CHAPTER 42
I did exactly as Viol told me.
I drank moderately, then went into the room and slept.
Originally, my plan was to drink even the low-alcohol stuff until I got drunk, but ridiculously enough, I couldn't get drunk.
It was only natural, given that I possessed a massive amount of mana on top of Divine Power that could detoxify even anesthetics.
In the end, I was drinking booze that didn't even get me drunk like it was juice, until even that was stopped, and I came to the room to sleep.

While sleeping like that, I suddenly felt a presence and woke up.
It felt like someone was approaching the room, so I got up, wondering if it was Viol, but...

"Unbelievable. You drank, slept, and are only waking up now?"

Standing at the open door was a woman with black hair and black eyes, wearing a black dress.
It was Sibylius, looking like a beautiful witch dyed entirely in black.
She spoke bluntly, dressed up a bit more than the last time I saw her.

"Thanks to you, I had to wait for a whole day."
"...A whole day passed while I was sleeping?"
"Yes. It took some time to prepare for your treatment under Viol's orders, but you were sleeping the whole time."

Hearing that she had no choice but to wait for me to wake up made me feel sorry.

"Sorry for making you suffer for nothing every time."

I apologized for calling her out so often because of me, knowing she liked being alone and probably didn't even want to see me.
At that, Sibylius retorted sullenly.

"It's not exactly like that."
"..."
"Well, it's not that annoying. One way or another, I've grown quite fond of you."
"Weren't you only treating me against your will because of the reward Viol gives you?"
"...Please forget I said that. If it offended you, I apologize."

Sibylius looked at me awkwardly and continued.

"And I also apologize for what happened last time."
"What happened?"
"My behavior when your mother came last time. I interrogated you about why you only had eyes for your mother and didn't pay attention to me, but thinking about it now, it was only natural."

Right.
It was natural, and I had wondered even back then why she was making such a fuss about it.
She must have realized later how weird she was acting, hence the belated apology.

"Forget it. I hadn't even thought about it, so you shouldn't worry about it either."

It wasn't a big deal, and it was already in the past, so whatever.
I was more interested in the treatment.

"Before I went to sleep, Viol said she was calling you to treat my memory loss."
"Yes, that's why I'm here."
"And you said you were late because you were preparing, so that means you're well-prepared, right?"

I asked with expectation, but...

"No."
"What?"
"The mind is a tricky field, so no matter how much you prepare, it's never enough. Honestly, I don't even know if I can treat it properly."

Then why the hell are you here?
I stared at the overly honest Sibylius in disbelief.
But she spoke nonchalantly.

"Originally, it's best to let these things heal naturally. Isn't that why you went home to recuperate in the first place?"

At the time, I didn't know I actually had amnesia.
But right now, I don't even know if my memories are intact, or what my condition even is.
As I stayed silent, Sibylius asked me.

"Has anything recovered since the day we parted? Have any forgotten past memories surfaced?"
"...I do remember something in fragments."

I gave Sibylius a rough rundown of the situation.
I told her that amidst the chaos yesterday, I recovered a fragmented memory, and it seemed to be from the day I lost my memory.

"Hmm, I see."

Sibylius put on a dumbfounded expression.

"No wonder Count Ares was acting strange that day. It makes sense that she was avoiding the incident since it involved such a sensitive truth."
"Before losing my memory, I was probably shocked by the fact that I was adopted, and while walking to my room alone, I must have rolled down the stairs."

I didn't remember the details, but putting all the circumstances together, that had to be it.

"Then it really is better to just leave it alone."

Sibylius looked troubled.

"Rather than risking side effects by messing with it unnecessarily, it's better to just let it recover naturally."
"Ah, then you really don't need to treat me. I'll tell Viol, so you can go now."
"...No, you never know."

Even though I told her to leave, Sibylius didn't go. She looked at me cautiously and said,

"I'll stay on standby, just in case."
"Are you allowed to stay in the Imperial Palace for long?"
"Emperor Viol permitted it, so it doesn't matter."

After answering like that, she just stayed in my room.
Without saying a word, not even taking a seat, she just leaned against the wall and stared at me.
Wondering how long she planned to do that, I stared back at her in disbelief, speechless.

The two of us stayed like that for a long while until...

"...Shall we go outside?"

Sibylius, awkwardly avoiding my gaze, broke the silence first.

"Even if we're waiting for a natural recovery, going out and doing something will be more helpful than doing nothing."
"What are we going to do outside?"
"Let's take a walk or something."
"Are we allowed to go out?"
"You're not imprisoned right now, are you? I'll assist you, so let's go out together."

True, I couldn't just stay in the room forever.

"Wait a second. I'll wash up a bit before we go."

I didn't think I smelled like alcohol, but I was going to wash up just in case, when she said,

"If it's uncomfortable washing up by yourself, should I help you?"
"No thanks."

I kicked Sibylius out for saying something so weird.

A little later.
As Sibylius and I were heading out of the Imperial Palace, we coincidentally ran into someone I knew.

"Ah, My Liege!"

It was one of the Death Knights who had been hovering nearby since they couldn't enter the deep parts of the Imperial Palace where I was staying.

"Has everything been alri—?"

She was about to greet me but frowned when she saw Sibylius next to me.

"Who is this woman?"
"And who might you be?"

Sibylius looked at the Death Knight with a questioning gaze.

"She's my escort knight."
"An escort knight? No matter how you look at it, this woman is a Death—"
"There's a good reason for that!"

I cut Sibylius off loudly.
As expected of an Archmage. To see through her identity at a glance.

"I already know everything. She really is my escort knight, so don't say anything weird."

After giving Sibylius a firm warning, I spoke to the Death Knight.

"Has everything been alright with you? Uh, your name was...?"
"It's Haime. Have you already forgotten me?"

The Death Knight looked on the verge of tears. With her short brown hair and beautiful features, she gave off a rather cute impression.

"On the day we first met. I'm the one you, My Liege, healed!"
"Ah, you!"

So this was the one who was lying there after being hit by Holy Power. Realizing she had a special connection with me among the Death Knights made me glad to see her.

"Sorry, I didn't recognize you. But you didn't exactly mention it either."
"Did I not?"
"You guys don't really talk to me about personal things."

Because of that, aside from their Commander, Niobe, I hadn't properly memorized any of their names yet.

"Ah, by the way, where is Niobe and the others?"
"The other comrades couldn't stay by your side, My Liege, so they went to spend their time individually. The Commander returned to the Whiperion estate."
"Why?"
"She said there's no way our Liege, who possesses the power of the Holy King, could be adopted, so she went back to interrogate Count Ares about the details."

...Right, come to think of it, there was that issue too.
The Whiperion Royal Family of the ruined Holy Kingdom.
These guys serve me as their liege because they claim I possess Divine Power, a power only the King could wield.
But now they're told I'm not a biological child of the Whiperion family, so they're bound to be baffled.
Thinking about it, it is weird. Is there some other hidden setting?

While I was pondering, someone wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"That's enough talking."

It was Sibylius.
She grabbed my shoulder, pulling me toward her, and said,

"I am currently treating him. You are interfering with his treatment, so step aside."
"I-Is that so?"

Told to step aside under the excuse of treatment, Death Knight Haime had no choice but to back off.
Then, Sibylius and I headed out of the Imperial Palace and walked around, sightseeing in the Empire's capital.

Being the imperial capital, it was a highly developed place.
Thanks to magic, technological gaps could be somewhat ignored. There were things like traffic lights made with magic for carriages, and occasionally, I even saw items you'd only expect to find in the modern world.

"It would have been good if High Priest Hames were here, but she cannot come right now," Sibylius said while I was admiring the scenery.
"She is currently doing something important."
"Like what?"
"She is subjugating a demon named Red."
"Red? Why is Hames hunting her?"
"Why else? Because she threatened you," Sibylius explained.

Hames had strongly insisted on eliminating Red so that no harm would ever come to me again, and she had gathered the temple's forces and set out.
Hairel had also taken advantage of my ally's absence to plot her scheme.

"Emperor Viol also learned of the situation and has been working busily to help. In the midst of that, she acquired the information that you were adopted and rushed to you."
"Is that what happened?"
"Both of them are busy for your sake, so it's best not to bother them."

I was receiving an excessive amount of consideration.
I hadn't even done anything for them, so this went beyond feeling thankful to just feeling awkward.
I didn't know how to respond, so I stayed quiet.

"Ah, and also."

Sibylius continued, as if she was about to tell me some other information, but then...

"I love you."

Out of nowhere, she confessed her love.

"...Didn't you promise you would never love me?"
"...Did you really believe a promise spouted by an evil half-demon?"