“Princess Deborah! You’re here.”
She rushed over and greeted me nicely.
It reminded me of a little squirrel staring at me and sparkling its eyes.
‘Cute.’
I tried to swallow a smile and went inside the laboratory.
Her laboratory, which was moved as if my father took care of her, was wider.
While in the past it only had the feeling of being a study room, now there was also a reception table so that she could drink tea, and there were items that presumably belonged to her hobby.
“What are these things?”
“I-It’s something I’m doing for the Princess, but it’s still incomplete so I’m a little ashamed!”
Arin suddenly threw a cloth over the object.
I asked her to make a handkerchief that served as a hot pack, is she perhaps working on it?
‘Arin is also producing various goods for Armand.’
I couldn’t believe she was doing what I briefly told her like it was an assignment. She must have things to do other than this.
‘Am I that scary?’
It seemed that I would have nothing to say if Arin reported me to the Ministry of Labor, but unfortunately, since this was a tragedy novel, advanced labor-management relations did not exist.
I looked at her with vague eyes and pulled out the fine tea leaves from a big bag.
“You told me the last time you wanted to serve me tea, right? Did I understand correctly?”
“Ah, yes! Yes! That’s correct!”
She nodded her head with vigor.
“I brought a decent tea. It was Sir Isidor who sent me this, so it must be good.”
“P-Prince Isidor sent you the tea?!”
“Yeah.”
“I-I see. You’re sharing something you received, a precious gift, with m-me…”
Barely speaking as if she were choking, her eye rims turned red and she put the tea leaves in a hot teapot.
‘Seeing that she’s deeply moved, she must be a fan of Isidor?’
As expected from the most popular man of the empire. The only one who hates him for no reason is probably my father. He didn’t seem to get along well with Philap in the first place, so let’s exclude him.
“Sir Isidore is handsome.”
Especially when his dimples show up when he smiles.
“What? I think the Princess is much more coo… ah, I mean, uh, Sir Isidor is very popular.”
Arin stammered and then carefully poured the hot tea into the teacup.
A gentle scent spread through the laboratory as the tea leaves were brewed, and Arin’s white cheeks became redder.
“What a nice tea. I’m so honored to have teatime with the Princess like this. I’ll probably never forget this in my whole life.”
I had gotten used to Arin’s flattery, so I calmly sipped the tea.
‘By the way, the tea is delicious. I don’t think it’s black tea, and it seems to be from another region.’
Would it be alright to sell this in Armand?
However, I soon learned that the tea Isidor sent me as a celebration for being the top student at the academy was so expensive that, in Korean Won, it was traded for about 30 million won for 500 grams.
Anyway, I unknowingly sipped on the tea that was like gold dust, and when it was half-empty, I opened my mouth.
“Arin, do you perhaps know anything about ancient magical tools? With the ability to hatch holy beasts…”
Arin covered both her cheeks as I called her name and then murmured, getting straight to the point.
“It was explained in a book I read that the hatching artifact worked when there was a switch that emitted mana, or when a large amount of mana was injected into a mana stone. If the wavelength is correct, the egg resonates.”
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Ahh, why didn’t I think of that?’
The aura used by swordsmen is also based on an energy source that is eventually called mana.
I kept forgetting that I had to use mana because of the memories of my previous life.
In the novel, the holy beast egg must have reacted when Diera infused the sword he received as a gift with energy.
“Is it possible to infuse mana into this?”
Arin, who had been touching the bizarrely shaped iron sword I had pulled out, opened her mouth with a sorrowful expression.
“I’m sorry, but the only people who can inject mana into such a solid sword are knights with a strong aura. Though I can make sure the surface of the sword doesn’t rust.”
‘It’s a tricky magic tool. There aren’t many knights who can use energy.’
The knights here trained to build their core energy, or in other words, their aura. And when they were able to draw this aura at will, they could officially become a knight.
However, releasing the aura as clear energy and putting it on a sword required innate talent, like a wizard.
‘I need a sword expert like Diera to hatch the holy beast.’
The number of people who could use this is limited, this sword must have wandered around, rusty, and ended up in the suspicious auction house.
It was left unused like the holy beast fossil that Diera kept for 17 years.
‘I think I’ve finally found the real answer.’
***
Once I became aware of the principle, the problem was quickly solved.
I asked my father to lend me a sword expert from the Seymour Knights for a while.
As the knight infused the sword with energy, a strange geometric pattern appeared on the back of the sword, and an unpleasant feeling bloomed and stopped.
Soon, the white holy beast egg in my hand vibrated slightly, as if it were resonating with some strange wavelength.
‘I succeeded. I woke up the holy beast!’
I quickly shoved the egg into my pocket and pretended nothing had happened.
Fortunately, everyone was focusing on the sword as the pattern appeared and disappeared, so they weren’t interested in the item I was holding.
‘It would be troublesome if other people recognized the shape of a holy beast egg.’
Though it doesn’t matter after the turtle comes out.
“Deborah, where on earth did you get this mysterious sword? I just felt a unique mana wavelength.”
Duke Seymour retrieved the sword from the knight, then looked at the object with a serious face and touched it with his hand.
I just felt a little unwell when the mana was released, but the Duke, who had the top 0.01% mana sensitivity, seemed to feel that the sword was unusual.
“I won it at that unusual auction house from where I bought the book of the 6th head of the family.”
“You’re really lucky. As I see it, this sword seems to be an ancient artifact. I need to find out more about its uses.”
‘I have already used it. Father.’
My conscience hurt once again because lying was a routine.
But one day, another holy beast egg might appear that responds to that artifact.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to hand it down as a family treasure.
At Duke Seymour’s explanation, astonishment flashed on the knight’s face.
“Oh my! What a precious ancient artifact! Duke Seymour. I sincerely congratulate you. The Princess is amazing, too.”
“It’s because Father is full of virtue and good fortune.”
“Look, my daughter is intelligent, thinks of me, and she’s even lucky. Last time she brought me a family heirloom. Do you know what it was? Haha! It was the autobiography of Bellemont.”
“I didn’t know the Princess would think of Seymour like this!”
After receiving sudden compliments from them, I returned to my room.
Then, I pulled out the holy beast egg, which began to glow brightly, from my pocket.
“Your name is Purple.”
Turtle. Purple. Surprisingly, it rhymed.
Besides, purple meant the color purple.
For some reason, it felt like it was coming together like a formula. I put the holy beast egg on top of a feathery pillow, admiring my own brilliant naming sense.
‘Hatch quickly.’
Holy beasts were quite strong because they were a mix of animal and spirit. I heard that holy beasts with high potential can be as strong as a mid-level spirit.
‘I’ll give you a lot of meat side dishes. Unlike Mia, I’m rich.’
Hoping that the holy beast would grow and be strong, I watched the egg for a long time with a gleaming, expectant face.
***
“Ophelia. That person trusted you and entrusted you with the most important task, but you didn’t do anything right.”
A dreary, husky voice echoed through the dark cave.
Ophelia was on her knees in the middle of the foundation, which was darkened with bloodstains.
She was frightened and sweating, thinking that she might soon disappear from this place too.
“That person seemed disappointed in you.”
“Ugh, ugh.”
Ophelia’s face turned pale as a large tarantula crawled over her fingers that were touching the floor.
In front of the foundation, at the sleeve of the wide robes of a man sitting on the chair on the left, a small black spider peeked its head and went back inside.
“I-I apologize. I sincerely apologize.”
Although it was a horrible sight, that person punishing her was even more frightening. Ophelia trembled like an aspen and swallowed dry many times.
“Why is Mia so lacking in presence? She went to the academy but lost the spot of top student.”
“Still, she is highly regarded in the s-shrine.”
“Is she highly regarded by one or two priests at the shrine? They should treat her like a saint, and not like that. I don’t think you were spared all the support. I can’t even count how much holy blood we have used.”
“The supply and demand for holy blood in the east is not very good. Keep in mind that resources are not infinite.”
The man sitting next to the spider-raising monster added in an annoyed voice.
Ophelia was intimidated by their ensuing interrogation and spoke in a barely audible voice.
“Well, i-it seems to me that… the reason Mia is not doing as well as expected, is perhaps because of Deborah Seymour.”
