“What……?”
Leonard asked in disbelief.
He had sensed that something bad was happening to Yellian. Even so, he had hoped his thoughts were wrong. But an even greater despair awaited him.
Of course, Yellian also doubted their own ears. Though they understood the magician’s words with their mind, emotionally, they couldn’t accept it. They knew what it meant to hear that their life could be in danger.
“Are you saying that many spells are cast on them? But how could that be……. Check again.”
Unable to say anything, Abigail spoke up in Leonard’s place.
Even he hadn’t thought the situation would be this serious when Leonard insisted on having an imperial magician brought in, acting like a child throwing a tantrum. He had merely thought Leonard was exaggerating and being dramatic.
But hearing that Yellian’s life was actually at stake made his heart sink with a thud.
The magician seemed to chant a spell again, thoroughly examining Yellian’s body. Then, as if giving up, he lowered his head and handed Yellian over to another magician nearby.
“I’ll check once more.”
The magician who received Yellian spoke briefly, then chanted a spell just as the previous magician had done, running a hand over Yellian’s body.
“Ah, no……. What is this…….”
Soon, he trailed off, sounding flustered. Leonard’s expression crumbled in an instant. He quickly hardened his messy expression and spoke.
“What’s the matter?”
“There are too many spells cast on them. I never imagined someone could cast this many spells…….”
“Then can’t you just undo them?”
Leonard asked desperately. If, as the magicians said, there were many spells causing danger, then undoing the spells should solve the problem.
Of course, he didn’t think it would be as easy as it sounded, but he also didn’t think it was entirely impossible.
“W-Well…… The spells are so entangled that it’s hard to determine which ones are cast and to what extent. We need to know exactly which spells are in place to be able to undo them.”
At the cautious words of the magician, Leonard felt as if the world was collapsing around him. Though he knew it was too early to despair, his heart ached as if it were being torn apart.
Not knowing how to react, he stood there dumbfounded, unable to say a word. Then Abigail urgently asked.
“Even so, there must be a way. You said it’s difficult, not that it’s impossible, right?”
“It’s not that there’s absolutely no way…… but realistically, it’s impossible.”
The magicians exchanged glances, and eventually, one of them stepped forward to speak on behalf of the group.
“Realistically impossible? What does that mean?”
“It’s a metaphorical expression, but…… when a ball of thread is tangled, the easiest way is to cut out the knotted part. The only way to undo the spells on this cat’s body is…… to discard this body as if cutting out the tangled part and transfer the soul into a new body.”
“That’s…… what are you saying right now…….”
“That’s why we say it’s impossible. Theoretically, it might be possible, but in reality, it can’t be done.”
Leonard couldn’t continue speaking. The magician, looking embarrassed and not knowing what to do, drove the point home.
“…….”
A heavy silence filled the space. No one dared to speak rashly, and only a deathly quiet settled in.
Yellian wanted to escape somewhere, anywhere, from the suffocating stillness. Thinking that the reason for this oppressive silence was themselves made them feel like they were going insane.
They say that if left like this, their life could be in danger. Yet, it seems there’s no other way, so they have no choice but to leave it as is.
In the end, it meant they were dying. They didn’t know how much time they had left, but they had to accept it.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Even in this situation, Yellian refrained from speaking out loud to keep their promise to Leonard, thinking only to themselves.
They glanced at Leonard with worried eyes. Leonard stood as if turned to stone, like someone who had lost all emotion.
If he had gotten angry or shed tears, they might have worried less. But seeing him stand there as if he had given up on everything made them worry about him, even though they were the one dying.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this…….”
Finally, with those concluding words, everything seemed to be settled. At least, that’s what Yellian thought.
But in an instant, a crack appeared on Leonard’s face, and he asked in a sharp voice.
“If there’s a body to transfer the soul into, is what you said possible?”
“Huh? W-Well, that is…….”
“Answer me. Is it true that all we need is a body?”
“Leonard!”
Abigail urgently shouted at the question that seemed to carry a resolute decision. He knew he should address him as ‘Duke Abrams’ since imperial magicians were present, but he had no time to care about formalities.
It was because he felt he knew what Leonard was thinking. Though he didn’t want to imagine it, though it shouldn’t be, it seemed Leonard was considering offering his own body.
“Answer me! If what you said is true, then if we have a body to transfer the soul into, everything can be resolved, right? If we discard the current body of the cat along with all the spells cast on it and place the soul into a new body, there won’t be a problem, correct?”
“W-Well…… theoretically, it’s possible, but…….”
Overwhelmed by Leonard’s fierce questioning, the magician eventually gave the answer Leonard wanted.
Until this moment, Yellian hadn’t known what Leonard was thinking. Or rather, to be precise, they knew but didn’t want to acknowledge it.
“Leonard, what on earth are you thinking?”
“They said all we need is a body.”
“That’s exactly it! What are you planning to do with that body!”
“If we have a body, Yellian can live, right?”
The conversation wasn’t getting through. Yellian looked back and forth between the two, then tightly shut their eyes and covered their ears with their paws.
They didn’t want to hear what the two were talking about. They didn’t want to know what Leonard was thinking. They just wanted to sink somewhere and disappear as they were.
“I’ll take care of finding a body. What do we do after that?”
Why was their damned hearing so good? Leonard’s voice pierced sharply through their covered ears.
* * *
“Yellian.”
Yellian had crawled under the bed, curled up into a ball, and refused to come out. They pretended not to hear Leonard calling their name in a desperate voice.
“Yellian, are you really not coming out?”
“…….”
“I could just get rid of this bed if I wanted to.”
“…….”
“But I don’t want to do that. I’d like it if you came out on your own, Yellian.”
Leonard was unnecessarily gentle. As he said, getting rid of the bed would be no trouble at all. Yet, Leonard, who gave them a choice in this matter, made them resent him. He didn’t give them anything regarding the important issues, yet offered a choice in such trivial matters.
“I miss you. So please, come out.”
“……Leonard, you’re really a terrible person.”
“I know. But I still miss you.”
Tears welled up suddenly. They didn’t know why his words of missing them hurt and felt so grateful at the same time.
They were still angry at Leonard, yet with just one word of missing them, their heart seemed to melt away softly. They felt pathetic for being like this.
“Why did you do that, why! Who said they needed a body like that? If you give me your body, what are you going to do, Leonard? How am I supposed to live like that! Do you think I’d be grateful? If Leonard isn’t here, what’s the point of living by leeching off Leonard’s body!”
Yellian couldn’t hold back and spoke through tears.
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