“Oh, there’s no need to feign innocence. It’s been known to the House of Minusle for some time. We have gathered all the evidence of the sale and know the smuggling routes. I even know that you were selling them on the black market in Natcheil.”
Lord Felipe’s face stiffened. He seemed to be aware that it was an illegal business.
There was one side of Natcheil that could be called the ‘shadow of the prosperity’ of the capital. That was the black market spreading throughout the capital. It attracted traders who mainly dealt in illegal businesses that would never be allowed in the country. Stolen goods, illegal drugs, slaves… In short, the market was full of illegal products. It was known as the cancer of Janvangar.
…There, Viscount Forgath plied his trade. Commonly known as magic dust… also known as… ‘Imitation Illusion’.
It was one of the drugs banned by Janvangar, and its effect was… simulating and disguising the appearance of oneself or another person. If you drank it or sprinkled some powder on yourself, you could instantly change your appearance into whatever you wanted it to be. A magic drug that enabled one to become either a lovely girl or a beautiful young man. In addition, it would make you and others see only what you want them to see.
And…
Then there was a rush of footsteps from outside, rushing towards the parlour. Then the door of the parlour was flung open.
“Are you the one who can restore my face?!”
…It was Aiden’s mother, Lady Nermie.
Lady Nermie was… an ugly woman just as she was called by the socialites. She had barely any hair on her head, and her face was so pitifully swollen that it was impossible to imagine what it might have looked like before. Her eyes were squashed by swollen eyelids, her right cheek was abnormally bulged, her lips swelled red—both above and below—and it seemed difficult even to open her mouth.
Hmm, I am so glad that she came.
I had asked Aiden beforehand to write to Lady Nermie saying that I already prepared a potion to restore her face. I smiled at Lady Nermie with the most affectionate smile I could muster.
“I’m so glad you’re here! Come on in, Lady Nermie. I had this medicine specially made for you.”
I handed Lady Nermie a glass of water and some medicine that I had kept hidden. The medicine was a capsule with a lot of powder inside.
Lord Felipe was so surprised that he reached out to stop Lady Nermie, “Stop it, Nermie! You mustn’t drink that! Don’t drink it!”
Lady Nermie kicked Lord Felipe out of the way, and he fell to the floor.
“You’re annoying! I… I want my beautiful, gorgeous self back! No one loves me anymore because I look like this! I can’t even go out! I can’t see a happy future! I’d give anything to be rid of this despair! My face, finally my face…! It can finally revert to how it was…!”
Lady Nermie drank all the water and medicine at once. At this sight, Lord Felipe’s face turned into despair.
“Nermie… No… NO…!”
The change came quickly. Lady Nermie’s face began to glow, and then a dazzling light fell on the parlour.
Everyone there was so dazzled that they had to close their eyes. When the light subsided, they slowly opened their eyes and saw… Lady Nermie had changed dramatically.
Lady Nermie nervously touched her face. She repeatedly felt her own face, which was not swollen or painful in any way.
I handed her a hand mirror. “Beautiful, aren’t you? Lady Nermie.”
Lady Nermie held the hand mirror in her trembling hands and slowly looked into it. There, with her rich, beautiful black hair, her bright, lustrous golden eyes, her high nose, her pale pink cheeks, and her sexy, full lips; she was… the loveliest woman on earth. The most beautiful woman in the world was there, right in front of our eyes.
“Aaa… Ahh…!” Tears trickled down from Lady Nermie’s eyes. She held her cheeks and smiled. “My, my face! The only thing in the world that I love! Oh, my face! My face is back!”
Again and again, Lady Nermie looked into the hand mirror. Lord Felipe turned his head down and shivered at this sight.
As if to explain the situation, I described the medicine that Lady Nermie had taken. “The medicine I gave Lady Nermie is a very strong uncurse potion that is not commonly available. Once consumed, it will immediately restore the body to its rightful state… Therefore, even if you have been taking magic dust continuously, you will be cured in no time.”
“…!”
“Magic dust is very useful indeed. It’s not actually magic, but a strong hallucinogenic effect of the plant–from which the powder is made–disguises your appearance. It’s not that the body is physically affected in the first place. Moreover, it is tasteless and odourless. Thus, even if it is mixed in with food, the person eating it will not notice it at all. The effect lasts for 25 hours, so if one consumes it every day, their appearance will look as intended… by practically anyone—including a complete stranger who administered the dust.”
“…!”
I could see Lord Felipe gulping as he looked downcast.
“Lord Felipe. It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the one who keeps transforming Lady Nermie’s appearance into a hideous one. The reason for this I do not know. But you who handled this item must have been aware of… why the magic dust was banned in our country.”
The raw material for the magic dust was a very special plant, the cultivation and sale of which are forbidden in Janvangar. When ground into a powder, the result was a magical powder that could instantly change one’s appearance. However, this miraculous effect came with side effects.
“The magic dust is… a scary drug that causes severe mental breakdown when used habitually for a long-term. Eventually, the ability to make decisions is lost and… the mind and ego will collapse. You can’t even recognize your own family, let alone your son.”
“…Huh?” It was Aiden who blurted out.
“Aiden. I’m afraid Lady Nermie doesn’t know who you are anymore. She might recognise you as the person who stole her face, but she won’t recognise you as the child she gave birth to. Counting the years she had taken the drug, the amount is too much; her memory and cognitive ability are wrecked… Even after taking the uncurse potion, her mind couldn’t recover.”
“…” Aiden was dumbstruck.
Standing before Aiden, Lady Nermie sobbed while holding the hand mirror in her hand.
“My face! My face, my wonderful face! Oh, my one and only treasure!”
Aiden’s eyes turned to Lord Felipe. Perhaps Aiden had always thought that if his mother’s face was healed, he would be loved by her.
But that was no longer possible… Everything was wrecked by Lord Felipe.
The pale, shuddering face of Lord Felipe was replaced by a face flushed with anger and trembling. Then, as he spoke, his words were unexpected.
“At long last! Finally! Just when I thought I had finally gotten my revenge!”