There were only a few people on the whole continent who she thought was acceptable in her standards. Kyle Leonard, a dedicated investigator who had succeeded in arresting her fifteen times; Jason Thompfer, a wealthy merchant from the Aorim Empire who had all of its money in his pocket; and Admiral Noison, who had been dubbed ‘the best tactician’. In Eleonora’s mind, the only people worth knowing were the strong ones.
Adrian, despite being the youngest minister in Laurent and a powerful magic user, was non-existent to her. If one had to choose a reason why she had kept him by her side, they would not have to think for very long: his good-looks.
“I wish you were half as good as your hair looks.” She told him on a regular basis.
Adrian’s self-worth had become redefined through her words. Whilst he could only be responsible for cleaning up Eleonora’s mess, he was grateful to be in a position where she was around him, as it was always a struggle to be loved and appreciated.
A one-sided relationship like that was not something normal. But when he realized that fact, it was already after he’d naturally gotten used to her.
He found himself crawling back to her mansion to pay her a visit, like she was a bad habit he couldn’t break. As soon as he entered, however, he could sense that something was wrong. There was a faint smell of iron in the air, and there were no signs of intruders anywhere. Yet something was still off.
Adrian found his answer when he walked into the dining room, where he found Eleonora’s body slumped over the dining table. In front of her was her uneaten meal, steam rising from the piping hot food.
Panic settling in, Adrian rushed over to pick her up and gave her body a shake in an attempt to wake her up.
It was only when he tried to awaken her soul with the magic of the spiritual world that he realised what was happening. What he had in his arms right now was just a shell of Eleonora.
This is what happens when one fails to penetrate the soul. But Eleonora’s body was soft, and warm, and her breathing was faint. indicating that she was still alive. If Adrian couldn’t penetrate her soul despite that, there was only one possible explanation: The bond between her body and soul was broken, and her soul had disappeared somewhere.
Adrian recalled the most recent records about Eleonora he had received from the researcher in Harrell.
“It starts with a month-long dosage of hallucinogens that are painless but slowly weaken the bond between the body and soul.”
One month ago, Adrian had seen her drinking a tea she normally didn’t drink.
“When you’re temporarily braindead, you lock your soul in a nucleus with a sealed replicated magic formula. Based on past experiments, the dosage of hallucinogens varies greatly, and after taking them for more than a certain period, the binding is easily broken even with very small external shocks. In case that happens, the ‘nucleus’ even has a magic formula that is immediately summoned as soon as the soul is separated.”
Eleonora’s lips that opened up blankly were fluttered.
“…nucleus.”
A nucleus was contained in her soul, which was separated from her body.
Adrian heaved Eleonora’s body from her chair and carefully laid her down on the table. Afterwards, he ran up to the upper floor of the mansion where her little laboratory was located.
Her lab was much different than the last time he had visited. Perhaps to avoid having to run into Adrian too often, Eleonora had some copies of the first and second stages of the replica project she had been working on in Harrell.
On one side was a wide medicine counter, and above it was a cupboard that contained various kinds of herbs in glass bottles. It appeared as though she had made her own elixirs.
However, the dosage of hallucinogens that slowly breaks the bond between the body and soul varies from person to person. No matter how many experiments Eleonora did, if her body was far from the average, taking an average dosage was useless.
After all, she had experimented with her body in the most dangerous way. It was clear that she hadn’t exactly calculated it, but it had happened unconsciously.
Adrian knew he had to find the nucleus, and fast. He quickly tore through the counter and the cupboard. He was rummaging around when he touched something strange and felt a stab of pain. He snatched his hand away to find blood oozing down his hand..
He looked down at his bloody hand for a long time, before grabbing a nearby cloth and using it as an impromptu bandage. Then he slowly turned around. In a corner across the lab, a replica was sitting, with something blurry covering it.
Adrian approached like he had been possessed by it.
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