349. Internal Conflict

“So this... Joy Cha Kim died in another world, and you suddenly started possessing her memories and thoughts three days before your exile?” Alice questioned.

The ambient magic lamps of the study had been turned on now, casting a warm, steady glow over the room as the two women sat across from each other on the plush sofas, finally talking calmly.

“Something like that...” Ravenna replied nervously, her fingers idly tracing the dark silk of her gown. “For a very long time, I was completely confused about who I truly was. Was I Joy? Or was I Ravenna? But...”

“Then You actually met Goddess Herptian, and she told you that there are two distinct souls inside you that are actively merging together?” Alice continued, carefully adjusting her spectacles as she processed the impossible information.

“If we are to take anyone's diagnosis seriously, it would have to be the literal goddess who manages the cycle of souls, right?” Ravenna countered gently.

Alice nodded slowly, her brow furrowed in deep thought. “So, what do you think? Do you truly believe the two of you have already fully merged...?”

“I believe so...” Ravenna replied hesitantly.

A heavy, lingering silence stretched between them for a few long minutes, the quiet ticking of the wall clock filling the void before Alice asked another quiet question. “What did you mean earlier when you said you would have been dead without this intervention?”

“Ah... this part is going to be even more bizarre to explain,” Ravenna warned.

For the next few minutes, she detailed the hidden mechanics of her reality, explaining how she had stumbled upon the ancient magic artifact in the Imperial Palace, and how the subsequent Reputation System had warned her about poisoning and healed her.

Alice sat in absolute silence, listening to every word without interruption. When Ravenna finally finished, Alice blinked behind her lenses. “Wait... isn’t that magic artifact the exact same cube-like relic that you personally hid inside the Luminous Museum when you were young?”

Ravenna froze, looking at her with total bewilderment. “What?”

Alice nodded firmly. “I mean it. You hid a strange cube artifact in the museum back when you were much younger, right after the tragic aftermath of the Nicola Uprising...”

“I did...?” Ravenna muttered in a low, stunned voice.

The revelation sent a violent shiver down her spine, but before she could dig deeper into her own forgotten childhood, Alice pressed on. “So that white domain and the strange floating panels I saw yesterday... all of that originates from that specific artifact? And Prince William actually tried to have you poisoned, but this 'System' intervened to save your life?”

Alice suddenly stood up from the sofa. Ravenna immediately reached out, trying to hold onto her hand to keep her there, but Alice gently pulled away.

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“I... this is simply an immense amount of information to take in and process all at once,” Alice whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “I will be utilizing the holiday leave that I applied for starting tomorrow. truly just need to be completely alone for a while.”

She didn't wait for Ravenna to formulate a response. Alice turned and quietly exited the study, leaving behind an expression on her face that Ravenna could only describe as profoundly hurting.

Ravenna was left entirely alone in the quiet room. She just sat there on the sofa for nearly an hour, completely lost in a sea of twisting thoughts, before finally standing up and walking out of the study toward her bedroom.

“Childhood memories…” she muttered under her breath as her heels clicked softly against the stone corridor floor.

Then, a sudden, blinding realization struck her, causing her to freeze in place.

“After Marie absorbed the Solious Odyssey Ring, the System went through a massive upgrade. That was exactly when I randomly experienced that vivid vision of the past. But the next time a ring was absorbed, the Absolute Being intervened, and no vision occurred... does that mean…”

She turned her head, looking out at the vast, star-studded night sky through the tall corridor window. Her chest tightened as she questioned. “Even if I possess all of Ravenna’s memories, are there deep, core memories that remain hidden, and resurfacing only when the System undergoes an upgrade?”

As she finally arrived at her heavy bedroom door, she placed her hand on the cold brass handle, muttering a quiet, intense whisper to the shadows. “What exactly were you hiding, young Ravenna...? Why on earth did you hide the Universal Origin artifact in that museum?”

Shaking her head to clear the swirling mysteries, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“It took you a while, Your Highness,” a smooth, familiar voice called out from the dimness of the room.

Rexford was sitting on the edge of the large, silk-sheeted bed, clearly waiting for her arrival. Ravenna didn't offer a verbal reply; she simply stepped through the threshold and quietly closed the heavy door behind her, locking out the rest of the castle.

“Your Highness... what is the matter...?” Rexford asked softly. As he looked into her eyes, he could easily read the heavy, turbulent thoughts weighing on her mind.

Ravenna walked slowly toward him, the midnight-black fabric of her gown shifting around her bare legs. “I have a lot on my mind right now,” she whispered, her voice dropping to a raw, vulnerable register.

Without waiting for him to speak, she leaned down, pressing her weight against him and pushing him back onto the mattress. She captured his lips in a deep, urgent kiss, her hands gripping his shoulders. “I think I might need some consoling tonight.”

The daring, plunging V-shaped cutout that dominated the center of her bodice already provided easy access. She shifted, opening the fabric further to guide his warm hand inside, placing it directly against her racing heart to fondle. She broke the kiss for a fraction of a second to climb fully into his lap. With a surge of fluid strength, she interlocked her legs tightly around his waist, sitting astride him as her long, dark hair fell around them like a curtain.

“I am here to serve, Your Highness,” Rexford murmured against her skin, his voice thick with devotion.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down into the plush pillows to comfort her. His hands moved masterfully along her silhouette, tracing the geometric lines of the dark gown before deftly sliding the straps from her shoulders, removing the fabric entirely. Ravenna leaned into his touch, desperately seeking a distraction from the dread that threatened to consume her.

Their movements became a frantic, heated rhythm in the dark, a dance of tangled limbs, hushed gasps, and intense, pressing heat. Rexford’s hands explored the soft curve of her waist, his fingers brushing perilously close to the hidden Apostle mark on her inner thigh as Ravenna buried her face in his neck, letting the overwhelming sensory wave wash over her. For a few hours, beneath the silk sheets, the heavy burdens of her twin souls and the shifting machinations of the empire were entirely forgotten, replaced by the fierce, grounding reality of their embrace.