Book 1 Chapter 720

Chloe stood before the mirror in her room.

She stared intently at her reflection.

Her fingertips gently traced her cheek.

A warm, soft sensation spread through her fingertips.

"Look how soft these cheeks are."

The addictive texture made Chloe, no. Lisinas, pinch her cheek.

Pain spread across her cheek.

Lisinas released her cheek and rubbed it, examining her reflection from various angles.

"So this is a human body."

Even for Lisinas, the King of Wisdom, this was his first time moving in another race's body.

It was similar to polymorphing, yet with a subtly different, foreign sensation.

Of course, the sensation wasn't bad.

Like a flower just beginning to bloom.

The lively image of the girl in the mirror captivated her.

Platinum blonde hair that seemed to carry a cool light.

And bright blue eyes that shone with alertness.

In the eyes of the King of Wisdom, the girl named Chloe sparkled with countless possibilities.

Without realizing it, she let out an exclamation and spun around.

Like a girl trying on a new dress.

Examining herself, Lisinas placed a hand on her chest.

"…"

This unfamiliar sensation wasn't solely due to being in a human body.

Lisinas, who had been silent, smiled faintly.

"Yes. She's a pretty child."

Forcing herself to ignore the unfamiliar sensation, Lisinas clasped her hands and murmured apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I'll only be here for a few days."

Lisinas, feeling great guilt for inhabiting someone else's body as a spirit, sincerely apologized to Chloe, who slept in the subconscious of her body.

'I wouldn't have done this normally.'

Lisinas's face blurred slightly.

'I wouldn't have done this…'

Lisinas's shoulders began to tremble.

'That guy!'

The image of Leo flashed through her mind.

Lisinas herself couldn't remember exactly when she, as a spirit, had possessed Leo.

Until just moments ago, Lisinas had no clear consciousness.

She was merely drifting through a sea of consciousness.

Her memory was hazy, as if in a deep sleep.

While memories existed, they were fragmented like broken pieces.

However, she could guess when she had been possessed by Leo's spiritual power.

'That time. The item called the Hero Record in this era.'

Lisinas gathered information from the fragments of her memory.

'It was when Kyle met my past self through it.'

She encountered her past self, the one called foolish, and with her help, Leo was able to speak with her.

It must have been then.

'When Kyle inherited my mana as a reward for clearing the Hero Record, I must have possessed him as a spirit.'

A spirit is a trace etched in the memory of mana.

As 5,000 years passed, even that trace would inevitably fade.

But Leo had obtained a clear memory of mana through the Hero Record.

'Seriously!'

Lisinas covered her face.

Her ears turning red, Lisinas was at a loss.

'I was crazy!'

The memory of kissing him first, thinking it was the last time, came back.

She had thought it was incredibly moving then, but now, in this situation, she regretted it immensely.

'And!'

Recalling Leo from the fragmented memories, Lisinas ground her teeth.

'He's living the good life!'

As much as she had stayed by Leo's side.

Even with fragmented memories, Lisinas had glimpsed Leo's current life.

And those memories surfaced one by one.

After Leo seriously began to practice spirit manipulation and used the Soul Summoning technique.

Lisinas gained consciousness.

But even then, her self was faint.

Instinct preceded reason.

That was why she had lost so miserably to Chloe in chess.

As Leo gradually adapted to spirit manipulation, she regained consciousness.

And just now.

The word "mixed bathing" acted as a signal, and she fully regained her consciousness.

'It must be nice to be popular.'

Lisinas pressed her temples.

Actually, she didn't intend to blame him for that.

Despite his eccentric personality, he was a decent human being.

Honestly, hadn't she fallen for him herself?

'Especially to teenage girls in their prime, he'd seem handsome.'

Although various incidents came to mind, they didn't make her particularly angry.

Lisinas knew Leo to be someone who knew how to maintain boundaries.

From his perspective, his distant juniors would seem cute.

What made Lisinas's stomach churn and fill her with anxiety was none other than her best friend, Luna.

Lisinas knew that Luna had feelings for Leo.

In Lisinas's eyes, Luna was beautiful.

She was cheerful, bright, and had the power to make those around her laugh.

A woman with a charm that naturally drew attention.

Furthermore, her relationship with Kyle was as unreserved as that of siblings.

Despite being very intimidating, she was also somewhat relieved.

'That bastard is an idiot!'

Fortunately for Lisinas, Leo was unaware of Luna's feelings.

'…Wait.'

Lisinas paused.

Thinking about it, she hadn't been aware of her own feelings either, so it wasn't a good thing.

'In ancient, common, or even draconic languages! An indescribable idiot!'

After scolding Leo thoroughly, Lisinas huffed.

In any case, Luna, having her pride hurt, continued in a peculiar relationship.

Another fortunate aspect was that Luna, being a bit of a fool outside of magic, hadn't noticed her feelings?

'If she had known my feelings, Luna's attitude would have changed too.'

While that strange state persisted.

Eventually, neither she nor Luna could express their feelings and closed their eyes.

The problem was now, 5,000 years later.

This situation where they could appear in this era through the Hero Record.

Since she was dead, Lisinas tried to express her feelings for Leo more actively.

But Luna was the same.

From Lisinas's perspective, Luna was a bulldozer.

Lisinas's memories contained the image of Luna, who had appeared as a spirit slightly before her.

Luna's appearance, even abandoning her pride, which could be considered a weakness, and actively expressing her feelings, was enough to make Lisinas feel anxious.

Crucially…

'Seriously! The two of them in one room!'

Nothing more happened.

An accident created by Deweno's love potion.

But…

'Envious… No, disgraceful!'

Lisinas stomped her feet.

'Who are you calling lustful! You're so brazen!'

Despite drifting in a sea of subconsciousness, the memory of that time remained strangely vivid.

In fact, by the standards of the current era, neither Lisinas nor Luna were lustful or brazen.

They were simply proactive.

But unfortunately, Lisinas was a person who lived 5,000 years ago.

Furthermore, she was a black dragon who guarded wisdom and norms.

By Lisinas's standards, her own impulsive kiss on Leo's lips was unthinkable, and Luna's actions were so disgraceful they were unspeakable.

As Lisinas took a deep breath and pressed her temples.

*Knock knock.*

"Chloe. Are you inside?"

At the voice from the door, Chloe startled.

'This voice…'

Recognizing the voice from her memory, Lisinas approached and opened the door.

*Creeak.*

The door opened, and Chelsea appeared.

'This child…'

She was in Lisinas's memory.

'The girl who had previously sought out her subconscious self.'

'Her name was… Chelsea, wasn't it?'

A bold young lady who somehow reminded her of Kyle.

"You skipped all your classes today, so I thought you were sick, but you seem fine?"

Chelsea tilted her head.

"Playing sick? No. Chloe wouldn't play sick."

Lisinas stared at Chelsea, who kept tilting her head, and reached out her hand.

"What are you doing!"

Chelsea reacted sharply to the hand pinching her cheeks.

'She called me ugly.'

*Crack.*

As the memory of that time surfaced, a vein bulged on Lisinas's forehead.

"Why are you being mean? I brought you food because I was thinking of you."

Chelsea grumbled, rubbing her cheeks.

*Swish.*

Along with that, the food tray Chelsea brought flew towards Chloe.

Thinking she was sick, it contained warm soup, soft bread, and steamed meat and vegetables.

Easily digestible foods.

"You brought this for me because you were worried?"

"Yeah, we have a mock battle with the Knight Department tomorrow. We need you to win."

Chelsea said as if it were nothing and crossed her arms.

"I was so worried, thinking you were very sick, but it seems it wasn't necessary."

Even so, she kept glancing sideways.

Though her words were a bit gruff, her concern for her friend was evident.

'What a cute creature!'

Lisinas's eyes sparkled, and she hugged Chelsea.

"Oh~ so thoughtful!"

"Pfft?"

Chelsea, her face buried in Lisinas's embrace, instinctively struggled.

Lisinas rubbed her cheek against Chelsea's head.

"What, what are you doing? Are you really sick?"

Chelsea, barely escaping the embrace, looked flustered.

Seeing Chelsea like that, Lisinas smiled faintly and said,

"It's okay. I just had something I needed to focus on, so I couldn't attend class today."

"You're acting very differently than usual… Did you do too much magic research and mess with your head?"

"Hmm… It does feel a bit like that?"

"Anyway, tomorrow's mock battle will be fine, right?"

"Yeah. Let's win tomorrow."

"Great! Celia Zerdinzer and Duran Moira! Let's put those annoying guys in their place!"

Lisinas nodded, watching the enthusiastic Chelsea.

Taking the food tray, Lisinas entered the room, placed it on the desk, and began to eat.

She then looked around the desk.

'This… looks like a diary.'

While searching the drawers, Lisinas found a diary and carefully put it back in its original place.

'…She's a very diligent child.'

Looking at her study notes and magic research logs, Lisinas was impressed.

She also recalled Chloe's appearance from the chess matches over the past few days.

Based on the knowledge and information gained, she thought about how to act to avoid suspicion.

'I can't perfectly impersonate Chloe Muller, but…'

Still, she had to avoid seeming strange.

'…? Research on parallel worlds and multiverse interpretation? Wow, this child must be really smart.'

Lisinas's eyes sparkled as she looked at the interesting research topic.

Lisinas didn't have the obsessive passion for magic that Luna did.

However, her thirst for knowledge was incomparably stronger than Luna's.

As the King of Wisdom, she possessed a commensurate desire for knowledge.

Having grasped a certain understanding of Chloe, Lisinas closed the book with a snap.

Then she looked at the photo frame on the desk.

It was Chloe's class photo from her first year.

'There are a few familiar faces.'

She saw faces that had become familiar as she unconsciously stayed by Leo's side.

'Hero candidates…'

Lisinas rested her chin on her hand, looking at the frame, and her gaze shifted to another album.

There were a few photos of Leo taken by Kyle.

Lisinas pouted.

'I need to get back at him.'

*Tap.*

Lisinas toppled Leo's photo with her finger and put on a slightly mischievous expression.

'I'll surprise him.'