Chapter 80

Part 5: The Princess's Awakening Ceremony (2)

The king looked younger than expected.

When I heard that his two sons were about to fight over the throne, I thought he would be an old man, but from a distance, he seemed to be in his late middle age, just entering old age.

However, upon closer inspection with mana, I could sense the clear signs of illness on his face.

'So, he is indeed sick. Is this some kind of medication?'

I could feel the mana flowing from the king even from here. It was unrefined and forcefully stuffed, overflowing uncontrollably.

'Really, he doesn't have much time left.'

It was evident that he was barely holding on with the help of mana. His body must be close to its limit.

As a powerful ability user, the king would try to hold on longer, but it would only extend his time a little.

'Well, that's not something I need to worry about.'

Behind the king, Queen Ria followed, her face now rigid and stiff, unlike the last time I saw her.

Behind the king and queen, two young men were walking.

At a glance, it was clear they were princes.

The first prince, who looked to be in his late twenties, and the second prince, who appeared to be in his early twenties.

These two were the closest to becoming the next king.

To me, who has been categorized into the princess's faction, they are close to being enemies. Of course, they don't know anything about me.

Behind the two princes, young Princess Aisha followed. The ten-year-old child, who was over ten years younger than the second prince, walked with a stiff face behind the king.

Seeing her, I was reminded of my own awakening ceremony.

Despite remembering my past life and having a mental age much higher than my physical age due to repeated lives, I was very nervous during my awakening ceremony.

Princess Aisha, judging by her pale face, seemed very nervous as well, but she seemed to be handling it well for her age.

'Maybe "a smart child for her age" is a more fitting description for the princess than for me.'

Behind the princess, knights and priests followed.

This was indeed an internal royal event. The awakening ceremony was attended only by the king's direct family.

However, among the people standing at a distance to watch the ceremony, I didn't see any major nobles.

Of course, nobles with their own territories found it difficult to travel to the capital.

But at least they could send representatives, and there were quite a few nobles staying in the capital.

However, among the nobles around me, I didn't see anyone in such a position.

'I should probably tell them about the princess's current position.'

She is the daughter of the current living queen, but the age gap between her and her two older brothers is too large.

The king was showing signs of poor health, and the princes had already established their own power bases, so there wouldn't be many nobles who would attend the princess's awakening ceremony and risk unnecessary misunderstandings.

The academy students thought highly of me for watching this event, but those who knew better might mock me.

Well, my situation isn't much different.

Unlike the crypt behind the duke's mansion, the royal crypt was much more grand and magnificent.

The king's party walked through the statues of the former kings and entered the crypt.

We waited for the king's party to come out.

Time passed.

The king's party was not visible, but the people waiting were all quiet.

A moment later.

Whoosh.

I could feel the mana surging inside the crypt.

Finally, the princess had awakened.

People whispered quietly, curious about what inheritance ability she had received.

Not long after, the king and his party walked out of the crypt.

The expressions on their faces were varied.

The king had a pale face and clicked his tongue.

Both princes looked satisfied, and the knights and priests had slightly regretful expressions.

The queen's expression didn't change much from when she went in, and the princess had a calm face.

'But, she doesn't seem just calm... I can also sense a strange feeling of joy.'

I found it difficult to determine the result from the expressions of those who came out, but then I heard Katarina's voice from the side.

"It seems to have gone well."

I turned my head to look at Katarina.

Her face was full of smiles.

* * *

After the awakening ceremony ended, people dispersed immediately.

Contrary to expectations, the gathered people quickly dispersed, and Katarina and I headed to the queen's palace at her summons.

In the large reception room where we met before, Katarina and I met the princess and the queen.

Wooom.

A mana barrier surrounded the room.

It was a different kind of mana barrier from the soundproofing one I had created.

"The outside view is completely blocked."

An elderly maid bowed to the queen.

Although she was dressed as a maid, she was clearly not an ordinary woman.

She was at least a well-known noble.

The mana barrier she had created was undoubtedly her inherited ability.

"Princess Aisha, you can relax now."

"Phew, that was tough."

At the queen's words, the princess let out a big sigh.

She relaxed her stiff face and smiled brightly.

Katarina also smiled at the princess.

"You did well. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice."

"Yeah, thanks to Katarina."

At the princess's bright response, Katarina shook her head.

"More thanks to Alex, actually."

"Thank you, Lord Alex."

"No, I don't think I did anything that deserves thanks."

The princess's gratitude only made me feel awkward.

The fact that I was left in the room with the mana barrier was a problem.

Seeing the mana barrier around the room, it was clear that the queen, princess, and Katarina were about to discuss a secret.

I had no idea why I was included in this!

I didn't understand why the princess was happy or why she was thanking me.

I wish someone would tell me the reason!

"Hehe, it seems I need to explain things to Lord Alex first."

The queen smiled slightly at my confused expression and spoke.

"I couldn't say anything before because I didn't know the result of the awakening. Now that the result is good, I can tell you."

Katarina continued the queen's words.

Finally, I would hear the explanation I was curious about.

Honestly, it might have been better if I hadn't heard it...

But looking at the expressions of the queen, princess, and Katarina, it seemed too late.

In their minds, I was already part of their team.

It was too late to say I didn't want to hear it.

"Ah, first, tell me again what inheritance ability you received at the awakening ceremony."

At the queen's words, the princess spoke.

"Invisible sword aura. I said I received the inheritance ability of the Latenhamar family, my maternal side."

She picked up a small spoon in front of her. It was a spoon for stirring tea, but as she held it, the tip of the spoon began to shimmer.

Indeed, that shimmering aura was something I had seen before.

It was the ability Katarina used in the dungeon.

And I could use that ability with the dagger I obtained from the dungeon. Honestly, it was the best ability for ambushing someone.

Ah, now I understand the expressions of the king and the other princes.

The ability the princess received was an excellent and useful ability, but it was not the royal family's ability.

Moreover, the two princes already had the king's ability, 'mana sensitivity.' With the princess receiving her mother's side ability, it would be difficult for her to compete with the two princes.

The king's expression was bad, and the two princes' expressions were bright for that reason.

But why weren't the queen and princess's expressions bad? Moreover, they were smiling now.

While pondering this and looking at the princess, a thought suddenly came to me.

Right. A little while ago, the princess's words were a bit strange.

She didn't say she 'received the inheritance ability' but rather 'said she received the inheritance ability.'

Could she have received a different ability and claimed she received the Latenhamar family's ability?

But I could still see the spoon shimmering in front of me.

"Did you actually receive a different ability?"

At my hesitant question, the princess shook her head, and the queen and Katarina smiled.

"You can't lie at the royal awakening ceremony. The princess definitely received the 'invisible sword aura' ability."

The queen added to the princess's answer.

And Katarina explained why the queen and princess were happy.

"Fortunately, the two princes will no longer focus on the princess since she didn't receive the royal family's ability."

Ah, I see. The princess wasn't much different from me.

If the princess had received the royal family's ability, especially 'mana sensitivity,' the two princes wouldn't have just sat idly by.

Currently, the two princes are waiting for the starting signal, ready to strike each other. If the princess had appeared, it would have been clear which prince would strike first.

But now, the queen and princess seemed to have narrowly escaped the princes' blades.

The queen spoke.

"The current generation of princes and princess has very strong royal blood. According to the priests, they are the generation with the strongest royal blood in history."

Can priests even know such things? It seems they can determine the concentration of royal blood through 'healing,' 'contracts,' and other abilities. The priests' abilities are surprisingly versatile.

Anyway, the queen continued.

"Of course, this was kept as a secret known only to the royal family, and the princes all received 'mana sensitivity' as expected."

Having good abilities for their children isn't always a good thing.

"According to the priests, Aisha also had a high chance of receiving 'mana sensitivity.'"

"That's why we had to find a way for the princess not to receive mana sensitivity. One of the reasons I traveled as a mercenary was to find such a method."

"And we found a way."

Katarina pointed at me.

"Ah, you don't mean..."

The princess pulled out a dagger from her sleeve.

It was the dagger I lent to Katarina a few days ago.

She held the dagger instead of the spoon. The tip of the dagger shimmered.

"Seeing you receive our family's inheritance ability from the artifact found in the dungeon gave me an idea on how to induce the awakening."

According to her, after returning from the dungeon, she immediately called me to the capital and had me gather our family's artifacts for the princess to touch.

Unfortunately, the artifacts showed no reaction with the princess. The only one that gave a slight feeling was the shield from the dungeon.

Katarina and the queen finally had me lend my dagger to the princess to touch.

The dagger reacted.

"I heard a voice in my head. [Do you want power?]"

Damn, I have to hear that childish voice again.

"The princess participated in the awakening ceremony with the dagger hidden on her body. It was a small dagger, so no one noticed, and in the end, as we expected, she received the inheritance ability from her maternal side."

So, thanks to the dagger, she received the Latenhamar family's ability instead of the royal family's ability?

But is that really a good thing? The immediate crisis was avoided, but is it really okay?

Seeing my frowning face, the queen shook her head.

"No, we got a much better result than expected. Aisha."

At the queen's words, the princess tensed her body.

Wooom.

A faint light began to emanate from the princess's entire body.

Goodness. This wasn't 'invisible sword aura.' It was a completely different ability.

Whoosh. Crack.

Small flames appeared in the air, and sparks appeared and disappeared between her hair.

"The princess didn't receive a different ability instead of the royal family's ability. She received both the royal family's ability and the maternal side's ability."

As the queen said, the clean mana emanating from the princess's body was the royal family's inheritance ability.

The mana created by 'mana sensitivity.'

The princess, with 'mana sensitivity' surrounding her body, held the shimmering dagger and smiled brightly.