017 – Soliloquy
Having finished a lavish dinner, alone.
“Ms. Ella is still not joining us?”
“The young lady says she is feeling unwell.”
“Ah… Please convey my wishes for her speedy recovery.”
Ms. Ella was said to be unwell, and unable to join for dinner.
‘She must be embarrassed.’
He had a subtle perceptiveness, so he understood.
That she wasn’t truly too ill to come to the meal.
“Are you leaving so soon?”
“Miss Ella is unwell, and if I linger here unnecessarily, I’ll only add to the burdens of the other servants.”
“We don’t mind the extra work.”
“Ah ha ha, thank you so much for saying so.”
He was about to depart the Eloise family estate and return to the Academy when—
“Perhaps…”
“Mihan-nim.”
“Yes?”
“The young lady instructed me to ensure your journey back is comfortable.”
William Richard-ssi, the head butler and the highest-ranking servant in the manor, escorted me all the way to the carriage.
‘Oh.’
Truthfully, he was short on funds.
He had been contemplating asking for a loan for the carriage fare to the Academy, but to be offered a ride directly like this…!
“Ah… you really didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”
Even as he spoke the words of refusal, he quickly moved and climbed into the carriage.
As he was about to offer his farewell to the head butler from inside,
“Thank you.”
“No, the thanks are all ours, Mihan-nim, for finding the doppelganger hidden within the estate.”
“Ah ha ha, it was nothing, really.”
“And this is a small token of appreciation. The young lady specifically asked me to give it to you, Mihan-nim.”
The head butler handed him a badge adorned with a clean and elegant design.
“What is this?”
“It is a badge engraved with the symbol of the Eloise family.”
“Quite a symbolic item, isn’t it?”
“Haha, I see you were already aware. You’re right, as you said, this badge is indeed a very symbolic item.”
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to wear it close to my heart.”
“You seem to know how to use it as well. In that case, I won’t presumptuously offer any further instruction.”
‘Who wouldn’t know how to wear a badge?’
As everyone surely knew how to attach a badge, he would now finally depart towards the Academy in the Eloise family carriage.
“We hope to be of service again in the future, Mihan-nim.”
“I’ll be sure to come back for another delicious meal.”
…
—
Mihail (22)
[Kidnapping] – Deactivated
[Espionage] – Layton Isolde
[Sleep] – Activated
—
Gazing at the mirror after my shower, the status window popped into view.
Looking at it, I wondered about the new sleep magic; what sort of spell was it?
‘Does it gradually make you tired, eventually lulling you to sleep?’
Would using the magic cause instant slumber?
Or would I slowly succumb to its soporific tendrils?
Isn’t it a mage’s instinct to experiment upon learning a new spell?
“Sleep magic is…”
I was about to say, ‘I wonder how sleep magic works,’ but…
A sudden wave of profound drowsiness washed over my entire being, draining my strength until I collapsed onto the floor.
*Thump!*
…
“Mihaen! Mihaen!!”
I felt someone shaking me violently, and my eyes naturally fluttered open.
“…Professor…?”
Why Professor Layton was by my side, I’d ponder later. For now, I tried to recall the last thing I remembered; why was I sprawled here?
‘I was looking in the mirror…something about sleep magic…’
It seemed…
That seeing the status window and muttering the word ‘sleep’ had triggered something.
‘I have to watch what I say, even when talking to myself…’
“Ugh…”
From now on, when the status window appeared, I would consciously avoid uttering certain words. With effort, I pushed myself up.
‘…What in the world…?’
The reflection staring back at me was undeniably… wrecked.
“Urgh…”
Blood was smeared thickly around my mouth and nose. A sudden, sharp pain flared in my nasal passage.
‘…Oh no.’
I wondered why this was too, but…
Last night, after falling into a sudden, magical slumber, I must have smashed my face hard against the sink.
As proof, the sink itself was spattered with blood.
“Ah…”
I wanted to disappear into a mouse hole.
“Help…please…”
My nose felt like it had been shattered and left unattended all night.
The encroaching pain was unbearable. I called out to the professor, who happened to be nearby.
*Whoosh-*
Perhaps out of consideration for my nakedness.
Professor Layton swiftly wrapped me in a shower towel, like a gimbap roll. Then, he scooped me up into his arms.
And at the same time…
‘aaah!’
He leaped from the fifth floor of the dormitory building, carrying me straight to the medical bay in the building across the way.
*
He recalled the debate he’d waged with the faculty late into the previous night.
“You’re telling us a mere student can distinguish between doppelgangers and humans?”
“Is there a reason you’re withholding the student’s name from us?..”
“Professor Leighton… we need to know the student’s identity to even formulate a plan, don’t you think?”
“Lives could be at stake, and we’re in a position where we absolutely must make the best possible judgement…”
He understood the other professors’ reactions, in truth.
If a student truly existed who could discern doppelgangers from humans… why was he concealing the student?
If they were given the student’s information, then they could decide for themselves whether to believe him or not.
‘How can I reveal it…?’
But he couldn’t reveal Mihen’s information.
The ability he possessed… was needed across the entire Magic Kingdom.
If Mihen’s ability became public knowledge… he would undoubtedly drop everything to help others.
Without a care for his own demise.
“Oh, Goddess… why have you burdened that small child with such immense hardship…?”
Could he allow it, as an adult?
How could a professor, whose duty was to protect his students, send him willingly into the jaws of death…?
“..What is the right choice…?”
Currently, the academy’s students were divided into three categories.
Certain; students who were definitely human, without a doubt.
Neutral; students who were ambiguous, neither definitively doppelganger nor human.
Danger; students with a high probability of being doppelgangers.
It was a conclusion reached through a fairly systematic test.
Questions like, what lecture content doppelgangers would struggle to answer, or which professor gave the lecture on the academy’s first day.
Through various inquiries, the students had been categorized into those three groups…
“Damn doppelganger b*stards…”
Even if the students were classified as ‘Danger’…
There was still a one-in-a-thousand, one-in-a-million chance that they were genuinely human.
Making it impossible to simply eliminate them.
Therefore…
‘I’ll start with the Danger group…’
He intended to request that Mihen start by identifying those students classified as ‘Danger’, within the limits of his own stamina.
Of course.
Even if it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit, Mihen would ingest all manner of elixirs to replenish his life force.
And with the stipulation that the identification process would be immediately halted the moment his health showed signs of deteriorating.
‘Once the Tower Master arrives, the faculty’s opinions won’t matter as much.’
Indeed, the Tower Master was scheduled to revisit the academy in two days.
Therefore, on that day.
The academy’s doppelgangers could be identified under the Tower Master’s authority.
“Pointlessly trying to convince the faculty… only ended up leaking Mihen’s information. Tsk…”
In that way, Mihyeon’s identity could also be hidden, truly a plan with two birds killed with one stone.
“First, I must get permission from the person in question.”
Naturally, this entire scheme required Mihyeon’s cooperation.
Along with obtaining his permission, I also intended to apologize for inadvertently leaking his information to the faculty, and so I walked towards Mihyeon’s dormitory room.
Knock, knock, knock.
‘If he’s asleep, I suppose I’ll have to wait until he wakes up.’
After knocking on the dormitory door,
leaning against the railing, I wondered if I should wait for Mihyeon to rise when…
“…”
To me, who had survived countless battlefields… a scent more familiar than anything else began to prick at the tip of my nose.
‘…Blood?’
The scent of blood emanating from within Mihyeon’s room spurred me into action, and without hesitation, I slammed down on the doorknob.
*Crack!*
And so, I opened the dormitory door and entered, to find…
“Mihyeon! Mihyeon!!”
A man lay collapsed, as if having vomited blood… in a completely battered state.
*
“I urge you once more. Not a single word about what happened yesterday is to leak outside.”
“From yesterday, I have strictly silenced all the servants.”
“Good.”
I left the manor in good spirits, buoyed by the head butler’s confident words.
“Ahem, ahem~.”
Having finished sorting out my feelings throughout the night, I felt a lightness in my heart.
‘He doesn’t have materialistic desires, but he enjoys fine dining, so I should ask him to have lunch with me today.’
It was a feeling I was experiencing for the first time, but I was certain.
I like him.
At first, I was simply intrigued by his lack of material desires…
But now, I am sure that I like him.
The sight of the man sleeping next to me with his mouth slightly open when I opened my eyes… it even felt cute.
“Let’s depart.”
“Aren’t we leaving about 30 minutes earlier than usual?…”
Mihyeon must be a kind man to everyone, but I must be the only person to have been saved by him twice.
No… even inside the manor, he saved me, so… three times.
“I have something I need to do first.”
“Understood. We will depart immediately.”
Wanting to see him as soon as possible, I had the carriage depart without delay.
‘Father’s suggestion that it would be good for me to enter the dormitory is still valid, right?’
Could the walk to school really be this exciting…?
My joyfully fluttering heart was a peculiar feeling, as if it were lifting me into the air.
…
A feeling, buoyant just moments ago, now plummets down, down to the very bottom.
“…”
It was… because of the scene I witnessed the moment I arrived at the Academy and stepped off the carriage…
“Mihan… sir?”
Professor Layton was embracing Mihan-nim, his face smeared with blood, and rushing him towards the medical wing…