I Became the Patron of Villains

113. Truth…? (3)

“First, sit down.”

“Excuse me.”

Following the command, he lightly bowed his head and sat in front of her. Siyan smiled as if she had been waiting and handed him a sweet potato.

“Eat.”

“Ah, yes.”

In fact, he had eaten it yesterday too, but he didn’t dislike it, and it was impossible to refuse something the king personally bestowed, so he obediently accepted it.

‘…But, why is it always sweet potatoes…?’

Of course, he had his doubts.

“They say it doesn’t taste good when it gets cold.”

“Then, excuse me.”

However, at the continued urging, he obediently filled his mouth.

Unfortunately, he still couldn’t taste the sweet potato.

Who could eat comfortably in front of the king?

Moreover,

‘…Why only me…?’

Because he was the only one chewing on a sweet potato.

If they had eaten something together, he would have filled his stomach while watching for the right moment.

She just stared at him intently as he ate the sweet potato.

‘Her gaze could pierce through me.’

He felt burdened, but he couldn’t ask her to look elsewhere.

“….”

Chew-chew-

“….”

Chew-chew-

In front of the lightly smiling king, Alon forcibly finished eating the entire sweet potato.

“You eat well.”

“…Thank you for the compliment.”

‘Should I be happy to be praised for eating?’ With that short thought, he kept silent for a moment, and Siyan nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Well, now that you’ve filled your stomach, let’s talk.”

As if getting to the main point, she leaned forward.

“What did you obtain from the ruins?”

“I obtained the egg of the Spirit Dragon.”

“What is that?”

“…To be honest, aside from the name, I don’t really… But, may I ask you something?”

“Speak.”

“…Does the King not know about the egg of the Spirit Dragon?”

Is that so?

There must have been a reason for sending Alon there.

However.

“Of course, I don’t know.”

Siyan nodded as if it were obvious.

“…?? Then, why did you order me to visit the ruins…?”

Alon’s doubts only deepened.

She seemed to organize her thoughts for a moment, then looked into Alon’s eyes.

“Marquis Palatio, do you know well about our Cretania royal family? No- to be precise, do you know about the Golden Eye (金史眼)?”

Alon nodded.

“Yes, I know.”

“Do you know its abilities?”

“…I understand it as the power inherited from the great royal bloodline.”

Siyan nodded as if that were correct.

“Yes, as you said, this Golden Eye (金史眼) that has been passed down through our Cretania royal family inherits power. That means it also inherits the past.”

She lightly raised her index finger.

Whoosh-!

At the same time, a small flame appeared on her finger.

“How is it?”

“…It’s magic.”

“I have never learned magic separately. Isn’t it surprising?”

“Is it inherited power?”

“Yes. It is the power inherited from the second generation, who was a 7th-level mage. And that’s not all. Swordsmanship, alchemy, engineering, strategy- I have inherited countless things beyond that.”

She lightly tapped her eye with her remaining hand.

“With these eyes.”

As Critenia Siyan extinguished the flames, leaving behind the words, “Doesn’t it seem quite unreasonable to you?” Alon remained silent.

Honestly, Alon couldn’t precisely grasp what she was trying to convey.

Siyan continued speaking.

“But even if it appears that way to others, this power has side effects. Do you know what they are?”

“…About that, well-“

Alon answered, but internally, he had doubts.

To his knowledge, the side effects of the Golden Eye were not particularly described even in Psychedelia.

“Memory.”

“Memory, you say?”

“Yes. The Golden Eye (金史眼) passes down its power to future generations along with its memories.”

“…This is the first time I’m hearing this.”

“Of course, only the kings who inherit the Golden Eye know this fact.”

“Then, do you inherit all the memories?”

“No, not all. Rather, it’s an extremely small portion. Mostly intense memories and precious recollections remain in the mind. And they gradually surface.”

Siyan stared intently at Alon’s face.

“Marquis Palatio, you must be curious why I sent you to the ruins of Malacca. Isn’t that so?”

“To be honest, yes.”

At Alon’s nod, Siyan immediately responded.

“That’s because you are in the memories of the Golden Eye (金史眼) that I inherited.”

She uttered such a fact.

“Marquis Palatio, you.”

####

Marquis Palatio – no, Alon, despite his expressionless face, was filled with even more questions in his mind.

“Are you saying that I remain in the inherited memories of the Golden Eye (金史眼)?”

“Yes.”

“Really, is that so?”

It didn’t make sense.

The Golden Eye (金史眼) is a power that inherits the ‘past,’ as she said.

“Why would I lie? It’s an undeniable fact. An undeniable fact without a single lie.”

“……Is there any possibility that you might have been mistaken?”

“No – it doesn’t exist. The reason I can hold countless memories of past successors without going mad is because, even when inheriting memories, I can recognize that they belong to someone else. And-“

– “This is definitely an inherited memory,” Siyan said firmly, and Alon asked.

“……Is it possible to know when that memory was inherited?”

“No, unfortunately, that cannot be known. As I said, inherited memories only contain intense memories or precious recollections, nothing more can be inferred.”

They are merely inherited, with no other information. When, from whom, or why they were inherited.

“That’s why it’s fascinating, Marquis Palatio. What exactly are you?”

“……What His Majesty said is a very unfamiliar story to me as well……”

“For something so unfamiliar, you don’t seem surprised or perturbed.”

“My facial expressions are not usually very pronounced.”

Siyan hummed and shrugged as if disappointed.

“I thought I might catch a clue if I talked to you, but I guess not.”

“……May I ask about that inherited memory?”

Siyan was silent for a moment, recalling the memory.

“……So far, two memories have surfaced. One is of a king who had inherited a memory from someone who looked just like you, saying there was something very necessary in the ruins of Malacca.”

The reason she sent Alon to the ruins of Malacca.

“And the other is a memory of you, dressed in full regalia, saving the kingdom from some crisis and being praised.”

Even after hearing this, it is still impossible to grasp.

“……Was the face mine?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t recognize that much?”

“……I misspoke.”

Siyan then let out a low exclamation.

“Oh, and in the inherited memory, you had quite an expressive face.”

“……An expressive face, you say?”

“Yes, for example-“

She pressed Alon’s lips with her index finger and lifted them.

“-like this.”

“Are you saying I was smiling often?”

“You were constantly grinning.”

As if she had seen something amusing, Siyan laughed along with him.

Alon pondered quietly.

“May I ask what my rank was in the inherited memory?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that so?”

“I remember having conversations, but I only recall your words. I can’t hear the words of the owner of the inherited memory.”

Afterwards, Alon asked her a few more questions, but ultimately, he couldn’t find out how many generations the inherited memory spanned.

After some time, the conversation ended.

“Anyway, I sent you to the ruins of Malacca because of that inherited memory.”

“…Thank you for your kindness.”

“Kindness? It’s all an investment.”

“An investment?”

“Yes, because in the inherited memory, you saved the kingdom. I thought you might be helpful this time as well.”

“That might not be me.”

“…Is that so?”

Siyan propped her chin and smiled faintly.

“In the end, we didn’t learn anything about this strangely inherited memory.”

“I apologize.”

“No need. It was quite interesting. I’ll call you if anything else comes to mind.”

“…Are the memories gradually coming back?”

“Mostly, yes. Since the inheritance, they come back one by one, quite unexpectedly. Or when there’s a strong shock similar to the past. Anyway-“

With those words, the dismissal order was given, and Alon lightly bowed his head before leaving her office.

####

A few days later.

“Marquis?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, you’ve been seriously contemplating since you returned from the royal castle. Did something happen?”

At Evan’s question, who was driving the carriage, Alon shook his head.

“It’s nothing serious.”

“…It’s not serious, but you’ve been contemplating for days?”

“Strictly speaking, I contemplate when I’m spacing out. I haven’t been contemplating for days.”

Leaving behind Evan’s drawn-out response of “Is that so?”, he once again stared blankly at the flowing forest.

What filled his mind was the memory inherited from the Golden Eye that he had heard from the king a few days ago.

‘…No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.’

As he had thought several times, the Golden Eye is a power that inherits the past.

It does not have the power to predict the future.

If it had such power, it would be normal for Siyan not to die protecting a kingdom that was falling into ruin, and Alon should have known about that setting as well.

In other words, the inherited memory of the Golden Eye was most likely a memory of the past.

However, what he couldn’t understand from his perspective was.

‘…A noble with the exact same face and voice as mine…’

The man in the memory had the exact same face as him, except for the rich expressions.

‘…An ancestor?’

The Marquis of Palatio had quite a few ancestors, so that could be the case, but even so, it was strange.

‘…In the first place, the ruins of Malacca were discovered not long ago.’

As far as he knew, the ruins of Malacca were relatively recently revealed, even at the current point in time, which was less than a year before the start of the original work.

In other words, it was not a past significant enough to remain in the inherited memory.

‘…There was an event in the setting where all the data being investigated was blown away when the jungle was destroyed once 100 years ago, so if the ruins of Malacca were discovered before that time and the remaining memory was inherited, it wouldn’t be impossible, but…’

Even thinking that way, there were more than one or two unclear points, so Alon, who was pondering, ended this thought with a light sigh.

The memories provided by the Golden Eye were too limited, making it practically meaningless to infer.

Instead, Alon brought out his last question.

The question that still remained unresolved after meeting Crittenia Siyan.

‘…Why is she being so nice to me?’

Common sense dictates that the memories of the Golden Eye reflect the past.

In other words, the man in the inherited memory wearing the ceremonial dress was not Alon but another person who resembled him, which should have been the correct inference for her at this point in time as well.

However, she was showing favor to him just because he had the same face as the man who saved the country.

That meant she was convinced that the man she saw in the inherited memory was Alon.

‘…And there’s no reason to specifically tell me to go to the ruins of Malacca.’

Therefore.

‘What on earth could it be?’

Alon, with a peculiar expression, couldn’t help but continue pondering that the king might be hiding something.

####

Meanwhile.

In the office of the Asteria Royal Castle.

“……You’ve been lost in thought a lot lately, Your Majesty.”

Crittenia Sian, who was staring blankly out the window, responded to the secretary’s words.

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yes. Especially after meeting with Marquis Palatio, it seems even more so. May I dare ask the reason?”

“The reason, well- don’t worry. It’s not a serious concern. Rather, it’s an interesting one.”

“……Interesting, you say?”

Sian nodded slightly.

“Yes, very interesting. In many ways.”

A small smile lingered on her lips as she murmured those enigmatic words.