Chapter 3

Dawn broke over the Swamp of Sighs, toxic mist writhing through the air like living smoke.

The party trudged through the mire. Arthur led the way, wielding his blessed sword to cut through the noxious vapors. Leon walked in the middle, dark circles carved deep beneath his eyes.

Clearly, last night's invisible "assault" had kept the knight-in-training awake until sunrise.

His linen shirt remained wrinkled from the previous evening's struggles. He gripped his iron sword like a lifeline, jumping at shadows, scanning their surroundings with the paranoid intensity of prey that knew it was being hunted.

I hovered invisible at his shoulder, savoring his delicious state of constant alert.

"Did you spend all night replaying that kiss, sweet boy?" I whispered through our bond, my magic cool as silk against his mind.

Leon stumbled hard, nearly face-planting into the swamp water.

As he caught himself, that same crimson flush from last night bloomed fresh across his neck and ears.

"You're... shameless!" he stammered mentally, his voice soft with exhaustion and utterly lacking conviction. "The knight's code forbids... indulging in wicked temptation..."

"Is that so?" I laughed, trailing invisible fingers down his spine. "Your body seemed pretty honest about 'wickedness' last night."

Leon went rigid. Just as he prepared some righteous rebuttal, an ominous bubbling rose from the deep marsh around us.

A dozen plague-riddled ghouls erupted from the muck, shrieking as they charged.

"Enemy attack! Form up!" Arthur roared, rushing to meet them.

The formation scattered instantly. One massive ghoul broke through their line, howling as it lunged straight for Leon—the weakest link.

"Leon! Watch your flank!" Arthur called out, but multiple creatures had him pinned down.

I floated motionless in the air, not lifting a finger to help.

I wanted to see if this brainwashed little lapdog had forgotten his bone-deep killing instincts along with everything else.

The ghoul's maw gaped wide, aiming for Leon's exposed throat.

In that split second, something shifted in Leon's eyes.

The rookie's terror vanished, replaced by the absolute arctic cold of a killing machine. Those amber pupils held nothing human.

He didn't bother drawing his clumsy iron sword. Instead, his core twisted with inhuman fluidity, sliding past snapping fangs at an impossible angle while his right hand formed a blade, striking with surgical precision at the third cervical vertebra—the ghoul's most vulnerable point.

Crack.

The sickening crunch of splintering bone rang out.

The massive creature didn't even have time to scream. Its body went limp mid-lunge, crashing into the marsh like a sack of meat.

The entire kill took less than a second. Two knights froze mid-swing, staring in shock.

Leon stood alone, studying his hands—now slick with black ichor. The ice-cold efficiency drained from his eyes, rapidly replaced by profound confusion and self-terror.

"What the hell did I just do?" he whispered.

The lethal precision crumbled, leaving only a trembling lamb ready for slaughter.

"Magnificent work, boy! I knew you were gifted! The Light has clearly blessed you with power!" Arthur finished off the last ghoul and strode over, clapping Leon's shoulder with booming laughter.

I rolled my eyes in midair.

Blessed by the Light, my ass. That was five years of throwing him into killing fields until those reflexes were burned into his very bones.

With the monsters cleared, the shaken party took a brief rest before pressing deeper into the swamp.

I drifted back to Leon's side, deciding to twist the knife while he was vulnerable.

My fingers moved subtly, drawing a black bone ring from my spatial storage. His most treasured keepsake from before the memory wipe—carved with ancient binding sigils meaning "absolute submission" along the inner band.

The ring dropped silently into the mud ahead of Leon's path.

His steps faltered as his gaze caught the out-of-place object. The moment his fingers touched the rough bone surface, I felt his soul explode with violent recognition and longing through our bond.

"What is this..." he murmured mentally, tracing the carved patterns with trembling fingers.

"Oh, that old thing." I leaned close to his ear, voice deliberately casual. "A keepsake from a... 'pet' I used to keep."

"...Pet?" Leon's breathing hitched.

"Mm-hmm. A very obedient, ruthlessly efficient pet. Who loved me deeply." I drew out the intimate implications.

Leon fell silent, staring at the ring in his palm. His fingers slowly tightened until his knuckles went white.

"What was... his name?" he finally managed, voice hoarse with barely contained emotion.

"Cassius." I delivered the name like a blade between his ribs.

"Cassius..." Leon repeated it like he was chewing glass.

The innocent confusion of memory loss was rapidly being devoured by raw, sanity-threatening jealousy.

The fool had no idea he was burning up with jealousy over himself.

"Was he... stronger than me?" Leon stared at his ghoul-stained hands, voice humble yet seething with inadequacy.

"Of course. He could single-handedly slaughter an entire dragon warren for me. You just got your hands dirty killing one ghoul—hardly comparable." I crushed his pride without mercy.

Leon's head nearly disappeared into his chest.

"Where is he now?" He bit his lip until he tasted blood.

"Gone. Maybe dead, maybe... he found someone better and abandoned me." I sighed with theatrical melancholy.

"I'd never leave you!"

Leon's head snapped up, eyes blazing red. The emotional overload made him forget to use our mental link—he screamed the words aloud at empty air.

The surrounding knights jumped. Arthur stopped walking, suspicious gaze falling on Leon's violently trembling shoulders.

"Leon? Who are you talking to?"

"Nothing! Nothing, Sir Arthur!" Leon jerked back to reality, frantically hiding his hands behind his back. His face burned scarlet with mortification as cold sweat beaded his forehead. "I was just... swearing devotion to the Light! Yes, that's all!"

Once the bewildered knights resumed their march, he whispered in our bond with broken desperation:

"You and Cassius... what exactly were you—"

"Lovers, of course. The intimate kind." I cut him off cheerfully, delivering the killing blow.

Crash.

I could almost hear Leon's sanity finally snapping.

He walked stiffly through the mire, legs shaking beyond his control.

"Then... if he returned..." His voice came out like sandpaper and smoke, "Between me and Cassius... who would you choose?"

He couldn't finish the question. Couldn't bear to hear confirmation that he was nothing but a pathetic replacement.

"What do you think?" I watched him crumble, red-rimmed eyes threatening to spill over, and asked with wicked amusement.

Leon said nothing more.

He slowly closed his fist around the bone ring, carefully placing it in his breast pocket closest to his heart. As if it were both his most precious treasure and a poisoned thorn that tore fresh wounds with every breath.

Watching him torture himself with jealousy over his own shadow, I smiled with pure delight.

This was too entertaining.

I can't wait to see his face when his memories return—when he discovers that the rival he'd spent countless hours mentally eviscerating was himself all along.

What kind of expression will he make then?