By Zephyria 
Faint smoke rose like heat haze from the small body.
Contaminated mana, dense and mixed with impurities, transforms the human body in various ways when it seeps in.
Yulan’s youngest prince, Elijah, had intact skin and outward appearance, but his insides were a complete mess. Perhaps due to the mana tangled together, making his insides appear pitch black, his breathing and pulse were slower than a normal child’s.
I systematically untangled the contaminated mana and absorbed it into my body. It wasn’t much different from detoxifying non-corporeal poisons. While I did this, those watching also endured the time in silence. Not a single ragged breath was taken.
About thirty minutes passed like this. The child pressed beneath my hands trembled at the fingertips.
It was similar to how the terrain became unstable when the contaminated mana from the Indus Canyon was simultaneously withdrawn. Because he had been steeped in contaminated mana for an excessively long period, one of the pillars supporting the child’s life crumbled, and his breath grew shallow.
I immediately stopped what I was doing and watched with bated breath. After confirming the boy, who had coughed a couple of times, barely managed to inhale and exhale, I removed my hands.
“Wh-what happened?”
“…Today.”
“Mika, Circulating Qi first.”
Ruben immediately cut off the First Princess’s question before I could explain anything.
Now that Ruben’s Eye Technique had awakened, he could easily read the traces left on my body. I quickly nodded and performed a simple Microcosmic Orbit. Ruben, who had been waiting beside me, offered his teacup. Without refusing, I spat out the Turbid Qi that had clumped together as blood.
Watching this, the First Princess and Second Prince of Yulan turned deathly pale. I guessed this was why Ruben had immediately urged me to spit out blood. It wouldn’t hurt to owe them a debt of gratitude. I asked the siblings, who were so terrified they had forgotten to urge me further, a question that had been on my mind.
“Since when has this been happening?”
“…Three years. It started three years ago.”
“For the first two years after he was born… he was just a child. Even if his hair color was a little different, he came from his mother’s womb, and his stepfather announced him as his son, so everyone easily grew fond of him. But around the time Elijah started learning to walk… he began showing strange reactions.”
The siblings spoke back and forth, alternating.
“At first, we didn’t think the Divine object was the cause.”
“Of course, Divine Power is inherently… pleasant. I don’t know about Shiaren, but Yulan Royalty rarely falls ill due to frequent contact with Divine objects. Everyone in the palace tends to live long lives.”
“But every time the flute was played, the child would writhe and cry… We tried every method when we realized something was wrong, but it was no use.”
“We hid the Divine object completely and haven’t let him play it even once a week for about a year now.”
“…Is it truly a Curse from a Black magician? What wrong could this little one have done?”
It was a desperate question, as if confessing sins that had been suppressed.
Did I have an answer to offer? Yet, I wanted to comfort them by saying something. My heart, inexplicably softened, hesitated as I looked at their faces and tried to speak, but Ruben cut in coolly.
“Do you think we know? We have to find the answer from now on.”
“…That’s…”
A faint silence fell for a moment. Rubel deliberately lowered his gaze, taking his time. It was a long time for Ruben to think. After making the siblings sufficiently anxious, Ruben raised his head and spoke boldly.
“Since the Divine object is unusable anyway, why not lend it to me for a while?”
“What? Your Highness… you won’t be able to use it either.”
“I received a Divine Revelation from the Temple of the Sun God. The gist was to use the power of the wandering Divine object, which is no longer fulfilling its role, to lead the war against the Black magician to victory. Since the God spoke thus, I will find a way to use it.”
“No, even so.”
“Is there another way?”
Ruben’s sharp retort silenced the siblings.
Only then did I begin to understand why Ruben was acting so coldly. They chose the life of their blood relative over the lives of millions of their kingdom’s subjects. A year ago, no, since three years ago.
The Second Prince’s gaze was fixed on his youngest brother, who was still sleeping soundly on the carpet. Amidst the cold silence, the only warmth was Elijah’s sleeping breath.
As I thought about it, something was puzzling. Ruben also inherited Divine Blood. What did it mean that he couldn’t use Yulan’s Divine object? However, solving my own curiosity wasn’t the priority, so I didn’t butt in unnecessarily.
After pondering for a while, the First Princess bit her lip and spoke again.
“How can we… trust Baron Ivan Bikoff?”
She was pointing out that I had entered the Royal Palace under a hidden identity. But Ruben answered without hesitation.
“Ivan Bikoff is my direct junior from the Academy, and we have a deep connection, so his honor is my honor. For the sake of my honor, I will properly repay the debt for borrowing the Divine object.”
“…That’s.”
“If I find a way to solve any problem in Yulan, you should have at least one excuse to return here. We have no need to revisit Yulan after everything is over.”
That was true.
If I spent time carefully removing the contaminated mana that had seeped into the Fifth Prince’s body, I might be able to save his life. However, if the contaminated mana was accumulating in the child’s body due to some poison or spell, I wouldn’t be able to figure it out.
They would need to bring a proper Wizard, or better yet, hunt down and kill the Black magician suspected of being the cause. Ruben needed a reason to help them, and they possessed what we needed.
After a long deliberation, the Second Prince picked up the Fifth Prince.
“…First, Ili, Elijah. May we take him to his room and return… to guide you?”
“Yes. Please do so.”
This time, Ruben agreed without much hesitation.
The First Princess began to cry again.
There were no words of comfort, nor could I offer any. I simply let her be.
❖ ❖ ❖
We rode horses to leave, whereas we had taken a carriage to enter the Royal Castle.
The horses I saw on the streets of Yulan were short and had long fur, but the horses provided by the Royal Castle were of the same breed as Shiaren’s. They were tall and slender, looking like they could leap with ease.
Ruben and I shared a horse. Ruben insisted on riding first, as he offered. I tried to dissuade him once, but he agreed, saying he was worried because my arm was injured. I wrapped my right arm around his waist and sat behind him.
We immediately exited through a side gate attached to the flank of the Royal Castle. The Yulan royal siblings rode ahead, leading the way. We followed them.
The sky was already darkening.
Shiaren’s nights were as bright as day. There were many days when stars were not visible. However, here in Yulan, as the sun set, no smoke rose from chimneys, making the stars exceptionally visible. Perhaps it was because they had to wake up at dawn, or perhaps because the people of Yulan feared the night, I couldn’t tell.
We crossed a low hill. The siblings occasionally looked back. Each time, they waved to signal that we were following well. It had been over an hour since we left the castle gates, yet there was no sign of stopping.
“It’s still a Divine object of a royal family… they’re going quite far.”
“It has fallen to the point where the successors, not the King, store the Divine object… It seems they couldn’t trust anyone in the palace.”
“Anyone?”
“The current King Consort claimed to have no memory. The King is also disoriented… and these siblings suspect Black Magic.”
“…That… is true.”
“They were entrusted with the responsibility of using the Divine object at too young an age.”
His tone was bitter.
Sitting so close to Ruben made it easy to have a quiet conversation. Was this also part of his plan? It was very difficult for me to read Ruben’s mind.
How would Ruben have handled the same situation? He didn’t have a young, youngest sibling. I closed my mouth, not wanting to consider hypotheticals.
Instead, I brought up a question I had been holding onto.
“What did you mean when you said Ruben couldn’t handle Yulan’s Divine object?”
“…”
“If it’s a difficult question to answer,”
“No. I was just thinking about where to start explaining…”
“Yes.”
He loosened his grip on my shoulder and leaned his entire body against my chest. Even if it was a difficult question, one shouldn’t relax their body while riding a horse. Worried he might get hurt, I made Ruben sit up straight again.
Ruben paused for a moment, then spoke again.
“Divine Blood is… a type of Divine Magic with certain restrictions.”
“Divine Magic?”
“Yes. A while ago… I told you about the Shiaren Great Reform, remember?”
It was a story I remembered.
About 350 years ago, a certain Shiaren Emperor had many consorts and fathered over a dozen children.
Before he could designate the next Crown Prince, he died, leading to a great war among the imperial descendants for the throne. All the in-laws and ministers were killed. Because all the Divine Bloodlines, even distant relatives, were killed, the Emperor’s last seed, secretly remaining in the womb, barely managed to ascend to the throne.
He had three children and took his own life at a young age, which became the catalyst for the Shiaren Great Reform.
Ruben continued in a calm voice.
“To handle Shiaren’s Divine object, two conditions are necessary: inheriting Divine Blood, and undergoing the Imperial Succession Ceremony according to sacred rites.”
“…Then…”
However, as I tried to answer, something caught in my mind.
Divine Blood is passed down to the Emperor and his direct descendants. Ruben cannot have children. He once spoke of adopting Lucilla’s child to be the next Emperor.
The child, easily sensing my concern, whispered,
“Divine Blood is a Divine Grace and Magic that is reset around the Imperial Succession Ceremony. The Emperor can officially transfer the qualification to use the Divine object he possesses to someone else through the Imperial Succession Ceremony. Although, upon inheriting the throne to the Crown Prince, the qualification to handle the Divine object is lost.”
“…What? Even if the previous Emperor… isn’t dead?”
“Yes. Even if he’s alive. So, as long as he officially inherits the throne, it’s fine. I want to designate my successor while I’m alive and perform his Imperial Succession Ceremony with my own hands. Then, Lucilla’s child can also be established as a legitimate and honorable Emperor.”
The back of my throat felt tight and stuffy. Even though it was an event far in the future, I felt a sense of loss and sorrow.
Most Shiaren Emperors remained Emperors until their death. When an Emperor died, it was natural for the pre-designated Crown Prince to perform the Imperial Succession Ceremony and become Emperor. Ruben intended to transfer all his power to his successor while he was still fully capable. It felt somehow unreasonable.
As I remained silent, Ruben brought up another topic.
“The Magic Tower estimates that a sacred spell with approximately 1,500,000mq of energy is cast upon the Shiaren Imperial Succession Ceremony.”
“…One, fifty million?”
“Yes. That’s also why the Shiaren capital, protected by the Emperor, is safe.”
What I used to slay the Sandworm was roughly 1,000mq. Ruben’s casual demeanor in quantifying such unimaginably immense power was striking.
After thinking for a while, I asked again.
“What is the connection between that… and the story about Yulan’s Divine object?”
“Other kingdoms’ Divine objects would also have certain restrictions. Shiaren’s Divine object can only be used by the Emperor of that era and his direct descendants, just as Philix’s Divine object can only be used by a Pope of Philix origin who has undergone the formal consecration ceremony.”