EDBO l CH 08

Episode 8 

I stared at Bastian in shock, but of course, it was useless.

“I begged His Majesty to send his chief royal physician, and this is the best result you can give me? How could I face the Emperor after this?”

Wow. That’s a threat if I’ve ever heard one.

“Your Grace, that is—”
“Again.”

The poor physician was sweating buckets as he examined me again.

But no matter how many times he checked, the result was always the same.

“…Your Grace, I’m terribly sorry, but the young lady is in perfect health.”

That was the twelfth time he said the same thing.

The man looked about five years older than when he first arrived.

“Then why doesn’t my sister remember me?”
“That… I’m not sure…”
“Convince me.”

He looked ready to kill the poor man if he couldn’t come up with an answer.

I couldn’t stand it anymore and sighed deeply.

“Bas… older brother.”

Even saying it made me shiver with discomfort.

Yes, Bastian—this psychotic duke—had a cute nickname: Bas-oppa.

Apparently, only Amelia (the real one) was allowed to call him that.

So basically, this lunatic nearly beheaded a knight earlier because his sister didn’t call him oppa after five years apart.

At this point, I was sure of it.
Bastian was not sane.

“That’s enough.”
“……”
“I’m really fine.”

Just then, the physician nervously stepped between us.

“Forgive me, Your Grace, but I believe the young lady’s amnesia has a different cause.”

“…Excuse me?”

Really, now you say that, old man?

When I looked at him like, are you kidding me, he coughed awkwardly and mumbled,

“There… wasn’t a good moment to say it…”

Unbelievable.

“It appears Lady Cedric suffered great shock during her disappearance.”

Well, yeah — I woke up inside a novel. That’s plenty of shock.

“That trauma seems to have damaged her aura and caused her memory loss.”

“Aura damage?”

“Yes, it’s quite rare. In fact, it’s a miracle that the young lady is alive and physically well.”

…Ah.
Could that “aura damage” mean Amelia’s soul died and I took over her body?

While I froze in realization, Bastian stayed completely silent.

“Usually, aura damage leads to a coma or death,” the doctor continued. “For her to be in such good condition is… extraordinary.”

Yep. Definitely me he’s talking about.

The clueless physician went on calmly,

“Cases like this are beyond normal medical treatment. We’d need a very different approach… though it may be difficult, Your Grace.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her condition cannot be explained by modern medicine. We would have to restore the aura and the memories without harming the body — which is nearly impossible.”

At the word impossible, Bastian’s brow tightened.

“So you’re saying there’s no way?”

His tone was polite — soft even — but his eyes were deadly.

Doctor, please. Choose your words carefully or you’re dead.

I held my breath.

Thankfully, the physician wasn’t completely stupid.

After a long pause, he spoke carefully,

“Th-there is… one possible method.”

“Speak.”

“But there’s only one person in the continent who can do it, and… they may not cooperate easily.”

The man trailed off, nervously glancing at Bastian.

“That’s not your concern. Just tell me who.”

Bastian’s tone softened slightly — which was somehow more terrifying.

The physician gulped.

“A sorcerer from the western continent.”

“A sorcerer?”

“Yes. They use a mysterious power — not magic, not holy energy, something else entirely.”

“Hmm.”

“However, they haven’t been seen for nearly a century. They’re unpredictable, cruel, and might refuse to help even if contacted.”

“……”

“And since they’re not a citizen of the Empire, we would need the Emperor’s permission just to approach them.”

A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.
Where had I heard this before?

“Do you know what they look like?”

“I’ve heard they have strange red eyes and pitch-black hair.”

Someone might as well have smacked me in the head.

“…Oh no.”

How could I have forgotten that guy?

Red eyes, black hair — there’s only one person like that in this world.

My mind went blank as realization hit me.

Kalis Ercadain.

Ugh. That name.

Let’s pause for context:
There are two kinds of villains in this novel.

1. The ones who scheme in the shadows — the masterminds.
2. The ones who proudly scream, “I’m evil!”

Bastian was the first type.
Kalis was the second.

If Bastian was “hardship and despair,”
Kalis was a walking apocalypse.

He lived on the western continent, in a fortress so desolate that not even animals dared to exist nearby.

Why?
Because he killed anything that annoyed him.

“They say his appearance is inhuman,” the doctor continued. “He hasn’t aged in decades — perhaps due to his sorcery.”

Of course not. He’s not human.

Kalis was half-god, half-dragon — literally.
Born from divine blessing and dragon aura — a freak of nature.

Why the author thought that was a good idea, I’ll never know.
But anyway — the point is, he’s one of a kind.

Gorgeous, yes.
Powerful, insanely so.
Emotionally stable? Absolutely not.

He was moody as hell and used his power however he pleased.

Once, six hundred years ago, he blessed an entire southern city just because he was bored.
A year later, he destroyed it — because he “got tired of looking at it.”

So yeah. Compared to him, Bastian almost seemed civilized.
At least my brother didn’t kill people for fun.

But here’s the real problem:

“We should try contacting him.”

Oh no.

That same Kalis? In the novel’s later chapters, Bastian teams up with him.

After his first murder attempt fails, Bastian loses his mind and plots to bring down the imperial capital itself.

And guess who he goes to for help?
Right. Kalis Ercadain.

The ancient sorcerer, bored after centuries of sleep, found Bastian’s madness amusing.

And when Bastian made his offer, Kalis just smiled and said:

“Well, I was getting bored anyway.”

That was the moment two psychopaths joined forces.

What followed was pure catastrophe.

They didn’t just destroy the capital — they leveled half the continent.

Kalis’s dragon breath nearly split the land in two.

And now—

My dear, crazy brother was talking about contacting him early.

…Great.
Absolutely fantastic.

The world was doomed — again.