CHAPTER 22: A QUESTION TO HESITATE ABOUT II

"What was your question again?" Dorian averted his gaze, anxiousness visibly etched on his face as he threw on a robotic expression.

Any other day and Maria would have left it at that. It is quite easy for her to tell when he is lying.

This wasn’t one of those days.

Maria strode forward with purpose, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. Because of her close proximity, she could feel Dorian’s hot breath brushing against her face.

Then, with conviction, she asked again, this time her question more direct.

"Who are you?"

Knowing there was no way to avoid the question, Dorian gave in. He sighed out loud before dropping the woman’s body on the ground.

"You always find a way to crawl under my skin," he uttered more to himself than to Maria as he raised his head to look her in the eye. "Fine, you want the answer. My name is Jacob Orion," he confessed.

"J-Jacob?" Maria repeated, her eyebrow twitching in shock.

While it was true she suspected him to be another person, knowing it was a fact hit her harder than she expected.

If this was not the real Dorian, then who has she been following around all this time?

Suddenly, Dorian added to his confession, a single finger raised.

"And I am also Dorian Aurelian as well. Both can be true."

Maria raised her brow in confusion. "What do you mean? Are you saying you’re Dorian? Or are you J-Jacob?"

"That is what I’d like to know as well." Dorian fully rested his back on the wall. "One day I found myself having the memories of two individuals. One was Dorian, the son of the baron, and the other was Jacob, a young man working for a famous businesswoman."

Silence took over.

Mainly because Maria was trying to understand what Dorian had just told her. If she truly understood what he said, then he was hinting at him having two personalities inside one body.

"Right now? A-are you Dorian? Or Jacob?" she hesitated to ask, fearing what the response would be.

"Definitely, Jacob," Dorian replied, boastfully.

"And at my father’s shop, when you asked me to join you."

"Jacob."

"During the mining?"

"Jacob."

Maria glared.

"What? Two personalities squashed together, one is a drunk and the other is responsible, which do you think I’d try hard to be?" She received a "Think" look from Dorian.

"Y-you’re right." Maria admitted, "I just find it hard to swallow, but that would explain the sudden change in your personality." she averted her gaze while thinking hard. "I knew it was weird; Lord Dorian wasn’t this smart at anything."

Dorian sighed at her comments.

While he did tell her the truth, it wasn’t all of it.

He does have the memories of Dorian, but that was about it. Whatever feeling Dorian had, or likes and dislikes, none of those applied to him.

In fact, Jacob completely despised the kind of person Dorian was. Perhaps his childhood was different, but growing up he was an asshole all through.

Regardless, this story was better and helped Maria accept it faster, while still keeping her trust and experience with him.

Still, he had to make sure of one thing.

"Maria, I need you to listen to me," he uttered with a finger raised.

Maria looked at him, paying full attention to what he wanted to say to her.

"Whatever I told you here should remain between us; is that cool? You may have accepted it, but I can’t say the same for everyone else," his leadership voice trailing out. "Can I trust you to keep this a secret?"

"I understand. I’ll do just that."

"Eh? That was quick."

"Whether you’re telling the truth or not, it’s not like i have any choice. I have been thinking about it for a long time and all." She paused. "You’re right, if Jacob is what we need to make the lives of the people in Aurelian village better, then I have no issue with you. I’ll continue supporting you as I have vowed."

’Would you look at that? She can be reasonable. Isn’t she accepting this too quickly? Does she hate Dorian that much?’

Ding!

[You have increased the trust Maria has with you.]

[300 E-points has been allocated.]

’She trusts me more now? Sheesh, I didn’t think she trusted me at all.’

"Now that this is settled, I will be heading back to the mansion to ask a few things from our new friend here." Dorian moved his gaze to the woman still unconscious on the ground.

"You make it sound like I won’t be coming with you," Maria stylishly confirmed.

"Eh? Of course you’re not," replied Dorian with a stoic look. "You are going to get materials for tomorrow using the money I gave you. Why else did I give you 3000 gold coins?"

After gawking at him for a while, Maria finally sighed and spoke.

"What exactly will I be getting, my lord?" her voice was stern, almost like she was trying to threaten him.

"The list is inside the sack as well."

He carried the woman on his shoulder.

"Everything is well detailed, so you shouldn’t face any problem, hopefully."

"Hopefully?" Maria narrowed her gaze.

"You’ll be fine." Dorian waved his hand. "Anyway, bye."

With that he walked away, leaving Maria standing in front of the forest by herself.

....

Not long after, Dorian had arrived in his room at the mansion.

While he was seated on the wooden chair close to the bed, the woman he had just rescued was on the bed, still unconscious.

The moment he walked in the mansion, Sebastian and the maid all glared at him with scared looks, certain their lord must have kidnapped this innocent-looking maiden.

And they were right.

Seated with his legs crossed, Dorian scanned her for a while.

’Activate Analysis,’ he whispered in his mind.

[Request confirmed.]

[The skill Analysis has been activated on the selected target.]

[Name: Seraphina.]

[Job: Trader.]

[Class: Alchemist.]

[Talents: Strategist, hardworking, ambitious, business consultant.]

[Chances of recruiting: 78%.]

Dorian studied the message on the screen.

’I guess the stats give me what I need at random. Interesting, an Alchemist class.’

From what he recalled, in this world, alchemists are mainly people who are capable of making magical items and potions. Their class was about the rarest of the four; thus, they are highly valued by kingdoms.

Why would one be in such a worn-down territory? Hunting spider beasts, no less.

Dorian thought to himself for a while.

As if to answer his question, the woman woke up, turned her gaze to Dorian, and uttered with a calm voice.

"Who the hell are you?"