This Isn’t an E*otic Game?

Chapter 33

Late at night.

I rode in a discreetly sent carriage from the emperor, making my way to the imperial palace.

At an hour when everyone should have been asleep, I was surprised to find both the Emperor and Empress awaiting me as I stepped out of the carriage.

“Thank you for responding at such a late hour, Saint.”

“It is only natural to heed Your Majesty’s summons. What is the matter?”

“I must admit... Despite hearing about your healing of countless beggars and nobles alike, I could not bring myself to fully trust you. Only after meeting you in person at the banquet was I convinced. I ask for your forgiveness for my prior doubts.”

The Emperor fell silent for a while after saying this, before speaking again, his words heavy with difficulty.

“Have you heard of my daughter?”

Princess Almene.

I had heard the name before.

Just the name. Nothing else.

She was a mysterious figure who had never appeared in public or graced the pages of any newspaper.

“Is Her Highness unwell?”

“...Please, come inside.”

I followed the Emperor and Empress deeper into the palace.

A princess.

Why would they bring me to someone as enigmatic as a princess who had never been seen before?

As I pondered this, I entered a room and froze as if struck by lightning.

The woman lying quietly in the corner of the room...

She was the woman I had seen in my dream, bleeding and collapsed.

Unlike with Erfa, I hadn’t expected to find a clue this quickly!

The cheat key!

The cheat key to skipping hell was calling out to me!!

“This is my daughter, Almene. First, could you take a look at her?”

“Is she someone you can heal?”

The voices of the Emperor and Empress carried an air of desperate hope. I nodded.

“I will do my best.”

Cautiously, I approached the princess and placed my hand on her forehead.

The princess, whose face I was seeing for the first time, had a peculiar appearance.

A strange sigil resembling a magic circle was engraved over her left eye, which remained closed. Perhaps because of this, she couldn’t open it.

Moreover, she appeared unnaturally frail, as though she were severely ill.

Her face resembled someone suffering from a severe bout of influenza.

After briefly observing her face, I activated my skill.

[This is a healthy body with no abnormalities!]
[Immediate physical modifications are possible!]
[Would you like to modify her to flat-chested, busty, excessively busty, or ultra-busty?]

What the hell is this nonsense?! Go away!

Still, her body showed no abnormalities?

Physically, she was in perfect health.

To ensure I hadn’t missed anything, I checked her condition multiple times, but the result remained the same.

This was strange.

She wasn’t physically ill...

So why did she appear so weak and frail?

“Her Highness is not unwell. Since she has no physical ailments, I cannot treat her.”

I spoke honestly.

Really.

If there was any sickness or physical condition, my skill would have highlighted it in black.

But with her, there was nothing.

If she isn’t ill, then healing her is impossible.

This was a first for me.

Could it be psychological?

“So... treatment is impossible, as I feared,” the Emperor murmured, bowing his head in despair.

The Empress’s face reflected utter hopelessness.

Meanwhile, the princess gave a faint smile.

“It’s all right, Father. I can endure this.”

But the Emperor and Empress showed no reaction to her forced smile. Instead, their expressions grew even darker and more heartbroken.

“Rest for now, Almene,” the Emperor said, gesturing for me to follow him outside.

I obediently left the room.

As soon as the door closed, the Empress could no longer hold back her tears.

“Honey.”

“Almene is dying! If even the Saint cannot heal her, what are we supposed to do...”

Her wail was devastating.

The Emperor didn’t say a word, simply holding his wife tightly in his arms.

I quietly watched the scene unfold from behind.

After a long while, the Empress finally calmed down, and the Emperor turned his gaze to me.

“I believe I owe you an explanation. It may take some time. Will you hear it?”

“I will listen, no matter how long it takes.”

To die under a curse, I must fully understand the situation.

The Emperor and Empress led me to a different room.

After arriving in a spacious reception hall, the two took a moment to compose themselves.

And then, after some time...

“Nineteen years ago, my wife and I gave birth to twins,” the Emperor began in a sorrowful tone.

*****

The concept of "twinsouls" exists—a rare phenomenon where twins are born sharing a single soul.

The Emperor's twin daughters, Almene and Iomene, were such twinsouls.

All sensations, thoughts, memories, and even emotions were shared between them, making twinsouls in the Empire recognized as two bodies but one entity.

The birth of twinsouls was rare and celebrated as a major blessing. When Almene and Iomene were born, the imperial palace was filled with festive joy.

But before the celebrations could truly begin, joy was overshadowed by profound despair and sorrow.

"Wings... Black wings are growing from Iomene's back!"

Wings as dark as a shard of the deepest night began to sprout from Iomene's back.

Alarmed, the Emperor and Empress summoned priests and mages to identify the nature of the wings. The answer they received was shocking:

"She bears a fragment of the Evil God."

"A fragment of the Evil God?! How could this happen?"

"Someone must have cast a long-term curse upon Her Majesty, the Empress."

Chaos erupted in the palace.

The celebration of the twins’ birth was quickly hushed.

Instead, a blood-soaked investigation began within the palace.

Who had done this?

Who had cursed the Empress?

The maids and stewards who attended the Empress, her relatives, and even anyone who had met her even once were interrogated. Despite exhaustive efforts, the priests, mages, and intelligence agencies could not uncover who was responsible.

Time passed without answers, and three years after the twins' birth, the wings on Iomene’s back began emitting a powerful curse.

It started when a maid attending to Iomene collapsed under the curse's influence.

With divine magic and miracles, the priests managed to dispel the curse on the maid’s soul, but the aftermath left her frail, and she soon passed away.

"This is no ordinary curse. It destroys the soul, leaving a void that the curse itself occupies. Once this happens, it's over. The victim becomes a wandering, undead husk, neither alive nor dead."

"And it doesn't end there. This curse is contagious. It can spread rapidly to those nearby."

"A horde of undead could appear in the heart of the capital, Your Majesty!"

"Princess Iomene... must be dealt with."

Dealt with.

The meaning was clear without explanation. The Emperor knew what they meant.

Iomene had to die.

To prevent a horde of undead from rising in the capital.

But...

"If one twinsoul dies, what happens to the other?"

No one could answer the Emperor’s question.

Two bodies, but one soul.

If one died, the other would follow.

To kill Iomene was effectively to kill Almene as well.

The Emperor agonized over the decision.

He deliberated and anguished over it.

In the end, the Emperor chose not to kill his daughters.

"Find a way to remove the fragment of the Evil God."

Though no one could give him an answer, only the White Order, who had faced countless monsters, demons, and horrors of the darkness, held a solution.

"Long ago, there are records of a hero chosen by Dulanear removing a fragment of the Evil God."

"Tell me, how can it be done?"

"You must isolate the child bearing the fragment in a solitary chamber. She must be completely cut off from contact with others. Then, divine magic must be regularly cast upon her to weaken the connection between the fragment and her soul. Once the connection is severed, the fragment can be extracted and destroyed."

"How long will this take?"

"At least ten years, Your Majesty. If the process is endured to completion, there is a high chance she will recover. However... every time divine magic is cast, the fragment will resist, causing immense physical pain."

The Emperor's face twisted with anguish.

"So Iomene will have to suffer every time divine magic is used?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Then it’s no different from torture!"

The High Priest lowered his head.

"We will do everything we can to minimize her pain, but... we cannot eliminate it entirely, Your Majesty."

The Emperor's hands trembled.

"Is there no other way?"

"If a Saint or Saintess were to appear and perform miracles, it might be possible. But for the past 300 years, no Saints or Saintesses have been granted to the Empire. This is the only method we know of, Your Majesty."

"O gods of the Pantheon... Why must it be like this?"

The Emperor shared the grim reality with the Empress.

"We cannot! It’s torture!"

"…It is the only way."

"Twinsouls share one soul! If Iomene suffers so greatly, Almene will feel that pain too!"

"Mages claim they can sever the connection between the twinsouls."

"I can’t do it! I won’t! These are the children I carried for ten months! My flesh and blood! How could I subject them to this?"

"If we do nothing, the entire Empire may fall to the curse spreading from the fragment of the Evil God. And do you think Almene will remain unaffected as the fragment grows within the soul she shares with Iomene?"

The Empress wept bitterly.

"To do this... to a three-year-old child..."

The Emperor clenched his fists.

"It must be done. Somehow."

"You are the worst father imaginable!"

The Empress’s voice rose with anger and despair, but the Emperor, with sorrowful eyes, replied,

"I chose the twins over the Empire. By all rights, I should have killed Iomene. Please, my love, never speak of this again."

The Empress couldn’t respond, silenced by his words.

The two clung to each other, crying for a long time.

They wept for the reality that they would have to cause so much suffering to their three-year-old daughters.

But to save both of them, there was no other choice.

On their third birthday, the twins underwent a powerful ritual.

Their shared soul was severed.

Iomene, burdened by miracles and magic to contain the curse, was confined in a secluded palace. She lived alone, enduring horrific pain that felt as if her body was being torn apart once a week.

Meanwhile, Almene, as the Emperor’s daughter, grew up in the light, upright and poised.

For 16 years, the sisters lived apart.

*****

The long story had finally come to an end.

The Empress was weeping, and the Emperor wore the expression of a man whose soul had been utterly shattered.

“For 16 years, we have subjected Iomene to unspeakable torment. No parents, no matter how vile, could have done what we did. We even had to forcibly stop her from attempting suicide several times.”

“What of the fragment of the Evil God?” I asked.

“The connection between it and Iomene’s soul has significantly weakened. But at a terrible cost—Iomene’s identity and mind have been irreparably broken. So much so that even the magic meant to sever the twins’ connection has failed to stop the fragment from affecting Almene.”

That explained why Princess Almene couldn’t be healed.

She wasn’t suffering from a physical ailment but from spiritual torment. It made sense.

The Emperor grasped my hand.

“Saint, I beg you, not as the ruler of an empire but as the father of these children. Please use your miracle to save Iomene. Before the fragment can be fully separated from her soul, her mind is crumbling. I believe you can remove the fragment of the Evil God and heal her at the same time. I beg you…”

Tears streamed down the Emperor’s face.

I had heard tales of the Emperor as a cold and unyielding ruler, wielding absolute military power with an iron fist.

Even in the newspapers, he always appeared stern and intimidating.

But the man before me now was nothing more than a middle-aged father, drowning in sorrow and despair.

There was no trace of majesty left in him.

And in this moment, as awful as it may sound, I was cheering internally.

A curse!!

Not just any curse, but one powerful enough to destroy the world!!

The ultimate cheat key!

And it had come straight to me, no searching required!

If I extract the fragment of the Evil God from the princess and use it to destroy my soul...

The princess will be saved, and I’ll reincarnate in Korea!

A win-win!

Two birds with one stone!

“Leave it to me.”

Wait for me, curse!

I’m coming to meet you!