Back to the present...

When all these suppressed memories rushed out from a dark corner of his mind and forcefully merged into his consciousness all at once, Lucian couldn’t process anything in that knot of tangled emotions...

He had grabbed Aria’s neck straight away. Seeing her in pain only triggered his past traumas... Lydia’s face... where is she, is she dead or alive? Why did his mother leave him? He just took out all the boiling anger of those abandonments directly on Aria.

Seeing this kind of sudden, violent behavior from someone who was always so calm shook Sera and Elira to their core. They thought that by hurting Aria, he might put himself in some massive trouble.

Though, it was as if none of those things mattered to him at the time...

Aria was on the floor, her head hanging down. Sera and Elira stood nearby, confused and deeply afraid; they had no idea what kind of memories Lucian had just seen.

Ignoring the tense presence of room, Lucian simply turned his back and started to walk away from that room.

"Wait, Lucian, what happened...? Are you going to tell us?" Sera asked awkwardly.

Elira frowned, her eyes darting between his retreating back and the shivering Aria on the floor.

He had barely reached the door... when the tone of the Saint sitting on the floor suddenly shifted completely as she stood up.

"Lucian...!!!"

"You can’t just walk away... don’t you know how much I’ve done just to have you? And now... I won’t let some naive foolish girl ruin everything..."

Lucian turned over his shoulder to glance back. And he saw it. That wasn’t Aria anymore. It was Iris. Her face was burning red, with a twisted, sickening grin.

They had the exact same body, but two completely different personalities. One was the innocent, kind-hearted Saint who offered motivation and admiration to everyone... while the other was a sadistic, psycho alter-ego who would do absolutely anything to get what she desired.

Iris’s bangs were hanging low over her eyes. The moment she made a single, swift motion with her hand... Sera and Elira violently grabbed their own necks and started choking.

"Ghh—!"

Red finger marks began imprinting deeply into both girls’ throats... against their own will. Saliva pooled at the corner of Sera’s lips. Elira’s eyes were bulging out as she clawed at her own neck.

Lucian’s violet-black mana immediately thrashed violently around his body.

"Stop this..."

Just a single, emotionless command.

Iris didn’t even blink. The eerie grin on her face only grew wider and more distorted.

"Darling... you still love me, right...?" she giggled softly. "I only did it to take away—"

"I said 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Stop

This!"

Instantly, the invisible force snapped. "...Both girls collapsed onto the floor, violently gasping for air as they clutched their bruised throats."

As Lucian watched both girls gasping for air, the final missing pieces clicked together in his mind.

On the day of the evaluation exam... it was Aria — no, Iris — who had been controlling Elira and Sera, forcing them to fight against their own will. It was never Cassian’s play.

If Cassian had done it, the system would have simply called it ’Hypnotized’. But back then, during that hurried moment, system had explicitly warned him that they were ’Brainwashed’. And only Aria could pull off something like that using her telepathy.

Her twisted, ’pure’ love was proving to be far too dangerous for him.

Though, despite realizing all of this, Lucian managed to keep his composure. He knew that deep down, this wasn’t entirely Aria’s fault... and in some messed-up way, it wasn’t even entirely Iris’s fault either. He was no longer the old, weak Lucian who would sit around holding onto petty grudges.

Still... he was incredibly annoyed by this entire chaotic situation.

’What the fuck is wrong with this girl...’ he cursed inwardly while letting out an exasperated sigh.

His violet-black mana slowly receded as he crouched down onto the floor beside the coughing girls.

"Are you two okay?"

Elira just gave a strained nod. Her sharp eyes, however, never left Iris’s figure.

Sera coughed.

"Ah... yeah... I am fine. Just fine."

Seeing Lucian look at the girls with such caring eyes and asking about their well-being... Iris simply couldn’t bear it.

Gritting her teeth, her face twisted with dark, sinister creases. She was about to do something even more maniacal for not getting his undivided attention...

Ding!

[WARNING: Unregistered Variable Detected in the Timeline.]

[Hidden Quest Unlocked: The Saint’s Obsessed Shadow.]

[Objective: Pacify the alter-ego ’Iris’ and bind her to your side.]

[Reward: The upcoming ’Fate Correction’ event will be delayed by 30 Days.]

[Penalty for Failure: Immediate trigger of the Fate Correction Event.]

[You idiot, look behind you!!]

Thirty days of peace... and all just by defusing a single bomb right now?’

He immediately whipped his head around to look at Iris, whose aura was slowly turning into a murderous red.

Pushing aside every ounce of his anger and annoyance, he instantly closed the distance between them. Gripping both of her shoulders tightly, he molded his face into an expression of such overwhelming, tender affection that it could probably melt a Goddess on the spot.

Then, in a tone as smooth as butter, he began his masterclass performance.

"Iris..."

One of his hands slid up from her shoulder to gently cup her cheek, his thumb softly caressing her flushed skin.

"You know... I only brought Sera and Elira here today so I could finally talk to you. And when did I ever say... that I would let you get away from me?"

He paused, letting his thumb trace her jawline before adding the finishing touch.

"I was only upset because you kept your true, beautiful self hidden from me for so long. You don’t need to be jealous of anyone else... because you are the only one who truly understands me."

He leaned in slightly, keeping his voice to a dark, magnetic whisper.

"After everything you’ve done to ease my pain, do you really think I would ever leave you? You were always mine, Iris... and from now on, you will only listen to me... right?"

Hearing this, Iris’s raging red aura vanished in an instant. Her eyes widened massively, and a heavy jolt of euphoric shock sent intense shivers down her entire body, turning her cheeks as red as a tomato.

Raising both her trembling hands, she grabbed the hand Lucian had on her cheek and began nuzzling her face into his palm, acting exactly like a loyal obsessed puppy.

"Ah... my love... my Lucian..." she mumbled breathlessly, her eyes half-closed in pure bliss.

Sitting on the floor behind them, Sera and Elira had completely stopped coughing. They were frozen in absolute shock, watching the exact same psycho who had almost murdered them just seconds ago... now fully tamed by Lucian like an obedient little pet.

ding!!

[Mission Complete: The Saint’s Obsessed Shadow.]

[Reward: The ’Fate Correction’ event has been successfully delayed by 30 Days.]

[Hidden Condition Met! Extra Reward gained.]