novelraw Chapter 294: Cabinet of Curiosities
Chapter 294: Cabinet of Curiosities
Chapter 294: Cabinet of Curiosities How utterly laughable. The thought entered Soren’s mind for a brief second as they spun gracefully across the banquet hall.
This existence…
He stared quietly at the woman standing before him—her crimson dress fluttering with each spin. She kept her expression neutral, as if to ward off any prying into her chaotic emotions. Soren also did the same.
Ever since his ‘final guess’ at the game he crafted to pass time, neither of the two dancers chose to say anything. Both seemed to have begun pondering over its conclusion rather than the reason for their dance itself. The conclusion of which both had already inferred, at least to a certain degree.
Indeed, nothing has been the same since that revelation. The melody which had once been ethereal and calming, had twisted into something monstrous and hard to ignore. And yet, they all ignored it the same… Even the other dancers—puppeteered by strings—could sense the unease… The discomfort sifting through the somewhat humid opulent hall. None would ever dare to acknowledge it, however.
They all kept the facade going, just as the masks continued concealing their anxious expressions.
But to Soren, however, these changes only intensified his understanding of this hidden corridor of ancient shadows. It was all just as he had guessed it was—this Hyades Castle was nothing more than a Soul Weapon forgotten by time and history. Reclaimed under a new banner—the House of Azrathiel. That was who the Duchess was, in this scenario.
Perhaps calling her a custodian would be more fitting of a title… He chuckled inwardly.
But despite it all, Soren only felt pity.
Pity for the woman dancing with him in unison.
Pity for the rest of the poor bastards frozen within this delicate moment.
And, in some ways, pity for himself as well.
For they have all been forsaken by history—nameless shadows left to wallow in their own pain and misery.
He couldn’t help but sigh, shaking his head slowly.
“Is this all really worth it?” He asked as his eyes sunk deeply into hers. “Is it worth it to struggle and sacrifice, just to maintain a facade you yourself don’t even believe in?”
Indeed, it was just as his mystic eyes were telling him. This elaborate gala and the assimilation of those trapped here… It was never meant to satiate the Duchess’ own desires.
It wasn’t she who trapped these souls in this ornate prison, but her who was trapped with them instead. And she was perfectly aware of that. Even the search for her true identity had been nothing more than a sham, just like the game itself.
“Cassilda” had always known who she truly was beneath that mask.
Hearing his question, the Duchess could only smile as she stared deeply into his flame-consumed eyes.
“Fake… real… Does it really matter anymore? People believe in all kinds of nonsense. Some are aware of their own delusions, but continue feeding them anyway.
“Even you—despite not wearing a mask, your true self still remains shrouded in endless secrecy and fog…
“Fog that obstructs even your own mystic eyes.” She chuckled softly. “Perhaps that has always been the truth of life. Facades can be a blessing, just as much a curse.
“A mercy for the weak who pretend to be strong in a world that never even looks their way as they fall and crumble into sand…”
As they danced to the nauseous tunes, Soren couldn’t help but be reminded of Cassia. A brave girl whose entire life had been one elaborately crafted facade. A facade that she may or may not have enjoyed being ensnared in.
It was hard to say… really. The Holy Shrine Maiden had vanished before he could even sift through these ancient masks. He didn't have enough time to uncover all the untruths…
“Why do you help Ynixia?” Cassilda suddenly interrupted his thoughts with a question he didn’t expect. His eyes widened slightly.
Her lips curled up. “It makes me wonder. After all, your facade is one that doesn’t require an elaborate mask to be displayed properly. I can tell just from the subtleness of your movements… You hate that girl. You despise her secretly…
“No… perhaps you fear her? Maybe a bit of both?”
The silence felt overwhelming as the final music notes in the orchestra were finished. The melody… had finally ceased.
A signal to all that the dance had once again come to an end.
Just like the rest of the nobles, Cassilda and Soren paused, stepping away from one another in silence. They continued staring deeply into each other’s eyes for a while, neither daring to speak first.
For Cassilda, a guess at his identity would be rather easy, but she knew it would be pointless. In fact, that was why he had dared to ask her for a dance in the first place.
Unlike the rest of the people within this castle, Soren was the only one whose living shadow didn’t currently exist within this castle. From her observations, she was certain that its existence was likely a mystery to Soren as well.
Without a living shadow, swapping identities was essentially impossible. The masks within this gala could only mimic what you yourself had lost, after all.
And Soren was aware of that fact.
The Traveler was an anomaly within this castle. Because the masks cannot possess him, anyone who would attempt to swap identities with him would only lose their mask in the process, freeing them from the shackles of the game without any consequences.
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This was a loophole that Cassilda knew she couldn’t actually close… Not without altering the rules which have been in place for more time than she could even process.
And yet… despite having the literal key that could solve all his problems, Soren never bothered to take advantage of it.
He never bothered setting the countless nobles here free. He never even bothered saving Victoria, who was begging for an escape this entire time…
Instead, he decided to ask the Duchess herself for a dance. The one person who had supposedly trapped everyone here in a never-ending social gathering. Indeed, his goal had been different from every other visitor that had arrived before him. Although she could still likely take advantage of his foolishness by winning in the guessing game, Cassilda decided to let him continue to the very end—something she had never expected herself to do…
They stared at each other for a while longer, as she awaited his answer. Nothing came from her patience. But she did notice his smile seemed to have grown wider from a moment prior.
And then, for whatever reason, he began to smile even more… until finally, descending into hysterical laughter.
“Oh, man… oh man!”
Soren laughed and laughed and laughed… His cackling filling the now silent hall. All the nobles including Cassilda stared at him in confusion, unsure of what to make of his performance.
“Hahahaha… I can’t believe it was so obvious!” He held his stomach from the laughter.
“What… What’s so obvious?” Cassilda asked with a slight frown. She thought over her prior words again—the question she had asked him regarding Ynixia seemed somewhat innocuous, but there was indeed a layer of sensitivity to it. She wondered if that had triggered something.
Soren continued laughing as he glanced her way—his hand half covering his face while laughing idiotically. “You don’t have to worry about it, I’m not offended or anything in regards to your inquiries!
“Actually, I am grateful that you made them. All that talk about facades, reality—truth and fiction… It all made me think…
“I finally realized something,” his smile widened as he watched the gossiping nobles around him with keen eyes. Golden butterflies continued to shift within his irises as the seconds passed, adding a depth of luminescence to the now somewhat dim hall.
“For the longest time—ever since my arrival in this godforsaken world—I have failed again and again at achieving a certain goal of mine. A goal that is very crucial to my growth as a magi—according to a certain old hag I am failing to remember that clearly…”
Cassilda crossed her arms, her brows still furrowed deeply as she eyed the strangely jubilant young man. His smile, paired with his tattered robes made him seem more akin to a spirit or a ghost, rather than a human being.
“My persona… My willpower’s crafted identity…” He shook his head with a chuckle. “You asked me earlier about Ynixia—about why I would try to help her despite the turmoil brewing with me. Despite even my own displeasure at this wretched existence I continue to inhabit…
“The answer to that is fairly simple: Curiosity.”
The Duchess tilted her head sideways. “Curiosity?” The confusion layered within her expression was palpable, even with the golden mask concealing half her face.
Soren glanced down at his own palm, watching the pretty, fog-hidden fractals appear and disappear in an endless cycle. The Beyond, here in Carcosa, was truly ghastly in appearance. But at least it hid countless gems of beauty beneath that shadowed surface. One only needed to sift through them patiently—an unfocused mind would never be able to grasp the things he could see… But then again, don't possess a certain quality that keeps them focused:
“Curiosity, indeed…” His smile widened once more. “That is how my persona is defined… I am essentially a walking Cabinet of Curiosity—a Wunderkammer as they’re called in German, if I am remembering it correctly. Man, I really should have listened more to my grandparent’s lessons…”
But the important thing was that he had finally discovered his Magecraft purpose: Becoming a mosaic of interesting and wondrous things!
It should have been obvious from the very beginning. He couldn't help but shake his head.
Even his True Self was defined by this principle. His Soul Weapon and its concepts have always defined his existence, he had just been denying it subconsciously to some degree, never fully accepting what he had become.
Indeed, every one of his actions in this realm of eternal darkness had been done through the simple lens of curiosity.
There were so many hints now that he was seeing things differently. The most apparent one had to be after his merger with Cantor’s Crown. Being able to use [Eyes of the Fairy] on so many interesting new things managed to increase his number of fragments very quickly, but then the rate had suddenly slowed down, despite him receiving even more knowledge from his surroundings.
No matter what they tried, neither he nor Biblion could calculate how much more information he would need to obtain the next Expression fragment.
But now that he had finally discovered his magi persona, the Cabinet of Curiosity, the logic behind his Fairy WItness rune was now far simpler to understand.
His rune… It didn’t receive its influence from just any knowledge. It only received it from discovering interesting knowledge!
Meaning, the very act of satiating his curiosity had to be taken into consideration!
Going through a hundred random books and scanning them with [Eyes of the Fairy] wouldn’t cut it. Neither would discovering useful information that was boring in nature. His rune was a picky eater—it only wanted to learn about things that were wondrous or fantastical. Things that would satiate the curiosities of a creative mind!
Looking back on it, his sensation of enjoyment and fulfillment after witnessing Cassia’s memories was an example of this very effect being applied without his control. His rune must have found the elaborate untruth crafted to conceal what occurred to the Nagashi Village very interesting.
And now… he was once again experiencing this euphoric sensation, albeit, in a much more controlled manner.
Soren shook his head—he couldn’t help but smile as he stared deeply into the world around him with his mystic eyes. Everything which had been concealed under layers of soot and ashe looked more akin to hidden treasure than anything… The challenge of uncovering that lost knowledge—forgotten even by the annals of history itself… What else in this world could be more satisfying than that?!
“Ah…” He chuckled to himself once more. “So this is what it means to embrace your insanity, Mistress Solyara?”
It was a truly wondrous experience. He felt akin to a wandering fairy—uncaring for the world around him, seeing it all as nothing more than an interesting spectacle.
His Soul Realm… It had finally reached the Kindled Stage.
Watching his strange behavior unfold further and further, Cassilda began to feel slightly annoyed. She tapped her fingers impatiently with her arms crossed, awaiting the must-needed explanation.
“Hello, Hello? Are you still with us, Soren Andersen? What's wrong with you all of a sudden? Have you taken some kind of psychedelic or something? You seem off!”
He glanced at her briefly—his eyes now distant and unreachable, “Nay. But it does kinda feel similar to taking LSD, honestly.”
“El Ess Dee?...” The word was completely foreign to her language.
“Nevermind. That was irresponsible of me to mention,” Soren shook his head with a chuckle, prompting her annoyance to grow even further.
“But that is all besides the point. How about we return to our original topic.
“Namely… the conclusion to this game.”
Cassilda once again refocused upon hearing his words. Despite his strange demeanor which had completely shifted from what it was moments prior, there was still a layer of seriousness in his tone that couldn’t be ignored.
He cleared his throat. “Tell me… Are you really serious about spending an eternity within this stifling chamber? Frankly, I’ve already gotten bored of everything to see here and I’ve only been here for about a few hours so far. I wouldn’t last another week if I were you, to be honest…”
She grit her teeth. “What the hell do you know!”
“Not a lot,” he said with a rather blank expression. “Only enough to form certain conclusions. Like for example…
“You’re not actually Duchess Cassilda. You’re her sister—The Hyades Castle Guardian Spirit, Camilla Azratheil.”