Chapter 249
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Back to the moment when Rufus found the Queen’s magic sword that Prince Tarek had hidden.
After discovering the magic sword hidden by Prince Tarek, Rufus entrusted it to the witch Odr.
As Rufus requested, the witch Odr destroyed the real soul of Queen Echinacea that had been sleeping within the sword, and in its place she infused a false soul. Then, early the next morning, Rufus came with Iruel to check on the magic sword he had left with the witch.
“I am certain you will be satisfied. Allow me to show you right away.”
The witch Odr revealed the false soul she had newly infused into the magic sword. From Queen Echinacea’s magic sword placed at the center of the workshop, the ghost created by the witch Odr slowly began to rise.
At first glance, the ghost created by the witch Odr had no flaws. It looked exactly like the Queen in the portrait displayed in the royal palace, and it was no different from the real ghost Rufus had briefly encountered.
At least on the surface.
On the surface.
“What do you think, Lord Rufus?”
The witch Odr asked Rufus proudly.
However, Rufus replied.
“It’s the worst.”
He delivered that judgment without hesitation.
Hearing his evaluation, the witch Odr pouted slightly as if offended.
“What is the problem? I showed it to everyone in the Demon King’s castle, and they all agreed that it looks exactly like the real thing.”
“That’s right, Lord Rufus! Mother said it’s a masterpiece made from grinding down a corrupted soul!”
Iruel, standing beside them, supported the witch Odr. However, Rufus didn’t even glance at Iruel. His gaze remained fixed solely on the Queen’s false ghost.
Because.
“…It seems you placed a piece of yourself into the magic sword instead of Queen Echinacea’s soul.”
That was the problem.
The false soul of the Queen newly created by the witch Odr was extremely strange. It perfectly imitated the Queen’s winter-like appearance, but its mannerisms and the sentences coming out of its mouth all reminded him of the witch Odr.
“First of all, do something about that laughter. The Queen doesn’t laugh like that.”
Rufus pointed at the ghost laughing ‘Kyarrr’ and subtly hinted to the witch Odr.
At this, the witch Odr tilted her head as if she didn’t understand.
“But the Crown Prince is the Queen’s own son. What mother in this world does not smile at her own child?”
“Mother, do you remember when I accidentally broke the crystal orb you cherished when I was little…”
“No matter how strict the Queen’s reputation was, she must have been different with her son. If we make her too stiff for no reason, it will only make people suspicious.”
“Hmm…”
It was a reasonable point. Even though Rufus had returned to the past, he couldn’t know what the personal relationship between the late Queen Echinacea and Crown Prince Viren had truly been like.
While staying in the palace, he had tried to gather information from the palace servants as much as possible, but after the Queen’s grave was robbed, any mention of her had practically been forbidden.
“Very well. However, remove that creepy laughter.”
“What laughter?”
“That ‘kyarrr’ laughter.”
When Rufus imitated the ‘kyarrr’ laugh, Iruel burst out laughing.
“Ah, haha! My goodness! A-Ah, the air must be dusty, I just sneezed!”
Realizing that his laughter had slipped out, Iruel hurriedly tried to make an excuse, but it didn’t work at all.
“A sneeze?”
“Y-Yes, it was a sneeze. I wasn’t laughing! I swear!”
Iruel quickly transformed into a sparrow and tried to flee, but he was caught by Rufus and had his neck twisted. The witch Odr clicked her tongue and slightly altered the laughter of the ghost embedded in the magic sword.
That was how the Queen’s false ghost was born.
As Rufus requested, the witch Odr extracted all the memories and knowledge that the Queen’s real ghost possessed and implanted them into the false ghost. However, she erased the memory of Prince Tarek digging up the Queen’s grave and every memory that occurred afterward.
Instead, she planted new false memories.
That it wasn’t Prince Tarek, but the King who had ordered soldiers to dig up the grave.
“But doesn’t that sound a little strange? The King has absolutely no motive to dig up his own wife’s grave.”
While tidying his ruffled feathers with his beak, Iruel interrupted.
“What do you mean no motive.”
Rufus scoffed.
“Have you forgotten how the King lost his reason and raged when he first heard that Prince Tarek had disappeared? And how he wept when Prince Tarek finally died?”
The King cherished Prince Tarek greatly. Of course, not enough to make him Crown Prince despite being born from a concubine, but he still cared for him as a father.
“If we say that such a King retrieved the magic sword sealed with the Queen’s power in order to help Prince Tarek, does it not sound plausible?”
“Then why dig up the grave in the middle of the night instead of retrieving the sword openly during the day?”
“Because the Crown Prince and Prince Tarek were enemies.”
Looking up at the Queen’s false ghost floating within the magic sword, Rufus answered.
“Think from the Crown Prince’s perspective. If someone said they would give his mother’s relic to his enemy, would he calmly nod and agree?”
Those were the memories the Queen’s false ghost possessed. She believed that the King had dug up the Queen’s grave, recovered the magic sword, and given it to Prince Tarek in order to protect him during the war against the demons.
It was the result of the witch Odr shutting herself in the workshop for hours without rest to accomplish it.
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