Memory Manipulation (1)
There wasn't a single person in Seifert Village who didn't know Louis.
Partly, it was because he was the previous lord's son, but there were other reasons as well.
Rumors had spread that anyone who messed with Louis himself, or anything related to Louis, could not survive unscathed.
In fact, over the past two years, any riffraff who came to the village, or those who called themselves knights and bullied others, disappeared without a trace the moment they encountered Louis.
For this reason, Louis was not simply the child of the previous lord—he had become both the guardian and the terror of Seifert Village.
"Hehehe! My lord~"
That was why the present situation was jaw-dropping.
Not only the passing villagers, but even Silia who was watching nearby—
Even Louis himself could not understand what was happening.
"Uh... so..."
Yet, Louis's memories of this blonde girl were vivid.
"Emily... right?"
"Yes! My lord! Do you remember your promise to marry me?"
"Hmm..."
Louis looked at the girl named Emily and tried to recall his memories.
He searched through every memory before the time when the domain burned down and before he was taken to the 7th Legion.
"Ah!"
To his shock, the memory that he hoped didn't exist was, indeed, there in his head.
In that memory, he was wearing a suit, with his parents—who had not passed away yet—standing by his side.
Across from them stood a young girl in a dress.
Her golden hair looked exactly like the girl in front of him now.
"Uh... I remember."
"Really?"
As Louis spoke with a reluctant expression, emily beamed with delight.
"Then, do you remember the conversation we had back then?"
"..."
Louis tried to recall the conversation once again.
Amazingly, the words played in his head as vividly as if it had happened yesterday.
'If you're ever in danger, just call me. I will protect you...'
Huh? Wait a minute.
Startled, Louis's mind blanked out for an instant.
He just couldn't believe what he was recalling.
Did I really say this kind of nonsense?
Impossible!
But the memory replayed, and Louis was horrified.
'If you're ever in danger, call me anytime. I'll protect you. My lady.'
Gueeeeehh!!
'Thank you so much, my lord. I'll stay by your side my whole life. So please, don't ever forget me, my lord.'
'Of course. I swear upon the heavens, I promise. My lady.'
Kueeeeeeegh!!!!
"Uuupp!!"
Louis, struck by a wave of revulsion, instinctively threw up everything he ate that morning.
What? Did I really spout such drivel?
And the memory was not done yet.
'I pledge my life with this ring.'
He saw his younger self put a gold-bordered, shining ring on Emily's finger.
Did I really even do this crap?
'I'll also pledge myself to you, my lord. My love.'
'Thank you so much. My angel.'
And the moment the memory of putting on the ring ended—
"You f***ing XXXX!!!"
A torrent of curses escaped Louis's mouth.
He could not believe he had ever uttered such embarrassing words.
My love?
My angel?
What kind of outdated romance trash is this, the kind that would get roasted by negative comments if you posted it online?
Louis was furious.
The lines themselves were infuriating, but even more so was his anger at himself.
All of it was in his own head.
He hadn't witnessed someone else saying it—he himself had said such things.
There was no doubt about it; those memories were inside him.
"Goddaaaaaaamn it!!!"
Unable to contain his overwhelming rage, Louis kicked a nearby trash bin like a soccer ball.
The trash bin, powered by Louis's superhuman strength, soared through the clouds, trailing friction heat all the way to the edge of the sky.
"How could I have said this kind of crap!!"
These weren't someone else's words—they were his.
There was no falsehood in that, and self-loathing engulfed Louis.
"You son of a b***!!!"
Kneeling to the ground, Louis screamed in anguish.
He could not take his anger out on anyone—he himself was the cause.
It was hell—an experience he had never faced before.
"My lord. Are you all right?"
Emily looked at the kneeling Louis with a worried expression.
Louis looked at her resentfully, but was it really all Emily's fault?
'Of course not.'
It was his own fault for agreeing to the engagement back then.
This was the kind of embarrassment that made you want to kick your blanket in shame.
"Then, my lord. It's time to fulfill our promise."
"Promise?"
"This."
Emily took out two rings from her pocket.
Gold-banded rings, identical to those he remembered.
The sight made Louis's chest freeze.
"Ah... No way."
"Yes. That's right."
Emily approached slowly and lifted Louis's hand.
Since Louis's memory was so vivid, he couldn't resist, and just as Emily tried to slip the ring onto his finger—
"Move that hand, you brat. Want me to pulverize your hand?"
Pram barged in, blocking Emily's hand.
Her face twisted threateningly as she intervened, and Emily asked blankly—
"Who are you?"
"Me?"
At Emily's puzzled tone, Pram scowled even more.
"I'm this man's girlfriend, you brat! You think you can wag your tail like a sly fox?"
"Girlfriend?"
Emily's expression hardened at that response.
"My lord. Are you seeing another woman behind my back?"
"Well... That is to say..."
After the domain burned and he was taken by the 7th Legion, countless things happened to him.
To explain his relationship with Pram to Emily, he'd have to start from the very beginning.
"It's a long story."
"I see. Well, you did live with the 7th Legion for a long time, and returned here after many experiences and meeting many people. That makes sense."
"See? You get it now?"
With triumphant confidence, Pram announced,
"No matter what you say about being a fiancé, you're just someone from his past. Even if you babble 'my lord' now, we're already by the young master's side!"
She emphasized that having lived with Louis for years meant being closer than someone from his past.
Pram then nervously swallowed as she glanced quickly behind herself.
"So go back quietly. Not just me, but... Don't make her angrier, either."
Standing behind Pram, Rio had been emanating an extraordinary aura for some time.
It was a deadly vibe, as if she would cut down anyone who so much as brushed against her.
No one dared approach Rio.
Instead, Rio slowly came forward and spoke.
"Young master. Is what that girl said true?"
"What?"
"Is what we just heard actually true?"
"..."
Faced with Rio's direct question, Louis had to pause for a moment.
Seeing the fire in her eyes, Louis couldn't help but answer.
"It seems so."
It was all true.
The moment he admitted it, Rio's pupils narrowed.
At the same time, it was as if something snapped in her mind.
A sound as if her consciousness was fading, more precisely, the thread keeping her rationality snapped.
"Ha... Hahahahaha..."
Until now, she had lived with her eyes on the young master's back.
Wanting to always be by his side, she devoted herself to becoming stronger, almost to death.
But the fact that his side had already been reserved was a shock beyond words.
"Young master..."
Rio, her eyes utterly mad, muttered,
"I can't give up now. I can't accept this, not anymore."
"Ri-Rio?"
"You think I'll just step aside? I'm different from those other girls. You know very well what kind of girl I am. I don't let anyone who tried to stab me go. And I won't let go of anyone trying to steal my place. Do you know what I do to them?"
Rambling in an unsettling way, Rio finally pulled out her blade.
"I'll do this to them."
Now completely out of her mind, Rio was like a ticking time bomb beyond anyone's control.
With a disaster-like monster awakened, Pram was shocked.
"Hey, calm down! Nothing's been settled yet—"
"You said it exists in his memory. Then what isn't settled?"
"That's..."
That's right. Since it existed in his own memory, it was essentially a certainty.
Louis, therefore, had no excuse to offer.
"Right? Now you get it?"
Rio aimed her blade at Emily once again.
"So move out of the way, young master."
A crimson aura began to surge from her blade.
"I can't kill that girl if you're in the way."
Is this really how she'll be, no matter how much time passes?
Is it true that people never really change?
Louis groaned as he held Rio back.
Thankfully, due to a huge gap in strength, Rio couldn't push past Louis.
But Rio's constant threats of killing that woman made Louis's insides churn.
"Do none of you believe me?"
At that moment, emily spoke, stopping everyone in their tracks.
Even Rio paused her threatening actions to answer.
"It's not about believing or not. We can't accept someone we've never heard of suddenly claiming to be the young master's lover."
As she said this, Rio pointed her blade at Emily again.
Even with a blade at her, emily didn't blink an eye.
"So, you mean you can't accept it?"
With a meaningful smile, she continued.
"Are you sure?"
"What?"
"It's been a long time, hasn't it? Miss Rio. And Miss Pram. You've both changed a lot since the time you were in the village, haven't you?"
Suddenly addressing them as if she knew them, Rio and Pram stared in disbelief.
"What are you saying? We've never... huh?"
"Ah..."
As they tried to refute her, something suddenly replayed in their minds.
Memories, as if recalling something forgotten, surfaced, and their anger began to fade.
"Come to think of it... you are..."
"Emily... the daughter of the noble close to our lord, who often visited our domain."
The hostility from Rio and Pram faded abruptly as they recalled memories with Emily.
Memories they thought didn't exist were, shockingly, there in their minds.
Could all these memories be fake?
Even if they wanted to deny it, the nostalgia arising from those memories couldn't be erased.
And that left them unable to protest any further.
"How about it? Do you remember the memories we shared?"
"Uh..."
"Yes..."
Memories became evidence, and once recalled, there was no way to argue otherwise.
As a result, Rio and Pram were left speechless in an instant.
"So then, should we put the ring on again?"
Emily, having silenced everyone without strife, tried again to slip the ring onto Louis's hand.
But there was one more person who wouldn't just stand by.
"Wait."
Silia grabbed Emily's arm to stop her.
"And you are?"
"Before that, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"You said you're Louis's fiancé? Then, have you even kissed him?"
At that, Rio and Pram's eyes flashed.
Of course, Louis himself was startled.
"A kiss, you mean?"
With a knowing smile, emily stared into Louis's eyes.
"My lord. You remember, right?"
"No way..."
"The memory of us sharing a kiss."
Just as Louis shuddered and tried to recall that memory—
"Now, you two!!"
Suddenly, two blades flew between Louis and Emily.
Resembling a sort of swordsmanship, the two Bloodline blades sliced through something invisible.
"Kh!"
At that, emily's expression distorted and she stepped back.
Because what she had been implanting in their minds through their eyes had been cut apart by Bloodline.
"Just as I thought something felt off."
Silia revealed a menacing aura similar to how Rio had earlier, and asked,
"What are you?"