“Prince Sethian put the soul into a body that was created based on the information of the living soul and took it. I don’t know what happened after that, but if he was thinking the same thing as Prince Zair, he would have stopped by the tower again. If it’s an experiment just to produce a perfect human body, you can’t be sure with just one experiment.”

Zair nodded briefly at the wizard’s words. Just succeeding once doesn’t mean that it will be successful in the future. It is only when you succeed in several tests that you can be sure.

“So? What are you trying to say?”

“I wonder if there was something wrong with that soul’s actual body. I think that’s the reason why Prince Sethian also used the golden art.”

The wizard put down the completely empty teacup and leaned forward to lower his voice.

“The body is alive, but it must have been that it could not move properly. The body I saw at that time was an emaciated body that you would only see in slums. Whether hungry or ill, it is certain that he was not in good health.”

“Are you trying to accuse Sethian of taking an interest in a derelict and making him a body?”

That’s not even enough to make Sethian’s eyebrows twitch. Though it might be fatal for his other siblings who value face and honor.

Fortunately, the wizard shook his head.

“No, of course not. I also know that even that level would not blemish Prince Sethian.”

“Then?”

“What I want to say is that the more a person is such, the weaker they are to people’s attention. Regardless of whether the person is emotional or not, they are somehow desperately holding out so that they do not collapse, so even a little bit of encouragement will change their eyes. What’s more, did he not settle in a new body rather than his original one? The existing body must be in a state of coma.”

The wizard grinned and his eyes lit up.

“The soul’s actual body must not be in an affluent environment. I’ve never seen such an exotic appearance other than the occasional slaves. Slave or not, the body that’s in coma will soon die, and the soul must have known that. Even so, it chose to be with Prince Sethian.”

At his words, Zair began to think deeply about something.

Clearly, the golden butterfly was following Sethian itself. It didn’t feel like a master-slave relationship or a contract of any kind, and to be honest, it was close to a friendly feeling like a ‘friend’, as Sethian said.

“Are you saying that the butterfly with the living soul has abandoned its original body because of Sethian?”

It sounded stupid the moment the words came out of his mouth. When Sethian is interested in something, he shows excessive interest and digs deeply, but no matter how much it is, that bastard is a man without any humanity in his bones*. Just because such a guy showed some interest, he couldn’t understand why he had to abandon his original body and settle down. He doesn’t know if Sethian brainwashed the soul like he does.[2]

Looking at Zair’s displeased expression, the wizard shrugged and pulled back.

“What I said could also be incorrect. It’s just a conjecture. However, it is the brothels and magic tower where people who have no way to make ends meet and have no way to eat and can’t do anything because they are sick are gathering. Thanks to this, our magic tower is always overflowing with test subjects.”

The Magic Tower is crawling with emaciated people who have been actively volunteering to become the magicians’ test subjects. Since the current owner of the tower presented a policy, human subjects are treated like human beings, and it is not enough that they have to speak respectfully to them, but they also give them plenty of food at every meal. Although they could die while undergoing the experiment, their faces were rather happy and brighter than before while living as test subjects.

Among the numerous test subjects in the tower, there were only a handful of those who regretted becoming a subject.

Being a wizard who has seen such things a lot, he can roughly guess the heart of that shabby body’s owner. Whether he volunteered to do the golden art or was forced to do it, what was certain was that he was staying with Prince Sethian with a new body.

“I think you’d better take the opportunity to meet that person. If it’s with Prince Zair’s eyes, we can quickly find out what the soul wants emotionally and what kind of person it is.”

The wizard’s eyes narrowed insidiously. Zair, who was listening to him, let out a long sigh and brought his brows together.

⋆♚⋆♛⋆♚⋆

An early morning.

Sethian, who had been away from his bedroom for a while due to work, returned with a stranger. He bowed deeply and politely greeted Yi-Gyeol, who was only half his age.

“Good morning, Joo Yi-Gyeol-nim[3].”

Looking at the courteous elderly man, Yi-Gyeol stood up from his chair in surprise. In embarrassment, he even dropped the picture book he was looking at under the table.

“Hello!”

As soon as he tried to bend his back, Sethian approached and grabbed him so that he couldn’t bend down. He sat Yi-Gyeol back on the chair and habitually patted his hair.

Sethian looked at the picture book he had picked up from the floor for a moment, and then handed it to Yi-Gyeol.

“Do you understand the writing?”

Most of the illustrations were pictures and there were only one or two sentences on one page, but even that was difficult for Yi-Gyeol. Still, there was a picture, so he was able to recognize it with some sense.

“A bit. But I can’t read it yet.”

“I’ll read it to you after I get back, so there’s no need for you to overdo it.”

Yi-Gyeol covered his mouth with the back of his hand and suppressed a laughter. It doesn’t match Sethian at all because it feels like he’s going to read a children’s book to a child who can’t speak well. But still, he couldn’t refuse his cute help because he had to know the language since he had decided to settle here.

Sethian, who was staring at Yi-Gyeol’s curved eyes, stroked his hair again and gestured his chin at Roa, the owner of the tower.

“I have some business to deal with, so stay with him for a while. He will check your condition.”

Yi-Gyeol thought that was the end, but he added a stricter request.

“If ever something strange happens, scream or call Kirsty outside.”

“Mhm, I will. Take care.”

He answered lightly without much thought and smiled brightly but perhaps he liked that smile, he could see the corners of Sethian’s lips raise slightly.

Sethian’s face, turning his head to look at Roa, was as cold as ever.

“Don’t do anything stupid, just check his condition.”

“I know, you don’t have to worry.”

Even after hearing Roa’s words, Sethian still feels anxious and even orders Kirsty, who was on guard outside, to jump in without delay if he hears a strange noise from inside or when Yi-Gyeol calls.

When Yi-Gyeol was left alone with Roa in the bedroom, he was looking at him good naturedly and guessing who he might be. Considering that he will check his physical condition, he thought he might be a doctor.

“Now, Joo Yi-Gyeol-nim.”

Roa rubbed his palms with a face full of interest and came closer to Yi-Gyeol.

“Would you mind taking off all your clothes?”

Telling him to take off all his clothes all of a sudden….

For a moment, Yi-Gyeol’s face stiffened. He was wondering if this was the beginning of the ‘something strange’ that Sethian was talking about.
 

TL Notes:

(生靈): I’m sure it was already explained in the previous chapters I just don’t remember which one, but a ‘living soul’ is a soul that can release itself freely from the confinement of the body and can enter and leave as it pleases. Wow, look who’s calling the kettle black. -nim; is a title of honor added to one’s name or title as a show of respect. like ‘-sama’ in Japanese.