Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma

The sealed area inside the research wing, connected to the Garden of Oaths.

“…….”

Inside the isolation chamber, built specifically for Transcendents with a high risk of rampage, Acteon sat quietly in his seat and greeted the person entering with silence.

Last night, what could have ended in disaster, after all it was a second awakening that nearly became a rampage. Still, it had finally been contained without incident. The chances of anything else happening were now slim.

Even so, as someone already registered as a subject of special concern, he couldn’t escape the attention of everyone here.

‘How they treat me now will probably determine how much longer I have to stay here.’

The heart that had rampaged as wildly as an enraged bull was now completely calm.

As Acteon faced the person coming in, he was suddenly reminded of the miracle of the previous night.

“Don’t trust Guides. Don’t entrust yourself to them. In the end, monsters like us will only be too much for them, and they’ll die.”

“Don’t forget what I said. We’re monsters.”

The dying words Claire Brondearn left behind…

It was a curse in all but name.

It was what made him believe that nothing good could come of getting involved with Guides as a Transcendent.

Guide and Transcendent.

In the end, those labeled as the Awakened were all in the same position, just used for the sake of victory in war.

But in Acteon’s world, Guides were always the ones who suffered.

‘Senior, she…’

He had experienced the death of the one he’d followed like an older brother.

He thought that nightmare was about to repeat itself.

He’d been afraid he would end up doing the same thing, standing in the same place Claire had wept, repeating the same tragedy.

‘If it’s Senior…’

Maybe this time, things wouldn’t happen the same way.

The appearance of the only savior who could turn him back into a human, not a monster.

As long as she was there, what happened last night wouldn’t happen again.

Thanks to her, his heart and mana circuits—the parts responsible for drawing in and manifesting mana—remained stable.

As long as he didn’t sense that strange mana again.

No, even if he did, after already completing his second awakening, he wouldn’t be swept away so easily.

However, it was uncertain whether the person who had come to see him would actually believe this.

The one who had personally come to see him was the headmaster.

From the start, the headmaster’s tone was as high-handed as an official there to interrogate him.

“How is it? Are you comfortable here?”

“Thanks to all the conveniences you’ve provided, Headmaster, it hasn’t been too bad.”

“That’s good. The duke also asked me to pay special attention, so I’ve already informed the researchers here.”

It was his first time in isolation, but there was nothing here that could be called a real convenience for the Awakened.

Still, Acteon gave a polite smile, providing the headmaster with something to boast about so that he would continue to be lenient.

The headmaster, sitting in a flimsy wooden chair, took the materials handed to him by a researcher and flipped through them.

The creaking noise scraped harshly against his eardrums, making it particularly irritating.

“There’s something I wanted to ask, so I came myself.”

Instead of speaking further, the headmaster signaled with his chin to someone he’d brought along.

A man who had been standing behind stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Would it be alright if I try guiding you for a moment?”

He’d said he had a question, but the first thing he did was give an order disguised as a request.

Of course.

This wasn’t a question.

It was an ‘evaluation’.

He was already half-sure of something and wanted to verify it.

With a faint smile still on his lips, Acteon looked at the headmaster.

There was only one thing he could possibly be here to confirm, especially at a time like this.

‘Did someone report to them that there was such a possibility?’

In a situation like this, there was only one thing they might suspect:

‘Imprinting’.

‘It was a second awakening that almost spiraled into a rampage. Since it was such a unique case, they probably want to see if, against my will, I ended up imprinting on Senior while she guided me.’

It’s not common for a Transcendent to imprint on a Guide one-sidedly.

But since there are rare cases, it’s something that needs to be checked.

Not just the headmaster, but the Awakener Management Bureau and even the crown prince, none of them wanted any ‘flaws’ in a newly emerged high-ranking Transcendent.

‘A Transcendent who’s imprinted on a specific Guide will not be able to receive stabilization from any other Guide.’

High-ranking Transcendents are valuable.

The more valuable they are, the more they’ll need to be sent all over the place.

If you can only be stabilized by a single Guide, it’s far too inefficient.

‘Besides, the Bureau hasn’t even properly evaluated my usefulness yet.’

Since they’d already confirmed his power and lethality, that was enough proof of his value as a military asset.

But they still hadn’t finished detailed analysis on things like how much mental strength it cost to manipulate his mana, or whether his physical characteristics harmonized well with his abilities.

It was obvious they’d try to eliminate any variables that deviated from their calculations.

Instead of taking the Guide’s outstretched hand, Acteon…

“…….”

…quietly manipulated his mana.