Four Years (1)

"Finally." Adelaide mumbled.

The familiar study room materialized before her eyes.

The girl sighed. It had only been a night, yet she felt like forever. She was even worried that she'd lose this strange place.

'With this, my plan should proceed well if I do it right.'

There is no such thing as a loophole-free plan. Evidence always exists. How one hides their evidence is what determines their capability.

'What should I do now? Should I sleep for real, or should I pay our dear Daniel James a visit?'

Adelaide pondered while spinning the fountain pen skilfully. It was one of those useless abilities she picked up back in middle school. There was this weird trend back in the days when doing tricks with pens was considered cool.

As a rebellious teen, it was no doubt that she got ahold of the trend right away.

Her gaze laid lazily at the spinning pen.

"I'll check on him, then get some sleep. It's about time I wander into the dreamland like everyone else." She muttered quietly. "Five more minutes then."

"Speaking of actual sleep, will my mind become more vulnerable once I let go of this level of subconsciousness temporarily?"

It was quite possible, but Adelaide couldn't just stay awake mentally her entire life. She did not want to drive herself crazy.

"The boundary between cautiousness and obsessiveness is thin."

Adelaide sighed, put the fountain pen to where it belonged, and jumped down from the chair. With familiar footsteps, she walked leisurely towards the door.

'Ah, I really need to manage my time too.'

One of the reasons why Adelaide was mentally exhausted was because she stayed in Baron James' dream for too long. Fortunately, the innocent and pious believer did not resist her when she tried to exert authority in his dream.

'Turns out, staying in someone else's dream for two hours tires me.'

The door opened after a light twist, revealing the beautiful space outside.

'One thing for certain, though. For some reason, this string never leaves.'

In front of her was a glowing string connected to somewhere not so far away. Unlike the other places, this dream actually follows her study hall.

Adelaide looked at the place said string was connected to. She could somewhat see what was behind the fog: it was dyed in white, which meant the Baron's was dreaming of the same scene again.

"This insanely fanatic bastard."

It was a mystery to her how the Baron's subconscious dreamland followed hers, but she did not ponder upon the matter for too long. She would store the fact somewhere in her mind and connect the dots once everything fits.

This time, without any further thoughts, Adelaide held the glowing string and headed towards the Baron's dream. Her heart did not even pound as much as the first times. Her eyes had a hint of amusement as she walked around as if she was appreciating the beautiful flowers of her own front yard.

Soon enough, she could hear the sound of someone praying with a soft melody.

"Dearest Master, the protector of souls

Celestial being, hidden behind the fog.

With your divine wisdom and teachings,

Please guide your humble servant towards the path of light.

Relieve me from my anguish, guilt, and pain

For I shall slay all enemies,

Under your gracious name."

'…Did this fanatic bastard just write me some kind of song?'

One may argue that this so-called song might not be directed towards her, or the identity that she was borrowing since Baron James did not mention any names, but the angel was literally called the 'Unnamed'.

'Divine wisdom? Ah, I did spew out some real smart nonsense.'

At first, Adelaide only wanted to use Baron James for information and miscellaneous tasks.

'But he might be more useful than I thought?'

She was worried about the man being so obsessed with Goddess Avalina and Avalina alone. Adelaide had the guts to use the Unnamed's name, but she wouldn't do the same to Avaline. Impersonating someone with deep history and myths is beyond stupid, even if they might not be 100% real.

With the level of belief Baron James had upon Goddess Avalina, she thought it was impossible to use the man to its fullest. She thought he would listen to her to some extent, but only with the premise of her acting like Avalina's subordinate.

'You know, like giving instructions as if it was the Goddess's will. Implicitly, of course.'

Turned out, there was a possibility that she could actually convert him.

'The bastard even wrote me a holy prayer – and not a normal one, but with a freaking melody at that. It even sounds so mesmerizing.'

If one has to choose, then what would be the right option: a God who only exists in myths, or a holy existence who's actually there for you?

'It's a no-brainer question. If I play this right, he'll turn towards me slowly. Before he knows it, he'll eventually drift away from the Avalina path.'

With that thought in mind, Adelaide decided to make her presence known.

"Are you calling for me?"

As expected, Baron James' eyes lit up immediately after he raised his head towards the source of her voice.

"Y-Your Excellency. So it wasn't a dream. No, so it was real. Everything was real."

'Poor Daniel seems to reach his mid-life crisis early.'

"Of course. You called for me yesterday, and you called for me today. I simply answered your call. Though I must say, today is quite different."

"…It's something I made up, Your Excellency. Please forgive me if I had offended you."

"No, I like it." Adelaide chuckled. The middle-aged men before her even looked shy at her compliment. "No one has written anything for me. Not that I ask them too, but I'm happy at your sincerity."

"This humble servant is flattered."

"Then, what story do you have for me today?" despite her heart pounding with excitement, Adelaide's voice was relaxed. With a flick of her finger, a fluffy cloud was summoned.

She sat down leisurely and made sure the posture was a mix of laziness and elegance.

"You sit down, too. No need to be that careful." With another flick, another cloud flew over and bumped lightly at the Baron's knees.

The man was surprised, but he did not lose his balance. Baron James sat down nervously, his expression brightened as if he was given a huge favor.

"His Grace, Duke Winford, is looking for the culprit of his daughter's kidnapping, Your Excellency. I think…he wants to blame it on me."

"This Duke is Charles' direct descendant?"

"Yes, Your Excellency." Baron James' felt cold sweat running down his spine. The mystery existence before him even talked about the great co-founder of their Empire in such a casual and informal way.

"You know you are the real culprit, right?"

"But…but it was unpreventable. I…I was forced to do so, Your Excellency. I-It was my fault, b-but…"

"I'm not blaming you. I'm just stating out facts. However, I do understand that you have no choice. There is no such thing as gaining everything in life. Worry not, as the duke will not push the fault on you. He cares about his reputation too much to do that."

"B..but…"

"Your family has been Winford's vessel for a thousand years. The opposite party, or whatever you mortal call, will not leave it alone."

Baron James sighed in relief. He panicked due to stress after receiving the news and it got ahold of his mind, but he soon understood after calming down.

Stress was not the only reason. Something unperceivable happened in his mansion yesterday. Something bizarre. There was something he could not get out of his mind no matter what.

"Y-Your Excellency, there is another thing I'd like to ask."

"Oh?"

"Something unbelievable happened at my place. There was no lead…It was like a punishment from the Goddess."

"And what do you want to convey?"

"The-there was an accident, no, an unperceivable event, Your Excellency. With your level of wisdom, I'm s-sure you know about it."

"Of course, I know about it. What's with this incident?"

"W-what should I do about this incident, Your Excellency?" the Baron's voice became shaky, but his face was determined.

"..."

'Wait…'

"Surely, with your divine wisdom, you must've known…what should I do, Your Excellency? I don't know how to solve this mess…"

'You're not telling me what mess, huh?'

Baron James was shaking visibly, but he did not give in. He needed to know, he had to know.

Is the existence before him the real Unnamed, a devil, or just some bastard tricking him? Or is this just a dream?

'It couldn't be a dream', the middle-aged man thought, 'this is someone. I just needed to know what that someone is.'

The Baron, like any other important political figure, had too many enemies. Losing his own life due to the curse wasn't what he feared – he was afraid the entire James lineage would come to its ruin. No matter how much of a fanatic believer he was, at the end of the day, Baron James was a noble.

Every noble possessed at least a shred of doubt and sharpness.

He had to know, even if that meant he was questioning a real holy being.

"Please, Your Excellency, with your wisdom, please enlighten me."

As expected, the previous harmonious atmosphere between them turned chilly. After a brief silence, the voice coming from the figure in front of him was no longer human-like.

It sounded as if the voice itself came from everywhere within the cloud-filled space. Echos accompanied each word.

"Daniel James, are you actually doubting me?'

Even though she still sounded calm and there was no anger detected within her tone, Baron James felt like he was drowned in invisible cold sweat.