A few of them let out a sigh of relief since they completed just in time, while some had to rush the process since they spent too much time thinking. And as for the others, they were unsure whether the pill they concocted was the right one.
The head alchemist then looked up at where Yuria was sitting and bowed as he said, "Your Highness, please."
Yuria knew that the head alchemist was asking her to come down and pass out her remarks on the pills the participants had concocted and choose the winners.
She let out a low sigh as she got up and came down, making the participants nervous and excited, seeing that they are going to be evaluated by her personally.
Yuria decided to evaluate just like how the rules were stated and pick the one she liked the most, thinking that would be fair as well.
"Everyone, please stand in an ordered line. Her Highness will be evaluating the pills you all concocted herself," The head alchemist said as he gestured to them to stand in a line.
Most of them eagerly formed a line quickly, including Kale, while Maximus waited for the eager ones to get in line before walking towards the back of the line, followed by Damien.
The head alchemist was standing near Yuria to assist her, and right when the first participant stepped forward, he couldn't contain the excitement on his face seeing the princess so close and eagerly extended his hand to give his pill to her.
However, his smile stifled when the head alchemist took the pill from his hand and passed it over to Yuria.
Yuria inspected the light brown pill and even smelled it before asking in a soft voice, "Is this a Rank 5 Sustenance Pill?"
The man who was around Kale's age eagerly nodded as he said, "Yes. I thought that since Your Highness is not only beautiful but very talented and a genius, you might need to cultivate for a longer time, and this pill could help you get rid of any worries about having food or even the feeling of hunger."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Yuria didn't know whether this should be really useful for her considering how sustenance pills lose their value as a person's cultivation increases since they can do without food and water for a longer time, especially for someone with her cultivation.
She also definitely does not cultivate for too long at a stretch since she did not enjoy that idea.
Still, she said in an elegant tone, "Thank you. I appreciate the thought." And then she handed over the pill to the head alchemist, saying, "I will evaluate at the end only. Please keep this aside for now."
The head alchemist nodded and took the pill from her and ordered a servant to bring twenty small glass containers to place the pills and mark them.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" The man happily bowed, thinking that he might have a chance, and left the queue to stand in the waiting area.
However, the audience was not impressed that the participant offered an ordinary pill to the princess as they expected something more impressive.
Yuria began to evaluate them one by one, but none really caught her eye so far though she didn't blame them since the rules were totally ambiguous, and nor did they really know her.
So she decided to pick the best among these twenty, even if she happened to like none of them.
Most of them were cultivation pills since they were the type that was one of the most valued among other pills in the cultivation world.
It was Kale's turn when he stepped forward with his best smile, and seeing Yuria's beautiful countenance hidden by her veil only made her look even more mystically beautiful like a goddess.
The audience became fired up seeing Kale Gale, the eldest prince of their own Gale Empire as they talked among each other,
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"He looks quite confident."
"Maybe our prince has a good chance of winning this."
"He is handsome and powerful. Why would Her Highness not consider him? Let's see what pill he concocted."
He happily handed out a green pill, and after Yuria inspected it, she asked with one of her eyebrows raised, "Is this a pill to make me look younger?"
Yuria had seen a lot of pills like this where aged women would use them to make themselves look younger but would not provide the beautifying effect Damien's beauty pills do. In fact, his was a far superior version to what was already available in the world, and Damien used them as an example to better his own pills.
Kale nodded and keenly explained, "I heard that women who stay inside their homes or palaces for too long tend to look a bit tired and weary. So I thought this could help you out."
'Are you kidding me? I am already young. Are you trying to make me look like a child?' Yuria inwardly questioned, but on the outside, she knew she couldn't remotely insult or make him feel humiliated since he was the Gale Empire's eldest prince.
So she said with a smile, "Thank you for the thought." And then passed the pill over to the head alchemist who gave a subtle glare towards Kale but nothing noticeable.
He was angry that Kale made Yuria appear older by giving her his pill.
'That's it?' Kale was disappointed that he only got a single line from her after all the time he took to come up with this idea.
He inwardly shook his head as he left the queue while some of the audience praised him for being 'thoughtful'. But most were stifling their laughter because they couldn't imagine what Kale was thinking to give such a pill to the most beautiful woman in the Gale Empire, who was at a perfect young age of 18.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Kale believed the idea that most or all women were concerned about their beauty, so he couldn't think of a better idea in such a short time.
Soon, it was Maximus' turn, and as he stepped forward, Yuria couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
