Chapter 197: Within His Mind

"Mmmngh..."

Adela stirred beneath the covers, her brows knitting slightly as consciousness slowly returned.

When her eyes finally fluttered open, they struggled to pierce the lingering haze of sleep.

As her surroundings gradually came into focus, her frown deepened.

But the moment she recognized the luxurious room and remembered where she had been before, her eyes flew wide open, filled with equal parts surprise and suspicion.

But Cassian was nowhere to be seen.

His absence only made everything more confusing.

Though she was alone, Adela instinctively whispered,

"Master...?"

She glanced down at her bare body, no longer chilled by the icy depths of the ocean, before noticing a neatly folded maid uniform resting beside the bed.

Without hesitation, she quickly got dressed and stepped out to search for him.

Beyond the bedroom lay an endless stretch of immaculate hallways, every bit as elegant and lavish as the room she had awakened in.

Intimidated by the sheer size of the place and afraid of getting lost, she began calling out, each attempt a little louder than the last.

"Master...?"

Silence.

"Master?"

Still no reply.

Eventually, she arrived at the grand entrance hall, where the enormous front doors stood slightly ajar. She hesitated for only a moment before making her way outside.

The instant she stepped beyond the doorway, her gaze found him.

Everything else faded into irrelevance.

She ignored the impossible sight of an island floating in the sky beneath her feet.

She ignored the heavens, which were neither blue nor cloaked in night. She ignored the colossal structure stretching across the distant horizon, as though it were slowly swallowing the very firmament itself.

All she saw was him.

"Master!" she called joyfully, though her feet slowed with uncertainty.

Without turning around, his calm voice reached her.

"You’re awake?"

"Mhm." She nodded as she slowly walked closer. "Where are we? This isn’t Azure, is it?"

He shook his head before turning to face her with a gentle smile.

Adela froze.

Seeing her master smile at her like that...

It was absolutely devastating.

"Master... I’m sorry for hiding it from you..." she whispered, lowering her head guiltily.

Cassian reached out and gently patted the maid’s head.

"Don’t worry about it. I don’t blame any of you. I know you had your reasons. If anything, I’m the one who should apologize. I never should’ve left you behind in Demor."

Adela immediately looked up, her face lighting up.

Her voice softened, overflowing with affection as she fought the overwhelming urge to disappear into his embrace.

"Master!"

Without waiting for permission, she threw herself into him.

A smile spread across Cassian’s face as he caught her, wrapping his arms firmly around her to keep them both from losing their balance. Adela, meanwhile, only buried herself deeper against his chest, clinging to him as tightly as she could.

"Sniff... sniff..."

Her brows suddenly furrowed.

"Master... You smell familiar. It’s not Thalassa’s scent, but... I’ve smelled it on you before..."

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

"It probably belongs to that person from my past who’s now in this world. I was with her not long ago."

Adela reluctantly pulled away, puffing out her cheeks.

Knowing the scent belonged to someone she had already heard about eased her worries somewhat.

But if she were ever to meet Xana...

The outburst she’d had toward Astrid might end up looking tame.

Perhaps even the one involving Mina.

"Master, you still haven’t answered me." Adela finally took the time to look around, her eyes widening at the incomprehensible scale of everything surrounding them. Since the moment she’d awakened, she hadn’t been able to find words for it. "Where are we? Are we... in another world?"

"You could say that," Cassian replied. "This is the space inside my mind. I created it a long time ago and kept expanding it over the years. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s already larger than the universe outside."

Adela simply blinked.

She slowly turned in place, taking in the impossible scenery before quietly whispering,

"Incredible..."

Then his words truly sank in.

Her hand clenched into a fist, her eyes shining with determination.

"Master! I’ve reached the Ninth Circle! I want to break the limit!"

Cassian frowned and examined her mana, quickly confirming her claim.

"Do you want my help?"

Adela shook her head.

"No. I think I know how to do it... but it’ll take time. And..." She lowered her gaze slightly. "...I really don’t want to leave your side right now."

"Then don’t."

His answer came without hesitation.

"I’ll stay here until you break through."

She blinked in confusion.

"But what about Thalassa and everything else in Azure? Don’t they need you?"

"Time flows differently here, Adela. Manipulating temporal laws on a massive scale isn’t easy, even for me. But making several days pass here while only a few minutes pass outside isn’t particularly difficult."

"Something like that is really possible?" She bit her lip anxiously before voicing the question that had been weighing on her heart for a very long time—one that only grew heavier each time she witnessed another glimpse of his true power.

"Master... why did you really come to this world? I just can’t understand it. Why would someone like you choose to inhabit the body of an ordinary noble from a place like this? And don’t tell me it was because you grew tired of your old life! You’re far too lustful and hedonistic for me to believe you’d ever get bored of life!"

"Why do you say that?" he replied evenly. "I’m pretty sure I’ve already told you. I simply wanted to leave that life behind."

"But... it doesn’t look like you’ve left it behind at all. It doesn’t seem like you want to distance yourself from the woman you met earlier. Just like it doesn’t seem like you want to let go of Margery either. And this place... the way time works here... none of it adds up."

"What makes you think I don’t want to forget Margery?"

"Have you? Weren’t you searching for her?"

"Adela," Cassian said, his expression turning serious, "I’ll only say this once, and only because we’re here. No, I didn’t come to this world just so I could sleep with the first woman who caught my interest when I’m bored. There are people who matter to me, and they have always come first. Margery, Elizabeth, you... all of you are collateral damage. I can’t pretend to start a new life without forming bonds with the people around me."

"Pretend...?" Adela repeated, shrinking back as pain flashed across her face.

"It’s not entirely that simple." Cassian let out a quiet sigh. "It’s true that I came here with that intention, Adela. I’ve met too many people... too many women. It’s difficult for someone new to truly matter to me anymore. But I wouldn’t be preparing a universal spell to find Margery if she didn’t matter. I wouldn’t have proposed conquering this world if none of you mattered. Things are complicated... and I’d appreciate it if you stopped digging. The less you know, the better."

Adela pouted, unable to hide her dissatisfaction.

She had wanted to know more about him for so long.

Yet every conversation ended exactly the same way.

Her shoulders slowly slumped in resignation.

Even so, the obsessive thoughts taking root within her only continued to grow stronger.

I have to become the one who matters to you most, Master... not those women.

I have to be the one who knows you better than anyone else.

The one who knows everything about you.

Cassian, for his part, felt as though he had stopped being an actor on a stage, if only for a few fleeting moments.

"The most convincing lies..." he murmured before falling silent as a dull headache spread through his mind.