Chapter 233: The Last Temptation

Doctor Henri Valmont had witnessed enough cases of Distortion to recognize when a patient was approaching a critical stage.

Professor Antoine Chastellain’s latest episode had alarmed the entire observation ward.

His magic had reproduced the image and voice of his deceased daughter, and the resulting disturbance had nearly overwhelmed the protective enchantments surrounding his room.

Fortunately, Antoine had managed to suppress it before anyone was injured.

However, the examination conducted afterward revealed another concerning development.

The professor’s mana remained unusually active even while he was resting, occasionally responding to emotional changes that would ordinarily have no effect on his abilities.

More troubling was his account of the mysterious woman whose words appeared capable of influencing those reactions.

Valmont reviewed the incident with two senior specialists before meeting Antoine.

“I believe we need to prepare for the possibility that your condition may progress toward Distortion,” he explained. “That doesn’t mean the outcome is inevitable, but the risk has become serious enough that ordinary observation is no longer sufficient.”

Antoine understood.

He had studied Distortion long before becoming a patient himself, and the increasing instability of his magic was difficult to ignore.

“What do you recommend?”

“Continued treatment under enhanced safeguards. We’ll also need to establish a procedure for responding if your condition deteriorates suddenly.”

The professor agreed immediately.

He requested that the medical staff prioritize the safety of other patients and employees if another major disturbance occurred.

Valmont assured him that the clinic already possessed appropriate emergency procedures, although additional precautions would be established around his room.

Antoine also asked that SkyRune be informed of his extended absence.

He didn’t want the researchers waiting indefinitely for instructions that he might be unable to provide.

Valmont accepted the request.

However, the physician noticed that Antoine had become unusually quiet after their discussion.

“Is something troubling you, Professor?”

“The woman spoke to me again after the incident.”

Valmont encouraged him to continue.

“She suggested that I might be able to see Lucile without endangering anyone. She said we could find a way.”

The physician considered the statement carefully.

“Did she explain how?”

“No.”

“Then I strongly advise you against treating that suggestion as a possibility worth pursuing. We have no evidence that the voice can offer anything beyond the manifestations you’ve already experienced.”

Antoine accepted the warning.

However, he couldn’t deny that the suggestion had affected him.

For several days, he had struggled against magical disturbances that reproduced fragments of his memories. Now the voice had begun presenting those manifestations as something he might eventually learn to control.

To a scholar, the idea was tempting.

To a father who had lost his daughter, it was almost unbearable.

Valmont understood the emotional danger and arranged another counseling session.

He also recommended that Antoine speak openly with someone he trusted about what the voice had offered him.

That afternoon, Ilya arrived at the clinic.

He had already received a brief report concerning the previous evening’s incident, although Valmont had withheld the most personal details until Antoine agreed to discuss them.

The professor welcomed him with a tired smile.

“I hear you’ve been keeping SkyRune occupied.”

“Someone has to. Apparently, laboratories don’t run themselves.”

“A tragic discovery.”

“Fortunately, your senior researchers are doing most of the work. I’ve been promoted to the important position of delivering documents.”

Antoine laughed.

The conversation helped ease the atmosphere, although Ilya soon noticed that the professor appeared more exhausted than during his previous visits.

After discussing the workshop’s progress, Antoine explained what had happened.

He described Lucile’s image, the difficulty he had experienced suppressing his magic, and the mysterious woman’s suggestion that he might be able to see his daughter again without harming anyone.

Ilya listened carefully.

The woman’s latest approach concerned him.

Until now, she had encouraged Antoine to surrender to his emotions. This time, she had presented the same temptation as something compatible with his responsibilities.

That made the argument much harder to dismiss.

“Professor, did she give you any reason to believe she could actually do that?”

“No.”

“Then I wouldn’t trust the offer.”

“I know.”

Antoine looked toward the window.

“That’s what makes it so frustrating. I understand that she’s offering me something she may have no ability to provide, but I still want to believe her.”

Ilya understood.

He had witnessed Antoine’s grief since the massacre and knew how desperately the professor missed Lucile.

Nevertheless, the danger was becoming impossible to ignore.

“If there were a legitimate way to preserve memories through magic, I’d be interested in researching it too,” Ilya said. “But I wouldn’t start by accepting instructions from a voice that appears whenever you’re close to losing control.”

Antoine smiled faintly.

“An excellent research principle.”

“I’d like it added to the academy handbook.”

The professor laughed before growing serious again.

He admitted that he was beginning to fear his own desires.

Every time the voice spoke about Lucile, he found himself imagining another afternoon with his daughter. He knew those images would be reproductions created by unstable magic, yet the emotional comfort they offered remained difficult to resist.

The professor had spent his life believing that knowledge required discipline.

Now he was confronting a desire that threatened to overwhelm everything he had taught himself.

Ilya couldn’t resolve that conflict for him.

However, he reminded Antoine that wanting to see his daughter again didn’t make him foolish or irresponsible. The danger lay in allowing that desire to justify decisions he would otherwise recognize as reckless.

Antoine considered the distinction.

“You’re becoming rather wise, Belozersky.”

“Please don’t tell anyone. I’ll lose my reputation.”

The professor smiled.

Their conversation continued until visiting hours ended.

Before departing, Ilya promised to help SkyRune maintain the research initiative and keep Antoine informed of developments that didn’t interfere with his treatment.

The professor thanked him.

For a while after Ilya left, Antoine felt calmer.

The young wizard had listened without judging him, and the conversation had reminded him that he still possessed responsibilities worth protecting.

However, the mysterious woman returned that evening.

“You’ve been working so hard.”

Antoine recognized her voice immediately.

He remained silent.

“I heard what you told your student. You’re frightened that wanting to see your daughter again might make you irresponsible.”

The professor felt uneasy.

The woman spoke as though she had been present during his conversation with Ilya.

Whether she had actually heard it or merely reflected his memories remained uncertain.

Nevertheless, her knowledge was disturbing.

“He’s a good young man,” she continued. “He cares about you very much. But he doesn’t understand what it’s like to lose a child.”

Antoine concentrated on maintaining his composure.

The woman continued speaking with gentle sympathy.

“You’ve spent so many years being responsible. You followed every rule, worked harder than anyone expected, and tried to give your daughter a wonderful life.”

Her words stirred familiar memories.

Antoine remembered Lucile sitting beside him during long afternoons at their workshop. He remembered her excitement whenever an invention finally worked and the way she celebrated even the smallest success.

Those memories were precious.

The woman seemed to recognize his feelings.

“Wouldn’t you like to have those days again?”

Antoine resisted answering.

“Of course you would. Any father would.”

The professor felt his mana stir.

He attempted to suppress the disturbance, but the woman’s presence remained.

“You don’t have to hurt anyone,” she continued. “You don’t have to abandon your responsibilities. You only have to stop treating your own happiness as something forbidden.”

Antoine understood the appeal.

The woman had recognized the objection that prevented him from surrendering to his desires. He was unwilling to endanger others, so she was offering a version of the temptation that seemed to remove that risk.

However, she had provided no evidence that such an outcome was possible.

He reminded himself of that.

Nevertheless, the familiar melody began sounding through the room.

The professor recognized it immediately.

Lucile’s communication device had played the same cheerful tune when he and Ilya completed it together.

Then an image appeared beside the window.

The little girl was seated at a worktable, surrounded by miniature tools and unfinished mechanical parts.

This time, her features were clearer than before.

Antoine could see her eyes, her expression, and the familiar smile she wore whenever she was particularly pleased with an invention.

“Papa!”

The professor felt his chest tighten.

Lucile waved toward him.

“Come here! I want to show you something!”

Antoine understood that the image was a manifestation of his memories, yet his body reacted before he could suppress the emotion.

He wanted to approach her.

He wanted to hear her explain another invention.

The woman spoke softly.

“Go on. She’s waiting for you.”

Antoine felt his magic respond.

The room’s protective enchantments began glowing faintly as his mana spread through the air.

He recognized the danger and attempted to suppress it.

However, Lucile’s image became clearer.

The little girl looked disappointed.

“Papa? Are you busy again?”

The question struck him with painful familiarity.

He remembered the afternoons when he had promised to examine her work later, when he had convinced himself that there would always be another opportunity.

Now the image was repeating the same question.

Antoine’s control weakened.

Several books began floating above the desk, and the surrounding air grew heavy with magical pressure.

The protective enchantments responded immediately.

An alarm sounded outside.

Antoine knew the medical staff would arrive shortly.

He also knew that allowing the disturbance to continue might endanger them.

Yet Lucile was still waiting beside the window.

The woman spoke again.

“Why must you keep choosing everyone else?”

Antoine felt his emotions surge.

He wanted to reject the question, but the image of his daughter remained painfully convincing.

The little girl held up her mechanical bird.

“Look, Papa! I finished it!”

For several seconds, the professor could almost believe he was standing inside his old workshop.

The memory was so vivid that he forgot the observation ward, the medical staff, and the danger gathering around him.

Then something changed.

The little mechanical bird spread its wings.

A cheerful melody sounded from its tiny body.

Lucile laughed.

“See? I told you I could do it!”

Antoine remembered that laugh.

He remembered the countless afternoons they had spent together.

And he remembered that she would never laugh like that again.

The realization broke through the illusion.

The professor forced himself to suppress his mana.

The room shook as the protective enchantments absorbed the disturbance. Several floating objects struck the floor, and the image of Lucile flickered.

However, the manifestation didn’t disappear immediately.

The little girl looked toward him.

“Papa?”

Antoine closed his eyes and continued suppressing his magic.

The image finally vanished.

Doctor Valmont entered moments later with several attendants.

They found the professor standing beside his desk, breathing heavily but conscious.

The room’s safeguards had contained the disturbance, although several enchantments had been strained.

Valmont immediately ordered another examination.

Antoine cooperated, but the physician noticed that his magical instability had reached a dangerous level.

The latest manifestation had required far more effort to suppress than the previous incidents.

Valmont therefore instructed the staff to prepare additional containment measures.

He also informed Antoine that further deterioration might require more intensive treatment.

The professor accepted the decision.

However, after the examination, he remained troubled by what had happened.

He had successfully resisted the manifestation, yet the experience had left him emotionally exhausted.

The image of Lucile had been more convincing than anything he had seen before.

And the mysterious woman had nearly persuaded him to abandon the precautions protecting everyone around him.

Later that night, Antoine sat alone in his room.

The protective enchantments remained active, and medical staff were monitoring his condition from outside.

He had followed every instruction given to him.

He had resisted the voice, suppressed his magic, and protected the people around him.

Nevertheless, he felt increasingly empty.

Then the woman spoke again.

“You’ve suffered enough, Antoine.”

The professor remained silent.

“You’ve been so strong for everyone else. But what about you?”

Her voice carried the same warmth he had come to recognize.

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to stop fighting?”

Antoine looked toward the empty window where Lucile’s image had appeared.

He wanted to reject the offer.

He understood the danger.

However, the woman continued speaking.

“You don’t have to be afraid. I can help you.”

The professor felt his mana stir again.

This time, the disturbance was different.

The familiar pressure didn’t spread outward toward the protective enchantments. Instead, it gathered deep within his body, responding to the woman’s words.

Antoine recognized that something was changing.

He attempted to suppress the reaction, but the sensation continued growing.

The woman’s voice became softer.

“Just tell me what you truly want.”

Antoine closed his eyes.

He wanted Lucile back.

He wanted another chance to be her father.

And for one terrible moment, he found himself wondering what would happen if he finally answered the woman.

The protective enchantments surrounding the room remained silent.

They registered no external disturbance.

Yet deep within Antoine’s magic, something had begun responding to a desire he could no longer bring himself to deny.