BXBX NOVEL Chapter 296
‘I seriously have no clue.’
But I did know that feeling. I held the diary in one hand.
“Help me once more. Soricks, Meta.”
“Yes!”
Nodding, Soricks stood beside me. And before I realised it, Meta was standing before me too.
Staring at him, his figure turned to someone else. Black hair fluttered before my eyes in my mirage.
“Concentrate.”
The golden eyes of my apparition curled.
“You only need to relax slightly. Just a slight tap.”
At that moment. Panting, Meta sank to the ground.
“Cough!”
“Meta!”
I immediately closed my eyes. The burning sensation behind my eyes disappeared.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes… choke. Other than the fact that I got so hot that I almost saw myself entering Jupinel’s heaven.”
Meta said as he laid on the ground, catching his breath.
“Seeing as he can still speak so well, he seems fine, princess.”
Soricks murmured after clicking his tongue. But he did look worried.
“Princess. The Power of the Lords allows you to rule over all templars. In other words, you can command templars to do your bidding. But as you’ve just seen, if you overdo it, you might assert too much pressure on their hearts.”
He glanced at me with concern.
“You were just about to command me earlier, weren’t you? You’d have to use a little less power next time.”
“Right. It’ll be hard to do.”
“Yes. It won’t be easy. It’d be best if you don’t reveal your powers until you have complete control over it.”
Until this point, my awakening had been kept under wraps. Because of the current chaos.
“Princess, you might be killed if you reveal yourself.”
“By whom?”
“We are referring to His Majesty, the emperor. I heard from Granius how the emperor sacrifices female templar candidates to the Empire’s crystal. In fact, he emphasised the fact”
“You’ll only become a target.”
That was how I was encouraged to keep my awakening a secret.
“They’re trying to keep word from spreading but to suppress the coup, His Majesty has consumed a lot of his divinity as a result. His exhaustion only worsened his condition.”
Ironically, as a result of suppressing the coup, the emperor’s condition had gotten worse. The coup had left fatal scars on both the emperor and the rebels.
“Divinity is something that’s hard to control.”
“But you’ll soon find it as natural as another part of your body.”
At his words, I looked down at the diary. Funnily enough, without it, I wouldn’t have been able to control my divinity as well as I was now.
Now that I thought about it, I was reminded of Granius’ words. The emperor suppressed the coup and his conditions worsened as a result.
“Right, about that artefact the emperor wields. What exactly is it”
“You must be referring to the {Crown of the Lord] and the [Ring of Oath].”
Because of the emperor’s collapse, my Coming-of-Age Ceremony had been postponed indefinitely. Even though it had almost been a year since I became an adult. Moreover, according to the novel, I mean, the previous timelines, the moment Castor ascended the throne was fast approaching.
‘Originally, it occurred soon after Julians’ coup.’
Soricks sat down beside me.
“The [Crown of the Lord] is a crown made out of golden laurels. It was the Lord of the Gods’ first artefact and is also known as the [Crown of the Emperor]. The [Ring of Oath] was a gift presented to the First Emperor.”
Soricks explained gently.
“Both artefacts symbolise the promise made between god and man.”
“Promise?”
“Yes. The promise that the gods will continue to exist for the people of this land. The promise the Lord of the Gods made to the First Emperor to be exact.”
Meta, who was sitting next to him, was making a legible drawing of the ring and the crown on the ground with a twig.
“These artefacts, just like the stage set for the [Primo Salvatio] , provide an explosive boost to the possessor’s divinity. It is also said that they allow one to talk to the gods… But it cannot be confirmed.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because the artefacts can only be used by the emperor.”
“I see.”
“The only time someone who isn’t the emperor is allowed to wear those artefacts is during the Succession Ceremony. When the living emperor hands his seat to his heir, the said heir is allowed to wear them.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
With a grim expression on his face, Soricks continued.
“But it is strange. Those two artefacts were said to have lost their powers a few generations ago. And it wasn’t just a rumour, it was actually mentioned on the records.”
“So, you’re saying Father had found a way around it? Perhaps that’s how he’s using them.”
“Could that be so…”
Soricks scratched his chin. He still looked doubtful.
“In any case, you should get used to manipulating divinity as soon as you can, princess.”
“Alright.”
And that marked the end of the class. I donned the hood I had brought beforehand by grabbing the bracelet around my wrist. I pulled on its charm three times before a green light swirled around me.
After the light dissipated, my clothes flapped about me. I looked up at Soricks.
“It’d be better not to tell anyone I’m an Heir until I get more used to my powers, right? So, it’ll be nice if everyone remains the same around me.”
“Yes. That’s why I’m so grateful that you have the 4th Prince.”
This was just like the time Amor gave me a drug to turn me to ‘Ahn’. Amor had given me the drugs through a bracelet so that I could use it whenever I needed it.
‘The one who made this for me, Amor I mean, has yet to see me after I awakened.’
The surveillance around me had tightened. Because of that, Amor was even forced to hand me this bracelet through someone else.
I was safe whenever I was around the patrols because Soricks and Meta were superb at protecting me but as soon as I left their side, I could feel countless gazes on me.
“Princess, will you be alright?”
“It’d be fine. I’m just running errands today. I need to reach my carriage soon.”
I assured them before walking out into the hallway. Perhaps because I had become a templar, I could sense a strange feeling following me from behind.
‘Today too?’
As I mentioned before, I could feel eyes on me. One of those eyes should be the Wheel of Rome, or should I say the emperor’s shadows.
“Hello, princess.”
As soon as I entered the hallway, I met someone I would have rather avoided. Deros, the current Chief of the Shadows.
“How are you doing today?”
He curled his dusk-coloured eyes as if he was attempting to seduce me. He was someone who left a good impression on me if I were to just judge him based on his looks.
“Is it alright for a princess as precious as yourself to walk around alone?”
He pointed out the fact that I was walking around without an escort and dug deep.
“That’s none of your business.
In any case, people would come running as soon as I screamed. The patrols would be one of the people coming to my aid. I smirked.
“If you really think I was that precious, you would have said that in a different tone, wouldn’t you have?”
It didn’t matter if he was so brilliant as an assassin to kill me on the spot.
“Or do you have the confidence to kill me in the blink of an eye?”
Deros grimaced slightly. But he soon flashed a smile.
“Ah. Princess, you look like someone I loathe to the point I find them unpleasant.”
“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that. I don’t like your resemblance to Dane either.”
Seeing him inevitably reminded me of Dane. But now those brilliant eyes had lost their colour.
The man in front of me was the one responsible for Dane’s suffering.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve asked this but princess, where did my cousin disappear to? Where did you take him?”
“And I don’t know how many times I have to answer you. I don’t know. Why do you keep thinking I know where he’s gone?”
Deros glowered at me with intensity.
“You let my cousin slip from my hands and took him away from me.”
He flashed a cold sneer. At the same time, his smile gave off an eerie sensation.
“That child is the hope of Rome. And you dare trample upon it. I’d like to remind you of Rome’s persistence, we will bring vengeance and will not stop till you fall.”
Deros lowered his head before whispering.
“This won’t turn out well for you, princess, is what I’m trying to say.”
He reached out to me slowly. As I stared at him from a distance, a strong grip had found itself around my neck.
“Princess. Do you not fear death? You can’t possibly expect the templars to be protecting you 24 hours in a day. They will slip and we, assassins, are experienced at digging into gaps.”
He whispered like a snake.