Chapter 4: 3

#Chapter 3- To the Palace (2)

“…I’m just a human being. Lord Lux has just lent me his power,” Phaeon answered, avoiding my eyes.

“No, you must be an angel. I’m always being scolded by adults, so I’m kind of glad that I’m hurt. But I feel much better now.”

“Still, I’m not one…”

He frowned and paused before explaining.

“The reason why they didn’t get away with their bargain was because of the Princess’s wits. But, how did you use magic? It should be impossible at your age.”

“I got this stone from the forest. It was so bright and pretty. Whenever mana is released, it is bound together as one piece so that magic is formed and becomes one with the stone.”

I knew you’d ask that question, so I had prepared an excuse.

“Even if the magic stone was randomly picked up, in order to use it, you need to infuse mana into it. At this age, you shouldn’t be able to utilize mana, but you seem to have strong enough magic to use it unconsciously.”

Of course. I had heard that Princess Beatrice was a prominent Royal Witch. Because of her, I also inherited a formidable amount of mana and resistance in my body. However, Beatrice had died because of her failure to learn defensive magic along with combat magic.

Oh, I’m going crazy thinking about it. She was born as the daughter of the continent’s greatest knight and the Royal Witch, yet she died so easily.

“…You are her daughter.”

He spoke to himself as if he could not believe it.

Her daughter? Why do you sound like you’re talking about someone else? I’m also your daughter?!

He is a man who makes a person’s blood boil with every word. I decided to put up with it again, keeping my goal in mind.

I laugh and nudge him innocently.

“Assha, can you use magic?

“After learning court etiquette and some basic knowledge, you will be able to test your mana’s sensitivity and ask for a Royal Wizard to be your teacher.”

“I’ll study hard. Assha is very good at reading books. I want to learn mana control and master it. Also, I read in books that people treat them nicely.”

This was true. I always liked reading books. The library’s books were the only friends of the royal family who always spoke the truth.

It’s frustrating to think about learning the basics again, but I need to pretend to be a genius and progress incredibly fast.

Because there were not just one or two things I needed to learn. In order to achieve my goal…

All of a sudden, I became incredibly drowsy. I may have the mind of an adult, but my body was still that of a child. I was also warm thanks to Phaeon’s divine power, so sleep came to me quickly.

“Princess? Prin…cess…?”

The voice drew farther and farther away as I fell asleep in his arms.

***

“This is ridiculous. Father!”

This is what was happening currently, in the royal palace of Santra.

A girl about twelve years old, with big, reddish-brown, curly hair, and elegant, green eyes, is shouting at the King in front of me.

Her name is Stella Michelle Entimos. She is the third princess of Santra and the aunt of Anastasia.

“How could you make an illegitimate child a princess?! The whole continent will laugh at us!”

“It’s not like I’m happy about it.”

The King’s white hair and mustache made him appear loving, but his turquoise eyes looked dissatisfied with his brother-in-law as he stood up from his throne with a sigh.

“My sister cheated on us all. She made us think that she was fighting monsters near the border! She pretended to fight for her country, but really she met up with a man who didn’t know where she came from, and secretly gave birth to a child…!”

“Even though you refuse to listen, I suggest you don’t use such vulgar words, Stella.”

A woman calmly spoke. Her hair was a dark reddish-brown but, unlike Stella’s, was shiny and straight. This is Aquala Erica Entimos, the second Princess of Santra.

“We are royalty.”

“Sister Aquala! Why aren’t you angry?! We might have to give our succession to the throne to a four-year-old kid!”

“I’m not angry because it was never mine, to begin with, but I’m worried about the future of Santra.”

She looked at her father with a sharp glance.

“You really don’t know who the father of this child is?”

“The Will only states that he was a mercenary from Calisa whom she met near the border. It is almost impossible to find him with such little information.”

“Hah! Calisa! She went to Calisa for wantonly but, in the end, she had a relationship with a person, which is a commoner! And then died in the hands of the King of Calisa. I suppose she really is Tris’ sister…

“Stella!”

Aquala gave her a look to make her stop talking.

“Your Majesty, you must consider this very carefully. The foundations of Santra’s society could be shaken.”

She continued with a calm, but firm voice.

“If she is recognized as a Princess, she will inherit the succession rights according to the Absolute Eldest Inheritance Law. Then, for the first time in the history of Santra, an illegitimate Queen will take place.”

“Never! Let’s just stop this right here. Shut everyone’s mouth who knows about this and let her live in a corner.”

“As for that–”

Suddenly, a young man in a white priest’s uniform entered the room and opened his mouth. His light brown hair and his monocle make him look soft and benevolent.

“You may want to save your judgement until after hearing the prophecy that was made yesterday.”

“High Minister of Belus…!”

“I see the skies of Santra.”

High Minister Belus bowed to the King.

“A prophecy? There hasn’t been a prophecy made in the past 100 years.”

“The red jewels of Santra, the Oracle said, ‘The one who will bring light to Santra has come down.”

“The prophecy has always been a bit vague,” Belus replies with a gentle smile.

“Since the Oracle came down, she is now a ‘Child of God’. That means…”

The King listened to his words with a grim face.

“Even though the royal family doesn’t want to acknowledge her, you can’t get rid of her.”

“What?!” the two women simultaneously shouted in surprise.

“Is that true? Can we really trust him? Or, was there a mistake…”

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Stella was restless but stayed silent.

“What does the light mean? It may not necessarily be referring to the throne.”

Even though Aquala coldly pointed that out, they still couldn’t avoid feeling agitated.

***

Thanks to the great Oracle’s prophecy of ‘the one who will bring light to Santra,’ I have been protected by the royal family for a while, but I was still living a lie.

The royal housekeeping is managed by Princess Aquala, who gave me the minimum amount of supplies that was only enough to keep me alive.

The maid who was assigned to me quit after half a year of work, and the other maids avoided me because they are wary of Aquala. I had to do chores like washing and cleaning all by myself, and could only look at delicious food, but never eat it.

It was nothing compared to the time in one of my lives in which I lived in the forest, but the only hard part for that was the painful contempt and coldness.

It is really lonely, sad, and miserable to live in such a large palace and be treated as ‘nonexistent’ amongst so many people.

‘The Oracle must have been lying.’

Far from bringing light to Santra, my life has never seen light. I was starting to question whether God really existed. If it did, then God must have been a demon.

“Princess, we have arrived at the Capital. You must be tired after being in the carriage for so long.”

The image of the Capital unfolded outside the window that Phaeon was looking through. For a moment, I was impressed by the view that I hadn’t seen in so long.

I hadn’t been outside the palace much, but I liked the view of the Capital. Red-roofed and colorful buildings stand in neat lines and beyond, one could see a grand palace with a golden roof.

“Angel, this was your request,” I said as I looked out the window.

“…Why do you keep calling me that….Huh, wait. What are you saying?”

“A prayer to God Lux of the Temple to show him gratitude for sending an angel to Assha.”

“That’s…”

I was hesitant to speak, it would be difficult to continue my prayer because he is ‘the true apostle of God Lux’.

“Okay. I’ll take you to the Temple instead,” he said worriedly.

“That’s great!”

Okay, it’s all going as planned, you can’t go straight to the Palace like this.

After a while, the carriage rattled to a stop. Phaeon lifted me up to exit the carriage. When I opened the door from the warmth of the carriage, the cold winter air from outside came in.

“Brr…”

As I trembled, he stopped trying to place me on the ground.

“You need to get down…Assha, you’re heavy.”

The eyes of several knights who are standing outside the wagon turn to him.

They gave him a critical glance that seemed to say, ‘No matter how much she weighs, how can the Captain call that child heavy?’

As if he can feel their disapproving stares, Phaeon hugged and wrapped me in his robe.

“I should have brought something like a cloak, but I was in a hurry and didn’t even bring an attendant. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, the angel’s body is warm.”

“An…gel?”

The black-haired knight looked at me in fear.

“I’m not wrong now, am I?”

“Angel…”

“The Captain is an angel…”

One knight’s mouth opened in shock and another knight’s hand covered his mouth as he laughed.

What is the Captain’s reputation amongst the Templars of the Alternative Castle…

When he stared at the knights, all of them quickly turned their heads to look away from him.

“On second thought, I’ve decided to stop by first to deliver a message to His Majesty.”

One of the knights ran ahead to the Royal Palace and, after walking for a while, we arrived at a new, white building that looked very sacred. Phaeon passed through the main gate and headed straight to the ‘Casket of Prayer’.

As we got there, everyone, regardless of age or sex, came out and hid behind a standing pillar, glancing at us. The shoutings ended.

I waved my hand to be put down at the entrance of the magnificent prayer coffin.

“…Can I be excused?”

When I nodded a little, he stepped outside.

“I will be waiting at the door.”

I walked alone to the center of the prayer coffin.

The ceiling was filled with colorful frescoes and numerous statues surrounded the dome-shaped coffin.

Under the white, stone path leading to the central altar was a fountain spewing emerald-colored holy water into a huge river.

Surrounded by a bluish fog and the refreshing sound of water, a mysterious atmosphere was created.

I arrived at the front of the altar and slump to my knees. I then put my hands together and began to pray.

‘God, I finally found out who my real father is. He’s the one you cherish and love so much.’

I closed my eyes and said in my head, ‘So am I being punished instead?! Because he betrayed you?’

I poured out all the anger I have accumulated.

‘I…I have been burned, frozen to death, beaten to death, and bitten by beasts. I think I’ve been punished enough now.’

At a very early age, I repeatedly went through painful deaths and lost the curse of life. In some lives, I committed suicide. But to no avail. Does God intend not to end this punishment until I go through Hell on my own?

‘I think this is the last time.’

I clasped my hands together as hard as I can and approached the edge of the marble path.

‘Please, this time.’

I closed my eyes tightly.

‘Please let me survive.’

Plop!

Then, I fell into the emerald river.

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