How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World

Chapter 275: Isaac’s Imagination (3)

Life in the Helium’s Palace was almost identical to last winter vacation, except for the addition of Marie and Adelia to the group. Occasionally, Marie expressed curiosity about life in Helium and sometimes went outside, but mostly, we lived within the palace. When I was busy with work, Marie, out of consideration, would wander around Helium with Cecily without bothering me. Thanks to that, I had plenty of alone time.

Well, that doesn’t mean I was always alone. My reliable personal maid, Adelia, was always by my side. Adelia wore a regular maid uniform instead of the one she wore during the nighttime. However, her skirt was still short, and she wore a garter belt, adding to her sexiness. No matter when I saw her, Adelia’s maid uniform suited her really well.

In addition to her height, her good figure also contributed to this, but considering her usual reliable image, you can imagine what kind of feeling it gives off. Outside, she’s a sturdy escort knight, inside, a dedicated maid. Adelia embodies the gap moe perfectly.

However, that doesn’t mean it affects my concentration. Excluding rest time, I continued writing without even giving her a glance. Adelia also had the same mindset of faithfully fulfilling her duties, so she just stood by quietly without any other action.

“Young master. Your posture is off.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Of course, occasionally she would correct my posture or give me a massage. She never forgot to provide appropriate support.

Until now, because I had been writing alone, there were some habits that I didn’t even realize I had. Adelia meticulously helped fix these.

The massage was the same. No matter how good the chair is, if you sit for a long time or your posture is strange, it strains your muscles. It’s probably because my concentration and stamina are exceptionally high that Adelia noticed these bad habits.

“As I told you. Keep your back straight, both arms on the desk. And…”

But habits are habits for a reason. They aren’t easily fixed in one go, which is why they’re called habits.

Whenever I did something out of habit, Adelia would bombard me with nagging. It didn’t feel bad as I heard similar things during our training sessions. Rather, it shows that she cares about me, so I can accept it gladly.

“Noona.”

“Your focus is good, but… Yes?”

“Can’t you talk casually when it’s just the two of us?”

However, perhaps it is because of her personality of strictly following the rules, or perhaps because she learned it during maid training, she uses honorifics even when it’s just the two of us.

It couldn’t be helped when there were others around, as it also asserted my authority and there might be others listening, but it wasn’t necessary when it was just the two of us like now. After all, unless they were acquaintances, no one else was going to come, and they already knew she was my woman.

In that sense, I subtly requested, but Adelia was firm.

“No. It’s work hours.”

“Do you know what it means to have no flexibility?”

“I do. But we must separate work and personal···”

Adelia paused as she spoke and looked at my face without continuing. I simply said nothing and stared intently at her face.

Then, it seemed like Adelia’s face turned slightly red, and she cleared her throat before quietly speaking up.

“···Okay. If that’s what you want, I can’t help it.”

“Hmm?”

Why did she suddenly change the subject? I briefly wondered, but since it was a positive response for me, I let it pass.

Honestly, we had been on a sister-brother basis until then, and now that our relationship had progressed to involve our bodies as well, it felt awkward to use honorifics.

It feels like we’ve become closer only to drift apart again. I always feel it, but words seem to carry various powers within them.

“Isaac, writing Xenon’s Biography is important, but what’s most crucial is your health. If you keep up these bad habits, you’ll definitely run into problems later.”

Of course, just because she stopped talking formally doesn’t mean the nagging stopped altogether. Due to the crumbling of boundaries that had been set during working hours, she blurted out in frustration.

Following her nagging, I stretched every hour to loosen up.

Everyone probably knows this, but once you get engrossed in something, it’s very hard to snap out of it. I do have a strong stamina, but whether it’s because of my ignorance or not, I couldn’t feel my body getting tired.

“Regular hydration is essential. Your skin is dry, probably because you’re not drinking enough water.”

“I don’t really feel thirsty, though.”

“Feeling thirsty is a sign that your body is already very dehydrated. Just by consistently drinking water, half of your health problems would be solved.”

She’s definitely the type you’d call knowledgeable due to her background in martial arts. Adelia is the one who takes full responsibility for my health, at least physically.

She even took the time to prepare fruits for me and brought various healthy foods herself. She took care of me diligently.

It’s amazing that she managed to bring all this despite being in a palace in Helium rather than our mansion.

Thanks to her, I didn’t have any room for boredom, and with breaks every hour, I never had a moment where my writing was interrupted.

‘Let’s see… for now, Gluttony is subdued by Jin…’

I looked at the hologram display while munching on the apple-like fruit Adelia had given me. The hologram, naturally, was formed from the typewriter.

The overall theme of Volume 21 revolves around Jin’s awakening and completely controlling the evil within him. It unfolds with Jin, awakened, completely subduing Gluttony.

Fortunately, due to his love for Lily, he returns to his original form, but Jin is a first-generation demon born between a devil and a human. With the power of love, his rationality returns, but his body becomes closer to a devil than a human. Additionally, I will add that sometimes his ‘inner evil wriggles’.

With just this setup, the likelihood of Jin absorbing the soul of Diablo and ultimately being born as the final boss is established. The black mana possessed by devils, unlike demons, has a slimy nature and sticks well, like slime. Utilizing this characteristic, Jin absorbs the soul of Diablo.

‘With this, Wrath, Lust, and Gluttony die, leaving behind…’

The remaining Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Envy, Sloth, and Greed. Here, sloth is the ‘vessel’ for containing Diablo’s soul, and the dwarf responsible for ‘greed’ creates that vessel. The character who fits the cliché of a mad scientist is the dwarf. He becomes crazy out of greed to create a creation surpassing God.

However, this will be the content to appear in the latter part, and the character scheduled to appear after Gluttony is Envy. Envy is someone who is both Kair’s disciple and his executioner but, for some reason, has fallen and became a devil.

I’ve roughly established what kind of setting leads to his corruption, but the key is how to develop it. The psychology of Envy was that complicated.

‘Although it’s a setting of being a bastard child of a kingdom…’

As soon as the setting of being a bastard child came to mind, I smiled at Adelia. She tilted her head with a playful expression, as if asking me what I wanted to say. Her sky-blue eyes were filled with affection and interest towards me.

‘Should I just deviate from the original story?’

Actually, there’s another setting related to Envy besides this one. Firstly, the setting of being a discarded bastard child of the kingdom, and just the common, pathetic villain.

According to the originally established setting, Envy can be seen as Xenon’s perfect antithesis. He received the same teachings from Kair, but unlike Xenon, Envy viewed the world with a negative outlook.

Moreover, unlike the inherently good Xenon, Envy is strong in his vanity. Because of that, Envy only uses the teachings received from Kair in a bad way, and eventually turns into a devil by doing things that shouldn’t be done as a human. Without any self-reflection, Envy only envies while blaming the world for not leaving him alone, a naturally pathetic villain.

But after recent overlapping events and watching the movie at the exhibition, my heart was gradually swaying. Rather than being a naturally pathetic villain, he would become a corrupted person because the world doesn’t leave him alone. With the addition of the setting of being a bastard child, it’s perfect.

‘Then it’s a bit pitiful, but…’

I glimpsed at Adelia again. Superficially, she might not seem that pretty, but inside, she’s someone marked with countless scars. A year ago, she was abandoned by her family right in front of my eyes, and, thanks to Hiriya’s pathetic pride, she was almost taken away from me.

Luckily, Rina played the role of a shield appropriately, but if I were not Xenon but just an ordinary nobleman, I would have lost her without a fight. And the Envy newly established within Xenon’s Biography will experience all these tragedies.

Born as a royal bastard child, growing up in an unfortunate family environment, meeting a woman who could heal those wounds, only to be taken away by a greedy brother.

Unlike Xenon, who transcended his race and connected with Mary, everything was taken from him. He could truly be called a perfect antithesis.

‘Ugh…’

Just imagining it was dreadful. Even I, being like this, would resent the world for it. Or maybe I would have ended my life. Thanks to such a past, it fits very well with the emotion of ‘Envy’ and is highly realistic.

Especially considering that Adelia almost went through such a thing. If I were to carry on with this setting, it could cause trouble for the Ters Kingdom, but then again, Hiriya might become suspicious. Especially since this part touches Adelia’s trauma directly, it wasn’t just uncomfortable.

“Noona.”

“Yeah?”

“Um… I just have one thing to ask, is that okay?”

“What is it?”

As she was the motivation for Envy, I directly sought permission from Adelia. Adelia’s doubtful expression vanished slightly as I cautiously broached the subject. Then, she furrowed her delicate brow for a while, lost in thought. I waited silently for her to speak.

After about 30 seconds, Adelia maintained her furrowed brow and glanced at me before slowly opening her tightly closed mouth.

“It doesn’t matter?”

“As expected, it’s no··· What?”

“I don’t mind.”

Adelia, who easily accepted despite her deep involvement, made me look at her with a blank expression.

Whether she found my expression amusing or not, Adelia approached me with a faint smile.

Hug-­

“What if we put it in the book? There won’t be such things anymore, right? You’re not really going to Hiriya, are you? Like putting foreshadowing in your book?”

“If that’s the case, I’d rather bite my tongue.”

“Yeah. Yeah. If you go to Hiriya, I’ll bite my tongue and die too.”

She spoke to me with an affectionate voice as she embraced me. However, the contents within were anything but comforting. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that what’s triggering Adelia’s trauma is quite potent, regardless of the content.

Moreover, people in the world won’t just sit still, especially considering how the contents of the book are being treated like scripture. Perhaps the gaze towards the illegitimate children could worsen, or it could be the opposite. Criticism towards the Ters Kingdom, which served as the motivation, might also arise.

It could enhance the completeness of the characters, but it also means uncertainty about what might happen.

‘Honestly, I’d like to ask Mora to see the future, but…’

So far, I’ve been able to know the future with the divine power I’ve gained. However, the divine power spent to predict the future is terrifying. Even Kate, who is said to have received god’s grace, received a vague oracle to find me. It’s not just me; even a prophet would find predicting the future difficult.

Furthermore, the situation demands that even that divine power be saved for the night’s work. Like needing a large seawall to stop a big wave, the setting of Envy will bring a big storm, making even predictions difficult.

If things continue this way, there’s a high chance that Ters Kingdom, or more precisely, the Hiriya, will figure out my identity.

‘Honestly, there’s nothing to be afraid of?’

So what should I do? They have no interest whatsoever. My interest lies with Adelia. With joy in her acceptance, I embraced her.

Adelia pulled me closer, murmuring, and nestled against me with a sigh. A subtle tension began to flow between us.

“There might be some unpleasant talk about illegitimate children. Are you okay with that?”

While Adelia was taken aback, I sought confirmation from her once again. This needed to be asked and answered more than once. Even in her daze, she looked at me and let out a small laugh. An irresistible smile.

Then, she slowly leaned forward, lightly kissed my lips, and responded with a confident smile.

“Have you ever thought about the fact that I am a bastard child while being with me?”

“Hardly.”

“Likewise, I’ve never realized I was a bastard while being with you. I’m just your exclusive maid and Isaac’s concubine.”

How does she manage to choose such beautiful words? Adelia, even if she wasn’t with me, is a woman worthy of love.

However, she couldn’t emit that charm due to being confined to the label of illegitimacy. But as the suppressed chains loosen, her inherent charm shined through.

In response, I gently smiled and caressed her cheek.

“Noona.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“I want to receive affection tonight too, is that okay?”

At that question, Adelia’s sky-blue eyes widened, and blushing, she answered.

With a shy yet affectionate voice full of coquetry.

“Yes.”

A more intricately woven story was beginning to take shape.

*****

At that moment, while Isaac was enjoying his blissful daily life in the palace of Helium…

“Hello. Excuse me, but are you Lord Gartz Balak?”

“Uh… That’s my name, but why would the mother of a benefactor like yourself…”

“It’s because I’m looking for my son. Excuse me, but as Isaac’s mother, there are some matters I need to confirm, so I summoned you. Could you bring me to Helium where Isaac is?”

“…”

Anna, who found Gartz’s summoning document in Isaac’s room, reluctantly summoned Gartz.

‘Why do I always get into these situations…’

Gartz felt the greatest crisis of his life.

Translators note:

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