亚洲欧美中文日韩Aⅴ

“Of course. I am very blessed to have someone worry over me so much that he would lose it every time I take a sip from my goblet.”

I twisted my words dryly prompting Lord Ray to smile which was uncharacteristic of him. It was as if he thought what I had just said was funny.

“Didn’t you know? The princess is a very worrisome person.”

“What?”

“You seem to lack some self-awareness. Please reflect on your past behaviour.”

“… You’re quite the arrogant knight.”

I raised my head slightly to stare at him. It was unusual to see Lord Ray smile like that so I had to squint my eyes to capture his expression better. His smile reminded me of a candlelight considering the fact that he had always looked so serious like an ink painting. His smile was like a purple orchid blooming from an ink drawing.

“Princess.”

“Yes.”

“Just as you’ve planned, the rumours have spread quickly. I am frankly surprised that you’ve planned this far.”

That stopped me from glaring at his words and instead smiling openly.

“I guess it’s the children’s job to get excited about the festival.”

“… I don’t think someone who just became an adult should be saying that.”

Well, I was technically 30.

Distracted by the charming aromas of the buffet table, I looked towards the other corner of the banquet hall. The faces I spotted in my scan seemed to be glowing under the soft lighting. This was the festival where adults would get excited over. I mean, I had already given people from all over the world a small topic of discussion.

“Dane, Lord Ray.”

The fact that the Crown Prince was attending this banquet was being widely discussed. Castor, huh. I did not know why he came today but it wouldn’t do any good if he remained in the banquet for too long. We had no reason to see each other anymore.

I would only meet ‘him’ again once I was sure I was fully prepared. And, more importantly, the gaze that he pinned on me was being very persistent– it was exhausting me.

“Let’s just go.”

I had already gotten everything I wanted. I blinked at the two before saying.

***

A few days later, my study in the Terena Palace.

Everyone had gathered here, including Soricks who was representing the rest of the patrols.

“Hm, the princess’ powers are a little strange.”

That was what Soricks remarked after examining me for a long time. A purple mist had taken over his green eyes to swirl within them as if to show he was using divinity. As the Templar of the Snow and the Owl, he could recognise other templars and learn their powers. That was when he glanced at me before commenting that there was not much time left before I would awaken.

He even went on to hum and make a few grunts before examining me even more closely and speaking. That was when the purple mist in his eyes began swirling again.

“It’s too little?”

“Yes. This is too little for a templar who has yet to awaken. Hm, that was strange.”

I had told Soricks about the headaches I had gotten before I lost my memories. The frequent stings in my eyes recently had also made Soricks sure of my awakening. However, he said that the amount of divinity I was born with was too little.

“I am pretty sure that what the princess is experiencing right now are signs that she is a templar.”

A templar needs to be fully awakened to be able to use their divinity. That seemed to be the reason why I couldn’t use my divinity like Castor despite the fact that we both had the [Power of the Lords].

“I think the reason why the princess hasn’t awakened yet is because she doesn’t have enough divinity.”

“Really>”

“Yes. How should I put this? I am getting a strange feeling from the princess. It feels as if her divinity is leaking somewhere? It’s like water is being poured into a bottomless pit. Meta. Do you feel it too?”

“Ah. I do too.”

Just a little while ago, to help me awaken, Soricks and Meta had grabbed my wrist, in turns, to transfer me their divinity. However, each time they did, they could feel the divinity leaking somewhere else. The two agreed on this phenomenon.

“Isn’t it just because my body cannot handle any more divinity? I’ve heard of some candidates for templars experiencing this.”

“No, no. That’s not what’s happening with the princess. And I’m sure the princess mentioned how she used to be a normal human being? As in, she was never a templar.”

“Yes.”

“And one day, she suddenly found herself with the qualities of a templar. She might have come into contact with holy artefacts or had directly received divinity from other templars. These are the common ways templars have awakened their dormant abilities.”

“Really?”

Soricks spoke while nodding.

“Yes. Coming into contact with holy artefacts is the most common way for templars to awaken. Have you ever encountered anything unusual around you?”

“Something unusual?”

“Yes. The moment you touched it, you started feeling strange sensations or perhaps you became sick to your stomach? Has anything like that happened to you before… “

His words made me ponder before I slowly pulled out my diary.

“Would you like to take a look at this?”

Soricks carefully picked it up before examining the diary. To any other person, the diary looked just like a brown notebook. Soricks placed his hand on the diary before immediately tilting his head in surprise.

“Oh?” He exclaimed before his green eyes began widening and his expression quickly contorted.

“… Oh my god.”

His expression slowly turned to that of shock.

“What’s wrong?”

“P-princess. What is this?”

Well, how should I explain this? If I had to choose, I would say that this was a diary, right?

“Princess, please pardon me, but this is an artefact.”

His words forced my eyes to widen for a moment. But at the same time, I nodded my head firmly.

“… So, this is nothing ordinary, right?”

“It’s not just that. It feels like an artefact carrying the [Power of Lords], no? I’ve never seen anything like this, have you?”

Indeed, a notebook that could predict the future could not have been an ordinary object. Perhaps that was the reason why though I was surprised by the confirmation of what the diary was, I could still remain calm. Honestly, this was something I had expected. Still, what was this diary? This was the evilest object I knew as it intertwined my death and my future. Rather, I would be more surprised if Soricks told me that this diary had been nothing special.

The next moment, however, Soricks told me something surprising strangely calmly.

“And this thing carries more divinity than the princess herself.”

“What…?”

“No, this must be…”

Soricks fumbled with the edges of the diary before flipping it open and closing it again repeatedly a couple of times before hesitating puzzledly.

“It’s almost as if the princess was the [Artefact] and this book was the [Awakened Templar]…”

Even Meta, who was listening to him, looked down at the diary in incredulity.

“Are you insulting the princess?”

“No, no! That’s not what I’m doing, princess! This thing is the problem! This has divinity thirteen times that of an average templar!”

Usually, [Artefacts] are items that contain the powers of the gods, items consumed by spending the divinity it possesses or by summoning the abilities stored within it. Different gods had different characteristics so activating an artefact would, in some cases, help templars awaken and in rare cases, turn a normal human being to a templar.

Of course, this was one of such rare cases. They were considered rare because the artefacts that elicit such an effect were rare and precious themselves. Any normal person would not get the chance to face even an ordinary artefact.

“That’s ridiculous. What kind of artefact holds that much divinity by themselves? Usually, an artefact just helps make it easier to use divinity.”

Meta pressed his palm on Soricks’ forehead before pushing him away. He looked as if he couldn’t understand what Soricks was trying to say. Even Penne leaned back, seeming to be agreeing with Meta.

“Soricks, are you sure? I understand how artefacts can make templars. But it’s usually by awakening the potential that had been lying dormant their entire life, right? But I have never heard of a templar holding this much divinity.”

“But I’m sure this is the {Power of the Lords].”

“So then, why is such a rare power in an ordinary notebook?”

“Meta, get your hands away from me. How would I know that?”

In any case, the original role of an artefact was to assist those who can use divinity. In other words, it was a device that could consume divinity. It was like the artefact of the North Wind that could bring about typhoons. To use a car as an analogy, an artefact would be an ‘engine’ and a templar’s divinity would be the ‘fuse’. But no matter how much divinity a templar could have, there was a limit.

“Perhaps it was because of this I could use an artefact of the four winds?”

“Did you use that artefact before awakening? Well, that is theoretically possible considering the fact that the princess has the [Power of the Lords] that can control other gods’ powers. And since it was the notebook that provided this power…”

“No, I mean, assisting a templar even before they awakened? Though this might look just like an ordinary notebook, does it have any special abilities? I mean, Princess.” (1)

“Well… it does. A lot of things are written on this.”

Meta tilted his head as if he found something strange.

“Nothing is written on it though?”

“I supposed that would be the case since I’m the only one who can see what was written.”

I spoke as I glanced down at the diary. It was clear that he knew more about artefacts than anyone else. Especially since he was equipped with his unique abilities, him knowing more made sense. However, based on his reactions, I could tell that this was unusual even for him. The men continued guessing what this object could possibly be but now they had gone past speculating what the book could possibly be and have reached a realm of delusion.

“Princess, is it possible that His Majesty had gifted this to you?”

“Soricks is right. Or perhaps this is a treasure passed down from generation to generation.

“No way. I found it in one of my rooms.”

I had found it in Auresia’s chambers. Once I recalled where I had discovered the diary, the answer quickly revealed itself. For the majority of the original novel, Auresia had been a villainess. This was the diary that had been hidden in her room.

If I thought about it deeper, I realised that while the emperor might be plotting strange things, Auresia was the woman holding the emperor in the palm of her hands. It would be strange if she did not have any special abilities. Of course, I would be surprised if those abilities were the power to read the future.

“I may be your mother but you don’t need to call the emperor your father.”

Auresia had been a strange character.

“If you become curious about the scar, come find me.”

It was then that one more question arose. Why hadn’t Auresia used this diary for herself? And why did she leave this in her own room? Other than the death penalty, the diary could be pretty useful…

I paused for a moment. I scoffed.

A death penalty? Even if anyone else were to use this diary, they wouldn’t be having an easy time with it. I rubbed my face before smiling widely at those staring at me.

“Let’s stop talking about this for now. Shall we get down to business?”

Humans are the most afraid of death. No matter how ordinary I believed to have become, I might never be able to return to the person I once was. It was impossible to address the regrets I had in my previous life but I longed for the times when I once knew nothing or anything about my deaths.

But, so what? What about it? I had already accepted it. Now, all I could look forward. I didn’t need any lingering attachments to my past to move forward.

“Have you heard back from Ahasia?”

I placed my parchment down before asking Penne but it was Soricks who replied.

“Yes, I’ve received a positive response. But, princess…”

Soricks replied before hesitating for a moment.

“Princess Ahasia is now confined to her room. And since the warriors from the desert are currently guarding her closely, it’s impossible to approach her normally.”

“Confined? Does that mean it’s impossible to approach her now?”

“Yes. The desert warriors are now watching her like hawks. Meta only managed to meet her because he had used his ‘stealth’ abilities.”

Penne looked a little conflicted at his words before continuing.

“It seems like the ‘traitors’ are getting impatient.”

“It seems so. It would be difficult for the princess to propose solidifying diplomatic relations between the kingdom and the Empire first.”

I tapped on my desk rhythmically before speaking.

“Rescuing the princess comes first. She has to be present when we announce the Engagement Ceremony. Don’t you think so?”

“But how…?”

“We are rescuing her, Soricks.”

Penne quickly understood what I was insinuating. He glanced at me before asking carefully.

“How many days do we have to prepare for?”

“Penne is quite the quick-witted one, isn’t he? Well… we should get her out in two days. The princess should look like she ‘disappeared’ from her room.”

Two days from now, according to my diary, Ahasia was supposed to stab me.

“That is also when we will announce the engagement between the desert princess and my brother.”

I smiled widely. Because I would be facing a crisis in two days.

“A week from now would be good.”

T/N:

(1): Here, Meta accidentally addressed the princess informally before quickly correcting himself.