Chapter 109

───────────

Episode 24 - Isabella [4]

─────────────────────────────────

"I want you to be Isabella’s babysitters until I find your sister."

Luminus’s words left us bewildered; it wasn’t just me.

Charlotte’s confusion and disbelief were obvious as well.

Luminus noticed this and revealed an amused smile.

"Well, well, I see you weren’t expecting this condition, were you?"

Both of us shook our heads at the same time without saying anything.

"Well, anyway, there’s a reason why I want you to stay with Isabella."

Luminus set the cup down on the table as the faint sound of porcelain echoed through the cabin.

His amused expression slowly disappeared.

For the first time since we entered, his eyes showed something heavier.

His emotions changed almost immediately.

"You see, while I was hunting down the members of the Church of the Black Dawn, I found one of their main headquarters on the Sacred Continent. It was a laboratory."

Luminus slowly recounted how he had found the laboratory and the kinds of research he had discovered there.

He also spoke about the interrogations he conducted on all the villains before moving on to the topic of Isabella.

"That was where I found Isabella, but the place where she was being kept was a small Pocket Gate. There was only a laboratory, and Isabella was there."

Charlotte frowned and asked:

"If you found her in the villains’ hands, then that means she has something important or special, right?"

Luminus nodded and continued.

"That’s right. It seems they were preparing her to become a vessel. I can only say that there’s certain information I don’t want to reveal to just anyone. In any case, when I found Isabella, I immediately noticed something strange about her."

His words lingered in the air.

"I have no idea what it was, but from what my eyes saw, it was related to emotions and to Isabella’s eyes themselves, similar to some kind of Unique Trait."

"But she isn’t an Awakened yet."

Charlotte blurted out in disbelief. Luminus took a sip of his tea and continued.

"Yes, but even so, she can use Traits or, at the very least, use them in a fragmented way. And her Traits are extremely strange. I don’t know how to explain it, but they’re related to emotions and her eyes."

Nodding slowly, I went over his words in my mind.

There was truly nothing in the records or in my memories about Luminus’s disciple.

Even in the records of the Church of the Black Dawn, I didn’t remember anything related to her.

It was as though a strange hole existed in the history of the Fallen Maiden and her disciple.

"And what does all of that have to do with being her babysitter?"

At my question, Luminus replied:

"I just wanted to clarify that. Isabella’s emotions are fragmented. You’ve probably already noticed it just from the fact that she looks at the sky with a twisted smile. Honestly, that’s the strangest part."

Charlotte nodded as if she agreed.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t sure.

Although I could see people’s emotions, if they became complete chaos, it was impossible for me to decipher them.

But Isabella’s emotions looked normal to me at best.

’How strange. If Luminus is telling the truth, then there must be some kind of interference preventing me from properly seeing Isabella’s emotions.’

My thoughts raced, yet I couldn’t understand it.

My Trait, True Sight, was supposed to be capable of seeing emotions without any interference.

Unless there existed a Trait with superior characteristics, that should have been impossible.

But according to my memories, the True Sight Trait was categorized at the very top of the Trait hierarchy.

’I’ll check it later.’

For now, I focused my thoughts on Luminus.

Unaware of my thoughts, Luminus continued speaking.

"So I want you to spend time with her. Even though everything I told you has nothing to do with the roles you’ll be taking on, I just want to see whether keeping her close to other people and allowing her to grow attached to them might change something in her fragmented emotions and in that strange Trait related to her eyes."

Charlotte and I slowly nodded in agreement.

In any case, there was nothing to lose and, after all, all we had to do was take care of a little girl.

Besides, for now, the only thing left was to wait for the Chapter to progress on its own before reaching its final stage.

"Normally, I would do it myself, but I’m busy tracking down the Black Dawn Church’s main base and, more importantly, I don’t know how to take care of children."

She said it in such a serious tone that it felt far too strange for the moment.

Letting out a sigh, I said:

"Alright. Then, is there anything we should know? Maybe things she likes or what she usually does all day."

At my question, Luminus fell silent for a second.

I had asked that because, in the end, I really did have experience taking care of one particular little girl to whom I had made a promise.

"Nothing in particular. Aside from training, she spends the entire day on her swing staring at the sky without even blinking."

’That would scare me if it were in my past life.’

Because, suddenly, it reminded me of a movie, although in reality it felt more like a déjà vu than a fleeting memory.

Anyway, pulling myself out of my thoughts, I gave a slight nod before saying:

"I guess we should get started."

Luminus smiled faintly.

"You can stay overnight in the cabin. This place is bigger than it looks from the outside."

I pursed my lips, about to say something, but now that I noticed it...

Wasn’t this room far bigger than it should appear to be?

For a moment, I was bewildered; without realizing it, the space around me had been much larger than what my senses had detected at first.

’Since when...? Forget it.’

I sighed inwardly.

"Oh, and don’t be fooled by how ignorant or foolish Isabella may seem. During all the time I’ve been with her, I noticed she’s far smarter than a child her age should be."

Charlotte and I nodded, then stood up from the sofa and said goodbye to Luminus.

Finally, we stepped outside, and instantly, my senses picked up Isabella swinging back and forth violently.

Charlotte, beside me, murmured:

"It seems my master was right."

I nodded unconsciously.

Honestly, now that I was outside and looking at her emotions, even after confirming it...

’Her emotions really are fragmented.’

What if it was all actually a facade?

***

Back in the present.

I decided to play some kind of word game to probe Isabella.

According to Luminus, Isabella looked like an ordinary girl, but in reality, it was all just an act.

Honestly, I didn’t expect something like that from a child.

The moment I stepped outside, I walked toward Isabella, who was swinging on her swing.

"Wow, I think I told you not to swing that hard yesterday, right?"

Isabella slowly came to a stop. I observed her emotions, but there was no change.

No annoyance, displeasure, irritation, surprise, or anything of the sort fluctuated.

Her emotions remained balanced, exactly the same.

Isabella turned her head and looked at me.

"You already spoke with my master."

"Yeah, and guess what."

Isabella tilted her head in confusion, though her expression seemed to show confusion.

Her emotions still weren’t changing at all.

’Mhm, my Trait probably isn’t deceiving me. Maybe Isabella has some kind of Trait that controls her emotions and keeps them balanced.’

I don’t think she was creating some kind of concealment layer over her emotions.

’But there’s still something I don’t understand.’

Luminus says Isabella’s emotions are fragmented; maybe it’s because of the Trait that keeps her emotions in the same state.

But in any case, I should first find out whether she has some kind of Trait related to balance.

"I don’t understand." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Smiling faintly, I said:

"Mhm, from now on, you can think of us as babysitters."

"...?"

"Oh, but it’ll only be temporary. After all, a babysitter’s job isn’t forever, right?"

Isabella blinked once before saying:

"But you’re not a woman."

"...!"

My smile faltered for a moment.

’No, this girl definitely isn’t stupid.’

I mean, her expression kept changing constantly, as if she were showing various emotions.

But to me, there was no change in her emotions; they remained exactly the same as always.

Somewhat bewildered, I continued talking to her.

"Uh, well, I’m saying babysitter because there isn’t a better word to use, so... I’m your new babysitter."

Even within me, the emotion of embarrassment started taking the lead, trying to overcome my Trait.

I shook my head internally and focused on what I was doing.

As I observed her emotions, the various colors I saw deep within her mind remained the same.

Up to this point, there had never been any disturbance or even the slightest movement.

’From what I’ve noticed, she has some kind of Trait that keeps her emotions balanced and, probably, another Trait that prevents me from seeing any fragmentation in her emotions.’

But regardless, my job was simply to stay by her side and take care of her.

Well, Charlotte and I.

In any case, I drew a smile on my face once more and said:

"Tell me something, you love acting expressive, but your emotions never change. Is it some kind of game?"

At my words, Isabella’s emotions didn’t change, but somehow her expression had frozen.

"...?"

That only left me even more bewildered.

’Mhm, could it be that she’s actually showing her emotions through her expressions, but...?’

Mental fatigue began pounding against my head.

This girl was the first person to confuse me this much when it came to emotions.

I didn’t know why, but even though her expression clearly showed emotions...

There was no disturbance in her mind compared to her expression.

That only left me even more confused.

If she was truly pretending to be foolish and her expressions were fake...

Then I wouldn’t know what she was really like.

’Ugh, this is so frustrating.’