Chapter 227: A Dangerous Comfort

Professor Antoine Chastellain’s appointment with Doctor Henri Valmont lasted nearly two hours.

The physician specialized in magical abnormalities and had spent almost twenty years treating wizards whose abilities had become unstable.

He had encountered patients suffering from the consequences of dangerous experiments, prolonged magical exhaustion, and severe psychological trauma.

Antoine’s symptoms were unusual, although Valmont had seen similar cases.

The professor described how Lucile’s communication device had activated without a power source, how nearby objects had moved in response to his emotions, and how familiar melodies occasionally played whenever he remembered his daughter.

He also mentioned the disturbance at SkyRune.

Valmont listened carefully before conducting several examinations. Once satisfied that Antoine’s magic remained stable under ordinary conditions, he asked about the incidents themselves.

“When these manifestations occur, Professor, how do you feel?”

“At first, I was frightened.”

“And afterward?”

Antoine considered the question.

“I found them comforting.”

The physician seemed to have anticipated that answer.

He explained that the symptoms were consistent with the early stages of magical instability associated with severe emotional trauma. Distortion remained a possibility, although there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Antoine would experience it.

Some patients recovered after receiving treatment and allowing themselves time to process their experiences. Others deteriorated when they continued exposing themselves to circumstances that aggravated their condition.

Valmont recommended a temporary leave from research, regular examinations, and avoiding situations that encouraged uncontrolled magical manifestations.

He was particularly concerned about Lucile’s communication device.

“Your magic appears to be reproducing things associated with your daughter. I understand why that might bring you comfort, but deliberately encouraging these manifestations would be dangerous.”

“Am I supposed to put away everything that reminds me of her?”

“Of course not. You should remember your daughter however you wish. I’m asking you to avoid using unstable magic to recreate those memories.”

Antoine understood the distinction.

He had already reached a similar conclusion himself. Unfortunately, recognizing the danger didn’t make the prospect of silencing the device any easier.

Nevertheless, he agreed to follow the treatment plan.

Ilya, who had accompanied him to the appointment, found that reassuring. The professor had approached the examination seriously and answered every question without attempting to conceal his symptoms.

Valmont also recommended that Antoine arrange for someone he trusted to remain available during particularly difficult periods.

“I’ve lived independently for several decades, Doctor,” Antoine remarked.

“And I’d like you to enjoy several more.”

Ilya considered that a rather effective argument.

After leaving the clinic, Antoine informed him that he intended to take several days away from SkyRune.

“The workshop will survive,” Ilya assured him. “Although I can’t guarantee the quality of the paperwork while you’re gone.”

“That sounds like something I should be worried about.”

“Only if you plan to read it.”

The professor laughed, and they returned to his residence without further incident.

For the moment, things appeared manageable.

Antoine had recognized the danger, consulted a specialist, and agreed to take precautions. Considering what he had endured, Ilya couldn’t reasonably expect him to recover overnight.

However, the situation became more complicated when they entered the sitting room.

Several of Lucile’s unfinished drawings remained on the table.

Among them was a design for a small mechanical bird with movable wings and a compartment intended to hold a written message.

Antoine recognized it immediately.

“She was making that for my birthday.”

Ilya examined the sketches. The drawings were surprisingly detailed for an eleven-year-old, although certain measurements suggested that Lucile had been rather optimistic about the amount of machinery she could fit inside such a small body.

“Did she tell you what it was supposed to do?”

“No. She insisted it was a surprise.”

“Then criticizing the design before its inventor can defend herself would be unfair.”

Antoine smiled.

He spent several minutes examining the drawings before carefully gathering them into a folder. The physician hadn’t forbidden him from remembering Lucile, and there was no reason to treat everything she had touched as something dangerous.

Nevertheless, Antoine decided to postpone working on the project.

Ilya approved of the decision.

Before returning to Holy Trinity, he arranged for the household staff to contact him if another disturbance occurred. Antoine also agreed to inform Valmont immediately if his symptoms worsened.

With those precautions established, Ilya resumed his own responsibilities.

Unfortunately, the Empire’s investigation into the Cult of the Second Dawn had no intention of slowing down.

At the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, Inspector Laurent received a report concerning Matthias Reinhold, the missing scholar whose name had appeared in correspondence recovered from Edmund Falkenrath’s private archive.

Reinhold had apparently maintained contact with several former members of the cult through intermediaries. More importantly, the investigators had discovered that his personal research involved Distortion and other unusual magical phenomena associated with extreme emotional experiences.

The connection attracted attention.

However, the surviving documents offered little evidence that Reinhold had developed a reliable method of inducing or preventing Distortion. His theories remained speculative, and several accounts cited in his correspondence couldn’t be independently verified.

Laurent instructed his colleagues to distinguish those claims from established research.

The authorities had already witnessed the consequences of allowing fanatical scholars to treat unsupported theories as justification for human experimentation.

Nevertheless, Reinhold remained a valuable lead.

By evening, investigators had identified a former associate who claimed the missing scholar occasionally visited a private estate outside the capital.

The Bureau arranged surveillance rather than risk warning him through an immediate raid.

Meanwhile, Antoine was experiencing another disturbance.

It began shortly after dinner.

The professor had been reading in the sitting room when a faint melody sounded from the wooden case containing Lucile’s communication device.

He had disconnected its power crystal that morning.

Nevertheless, the music continued.

Antoine remembered Valmont’s instructions and attempted to suppress his mana.

For several seconds, the melody weakened.

Then he heard laughter.

It was a child’s laughter, bright and familiar enough that he recognized it immediately.

Lucile had laughed that way whenever she caught him making an obvious mistake. She particularly enjoyed reminding him that even a professor could be wrong about simple things.

Antoine understood what was happening.

His unstable magic was reproducing sounds associated with his memories, just as it had done during the previous incidents.

There was no reason to believe Lucile herself was communicating with him.

Yet knowing that did little to ease the pain of hearing her voice again.

He remained seated while the laughter faded into the familiar melody.

Then someone spoke.

“Does hearing her make you happy?”

Antoine immediately looked toward the doorway.

Nobody was there.

The voice had been soft and feminine, spoken with the gentle familiarity of someone who had known him for years.

He checked the communication device.

Its crystal continued glowing, but the voice had sounded nothing like the crude audio produced by its receiver.

“Who’s there?”

No answer came.

Antoine concentrated on suppressing his mana, expecting the disturbance to end.

Instead, the voice returned.

“Poor thing. You’ve been trying so hard to endure everything.”

The professor felt an unfamiliar chill.

He had studied enough accounts of magical abnormalities to recognize that auditory hallucinations could accompany severe instability. However, the experience was remarkably vivid.

He could distinguish the woman’s words perfectly.

More troubling was the strange sense of warmth accompanying them.

“You don’t have to be frightened,” she continued. “I only wanted to ask why you’re making yourself suffer.”

Antoine forced his breathing to remain steady.

“Who are you?”

“Does that matter?”

The question was delivered with gentle amusement.

Antoine understood that he might be experiencing another manifestation generated by his own magic. However, unlike the melodies and images, this voice appeared capable of responding to him.

That distinction was concerning.

He attempted to suppress the disturbance again.

The melody stopped.

The crystal dimmed.

However, the woman’s voice remained.

“You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you?”

Antoine rose from his chair.

He had no intention of continuing a conversation with an unexplained presence while his magic remained unstable.

Nevertheless, the voice spoke again before he could leave.

“You miss her so much. Yet whenever you hear her laughter, you force it to disappear.”

The words struck him harder than he expected.

For several seconds, Antoine remembered the faint image of Lucile that had appeared above the communication device the previous evening.

He had seen her sitting at a worktable, concentrating on an invention.

The image had been incomplete.

But he remembered wanting it to become clearer.

The woman’s voice softened.

“Would it really be so terrible to see her smile again?”

Antoine understood the temptation.

His magic had already demonstrated that it could reproduce fragments of his memories with extraordinary clarity. If he deliberately encouraged the manifestations, he might be able to experience them again.

However, doing so could worsen his condition.

And the voice seemed to know exactly what he wanted.

“That wouldn’t be Lucile,” Antoine answered.

“Of course. But wouldn’t it make you happy?”

The professor had no immediate response.

He wanted to hear his daughter laugh again. He wanted to see her sitting at the table, arguing over the designs of another ridiculous little invention.

For one unbearable moment, the possibility seemed worth almost any risk.

Then he remembered Valmont’s warning.

Antoine concentrated on stabilizing his magic and deliberately distanced himself from the memories provoking the disturbance.

The room gradually returned to normal.

This time, the voice disappeared as well.

The professor remained standing until he was certain the manifestation had ended.

Then he contacted Doctor Valmont.

The physician listened carefully as Antoine described the incident, particularly the unfamiliar woman’s voice and its apparent ability to answer his questions.

Valmont’s response was immediate.

“Professor, I want you to avoid remaining alone tonight. I’ll arrange another examination as soon as possible.”

“Do you believe I’m approaching Distortion?”

“It’s a possibility we must take seriously. However, hearing a voice doesn’t establish that outcome by itself. I need to examine you before drawing conclusions.”

Antoine agreed.

The physician also instructed him to avoid deliberately communicating with the voice if it returned.

After ending the consultation, Antoine contacted Ilya.

The young wizard arrived at the residence that evening.

He listened to the professor’s account without interrupting, although the mention of an unfamiliar woman speaking to Antoine clearly concerned him.

“Did the voice identify herself?”

“No.”

“Did she ask you to do anything?”

“She wanted me to stop suppressing the manifestations.”

Ilya considered the answer.

That was dangerous.

Whatever the voice represented, it had encouraged Antoine to disregard the very precautions intended to protect him.

“Then I’d recommend ignoring her advice,” he said. “Even if she’s exceptionally charming, I doubt Doctor Valmont would appreciate competing with an unidentified medical consultant.”

Antoine gave a quiet laugh.

“I suppose he wouldn’t.”

Ilya then asked whether the professor had described everything to the physician.

Antoine confirmed that he had.

“Good. We’ll follow his instructions until we know more.”

The professor agreed.

They spent the remainder of the evening discussing ordinary matters, including Ilya’s coursework and several developments at SkyRune.

Antoine appeared calmer afterward.

However, when Ilya eventually retired to the guest room, the professor remained awake.

He had encountered unusual magical phenomena throughout his career, but never anything that seemed to understand his emotions so intimately.

The woman’s words continued troubling him.

‘Would it really be so terrible to see her smile again?’

Antoine knew the answer.

Encouraging his unstable magic could endanger himself and everyone around him.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t deny how desperately he wanted to see Lucile.

As he prepared for bed, the familiar voice returned.

“You’re very tired, Antoine.”

The professor stopped.

No magical disturbance accompanied the words.

The room remained perfectly ordinary.

“You’ve spent your entire life taking care of other people,” the woman continued gently. “Your students, your colleagues, your little girl. Even now, you’re worrying about what might happen to everyone else.”

Antoine remained silent.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if someone took care of you for once?”

He recognized the danger and attempted to ignore her.

However, the woman didn’t seem offended.

“That’s all right. We don’t have to talk tonight.”

Her voice carried the warmth of someone comforting an exhausted friend.

“Whenever you’re ready, I’ll listen.”

Then the presence faded.

Antoine remained awake for a long time afterward.

He had spent years teaching his students that every unfamiliar phenomenon deserved careful investigation.

Now he had encountered something that appeared capable of listening, understanding, and responding to him.

And despite everything he knew about the dangers of Distortion, a small part of him was already looking forward to hearing that voice again.