The Day of the Procedure Arrived.
"The procedure will use the Miracle of ntal Stability to protect both of Their Highnesses' minds while gradually and completely lifting the sealing magic, allowing Princess Ione’s psyche to recover. It requires the combination of powerful miracles and intricate magical surgery."
The court mage, adjusting the intricate magic circle installed within the Magic Tower, explained the process to the emperor.
"I understand it as a procedure that utilizes the unique trait of twins, where the intact mind of one can restore the damaged mind of the other. Is that correct?"
"Precisely, Your Majesty."
"The goal is for Ione to receive Alne’s intact mind, resulting in the recovery of both. Correct?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"But what about the possibility of Ione’s negative mories and emotions transferring to Alne and causing complications?"
At those words, the court mage nodded grimly.
"That risk certainly exists. Completely lifting the seal ans that all mories, emotions, and thoughts will be shared in real ti between them. There is just as much potential for mutual collapse as there is for recovery."
"In that case, the worst possible outco would occur."
"However, we cannot keep forcibly severing the natural connection between twins forever. This artificial and imposed separation will, at so point, begin to fester and cause irreversible damage to the very soul they share."
The emperor massaged the bridge of his nose, his gaze complicated.
It was natural for him to be troubled.
Leaving things as they were would be harmful to both in the long term, but lifting the seal carried the risk of their minds collapsing together.
Sensing the emperor’s concerns, the court mage calmly continued his explanation.
"Of course, the chances of Their Highnesses recovering are much higher. Both of them have a strong will to be healed, and multiple priests will be casting extrely powerful miracles of ntal protection. And most importantly—"
The court mage turned to look at .
"We have His Holiness, the Saint. Even in the worst-case scenario, His Holiness may still be able to intervene."
That wasn’t wrong.
After all, I had Absolute Hypnosis, a god-tier cheat skill.
Of course, my Absolute Hypnosis was simply a skill that forced others to follow my commands unconditionally. It wasn’t so refined ability that could ticulously restore a broken mind.
Which ant that avoiding a situation where everything had to rely on my skill was ideal.
I was rely a reassurance, the last resort. Nothing more, nothing less.
"Please do not worry too much, Your Majesty. I am here."
Even though I would be leaving soon, I still genuinely wished for Ione and Alne to find happiness.
The procedure today—
I would do whatever I could to guide it toward a successful outco.
At my words, both the emperor and the empress seed slightly relieved.
"Very well. Proceed!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The priests of the Lilia Church and the court mages approached the two princesses.
Ione tensed at the sight, baring her teeth in unease, but when I reached out and took her hand, she cald down.
"It’s okay, Ione. Don’t be nervous."
At my words, Ione stopped baring her teeth.
"If I get better, kiss."
I nodded.
"Yeah. I’ll do it. So you have to get better. Got it?"
Hearing that, Ione gave a happy smile and quieted down.
After calming Ione, it was Alne’s turn.
Sitting beside her twin, she hesitantly extended her trembling hand toward .
"I’m nervous, Your Holiness. Could you hold my hand too?"
I nodded.
I took the hands of both twin princesses.
"It’ll be alright. Both of you are strong. And even in the worst-case scenario, I’m here. So don’t worry too much."
Alne smiled at my words.
After taking a deep breath, she gave a firm nod.
"Please begin. I’m ready."
" too."
Ione, too, nodded seriously.
At their words, all the priests and mages in the room began to move.
The massive magic circle drawn on the floor radiated light, and the priests of the Grace Church began channeling divine power into the heads of the two princesses.
"The Miracle of ntal Protection has been cast!"
"Princess Ione’s emotional state is stable!"
"Slowly! The sealing magic must be lifted gradually, never hastily! If the magic circle is ready, begin the process!!"
Ione’s right eye—
Alne’s left eye—
The seal engraved upon them began to glow.
Both of them squeezed my hands tightly.
"Comncing the unsealing process."
At the mage’s tense announcent—
"Urgh! ……Aaaaaah!!"
The two princesses scread simultaneously.
"Hold on! You have to endure, Alne! Ione!"
At my words, both of them gripped my hands so tightly it felt like they were about to crush them, enduring the pain with all their might.
They held on so hard that blood began to trickle from my hands, but I couldn’t even feel the pain.
I could just heal myself later.
You two—
Please—
Please be safe.
Was it because of my desperate wish?
For nearly an hour—
They endured.
The procedure proceeded smoothly.
"Phase Two of the unsealing is complete! Moving on to the final phase—Phase Three!!"
Everyone involved in the procedure was drenched in sweat.
The court mage wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke, while I nervously looked at the twins.
Please.
Please, let nothing go wrong.
If only this could just continue smoothly without having to intervene—
"I-I don’t want this!! Aaaaaah!!"
Alne suddenly let out a piercing scream.
At the sa ti, Ione’s eyes rolled back as she began convulsing as if she were having a seizure.
Unfortunately, they had reached their limit.
"It hurts! It hurts so much!! S-Stop!! Please, stop!! Please, I beg you!!"
As Alne scread in agony, the priests casting the Miracle of ntal Protection panicked.
"The miracle is failing!"
"Their ntal states are becoming dangerously unstable! At this rate, they’ll collapse!!"
"They can’t hold on much longer!"
Alne’s face contorted in madness from the pain, and Ione’s seizures grew increasingly violent.
"Your Holiness!! Help us! Please!!"
And then—Alne said the one thing I had never wanted to hear.
Goddamn it!!
Should I use Absolute Hypnosis to command them not to feel pain?
No.
Pain was natural.
Forcing them not to feel it could cause unpredictable side effects.
Think!! You dumbass, Kim Mingyu!! Think!!
What command should I give to ensure they survive?
How could I help them endure this mont?
Co on!! Think!!
—There was a way.
A way to save them using Absolute Hypnosis.
[Casting Absolute Hypnosis!]
Both of them fell under hypnosis at the sa ti.
I couldn’t do sothing grand like fully restoring their minds.
All I could do was help them hold on a little longer.
Please.
Please, just hold on.
Praying over and over, I issued the command.
"Recall your happy mories! Think of the happiest monts in your lives!!"
****
It Was Sothing She Had Steeled Herself for.
Ione.
Her other half.
A being who had lived in suffering for sixteen long years.
Alne had wanted to save her.
That was why she had firmly insisted on undergoing the procedure.
It was sothing that had to be undone eventually.
Besides, His Holiness was with them.
She was certain he would help her.
With that resolve, she had begun the process.
But the mont Ione’s accumulated agony from sixteen years of suffering began hamring at her mind, Alne realized—
She had made a mistake.
She endured with all her might.
Yet no matter how much she held on, the tornting mories showed no end in sight.
At so point—
Alne finally realized she had reached her limit.
She squeezed His Holiness’s hand as if she ant to crush it.
It hurt.
It was excruciating.
She wanted to run away.
"Your Holiness!! Please, help !!"
Like a black tide, Ione’s pain crashed over her, threatening to swallow her whole.
Letting out a scream that sounded like a death cry—
Slowly—
Alne began sinking beneath the waves.
If she sank completely, that would be the end of it.
She, too, would end up just like Ione—
A shattered, broken existence.
How pathetic.
Was that all her resolve and courage amounted to?
The conviction to save Ione had been this weak all along?
As she sank deeper, lost in fear and regret—
A single, powerful command wrenched her back to the surface.
"Recall your joyful mories! Rember the happiest monts of your life!!"
From within the flood of tornt and darkness, a single small mory surfaced.
Her father.
She rembered the emperor holding her in his arms.
She recalled enjoying teati with her mother and father in a beautifully sunlit garden.
The mory of seeing an adorable puppy.
The sight of beautiful paintings, the sensation of soft silk garnts against her skin.
The taste of sweet, delicate desserts that filled her mouth with happiness.
And the first ti her parents had told her about Ione.
The mont she had steeled herself to save her.
The waves of suffering still crashed over her.
The mories of Ione, who had suffered unbearable pain every week for sixteen years, who had been abandoned in lonely isolation, continued to erode Alne’s mind and sense of self.
But Alne clung desperately to her happy mories, bracing herself against the tides.
Those joyful and cherished monts shielded her.
Compared to the overwhelming waves, they seed fragile, insignificant, even foolishly small—
Yet no matter how violently the waves battered her, they did not disappear.
Clinging to those tiny, delicate mories like a staff to support herself, Alne kept enduring, holding on and holding on—
And at so point—
The waves stopped.
Silence found her.
And in that silence—
She heard the sound of a child sobbing.
A child who had yet to grow, her mind eroded by pain and loneliness, breaking down before she could even develop.
That child wept, raw and sorrowful.
Alne approached her.
And she called out her na.
"Ione."
At those words—
The small, wounded child, bruised, scarred, and covered in self-inflicted wounds, lifted her gaze.
"It hurts. It hurts."
Ione sobbed.
"It hurts too much. I’m so alone. There’s no one here. I want to die. I don’t want to live anymore."
Ione muttered, like a fool, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Alne, as if she understood—
Held her in her arms.
"I know. I understand it all now. But you know—"
She took the mories that had protected her from the waves—
Those small, fragile lights—
And offered them to Ione.
"There are still so many happy and wonderful things in this world. Your pain will always be a burden the two of us carry together. But my happiness—That will be sothing we share, too."
Cautiously—
Ione reached out and took the light.
Tears quietly stread from her eyes.
She gently caressed the light Alne had given her—
Then let out a small laugh.
But it was no longer the slow, broken voice of a child.
A clear, distinct voice ca from Ione’s lips.
"The baumkuchen you ate, the desserts. The cookies and cakes—I want to try them too."
At her words, Alne smiled through her own tears.
"Then we’ll eat them. We can eat them together."
"I want to hear Mom and Dad tell they love ."
"They will. I’m sure they will."
"I want to walk barefoot in the grass under the warm sun, just like you, Alne."
"Of course you can. And I—"
Alne spoke to Ione—
No.
A single, happy mory quietly declared to her own sorrowful past—
"I want to keep seeing the face of the man I love."
The horrifying mories—
And the joyful, floating, dreamlike ones—
They were all hers now.
There was no longer a difference between them.
Now, the only thing that separated them was the na each body bore.
****
"ntal Seal Released! Both Their Highnesses' Egos Are Stable! It's Perfect! A Complete Success!!"
With the court mage’s elated voice, the twin princesses opened their eyes simultaneously.
The magic circle that had forced them to keep one eye shut was gone.
Now, both of them looked down at the saint who was still holding their hands.
Their grips had been so tight that their nails had dug into his flesh, drawing blood—yet the saint showed no sign of discomfort.
"Ione. Alne. Are you alright?"
His eyes were filled with nothing but concern as he looked at them.
And at that mont, as if unable to hold back any longer, the two of them moved simultaneously.
They lunged forward—
And threw themselves into the saint’s arms.
Pressing their faces against his body, they rubbed against him like affectionate kittens.
"I-I’m really sweaty right now!......"
It was fine.
Even the scent of his sweat felt like an overwhelming pheromone to them.
They loved him.
They loved this man standing before them.
The man who had saved them, who had ultimately made them happy.
They loved him so much—
To the point where it felt like their hearts would stop.
"Thank you."
As the two princesses spoke through their tears, the saint let out a soft laugh and embraced them gently.
"I’m glad. I hope both of you will be even happier than all the pain you’ve suffered until now."
They intended to be.
They would absolutely be happy.
After holding onto the saint for a mont longer, Ione and Alne slowly pulled away.
They turned their eyes toward the emperor and empress, who had been watching them anxiously from the side.
Alne hesitated for a mont before stepping back, gently nudging Ione forward.
Slowly, Ione walked toward her parents.
She smiled—
A smile that trembled, half mixed with quiet sobs.
"I… I’m back. Mom. Dad."
Her voice was no longer hesitant.
It was clear and precise.
"It hurt so much. So, so much…"
She opened her arms.
"Hug . Tell you love ."
At those words, the empress abandoned all pretense of dignity and rushed toward her daughter.
She, too, was crying.
Tears of joy, guilt, and overwhelming emotion all mixed together.
"My daughter."
She embraced her.
"My beloved daughter. Ah… O gods. Lilia, Saint… Thank you. Thank you so much…"
The emperor followed, much more slowly.
His face was weighed down with guilt and remorse as he approached Ione.
"Can I… Can I love you? Can I hold you and tell you I love you? Can you forgive , Ione?"
The emperor, too, was crying.
And Ione—
She smiled at him.
"Hug , Dad. And tell you love ."
The emperor wrapped his arms tightly around her.
"I love you. I love you. Ione, I love you so much."
And Ione—
Like a child, she began to sob.
Sixteen years of pain ca pouring out of her at once, and she wept—
Desperately.
But on her face, strangely enough, was a smile of relief.
The emperor and empress only held her tighter, refusing to let go.
The entire room had fallen silent.
Everyone simply watched.
In that mont, there were no emperors, no empresses, no princesses.
There was no supre ruler of an empire.
Only a father who had been saved.
A mother who had been forgiven.
And two daughters, crying tears of happiness.
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