Chapter 355

T/N: Back to the main story

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Invisible Enemy [Part 1]

“Sigh…”

Joanna heaved a big sigh after plopping herself down on a sofa.

With legs spread open, her slovenly posture was far from that of a young lady.

“Hey, you got booze?”

Joanna further said some words that would never come from a young lady’s mouth.

“Eh? At such a crucial time?”

All the magicians present were Joanna’s subordinates. They didn’t even blink at her posture or way of speech.

“It’s none other than because it’s a crucial time. Hurry and bring some booze.”

Joanna had always been on her edge in the Royal Castle because she had to act like an underage lady. Recently, the surveillance put on her had increased, and she couldn’t even relax in her assigned room. The constant pressure had worn out her nerves.

Wouldn’t it be okay to bask in this short moment of freedom?

Sensing Joanna’s tiredness, one of the magicians who was her immediate subordinate said nothing more and prepared alcohol as she wished. He removed the cork and poured the red liquid into a glass proficiently.

“…Enjoy.”

Joanna’s eyes shone after seeing the label on the bottle.

“Ho, well, well, some good stuff we have here. The Empire really splurges on this, huh.”

It was a vintage wine that wasn’t easy to obtain, even for magicians.

This one bottle of wine conveyed how important this plan was to the Empire, and it only made her feel unnecessarily pressured.

“Well, that means we just need to do our parts, huh…”

Joanna had always loved wine.

The more she knew about the taste and color, aroma, and history, the more she would never get tired of it.

There used to be such a time for her.

“Ugh! …Damn it!”

As if to ridicule Joanna’s one and only hobby, her body would move on its own when faced with wine. Whether it was cheap or expensive wine, her body would drink it all up like it was chugging water after doing physical labor under the blazing sun.

That stayed true even when this one sip of wine was worth several silver coins.

“*gulp gulp, gulp gulp…* Phewww… Ugh, again, this body… just moves on its own….”

Only an empty glass remained in her hand.

“Joanna-sama

, isn’t it futile no matter how many times you try to fight it? The instincts and desires left in the body’s memory are much stronger. Even if you forced another soul into a vessel that had its soul separated from it once, controlling the vessel would still be difficult.”

Joanna’s subordinate refilled her empty glass to the brim with wine and persuaded her to give up while shaking his head. For the current Joanna, he also didn’t need to leave some space in her glass for her to enjoy the aroma. What her current body desired was quantity, not quality.

Joanna, who used to enjoy her wine thoroughly, was now forced to drink it the way she despised it the most every time, regardless of her will.

“I have more or less restored my youth, but this is the only thing I hate that comes with this body…”

What infuriated her even more was that this body would never get drunk, no matter how much she drank. She had tried testing how much she should drink to enjoy being drunk, but her wallet had already given up first before she could know her drinking capacity.

If only that day, that time, that accident hadn’t happened….

“…Did you bring those guys?”

When Joanna had finished emptying the bottle of wine, she suddenly was reminded of something and asked her subordinate.

“Yes. After all, they can not live without us. I have also informed them of the starting time of the bombardment that we decided on earlier. Although they look like that, they are still magicians. I shall have them work for us.”

While frowning, the subordinate reported in a low voice that although it was only a matter of time before they had to reveal themselves, he had hidden their existence for now.

“Sigh, good then. I, too, can’t help but think that my situation is much better than theirs. It will become dark soon, huh… Let’s go outside.”

Joanna stood up from the sofa slowly.

“Sigh…”

The time to launch their attack on the Royal Castle was nearing.

They would finally execute the plan they had been planning for a long time.

That being said, they couldn’t feel triumphant while carrying it out.

All of Joanna’s sighs, footsteps, and feelings were heavy.

The truth was she wanted to abandon this plan if she could.

She knew that the Empire’s orders were absolute.

However,

Starting now, many people would die because of her orders.