1501 Scamming An Innocent Princess

If his guess was right, then those two powerhouses who tried to kill him must've also joined this world.

While he did suspect if these people hated Isadora enough to risk their lives, the possibility of those two being clones was not zero.

Now, not only would he have to confront the two powerhouses, he'd also have to deal with a Isadora struggling with her memories, at least until she started the expedition.

"I propose a deal." Varian continued talking through the synergy link.

And while he did, he tried waking Enigma and Sia, to see if they could take over Isadora and make his life easier. But it's just not happening.

'A deal? Do you think this princess who is ready to sacrifice herself only to seal you would have a deal with you?' Isadora said in her characteristic cold and cruel voice.

She sounded like a cold-blooded empress ordering the execution of millions without a shred of sympathy.

At her tone, Varian paused in surprise.

'She's like this at the start…Isadora, you really changed, huh.'

In the beginning, she wanted to kill Varian and snatch the slivers. She spoke in the exact same tone. Moreover, the wounds of the betrayal were still fresh in her heart, so she didn't hestiate to show cruelty.

But then after she failed to kill him, the princess had a slight change in behavior. She still hated him but the boiling anger in her heart cooled down.

'She would still speak harshly but well, not with malicious intentions.'

His relationship with Sia and Enigma were laid out bare for the woman. While they infuriated her, Isadora grew more anxious.

Her reasoning was simple.

'If my relation with my own mother of centuries could be ruined, there is no way Sia and Enigma wouldn't be heartbroken one day.'

For Isadora at that time, it's a very logical argument to make.

But that firm belief began to shake as she lived with a man who continued to amaze her, even if she didn't admit it openly.

'And recently, her tone got a bit…softer?'

The way she came rushing for him to this city after entering Paradise, standing in front of him, out of breath but with eyes staring at him.

[Devil, if I can, I will kill you this time and end this vicious cycle. Pray that I will not succeed.] Isadora said in a bone chilling tone.

Varian wouldn't shy from proclaiming he had nerves of steel. But her words made even him slightly anxious.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He siezed control of the conversation before it could result in some bloody vows of vengeance and justice. "Are you dumb? Or did your passion for justice eat away the logical parts of your brain?"

[You…how dare you?! Insolent devil!]

"You've never heard of a devil speaking like this to any candidate or read any records like this, right?" He continued to ask.

[…]

At her silence of acceptance, he grinned. "My dear princess, we share a special bond. We are connected by our very souls.

Why do think the name Varian sounded familiar? Or Enigma? Sia? Serenthia? Sonya?

These are secrets about yourself. Secrets no one else knows. If you still want to believe you're just a normal princess, continue to fool yourself. But remember, you are not the same as others.

If you want to find me, just follow the connection we have."

There was a brief silence on the otherside.

"Huh?"

A chill shot down Varian's spine and his expanded senses captured the scene in the bustling streets.

The petals falling from the sky froze and the cheers of the people vanished. A coercive aura swept over the entire place before locking toward a particular direction.

And then it vanished without any trace, as if it was all a lie.

The flower petals continued falling and the crowd, albeit surprised, brushed it off as a routine security check and resumed their cheers.

Escaping the strict watch of the escorting crew, a butterfly passed from the curtains of the carriage and flew toward the alley.

Varian kicked from one wall to another, climbing the tall wall and running on top of the buildings with medeival architecture.

Thankfully, he ensured to remain away from the princess' procession, so there weren't many people spotting him.

And the ones that did spot were unsure if it was a man or a bird due to the high speed at which he moved as well as the soul power that he used to blur his presence.

[Get ready to die.]

When Varian reached a swap south of the capital city, near the slum areas, a cold wind blew behind him.

A butterfly turned into a stunning beauty and flicked her wrist.

The wind split open and a sharp howl reached Varian's cheek.

He jumped to the damp land and rolled away from the danger. And yet, a red line formed on his cheek.

Isadora slowly descended from the building top, poweful aura overflowing from her. Like an empress standing in front of a citizen, she held him with an authoritative gaze.

"You lied. You aren't the devil." She frowned, her cold expression turning even more merciless.

Varian rubbed his injured cheek and shrugged. "I had to meet you."

"…Your best chance for surviving is to spill everything you know." A sword appeared in her hand.

As it did, a tingling sensation enveloped Varian's neck, like a sharp blade was pressed against his skin.

One wrong move and he'd be out.

'This woman…even if she loses her memory, trying to kill me seems to remain constant.'

Varian thought begrudgingly while he cooked up a story under the princess' intense gaze.

His gaze, however, was focused on the pendant hanging over her purple dress. It held a small silver rusty ring.

"I had a dream." He began with a passionate expression. "I was a small lord of a village. Far away from the royal luxuries. But one day, the second princess of the Empire came to my place.

She was on a secret mission and didn't reveal her identity. I healed her injuries, nursed her back to health and soothed her injured heart.

I had fallen in love with her."

Tears began to slowly form in his eyes.

"I wanted to spend my life together with her. But the woman left. Leaving nothing but her name. She called herself…Isadora."

The Princess tightened her grip on the sword.

The man in front of her was not normal. And he definitely wasn't as innocent as he showed. He played a clever game to draw her out.

This wasn't a sheep but a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Isadora's mind kept warning her over and over.

The hostility she held for him increased and she felt an urgent need to slay him and yet—

"She has two younger siblings, Enigma and Sia. She didn't want them to suffer from the ruthless royal politics and entrusted them to that man."

What he said was unoriginal, events too similar from romance stories.

Yet, there was a sense of familiarity to them. The second, vague memory she held was strongly reacting to his words.

The real memories and the dream memories were overlapping due to the way he spoke.

For instance, when he said younger siblings, it shouldn't have been anything special. But Isadora felt a surge of emotions in her heart. As if she really had these siblings.

Varian used a simple trick to throw her heart into turmoil.

When an experience gets associated with a word, whenever that word gets uttered, those emotions will pop up.

It's for both good and bad things.

For instance, a guy who always got bullied in the canteen of the school would get a negative emotion, a negative connotation whenever someone would use the word canteen.

Similarly, if a couple fell in love and had great experience at a particular place, the utterance of that place would bring out positive emotions, related to that whole experience.

For Isadora, these words, 'Sia', 'Enigma' brought out a whole set of emotions that shouldn't have appeared for the second princess who never knew these women.

"They both fell in love with me. And when the second princess returned to my village, she was devasted. Isadora warned them again and again. That to fall in love is to put yourself in a position to be hurt.

They didn't listen. The princess too was tired of the court politics but she insisted she was right.

The man still only loved her. He kept waiting for months, years, decades.

Princess Isadora did not reciprocate…"

Varian's tragic narration and heartbroken expression pulled Isadora into the story.

Using the opportunity when she's not on guard, Varian enveloped himself in the powers of space-time.

Then, the powers of order and chaos were used on the pendant she was wearing, putting in on the verge of beign cut into two pieces.

And finally, the power of soul as well as death was also used, ready to hide himself at demand.

"The princess too loved him but her own heart, once betrayed, remained in pieces. So, she told him one day…"

"Wh-What did she say?" Isadora raised her head and asked in an urgent tone.

"She said…" Varian sighed, his eyebrows lowering and his shoulders relaxing, a posture that Isadora would've recognized as a preparation of escape.

"She said,"

"Uh."

"Don't trust strangers."

Boom!

The string of Isadora's broke and the rusty ring fell.

But before it even did, the Princess shot forward and thrust her sword. Yet, what she dug into was only a phantom body.

A ripple of time appeared a few steps behind her and Varian held the ring with a relieved expression. "The Regressor's ring, phew~"

"You liar!" Isadora's aura shot up and the clouds in the sky cleared.

"Of course, I lied." Varian disappeared with the fluctuations of space, an explosion of soul and death power soon followed, scattering any traces of aura that could've been useful in finding him.

As Isadora stood alone, his playful, cheeky yet exceedingly familiar voice lingered.

"I don't love you alone. I love you all."

Boom!

Isadora's desire to kill him doubled with that single line.