Chapter 30: The left and right brains begin to attack each other

The cruel reality, coupled with Aide’s gentle yet chilling persuasion, left the Fake Lord feeling his hands and feet ice-cold.

Was the luxury and glory he had enjoyed during this time ultimately nothing but a dream bubble?

Then what was the point of his efforts over the past few days to diligently learn aristocratic etiquette and common knowledge from the beggar girl?

A futile attempt to stop the bubble from bursting?

The Fake Lord thought for a long time and remained silent for a long time.

“…I understand. I’ll agree.”

Realizing the situation was hopeless, the Fake Lord let out a deep, deep sigh.

“Don’t worry. The Royal Capital will compensate every victim of this incident. The amount of compensation will guarantee you several years of lavish spending, enough to help you escape your identity as a beggar wandering the streets.”

Seeing the Fake Lord finally yield, Aide showed a satisfied expression.

However, the Fake Lord did not reply to Aide’s words.

His eyes were dark and uncertain, as if he wanted to curl up in the darkness and lick his wounds alone.

“…”

While in her sleepwalking state, Moya had been observing the other side with her peripheral vision.

She had only clearly heard half of Aide’s persuasion.

As for the threats Aide whispered into the Fake Lord’s ear, she didn’t catch any of them.

But Moya could tell from the Fake Lord’s expression that Aide had probably not said anything good.

Turning her gaze to the beggar girl, who was still excitedly expressing her faith to Moya, Moya couldn’t help but bite her lip secretly.

The beggar girl—

Before the body swap, her original soul was the Fake Lord, whom both Moya and Aide knew well.

Both Moya and Aide knew this.

But if you looked at the Fake Lord’s image as the beggar girl, then many of the Fake Lord’s slightly immature and occasionally emotional behaviors made sense.

Looking at the beggar girl’s face, which could only be described as childish, Moya felt a faint reluctance, and beneath that, a surging unease.

A child like this, with a fierce streak in their soul and a mind not yet mature, might give up due to Aide’s persuasion.

But this was a choice between two completely different lives from now on.

Would the Fake Lord allow others to control his life?

Guessing from the beggar girl’s physical body, Moya roughly estimated that the Fake Lord’s original age was around the rebellious stage.

Maybe she should talk to him.

Or…

Moya was still softly responding to the beggar girl’s various questions about doctrine, but inside, ripples began to spread.

The desire for her physical body to awaken surged from the bottom of her heart.

‘Is it too late?’

Moya hadn’t expected her physical body to wake up this quickly.

This was the first time she had acted during the day.

She figured it was because she usually slept in too much, making even a short nap’s quality unstable now.

“Alright, it’s getting late. I’ll take you to the palace to start the body swap.”

Just before her sleepwalking was about to end, Moya put her cloak back on, covering her angelic face, and patted the beggar girl’s head.

“Yes, Angel. I’m very happy to perform this restoration ceremony under your witness!”

Hearing Moya’s instruction, the fervent light in the beggar girl’s eyes grew even brighter, and she nodded vigorously.

‘But I’m not happy.’

After waking up, Moya stared with dead fish eyes, her face clearly showing displeasure.

However, that expression was hidden under the cloak, unnoticed by the excited beggar girl.

‘The persuasion commission is done. Why did my sleepwalking self still plan to make an extra trip to the palace?’

‘Can’t she understand the beauty of leaving work early?’

‘Sometimes, it’s really annoying when the left brain attacks the right brain.’

‘But then again, if my sleepwalking self were as lazy as I am now, how would she ever work seriously when I’m sleepwalking?’

‘That doesn’t seem good either.’

‘Why are my left and right brains starting to attack each other?’

“Angel, I’m ready! I can leave anytime!”

On the other side, just as Moya’s thoughts began to wander aimlessly, the beggar girl had already packed her belongings enthusiastically and was waiting beside the Fake Lord, forming a stark contrast with the silent Fake Lord.

Seeing the beggar girl’s enthusiasm, Moya sighed inwardly.

‘I can’t just tell her to her face that I want to clock out early so I won’t accompany her.’

‘That would be too embarrassing.’

‘Besides…’

Moya turned her peripheral vision again to the gloomy-faced Fake Lord and Aide on the other side.

“…”

‘Forget it, I’ll just reluctantly provide after-sales insurance for that guy Aide’s goodwill.’

—

On the way, Moya, with a mysterious and deliberately concealed cautious look, sidled up to Aide.

After getting close to Aide, Moya hesitated for a while, then tentatively spoke:

“Hey, by the way, don’t you think I was pretty just now?”

While flying toward the palace, flapping her wings out of boredom, Moya suddenly realized something terrifying:

She seemed to have actively revealed her sleepwalking state in front of Aide.

At the time, she was in a hurry to clock out and thought she’d just call out her sleepwalking self to finish the job, forgetting to kick Aide out first.

‘Could he have already noticed something off about me?’

“…What are you trying to say? Want to show off your achievements?”

Aide was silent for a moment, then laughed and said:

“Don’t worry, your third commission is already done. No need to emphasize how impressive you were during the persuasion.”

‘He really didn’t notice my abnormality?’

Moya couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Her probing question had been carefully designed to make anyone unaware of the situation misinterpret it as her urging for the completion of the third commission.

“After all, this is technically our second meeting. Even if you don’t emphasize it, I’ll remember it well.”

Just as Moya’s expression relaxed, Aide’s casual sentence made her feathered ears tense up.

“W-What second meeting? Aide, are you getting senile?”

Moya was sweating profusely, feeling that the words she blurted out now were dry and awkward.

“Don’t we meet every day? What second meeting?”

“Sorry, I meant the second time I’ve seen you take off your cloak voluntarily. Miss Moya, you might have misunderstood.”

Seeing Moya’s panicked reaction under the cloak, Aide couldn’t help but laugh.

Since Moya didn’t want him to notice that appearance, he didn’t mind playing along with her act a little longer.

“Ahaha, so that’s it. By the way, Aide, what do you think of the Fake Lord?”

Hearing Aide’s reply, Moya gave a dry laugh and quickly leaned close to Aide’s ear, pretending to be serious as she changed the subject to business.

“What do I think? I think nothing.”

“Do you really think that Fake Lord will obediently comply?”

“So what if he does or doesn’t? If he dares to cause trouble, we’ll just lock him up in prison when the time comes.”

Aide replied nonchalantly.

“…”

Hearing Aide’s reply, Moya didn’t respond.

She turned her gaze to the body the Fake Lord was about to swap back into—

The still childish beggar girl.

‘Prison, huh.’