Chapter 10

The hall was dead silent.

Everyone was staring blankly at the Marquis of Orléans, unable to breathe. The Marquis presented the question that they were all curious about but did not dare to aks. He must have felt the pressure as he cleared his throat.

“If, as the rumor has it, her father is a mercenary of Karissa”, when Belarus did not answer, he continued, “The birth of Princess Anastasia may have been caused by coercion. The fact that Princess Beatrice colluded with the Kalisa of her free will… Your Majesty the King and the high priest must know what this means, right?”

This implies the possibility that Princess Beatrice may have committed treason when getting in contact with the enemy unless it was a forced relationship. Either way, the princess’s reputation will be shattered.

I couldn’t understand why my mother wrote such a lie in her will in the first place. How twisted my life became because of it! When I first learned the truth, I could not resist the rising anger and almost died because of it.

I looked at Phaeon, the original culprit. He was staring at the marquis with a pale face. What the Marquis said is very insulting… but there’s nothing he can do about it.

“The day before Princess Anastasia came to the palace”, Belus, who was standing silently, opened his mouth, “we were bestowed with an oracle.”

People murmured in great agitation.

“Bestowed with an oracle?”

“But the oracle… from a long time ago…”

“Princess Anastasia was called ‘The One Who Will Bring Light to Santra’ in the oracle.”

Crazy, that they end up announcing this here!

This oracle was also announced by the temple to protect me after I was attacked so many times by people around me after I’ve gotten older…

“Given the name mentioned in the oracle and the princess’ blessing, it is certain that Lux cares about the Princess”, Belus smiled softly, but spoke so strongly that it never looked shallow, “The will of the princess says that a mercenary of Kalisa is the Princess’ father, but she is four years old now. Considering that the war with Kalisa only broke out three years ago… It’s hard to say that it was treason.”

“Even if it was before the war, Kalisa was still our enemy!”

” Duke of Orléans”, the king, who had been watching so far, stood up and stopped the Marquis with a cold voice, “There is nothing that can be said for sure based on a will alone. But the royal family and the temple decided to accept the princess.” There was anger in his voice: “I hope you will stop insulting my daughter who has died while fighting for Santa.”

Feeling that the Marquis had crossed a line, he did not protest anymore and sat down in his seat with a frown on his face.

“As of today, Princess Anastasia is a member of the royal family.”

The hall was silenced by the king’s firm declaration. The ladies covered their faces with fans and whispered in each other’s ears. Some looked at me curiously and tilted their heads. But most of them had defiant faces that they could never recognize me as a princess.

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“When did you learn magic?”

After the brutal prayer ceromony, I was tormented by Sierra, Rosa, and Yuzu for several days.

“Well, I saw it in the book that Sierra brought me.”

A few days before the prayer meeting, I asked Sierra to bring me a basic magic book, so damn it,  I almost couldn’t find an excuse to explain.

“I just brought it to you because I thought you might be interested in it… I never dreamed you’d learn it right away! You’ll really become an archmage that will exceed Princess Beatrice!”

“Asha’s mother was also really good at magic, right?”

“Yes, she was a great talent in many ways. She was born a genius, but she worked hard nonetheless.”

I can’t believe that someone who used to shine like that has become a person, whom people are reluctant to even mention. Losing her, it must have been a great tragedy.

The contents of the oracle announced by the high priest Belus at the regular prayer ceremony quickly spread to the temple and aristocratic society. Even so, it was prohibited to speak to the general public to protect the main character of the oracle.

As long as high priest officially recognized me, the people of the temple did not openly show hostility towards me. But when I showed up, they hurriedly avoided looking at me.

As soon as the New Year’s holiday ended, the three priestesses became stressed. This is because they have been put into a full-fledged missions to restore the damages caused by the war.

I could barely see one of them in a day, so I ended up spending more time alone. It’s not bad to roll around in the room and read the magic book, but I was very happy when Yuzu asked me to go out to have tea in the greenhouse garden of the royal palace.

“Sierra and Rosa are upset”, Yuzu smiled as she put a basket full of desserts on a white lace tablecloth, “but you’re still out on a date with me!”

She came up to me and whispered: “Princess, who do you like the most out of the three of us?”

“Asha likes… I like Yuzu the most!”, whispered I back to her.

“Will you keep it a secret from Sierra and Rosa?”

“Of course. Oh, our Princess… is the cutest one in the world!”

Yuzu stroked my cheek with a very happy expression on her face. I’ve gained some weight lately, and my cheeks are soft and fluffy. It made me want to touch it over and over again, but the adults seemed to do it more than me.

“Princess, would you like to take a look around the garden for a while? I’ll be making tea. It’ll only take a minute.”

“Okay!”

I jumped out of my chair and toddled along. There were many flowers in the greenhouse. Pansies, hyacinths, crocuses, irises…

The beautifully garden was magically maintained throughout the four seasons without withering. I’ve only been here twice in my past life, but I couldn’t even take a proper walk because I was nervous and anxious about the possibility of running into Aquila or Stella. But this time around, I should relax and enjoy the scent of these flowers!

I hobbled around the garden excitedly and looked at the flowers. The tree is shaped like a rabbit?! There were also Rose bushes carved by the gardener in various forms and shapes visible. As I walked for a long time holding back the urge to turn around and look everywhere, I reached the end of the garden. But through the open back door, I could feel a faint wave of mana.

‘What is this? It’s not magic in the garden.’

I followed the energy and went out of the garden. It was an energy I had never felt before. As I kept walking along the unknown road, I came so far that I couldn’t see the garden anymore.

‘What is that?’

As soon as I woke up and raised my head, there was a small tower in front of me. It was the first tower I had ever seen. The energy of mana I was drawn to began to strengthen.

“Ugh…”!

Suddenly, my head felt like it was about to break. I could see a vision in front of my eyes. People running here and there, screaming, breaking buildings and outdoor decorations, and… black hair…

“Princess!”

Someone caught me as I collapsed. When he held me in his arms, the white light flashed and the headache disappeared in an instant. I barely opened my eyes and looked at my opponent.

“ItIt!”

“What the hell were you doing here?”, Phaeon was angry.

“I came to get to drink tea… I got lost while looking around the garden…”, I hesitated to make an excuse. For some reason, I realized that it would sound absurd to answer honestly why I was here.

He sighed and put me back on the ground: “You must never come here recklessly.”

He said, glaring at the tower with keen eyes: “… I’ll take you back to your place. Follow me.”

Where is this place? I followed him filled with curiosity.

The tower which emits a strong wave of mana… Is it the tower of wizards? But I heard that it’s separate… It can’t be such a small tower, can it?

And… what the hell was that? Am I hallucinating in this life? A ne thing to worry about has appeared.

Yuzu was crying and frantically looking for me. When Phaeon brought me back, she sat down and breathed a sigh of relief: “Sir Parciel, thank you very much. It’s from the royal family, but please have a cup of tea as a thank you.”

“No problem. I have to go to the training grounds.”

“You have enough time for a cup of tea. It would make me feel uncomfortable if I just send you off like this. I’ll get it ready quickly.”

He sat down reluctantly in front of the table. Yuzu smiled happily as if she was fortunate and heated the cold tea: “I really wanted to serve you a drink. “I’ve heard that the only tee that Sir Parciel, who avoids any luxury, enjoys is this Lisus tea.”

As his face hardened, Yuzu added timidly with a startled look on her face: “I was too arrogant, wasn’t I?”

“No, it’s true that I often drink that tea.”

Lisus tea is a very precious tea in Santra, and it is brewed with lisus petals that can only be found in some areas  in the north of Santra. It leaves a deep aroma and a unique aftertaste. It was also called Laughter Tea because it makes you laugh when you drink it.

‘Isn’t it surprising that you have such luxurious taste?’

I watched him drink the tea after being handed a cup by Yuzu. He took a sip and stared blankly at the cup as if he were lost in thought. It was not a gaze directed at the tea cup, but a gaze that seemed to be looking somewhere far away.

I asked aloud to bring him back to his senses: “Papa! If Asha says she wants to go to see the training grounds, will you take me?”

He suddenly came to his senses and answered ruthlessly: “It’s not a place for the princess to visit. There’s not much fun to watch.”

“But… I want to watch at the knights… It’s my wish…”

“Sir Parciel, I’m sorry, but can you please grant the Princess’ wish? I have to go on a mission soon, so the Princess would have to stay alone in her room by herself.”

Yuzu helped me as if she had been waiting for this.

“How lonely and bored would you be by yourself?”

“No, Asha… Asha is good at being on her own… I have always been on my own when I still lived in the cabin. The family often went to the nearby village without me…”

I said somberly and flicked the cake with a fork. After a moment of dead silence, he sighed and touched his forehead: “…haaa, I see. It’s only for half a day.”

The guilt attacks achieved doubled their effect.

“It’s quite a distance to the training grounds”, He looked at me as if he wanted me to give up because of the distance.

“Papa can just carry me there.”

I jumped off my seat and spread my arms wide at him. He crumpled his brows slightly, but picked me up carefully. Huhu, I think you’ve gotten a little better.

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Cling, clang, clung!

The vast training ground was full of sharp metallic and the dull sounds of wooden swords swinging around. Since the Holy Knights of the temple and the Royal Knights often practice together, the training ground was so large that the other end couldn’t be seen.

As soon as I and Phaeon reached the entrance, a loud noise was heard from one side of the training ground.

Crush!

A boy fell heavily. He looked about twelve years old. The knight, who appeared to be his instructor, yelled at him:

“Regen! I can’t believe you can’t even hit him. Is that what you call an attack?”

The fallen boy lifted his head weakly. He had large blue eyes, that were slightly drooping, and soft brown curly hair. He was like a baby angel in a religious painting.

Oh, I’ve never seen such a pretty boy.

But Regen? Where did I hear that name?