The masked young man hurried his steps toward the blood-red wooden door, unintentionally, as he wanted to reach it before the nobleman could ask another round of questions. Upon reaching the door, the masked figure waited for Apolo and then opened it, revealing a completely dark room to the young noble.

—I can't see anything— murmured Apolo, in search of answers, trying to peer into the darkness. However, the hallway light that seeped into the room only revealed an old and mossy uneven stone floor, which did not trigger any memories for Apolo.

The masked young man didn't respond with words. Instead, he entered the room, disappearing into the darkness. Unintentionally, and remembering the levels of eccentricity exhibited by this supposed "self", Apolo followed the masked figure into the darkness without hesitation.

*Click*... After noticing that the young noble had entered, the masked man snapped his fingers, causing the red wooden door to slam shut, leaving the two young men in complete darkness. Before Apolo could react to the sudden darkness that enveloped him, a ball of fire formed above the masked man's head, dimly illuminating the room. Despite this, the room appeared abnormally large, with none of the walls visible, and Apolo still couldn't identify the reason for their visit to this mysterious place.

—Do we have to walk into nothingness again?—Apolo asked, lowering his tone as he spoke, somewhat intimidated by the mysteries hiding in the darkness around him.

Maintaining his uncomfortable silence, the masked young man began to move deeper into the darkness. Out of caution, Apolo stayed silent and accompanied him, cautiously observing the surroundings. Unfortunately, all the noble could perceive with his senses was the monotonous stone floor and the unusual coldness in this room.

After walking for a few minutes in a more paranoid manner than the room warranted, Apolo finally saw something that caught his attention: a few meters away, a woman with blonde hair dressed in the black robes traditionally worn by magicians in the empire. From a distance, Apolo couldn't recognize the woman's face, but he could see that she had her eyes closed, as if she were sleeping on the irregular stone bed where she lay. Although the young noble didn't know who this woman was, as he approached, Apolo noticed the characteristic rusty bronze ring on one of her fingers, leading him to intuit that it was Helena. However, even though the woman appeared considerably older than the girl Apolo had known in his childhood, he could still discern that her facial features were quite different from the Helena he had known, although the resemblance was undeniable.

—Is that Helena?—Apolo whispered softly, as if fearing that the woman might wake up, while he observed how the masked young man next to him still wore the pendant with the bronze ring around his neck, wondering why there were two copies of the same ring in this dream.

—You're quite intelligent, Apolo. You're correct; here rests a woman named Helena. But you never got to know her. She's the creator of the bronze ring that has tormented you, and she devised the entire plan to bring you to this point—replied the masked young man calmly.

—But why did Helena want me to come to this point? I mean, what was this mage's plan, aside from making me kill myself? What would Helena gain from all of this? I mean, apart from causing me to end my life, which, as you said, I don't remember having met this person, so I'm not sure how I offended her to the point where she sought to ruin my life with such a convoluted plan—Apolo said what he was thinking as quickly as he was thinking it, resolving the burning question that had arisen in his heart after learning of this hidden scheme. In essence, he had always been a noble quite detached from his family's affairs and far from the line of succession. So, Apolo couldn't understand why someone would target him with such a complex plan that would lead him to commit suicide without even being aware that someone or something was pushing him to do so. However, now that he was just a few steps away from dying, Apolo perfectly understood that it was quite reasonable to think that he had been pushed to commit this tragic act and that it was not his own decision. Finally, and with great effort, he had followed all the steps set by his ancestor to start the path of a mage on the right foot. Logically, after making such an effort, Apolo would begin this journey with a proud smile, not decide to throw away all his work suddenly just when he had already made all the preparations to ensure his future success. However, this logical question did not seem so logical to the noble when he had entered the hot bath.

Knowing that the moment had come, the masked young man took his time and calmly explained the conclusions he had reached:

—It's important that you understand that you never offended her. Helena came to the Black Forest looking for you, or rather, initially, the idea was to capture one of the descendants of our family and transfer her mind. Unfortunately, by a cruel twist of fate, you were chosen as the target. Having ensured that her mind was transplanted, Helena ensured that the ring corrupted your mind so that the king of the Black Forest would send you to the capital to become a mage. As you know, the mage didn't make a mistake, and she predicted that the king would send you to the capital, hoping to find a way for you to escape the obvious curse of the ring. Once you became a mage, the next goal of the ring was to allow its original owner to take control of your body. In doing so, Helena would achieve two great accomplishments: first, she would gain the recognition that noble-born mages have, and second, she would obtain the regenerative powers that our family possesses.

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—But Helena never took control of my mind, did she? I mean, I'm still me...—questioned Apolo, abruptly driven by the fear that he had been manipulated by someone else to this point, while he cautiously looked at his gigantic hands, feeling his body more foreign than ever.

The masked young man paused for a moment in silence, giving Apolo time to calm down. He looked at the sleeping mage for a few minutes and then explained in detail his wise opinion on why things had developed as they had:

—Initially, the mage could have taken control of your body on the same day she transferred her mind to yours. But if she had done that, she would never have escaped the suspicions of the other members of your family. Furthermore, if Helena didn't actively control your mind and instead chose to remain in this state of internment, she would technically be considered dead in practically all methods of verification in the world. In this way, she could escape a massive problem. After many years, Helena's goal had been achieved: you arrived in the capital and became a mage, so there were no more family members to suspect her, and the plan changed. The ring no longer sought to corrupt your mind to weaken you. Instead, it aimed to strengthen the future vessel of its original owner while simultaneously concentrating on weakening your mind to the point where you would actively accept your own death. When that point arrived, your subconscious would shatter, and Helena would take control of your body easily. If everything had gone according to her plan, your fate would be the same as the acolyte you knew as "Helena".

—So why is Helena still sleeping? Shouldn't she be impatiently waiting to finally fulfill her grand plan? Or is this vile mage about to awaken at this moment, and we'll have a battle to the death for control of my body?—Apolo asked in a hushed voice, fearing that the mage would awaken, remembering that he was currently in a hot bathtub awaiting a cold death.

—But of course not: Helena will never awaken because you are a genius, Apolo!—exclaimed the masked young man energetically, as if he were trying to drive a nail into a board—Unconsciously, you realized the problem and let your subconscious mind solve it. However, the only thing you haven't solved so far is the problem of the ring...

—So Helena won't wake up?—Apolo asked immediately.

—Thanks to your brilliant mind, the evil mage will never awaken, but her ring is still there, and its power is unknown to both of us. A genius like you should understand the implications of this problem, shouldn't you?—responded the masked young man, flattering the noble in a rather exaggerated manner, as he approached the sleeping woman on the stone bed and unceremoniously removed the bronze ring from her finger.

Apolo watched as the masked young man extended his hand to hand over the ring, and Apolo actively accepted it, commenting:

—I know what I have to do, but I have a doubt...

—Yes, Apolo, you already know what you have to do—confirmed the masked young man, as if he wanted to make sure he drove the point home—What's your question? Is it about the ring? Unfortunately, I know nothing about the ring, so I can't answer that.

—No, my doubt is: Why do you think Helena carried out this whole plan?—Apolo questioned, tucking the ring into his pocket—The truth is, the benefit gained from being a noble mage is quite small, if not insignificant, considering the risks of this plan. I highly doubt someone would go to such lengths for a bit of reputation and crystals.

—Mmm...—the masked young man pondered calmly, apparently not entirely convinced that all of this was for the sake of reputation. After all, once she became an archmage, Helena would logically have no lack of reputation in the empire, so she clearly didn't need to rely on the prestige of Apolo's family—It's a good question, and I suppose you already know the answer.

—Fun?—Apolo asked, bewildered. Clearly, the young noble didn't know the answer, which was why he had asked this "subconscious" figure he was talking to, who seemed quite wise.

—Yes, fun... and fear: a lot of fear!—replied the masked young man, who clearly had to force himself more than he should have to include Apolo's response in his own ideas—She was terrified by what her dreams were indicating. To the point that she decided to risk her life by executing this plan, trying to change the dark fate her dreams were prophesying.

—What was this fate, and how do you know Helena's dreams?—Apolo asked immediately, captivated by the masked young man's response.

—The darkest fate for all human beings is to lose what they desire most, and this woman only cared about her own life. As for how I know this secret, it's simple: because her traumas are your traumas! By merging their minds, even if the mage intentionally remained completely unconscious, some of her traumas were reflected in your dreams, so it's easy to understand the reasons—explained the masked young man calmly—Helena spent years studying human minds, so she could clearly decipher the meaning of her dreams. This led the mage to discover something that frightened her enough to carry out this complex plan, which she probably initiated long before her acolyte lost control of her body, and Helena pretended to be affected by Minos's curse.

—I don't think I have any trauma that scares me enough to risk my life with such a plan. In fact, I don't remember being so deeply scared about anything in my life... except for the fear of losing my life... or the ring... but that's a fear any human has, especially when venturing into an unknown world, isn't it?—Apolo reflected aloud while trying to remember his childhood adventures for answers and ignoring the confusing details in the masked man's explanations, such as the vital question: Who the hell was this Minos?

—Of course, you're right, because no matter how much you share the mage's traumas, you don't experience them the same way. You're not Helena, and you never will be, so your confusion about not knowing this trauma is entirely reasonable—replied the masked young man calmly—However, the signs of the existence of this trauma are quite easy to recognize, and I'm sure someone as clever as you will understand them when I remind you of the following four names: Deo... Eco... Thais... Helena...