Chapter 166

“Ah, I suddenly feel thirsty… Just a moment, I need to go to the bathroom…”

Semin was filled with the thought that she had to leave this place quickly in the increasingly suffocating atmosphere.

No one bothered to point out the illogical statements.

Semin briefly exited the stage, and the seat was filled by Name.

She skillfully climbed onto the high chair with her short legs.

Name pulled the chair closer and pondered as she fiddled with the mail placed on the table.

“Where should I start? It was ambiguous.”

For now, she decided to narrow down the scope step by step.

“Did you see the contents?”

“I did, but I’m not quite sure what it all means.”

That would be the case. After all, it was merely a notification.

How in the world were Name and Semin acquainted, and why had they requested a reinvestigation from the Seoul Central Criminal Investigation Agency?

The gaze of Professor Cheon, urging for a response, pierced her.

Eventually, Name’s mouth opened.

“It’s simple. It’s a request for a reinvestigation into the Bafwadai Bridge bombing incident.”

Professor Cheon’s wrinkled eyes widened. The thought of “Why you?” was revealed without needing to be spoken.

“Despite many bereaved families requesting a reinvestigation, it concluded as a pointless show-off terrorism. No, in fact, there hasn’t even been a conclusion. If there had been, this kind of returned mail wouldn’t have arrived.”

There were still many blanks in Name’s words.

However, Professor Cheon decided to keep listening to her.

“Of all days, why was the UN military conducting joint training in Korea that day, and how did they manage to arrive at the terror disaster site so quickly?”

Tick-tick—

Name kept tapping her fingers on the table.

Biting her lips, she glanced between Professor Cheon and Semin, who was half-hidden peeking from the bathroom door.

“Our military and the UN military are said to have immediately captured the perpetrators of the terror attack, claiming they wiped out their hidden base, but I think the opposite is true.”

The incident that had blurred in memory seven years ago resurfaced in Professor Cheon’s mind.

And as if piecing the puzzle together was not difficult at all, Name’s finger finally stopped.

“The sweep operation had been underway long before that. The UN military failed in their operation to exterminate the Balpurgis, and as a result, the remnants caused the Bafwadai Bridge to collapse…”

The sequence of events was reversed.

It was a conspiracy theory that occasionally floated on the internet back then.

But as news spread claiming that the UN military had completely eradicated the terrorist organization from South Korea through flawless countermeasures, that assertion lost its power and vanished.

“You still seem to not understand why I’m suddenly stating this. In fact, it could all be explained in one word… I was going to tell you eventually, Professor Cheon… But as I prepare to speak, it’s a bit difficult.”

“… It’s okay. I will keep waiting.”

Name tightened her grip on the hem of her dress.

There was no turning back now.

“I was kidnapped by Balpurgis since I was born, and I am a survivor from that extermination operation.”

* * *

It’s always difficult at first.

Since then, Name’s revelations flowed without hesitation.

“Believe it or not… I was trapped in a remote capsule for seven years. Semin Oppa is the one who rescued me from there.”

“Semin?”

“You might know since you often watch the news. During the long hostage rescue operation, every single person was found dead as a body inside a capsule…”

Every word spoken by the child stabbed into his heart.

Seven years.

A staggering seven years.

In this day and age, with the help of AI, it’s sufficient time for a person to achieve greatness in a specific field.

“I finally came back to the world after seven years… but I guess I wasn’t really a hostage. I wasn’t even Korean.”

Professor Cheon had also thought it strange when he was filling out the adoption paperwork for Name.

At that time, Name was stateless, and due to Professor Cheon’s status, the automated administrative procedures allowed her to acquire Korean nationality immediately.

There were reasons for what Professor Cheon had thought was trivial.

Since 2020, the Korean government had implemented policies rejecting the influx of war refugees, resulting in the production of numerous illegal immigrants.

So still, there were many people living without obtaining nationality in various places in Korea. This phenomenon could occasionally extend to their children as well.

“Why…”

Professor Cheon was at a loss for words. He couldn’t help but be.

He still felt overwhelmed, as if his head might explode with the complexity.

And through all the questions and answers, the conclusion they reached was singular.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner…”

Even the words that unconsciously slipped from Professor Cheon’s mouth made him realize how cruel and irresponsible they were toward Name.

However, before he could retract his statement and apologize, Name’s words overtook him.

“You never asked once.”

“…”

What he thought was consideration turned out to return in this manner, surprising Professor Cheon.

And the thorn in the words she calmly let out hurt so much that his hands slowly began to tremble.

“If I say that, Professor Cheon, you wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, right? Heh.”

But the seven-year-old girl managed to ease the moment with a smile.

When Professor Cheon lifted his head again, Name had rested one arm on the table, propping her chin up. For a moment, her head gently slid down, touching the table.

Her gaze was fixed on the fruit basket.

She picked up a grape and fiddled with it before putting it in her mouth.

“To be honest, I didn’t really want to talk about it. It’s a memory I want to forget quickly, and the terrorists received just punishment by being repatriated and sentenced to death in their home country. More than anything, I like this house.”

Without struggling or making an effort, Name found life now indescribably precious.

Just like this fruit, cultivated through countless enhancements, with its thin skin, seedless nature, and high sweetness, it wasn’t so bad to be in a situation where comfort was handed to her simply by putting it in her mouth.

But that wasn’t Name’s true feeling.

Bang—!

Slamming her hand on the table, Name stood up straight, glaring.

“But to be honest, I’m angry! Do you have any idea how nonsensical the things I did while trapped in that capsule for seven years?”

Recalling the past brought her to the point of absurdity, now almost laughing at it.

“I couldn’t eat anything, couldn’t drink anything… My stomach kept growling… I tried to survive by buying potions to drink…! Mana could be delivered anytime as long as it was connected to the internet…”

That was the part Name had intentionally hesitated to speak about.

She considered whether to hide it from Professor Cheon too, but what was the use of that now?

“To earn just enough to buy that pathetic Mana… I played games with my mother, someone I barely even remember… she… passed away… but still, I had to live for her too, so I kept playing games to earn money…”

Before long, Name’s eyes filled with tears.

Thinking it made her look clumsy, she tried to wipe them with her sleeve, but it was hard for a child to revert tears once they started flowing.

“I’ve lived so hard… If I can’t do anything now… that’s just wrong…”

If she had never had the memories of her previous life?

The two of them would have been destined to die together peacefully.

Logically, it would have been more strange for a barely year-old baby to have the basic knowledge required to play games.

And no one would remember them.

So Name’s anger, with no place to go, busily sought a target.

Before it festered within her heart and rotted away, she needed to find an object to express it.

Would revealing this change anything?

Those who had concealed the operation would rightfully face punishment, but the victims would not return.

Still, Name had to do it.

“If I don’t… if I don’t do it… what will become of my poor mother…”

The complete memory ability given to her when she was reincarnated as a princess was nothing short of a curse.

That curse had followed her lineage to this point.

And every time the memories before her self could even form surfaced, it made her unbearably sad, leading to many sleepless nights.

Though it was a brief time, the unconditional love from Seol-a toward Name was a feeling she had never experienced in any lifetime.

“Right now, someone is lying continuously! Hic… lying… so…”

Name’s tears clouded her vision, making everything blurry.

Just as she tried to wipe her eyes, a shadow blocking the light appeared, and a person embraced her to console her. It was Professor Cheon.

“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry for not knowing…”

“Hic…”

“Even after going through such a horrific experience, you’ve grown up so strong… I promise that from now on, Name will get to live without any hardship…”

“To be honest, I am a bit hurt you didn’t ask… just a little…”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

The words of someone comforting a girl who had experienced unimaginable hardships were coarse.

Yet sometimes, such straightforward emotions resonated deeper.

Name closed her eyes, deciding to fully immerse herself in the feelings of a seven-year-old child.

Perhaps without the memories of her previous life, she might have cried more freely.

* * *

“Ha, have you been caught in some wind? My brother Byung-ho called me first. It’s been years since I heard your voice.”

“Chief Prosecutor, that…!”

Prosecutor Cheon Jeong-ho waved a hand to his secretary, urging her to step back from trying to interrupt his phone call.

The woman who couldn’t say anything and hung her head down was of no interest to him. He was deeply intrigued that his brother had called him first.

“Oh… I remember that. Haha, what? Now that you’ve become a professor, you’ve suddenly taken an interest in politics? Are you planning to join the memorial service with a ribbon soon?”

Seeing someone who usually didn’t even smile break into laughter bewildered his secretary.

However, Prosecutor Cheon Jeong-ho’s eyebrows shot up in a strange manner, and his expression grew serious.

“Where do you think you’re coming from?”

He showed considerably more emotion than usual, signaling that something big was about to happen.

The most recent instance had been when the arrest warrant for former Seoul Mayor Won Il-young had been dismissed.

They say people are scarier when they are usually quiet and angry.

That day, the prosecutor’s secretary had to endure a barrage of curses all night long before finally getting to leave at 7 AM.

As she considered the hard days that awaited her, she quietly decided to pull out the resignation letter she had hidden in her heart.

But instead of exploding in anger, Prosecutor Cheon calmly placed his phone down.

The next words were even more outrageous.

“Secretary Kim… gather the security company on the 13th floor right now.”

“Yes…?”

“Security? You know, the ones with S1 or ADT Caps on their backs… Just gather all the kids messing around on the first floor here.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Right now!”

“Four!”