Sang-je’s voice, which seemed to have softened towards her, had only made her more jittery.
‘I failed.’
Her act was caught much sooner than she expected. In such a short conversation, Sang-je had easily discerned the difference between her and Jin. It must have been an impossible task in the first place to think that she could ever deceive someone who had known Jin since so young, no matter how much she practised to mimic Jin’s way of speaking and her expression.
But luckily, Sang-je was yet to have grown vigilant. However, she still feared for the worst case scenario that might occur where Sang-je eventually discovers the distinct difference between her and Jin, and his doubts turning into a firm suspicion.
‘It’s alright. No one in their right mind would ever imagine for one’s soul to be switched. He would never find out unless he’s told. And that’s my weapon against him.’
Eugene went on in a composed manner.
“The life in the kingdom was very much different from how I imagined, Your Holiness.”
Along with a sigh, she continued as if she had been through all sorts of difficulties in those past few years. However, she was careful not to overly justify herself as she figured that it would be beneficial for her to keep the words short.
–You need not have to worry about anything any more. Now that you’ve returned, no one could impose on you, here in the Holy City.
Sang-je’s remark sounded as if he was notifying that she could no longer take a step out of Holy City.
‘No’
The king must return to his kingdom before the start of another active period. Considering the travel time, the longest Kasser could stay in the Holy City was two and half months at best.
Eugene had no notion of being separated from him in any case. If she doesn’t go with him, she would need to wait for at least more than two months, alone in the Holy City, until he comes back for her during the next dry season.
The mere thought of it was enough to make her distressed. The Holy City, where Jin had supposedly lived for twenty years, was nothing more than a strange city to Eugene.
Eugene had learned almost everything back in the Hashi Kingdom, ever since she had awoken to find herself in this different world. And the only man who said that he would believe her no matter what happens, was the King of the Hashi Kingdom. To Eugene, Hashi kingdom was now her home and Kasser, her family.
“I do not wish to leave the Holy City since now I have returned. However, I’m afraid I still have some unfinished business to attend to, Your Holiness.”
–Did you say you were suffering from impaired memory?
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
–But you have regained your Ramita.
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
–Perhaps it was a price to be paid for what you’ve gained.
Sang-je let out a sigh when Eugene remained silent at his remark.
–Anika Jin. I believe you have been told many times, but your desire to have full control over your surroundings is almost excessive.
Instantly, Eugene heard an incisive voice that belonged to Jin’s, as soon as Sang-je’s resounding voice was heard in her head.
[Your Holiness. I am Anika. And you have always said that Anika is of noble presence. Which by means that an insult on me should be considered as an insult on Your Holiness, am I wrong?]
It was such an imperious speech. Eugene couldn’t help but to be amazed by Jin’s imprudence demeanor before Sang-je, who’s regarded as the sole emperor of the whole world.
According to the memories she had seen so far, Jin was almost like an animal where pecking order is of importance as she easily shifted her attitude depending on who she was dealing with. She dared to behave as such, only because she knew she had something to count on.
On the contrary, Gemma, whom Eugene had met back in the Slan Kingdom, was excessively cautious even to mention Sang-je during the whole conversation, as if she found him to be rather difficult. As both Jin and Gemma’s attitude towards Sang-je were almost poles apart, it would most likely be a lie that Sang-je does not discriminate against Anikas at all.
Or perchance, Sang-je was all the more generous, only to Jin.
‘I should try to be more outspoken as Jin would be.’
“Your Holiness, I am Anika.”
Eugene retorted in a grumble.
–If that bothers you that much, why don’t I just tell you what happened? As I know why you’d gone out to the desert, under what purpose.
Eugene broadly grinned with a look of great relief.
“I’m relieved to know that I hadn’t acted rashly on my own judgement.”
–A rash act? What made you think that way?
“Your Holiness. The truth is……Desert King suspects that I had stolen the kingdom’s treasure. But since I have no idea of what had really happened, I just made up an excuse and told him that I don’t remember.
–So you have even forgotten that? The impairment of your memory is more severe than I thought.
Although Eugene feigned innocence on the outside, she was badly torn up inwardly. If Sang-je knew all along that Jin had married the Desert King in order to steal the national treasure, the whole marriage was in fact a joint conspiracy between Jin and Sang-je.
‘How can this be?’
Despite having an inkling long before, she was still pretty dumbfounded now that her doubts were finally confirmed. The very fact that Sang-je was involved in the whole scheme came as a great shock to her.
Indignant, yet she was also speechless at the same time. She had no idea on how she should tell Kasser about it after all. She wondered if he would still be understanding even after he finds out that he had been deceived all these years, as Jin was never intending to give him the heir from the start.
–Let’s continue somewhere else. This would be a long story to have you listen while standing.
Eugene gave a nod as an answer.
‘He’ll get worried if this takes too long.’
She felt hot behind her eyes just by thinking of Kasser, who must have grown restive by now. But despite her worries, she fluttered her eyes in order to cool down the heat around her eyes. However, it was hard not to choke up a little as she was so resentful of what Jin and Sang-je had done to Kasser, even though it wasn’t her doing after all.
‘Later. Let’s think of it after this,’
Eugene tried to steady her heart from being agitated as it was a cool head that she needed right now.
As she walked out of the prayer room after Sang-je, she determined to make the best use of time while she followed on. She took the time to organise her doubts, which she had put aside during her conversation with Sang-je just now.
‘Things are quite different from what I expected.’
Eugene never realised that Sang-je’s summon had to do with the incident where Jin had gone out to the desert with the stolen treasure. She had only thought that Sang-je had summoned her to confirm the truth of the Lark tree incident.
So when she had received an urgent summon from Sang-je, she only found it bothersome as she would need to travel all the way to the Holy City. It never crossed her mind to doubt the intention of the summon itself.
She had once truly believed that Sang-je actually did care for Anika. So whatever their joint conspiracy was about, she had blindly thought that he only did what he did because he was concerned for Anika, although he knew that it was an immoral thing to do.
However, such beliefs had been shattered by the truths she had learned during her stay in the Slan Kingdom.
She got the impression that Sang-je was in fact using Anikas to his own benefit and not because he actually cherished them. Once her belief that Sang-je cared for Anika as if they were his own children were shaken to its roots, nothing seemed certain to her anymore.
Eugene wondered what his purpose was for using Anika.
But no matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn’t think of a probable reason. Just what could he be lacking as a Sang-je, who supposedly has immense power of influence more than anyone in this world?
Besides, the Anikas that he is almost obsessed with, were already under his control. In fact, it was the Anikas’ choice to live under his influence.
However, Eugene had felt a sudden pang of shock the moment she was asked if she had regained her Ramita by Sang-je. She was thrilled as if the cogwheels were finally in gear.
‘Ramita….Is that what he really wants? So he was actually asking me about the Ramita and not about the seed, the national treasure, when he asked the question through Pides?’
Still, Eugene was perplexed as Sang-je did not show any hesitation in exposing his true intention before her. It was quite a mistake for someone who seemingly has profound knowledge and experience from his years.
Such ambiguity confused her even further. She wondered if it was an intentional move of his to make her fall into a trap of misjudgment or if it really was his true intention, which had slipped out of him due to his growing impatience.
The chances were even. However, Eugene never overestimated her ability as she had little confidence to lead the conversation on the fly without buying Sang-je’s suspicions, while bearing every possibility in her mind at the same time.
So she was left with no other choice but to boldly cast a dice on just one possibility. After concluding that it was Ramita what Sang-je was truly after, she decided to infer the reasons backwards from the conclusion.
‘Let me get this straight. First, Jin had gone out to the desert in order to initiate the spell using the incantation. And the purpose of the spell was to retrieve her lost Ramita. To fulfil her purpose, Jin had married the Desert King and Sang-je was willing to help because he wanted Jin to regain her Ramita.’
When she felt like she was getting a step closer to the fact, she was confused yet again by something.
‘What does it mean by losing her Ramita? How can one lose her inborn ability? If so, what’s the explanation for my Ramita……’
Eugene was sent a cold shiver down her spine as she was filled with a sudden foreboding.
‘If Jin’s purpose was to retrieve her Ramita….she had actually gained what she wanted.’
However, Jin had lost her soul in place of her Ramita. Eugene couldn’t help but to wonder what that actually implied.