Golden patterns were carved across the box surface while faint mana fluctuations leaked from within.
The mont Michael saw the box, his eyes shifted briefly to the ring on the princess's finger before returning to the box.
Upon seeing it, his mood improved slightly.
As expected.
What kind of person would personally co and apologize for sothing this serious without bringing compensation?
At least the royal family understood basic etiquette.
Michael maintained a calm expression outwardly. Princess Priscilla slowly pushed the box forward.
"This should contain enough sincerity from ."
Michael did not imdiately open it.
Instead, his gaze briefly swept over the box before returning to the princess.
"From you? Not the royal family?"
"Though he is the Tenth Prince, not every action of a royal mber is a representation of the royal family's interests. I am here today as an aunt on behalf of her nephew."
Michael did not reply but understood what Princess Priscilla was implying. She was trying to separate Michael's grievance from a matter of royal family fault down to a much smaller and more personal one. That the royal family was not at fault. It was only the Tenth Prince.
"The royal family truly did not expect the Tenth Prince to speak so carelessly in front of the imperial delegation."
"And Count Hallen's actions afterward were equally unexpected." Princess Priscilla continued.
At the ntion of Count Hallen, Michael's eyes narrowed faintly.
Truthfully speaking, the prince's actions did not anger him too much. He had known the boy was impulsive and stupid from the start, so he was far more annoyed than angered. Of course this could also have sothing to do with his growing power. If he had only been a Rank 2 awakener, Michael would have been thinking of how to remove himself from the empire's reach before he found himself waking up in another region of the Land of Origin entirely.
But Count Hallen was different.
That old fox had issues with him already, but he hadn't expected sothing like this.
This was plainly using the blade of another to cut one's enemy.
Michael lightly tapped a finger against the desk before finally nodding slowly.
"For Princess Priscilla's sake, I'll consider this matter settled to a certain extent."
Arianne visibly relaxed slightly after hearing that. For most of the eting she had felt like a mascot of so sort, but it wasn't her fault. At this level of conversation there was little she could contribute. She was also a little intimidated by both sides and had decided to keep quiet.
However, before either of the two won could fully ease their nerves, Michael calmly continued,
"But please do not expect that I will simply pretend none of this happened."
Princess Priscilla sighed inwardly.
As expected.
Even calm people would be very angry at an attempt on their life, so soone like Michael was probably not the type to quietly swallow such a matter.
Michael's eyes remained calm.
"Debts should naturally be repaid. Favors as well."
The aning behind his words was obvious.
The Tenth Prince had gifted him trouble.
Eventually, Michael would return the favor.
Princess Priscilla rubbed lightly at her forehead.
"Please take it easy on him."
Though her tone remained calm, there was faint helplessness hidden within it.
"It is only natural for fools to learn lessons."
The more Princess Priscilla thought about her nephew, the angrier she beca internally.
If not for the fact that the Tenth Prince was the family genius, she genuinely would not have bothered traveling personally to apologize.
In fact, she would have slapped the boy half to death.
Did that idiot truly think this matter only involved Michael?
Michael had entered the secret realm under the Lionheart Kingdom's banner.
At least publicly, he was still one of the kingdom's nobles and representatives.
If the empire truly decided Michael was suspicious, then the Lionheart Kingdom would naturally beco suspicious as well.
Yet despite all this, that fool had still allowed himself to be led around by Count Hallen's words during the banquet.
Princess Priscilla knew very well that the Tenth Prince was arrogant and impulsive, but arrogance was not an excuse for stupidity.
Especially not political stupidity.
And Count Hallen…
Thinking about that old fox caused coldness to flash through her eyes.
The count had clearly used the prince's loose tongue to subtly direct imperial suspicion toward Michael.
Whether it was for revenge, testing, or so hidden motive, none of it mattered.
The dangerous part was the aftermath.
Even if Michael was bluffing, after his confrontation with the empire the stronger side would eventually turn its attention toward the Lionheart Kingdom.
After saying what he had to say to the princess, only then did Michael finally reach out toward the carefully decorated box.
The mont his fingers touched the lid, he imdiately sensed that the box itself was not ordinary. This much was obvious from its appearance alone.
Several concealnt arrays were layered within its structure, isolating whatever was inside from leaking its aura outward, though it wasn't doing an especially great job of that since the thing within, though not fully revealed, still leaked traces of its aura regardless.
Interesting, Michael thought.
Michael calmly lifted the lid.
The instant the box opened fully, a faint golden glow spilled into the office.
Inside the box rested a fist-sized golden stone.
The surface of the stone was rough and ancient-looking, almost like crystallized amber. Faint crimson-gold lines flowed beneath its surface like living veins while a heavy pressure quietly leaked from within.
The pressure was not especially overwhelming.
However—
Michael's eyes narrowed almost instantly.
Because the mont he sensed the aura within the stone, an extrely familiar feeling appeared inside him.
Dragon aura.
No.
More accurately—
Bloodline aura.
Michael's expression finally changed slightly for the first ti since the eting began.
His gaze remained fixed on the golden stone.
The aura inside it was extrely faint compared to Shojo's pool, but there was no doubt about its nature.
This thing definitely contained dragon bloodline power.
Michael turned to look at Princess Priscilla for an explanation.
Princess Priscilla noticed the slight change in Michael's expression and imdiately understood that he had sensed sothing unusual from the stone.
For the first ti since entering the room, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"This stone," she began slowly, "is a fragnt taken from the core of one of the kingdom's greatest treasures."
Michael listened quietly.
"The Dragon Transformation Pool."
The mont those words entered his ears, Michael's eyelids twitched faintly.
Dragon Transformation Pool.
Almost instantly, a mory surfaced within his mind.
It was shortly after he had killed Jester's monster form the previous year.
At that ti, after selling many spoils and materials to the kingdom, the royal family had offered him several rewards to choose from.
One among them had been an opportunity to enter the Dragon Transformation Pool.
Back then, Michael had rejected it because he did not want deeper ties with the royal family.
After all, free things from powerful factions were rarely truly free.
Yet now, after all this ti, a treasure connected to that sa pool had sohow circled back into his hands anyway.
Life truly was strange sotis.
User Comments
0 comments from readers