Chapter 139. My Name Is Victoria Frankenstein (2)
Mary stared into the mirror for a long time, then placed a hand over Victoria’s chest.
Victoria followed her lead and placed her own hand there as well.
A rhythmic pulse beat beneath her palm, accompanied by a gentle warmth.
Mary softly asked,
“Can you feel it?”
“...”
“It’s warm, isn’t it?”
Mary smiled affectionately.
“This is everything you are.”
It could not be seen with the naked eye.
But the warmth and sensation beneath her palm told her enough.
Every time it pulsed, life seemed to spread through every part of her body.
Because this existed, she could live.
Because this existed, she existed.
Doctor Mary spoke gently to Victoria.
“There are many names for it.”
“Crystallized truth. Perfect matter. The ultimate elemental crystal...”
“But there’s one name everyone knows best.”
Then an unfamiliar term left Mary’s lips.
“The Philosopher’s Stone.”
Mary pulled Victoria into a precious embrace.
Her voice was filled with a desperation Victoria had never heard before.
“I risked everything to create it so I could bring you back.”
“This is your heart.”
“As long as you have this, your body will possess endless life and immortality.”
“You’ll never have to suffer from illness again.”
“You’ll never die and leave me again.”
Mary’s voice trembled as she spoke.
There was an immeasurable depth of grief and pain buried inside it.
After composing herself, Mary looked at Victoria’s reflection and emphasized,
“Never forget it, Victoria Frankenstein.”
“That is your name.”
So that is the word that refers to me.
Victoria vaguely understood.
She carefully opened her mouth and forced strength into her throat.
She did not know why, but right now, she felt as though she had to do this.
“Vic...to...ri...a?”
“Yes!”
“That’s your name!”
“No matter what anyone says, you are Victoria!”
Mary was overcome with joy when Victoria managed to pronounce her own name.
Then she pointed at herself in the mirror.
“I’m your mother, Mary Frankenstein.”
Next, she pointed toward Robert in the distance.
“And that is Robert, the golem I created.”
Mary Frankenstein.
Robert.
Victoria repeated those names several times in her mind.
Mary looked at her lovingly.
“We’re family.”
A tear slid down Mary’s face.
But she was smiling.
Then she repeated the words with desperate sincerity.
“A family that will love and cherish one another for the rest of our lives.”
“So you’re saying Victoria is basically some kind of undead made from a corpse?”
Yukgap exclaimed in horror after hearing Robert’s explanation.
Robert immediately denied it.
[She cannot be compared to an undead.]
[An undead is a corpse animated by placing a soul inside a dead body.]
[Because an undead body decays over time, preservation treatment is essential.]
Seryun nodded in agreement.
“That’s correct.”
“That’s why I cultivate fresh bodies and replace mine every day.”
“But Doctor Victoria has never shown any sign of needing such treatment.”
Victoria did not replace her body.
Even minor injuries healed almost immediately.
She was clearly different from an undead, which was essentially a walking corpse.
Robert emphasized the distinction again.
[That is the power of the Philosopher’s Stone.]
[As long as the Philosopher’s Stone is present, anything can be maintained in a perfect state.]
[Even if the body was originally made from corpses, it will be reconstructed into an ideal body and function normally.]
At this point, Yukgap could understand why so many people desperately searched for the Philosopher’s Stone.
If merely possessing one granted a perfectly immortal body, of course people would covet it.
After finishing his explanation, Robert hesitated before carefully continuing.
[Therefore, the Doctor should not be described as undead.]
[It would be more accurate to call her... a ‘new life-form’ created from corpses.]
Apparently, even Robert had difficulty defining exactly what she was.
Seryun clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Doctor Mary’s obsession was truly frightening.”
“It wasn’t enough for her to create the Philosopher’s Stone because she wanted to revive her dead daughter.”
“She even cut apart corpses and constructed an entirely new body.”
People sometimes called Seryun insane because he was undead.
But Doctor Mary had operated on an entirely different level.
Was that simply what mothers were like?
Or was such madness only possible because she was a mother?
[However, there was something Doctor Mary overlooked.]
“What?”
Yukgap asked.
Robert’s voice became faintly bitter.
[No matter what else can be restored...]
[A soul that has already completely departed cannot be brought back.]
Soul and body.
Which of the two makes a human being who they truly are?
Many people would answer that the soul is the essence.
The body is merely a vessel that contains it.
The true essence of a person is the soul that moves that vessel.
But there are just as many arguments against that idea.
Memories and identity are stored in the brain.
If so, wouldn’t the body itself, including the brain, be the true essence of a human being?
Doctor Mary Frankenstein had been one of the scholars who believed exactly that.
“All right, Victoria.”
“It’s time to study again.”
As usual, Mary opened a book and spoke warmly.
Victoria nodded eagerly, as though she had been waiting for it.
“Yes, Mom.”
“You’re comfortable with the basics of biological transformation now, right?”
“Then let’s move on to biological differentiation.”
Victoria’s face brightened.
