Chương 91: Chapter 90

It had been a month since Nina was transported to a new prison cell. Unlike before, however, Nina was visited by a psychiatrist throughout the month who, tasked by Seraphina, attempted to help her mentally. Nina had felt that it was unnecessary. However, she did not deign to leave, as she felt deep in her soul that something was critically wrong with Seraphina. But it wasn't until Seraphina fed her the drink that Nina came to understand something fundamental.

Yet the conclusion she had reached was so absurd that Nina decided to stay, or at least continue analyzing the situation, as she hoped that her suspicion was false....

"That will be all for our session today, Seer." Nina watched as the psychiatrist lightly bowed to her before making her exit. Today was the last day of the month. Seraphina had stated that if Nina could stabilize within the month, she would in turn allow visitors to see her. Nina's eyes drifted downward, and with a thought, a status screen appeared in front of her. Her eyes searched through it, looking for something. Will to Live. She stared at her True Will to Live, which remained at a glaring Three.

A faint smile appeared on Nina's lips as her eyebrows quietly furrowed. The... I guess the consultation was not for naught since this thing increased by 2.

"So I seem to still want to live, according to the System." After saying that, she moved to the Current Self-Worth value. Since the System bug had been fixed, she no longer had to rely on the false values. She also no longer seems to have the artificial urge to push herself. It was the thing from the artificial will to live value that always enforced not to end her own life and to keep moving... Yet, I'm still here. And she can mentally change it without any push back.

Nina spoke within herself, her mind moving on quietly. I know you're not here anymore, Lily. But for the illness that was in your body, I had taken it away so you would not have to feel the pain anymore. Also, I hope you don't mind, but I'm using your softness to trick that psychiatrist. You're the only one I felt I could do this with. Both you and I are not exactly there mentally. But your kind nature makes people subconsciously want to protect you.

I hope you don't mind that I used it to my advantage and played that psychiatrist like a puppet on a string. As Nina was lost in her thoughts, the door creaked open once again. Looking up, she came face-to-face with Ronin, the Crown Prince. Being interrupted in her thoughts, she gave him an unwelcoming look. Ronin seemed to ignore it, calmly sitting down on the chair across from her. Before Nina could question him, he bowed his head toward his chest.

"Thank you." The gesture left Nina dumbfounded. She could only let out an exclamation.

"Huh?" Hearing that, Ronin looked back up, meeting Nina's eyes.

"If it wasn't for the letter that you had written for us, we would have never been able to bring down the five-year journey in just under three." He said this with the utmost seriousness. When Nina heard this, she was left with a bombshell.

"What letter?" She pronounced each syllable one after another. Seeing her confusion, Ronin slid the letter toward her. But seeing that the Seer was currently tied up, he quietly stood up, opened the letter, and brought it close enough for Nina to examine. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Is this not it?" Nina looked over the letter. She nearly held her breath. What? Is that her mother's handwriting? She scrutinized the letter very carefully, her eyes moving over the curls, the Gs, and the differences in each individual letter as they connected to the others. The more she looked, the more convinced she became that this was, in fact, her mother's handwriting. But assuming that the person who had taken over her mother's identity as a card was another individual, it couldn't possibly be…

Nina shook her head. There's no way my mother would appear in such a place and put her life on the line just to come and help me with a matter I couldn't handle. No. She's too busy for that. If it's nothing to do with her siblings, there's no way she would have appeared. And the other cards were not her siblings. I would have known right away. As she looked closer, she found a discrepancy. One part of the writing was shakier than another.

Looking at the slight inclination of the E, Nina searched the letter once again, focusing on the more rounded shapes. Sure enough, there were occasional inconsistencies. This was a fraudulent letter. And if they assumed that the person who came in taking the role of the mother card also inherited the skills, there would not be such a discrepancy, as they would be forced to act according to their characteristics. And she would have known. But this doesn't clear the fact that it could possibly be her actual… No!

If it was her, the System would have informed me, and I would have known. Nina shook her head, bringing her thoughts back from drifting. Who would place this card and write in such a detailed manner, almost to imitate me in such ways, giving me the glory of guiding the heroes without keeping it for themselves? No one would do something like that out of the kindness of their heart, unless this was a ploy for a bigger plan. In a way, the suspicion in her heart grew even stronger.

But in order to figure things out, she couldn't stay in a place like this forever. She needed to wait until Ronin left. Then, at night, she could plan her next move. Checking the map in her mind. She found that most areas were dark, meaning there were two possible scenarios. One, it's possible that the pathfinding system did not work and could not work due to the changes in the cards and the personas leaving.

Two, Seraphina found a way to teleport her in here without going through the doors, which would, in turn, lead to a similar blacked-out map. While thinking, Nina did not realize that Ronin had been calling her name multiple times. It wasn't until the third time that Nina finally came to, turning her head toward him. Ronin looked rather worried.

"You're not alright? Should I bring a healer?"

"No." Nina shook her head. She did not wish to have another incident in which healing or magical potions could come in and take what she knew and turn everything upside down once again. After seeing that, Ronin respected her choice and folded the letter back up and placed it into the envelope.

"Could it be possible you didn't write it?"

"No, I did." Nina decided to take the pot upon herself, as she had a feeling there was a reason Seraphina needed things to be this way, though she would definitely throw it back at her later. She did not like taking credit for other people's work. Something within her felt the cry of injustice. Turning her head toward the status screen, she noticed that Lily's bracketed name was pulsing. Could it be that strong feeling came from her?

Nina wanted to reach toward her heart, but remembering that she was technically still being restrained and that Ronin was still there, Nina decided to turn on her most polite customer-service face. She politely escorted Ronin out with her words and a bit of flattery to get him out of her hair. She needed to check this out quickly. But by the time Ronin had left, the pulsing was no longer there, and everything had become calm once again. … At night, Nina slowly opened her eyes.

As she did so, her body slowly became formless, transforming into something resembling a dark mist. She lightly made her way through the chair, slipping underneath the crack beneath the door. Her formless mist spread into the other side. Nina looked at her map and noticed that the hallway had just lit up in her area, with the process continuing to expand. I see. So the map wasn't broken, which means I was, in fact, teleported here.

From what Nina knew about Seraphina, despite being a Saintess, she did not possess the power to teleport anywhere. That meant she had most likely utilized Rosa, among other people. Just as Nina's mind began to drift, a shiver ran through her. She looked toward the right side of the hallway. Being in this formless state allowed Nina to sense the general direction of everything around her, giving her an awareness in all directions.

However, her visual perception was still more focused in whichever direction she consciously chose to look. But Nina didn't have time to think about that. Her body, now a formless dark sphere of mist, hung among the shadows before swiftly moving in the direction toward which Nina felt herself being drawn. After many twists and turns, Nina eventually arrived at a desolate area. As she made her way there, she occasionally passed knights and other people.

She had almost been caught multiple times, but because she remained within the shadows and under the cover of night, no one realized that a mass of darkness was moving through the halls. Looking at the door separating her from whatever stood on the other side, Nina felt hesitant. During her journey here, the closer she came, the stronger the feeling became. And the stronger it became, the more it twisted into something resembling fear and murderous instinct.

If Nina went past the door, she felt that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back. But just as she was about to turn away, a strange pull forced her to move beneath the door. Despite only half of her formless body passing through, she was able to see what was happening inside. A figure sat alone in the darkness, still awake despite having no light source. Nina immediately felt a threat to her own existence. Her mind grew hazy. All she could think about was killing this person and making them disappear.

Otherwise, she would be the one to disappear. In the blink of an eye, Nina's dark, formless body swiftly passed underneath the door, moving directly toward the dark figure. She transformed back into her human form. But just as she was about to reach the person and decapitate them, a trap activated beneath her. A heavy wave of power involuntarily forced her body downward, slamming her onto her knees and hands. The shock from the trap was enough to bring Nina out of her crazed haze.

Though she still felt the urge to remove the person before her, it was quieter than before. Forcing her head upward with difficulty, Nina turned toward the figure in the darkness. The person sitting there was none other than Seraphina Aurelia Valcrest.