Chapter 27: The First Princess’s Encounter
An old man sat on a splendidly decorated golden throne, his posture hunched, complexion pale, and frame resembling a scarecrow – thin, frail, and lifeless. His eyes were sunken, showing no spark of vitality. The old man seemed to be gripped by an overwhelming anxiety, his hands trembling frequently, flinching at even the slightest whoosh of wind.
This fragile figure, resembling a straw man ready to be whisked away, was indeed the pinnacle of the Empire.
With a mere hand gesture, he could command countless individuals, and with just a single cough, he could send a high-ranking noble’s head rolling. His position offered limitless wealth and power. So, why did he appear so miserable?
What on earth could he be worrying about? What torments him?
The First Princess, Elaine, who had just turned ten that year, pondered these questions while meeting her father for the first time. The sight of the old man seated on the throne looked more like a slave than that of an emperor.
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The Emperor hadn’t even shown his face at the birth of his own children. The royal offspring were shuttled off to nannies and servants, separated from their mothers. They only learned about the concept of parents through words. The term “Father the Emperor” felt like a distant fairy tale.
Whenever they grew attached to a nanny, poof! She was replaced with another. The same went for the servants. The Imperial Descendants were strictly forbidden from forming any close bonds with anyone.
Even if they pleaded, “Please don’t take her away!” the rules remained unyielding. Affection would always lead to heartbreak. Eventually, they learned to close their hearts to their caretakers.
The only exception? Their own siblings.
And so, First Princess Elaine cherished her two half-brothers dearly. In a world where everyone around them changed like seasons, family was the sole constant.
But one day, the Emperor summoned his four offspring to the court.
A grand hall, with a rich red silk path leading to the golden throne. Countless knights stood guard, swords drawn, while a boy knight stood next to the Emperor, hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
It felt like the setting for a movie about torturing criminals. The First Princess was only ten, and the Second and Third Princes were seven and six, respectively. The level of vigilance seemed overly dramatic for kids who couldn’t even swing a stick properly.
The old Emperor calmly gazed at his kneeling kin.
The Second Prince, Irid, sensed fear in the Emperor’s eyes. Was the Emperor truly afraid of them?
Irid thought, Is stepping down from that golden throne so terrifying? To even feel fear toward his own blood? Is power really that intoxicating?
Irid’s stomach churned with terror. The Emperor, who held so much, was fearful and cautious of others. If that’s the case, wouldn’t everyone else be even more fearful? The nannies, the servants, and perhaps even his dear sister and little brother might one day guard themselves against him too…
Thus, he became consumed by paranoia.
Meanwhile, the Third Prince, Sledo, noticed a tender concern in the Emperor’s gaze. The Emperor was worried about them.
Sledo pondered, Maybe there’s a reason he’s taken so much from us, swapped our beloved servants, and never shown his face. Perhaps there are enemies lurking around, eyeing the Imperial Family.
Sledo resolved to grow stronger. If even the Emperor, with all that he possessed, was cautious of something, then that threat must be significant. He needed to become superhuman enough to overcome any obstacle, so those he cared about wouldn’t be taken from him.
And so, his obsession with training took root.
First Princess Elaine felt a whirlpool of emotions emanating from the Emperor’s eyes—far too complicated to simplify into a single term. It was sometimes caution, other times sorrow; occasionally worry, and often love intertwined with an air of futility.
She couldn’t comprehend it. No matter how clever the First Princess was, she couldn’t grasp why the Emperor would go mad. She couldn’t discern which of the emotions flickering in his gaze were genuine.
Nevertheless, Elaine etched that gaze into her memory deeply.
As the meeting concluded, the frail Emperor left his children with a parting bit of wisdom.
“Survive… Our bloodline must continue.”
A cryptic message indeed.
After that, First Princess Elaine blossomed rapidly. She shared affection with her brothers and never slacked on her training. She dispelled ignorance and crushed enemies. And now, she found herself regarded as a leading contender for the throne. The golden throne was within arm’s reach.
Although she still couldn’t make sense of the Emperor’s words and actions…
“Irid, my little brother.”
“…Sister.”
“That wizard claimed it wasn’t dimensional travel magic; instead, he said it was illusion magic. By the way, do you believe everything you experienced was real?”
Irid remained silent for an extended period. After a bout of deep thinking, he finally replied.
“I’ve chosen to believe it. Even if it was a trick of that wizard from start to finish—my love for her doesn’t change.”
“Then… I truly hope it was real. I can’t bear to see my baby brother cry, you see.”
“That’s my line! You’re going to go off dimensional traveling, right? After everything’s said and done, don’t come back crying and clinging to me.”
With that sharp retort, Irid strode away. The First Princess watched his back and was reminded of their singular meeting with the Emperor long ago.
When she asked Irid if everything that transpired was false. Right after that moment…
The turmoil in her little brother’s eyes shimmered with a hue strikingly similar to that of the old Emperor’s gaze—like the color of a shackled slave.
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“I will now demonstrate illusion magic, Your Highness.”
“Very well. Go ahead.”
“Everything is fiction. It bears no relation to real events; it is merely a product of imagination.”
“I understand.”
“In four hours of real time, I will call for Your Highness again. I’ll leave a mark on your wrist, so you can track the time to return.”
The First Princess nodded quietly and lay down on the magic circle. If asked how she felt, she might well admit to being more skeptical than not. Could this really be anything other than a cleverly crafted illusion by the wizard, just as he claimed?
And so…
This was a test.
In her letter, she had written, “I enjoy combat.” The image of her busting heads of monsters on the Eastern Battlefront would surely escalate her credibility. The wizard would likely believe it.
If all this was merely an illusion conjured by the wizard, then he would show her an illusion full of battles. In that case, she would just break out of the illusion and… BOOM!
Not in a literal sense of smashing him to bits. After all, engaging the Purple Magic Tower Master was tantamount to signing her own death warrant. The First Princess had succeeded in Metamorphosis but hadn’t ventured into Sublimation yet. To engage in combat and overcome the realm differences, she would’ve needed to snag the Holy Sword from the Imperial treasury.
Instead, she planned to metaphorically “break” him. She would leverage the charge of defamation against the Imperial Family as a pretext for negotiation, using the Purple Magic Tower’s backing to solidify her claim to the throne.
Even if it turned out to be actual dimensional magic, there was nothing to lose.
After his experience, Irid had transformed into a completely different person. It seemed he had overcome the trauma from their meeting with the Emperor. He began to trust others more and acted with increased passion—a heartening change.
If it was indeed dimensional magic that bestows Tests of Destiny, as Irid suggested…it could serve as a path for her growth. If overcoming these trials could point her toward Sublimation, she couldn’t have asked for more. Failure was simply not up for consideration.
The magic activated. The TRPG had begun.
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A sprawling wasteland.
An ash-gray expanse stretched infinitely toward the horizon. Winds carrying fine dust scraped against her skin. The sky appeared drab, as if veiled by a dark filter. Occasionally, colossal monsters soared overhead.
First Princess Elaine climbed atop a towering rock to survey her surroundings.
She noticed bizarre monstrosities roaming the land—creatures that were a grotesque mix of different animals. At a glance, they seemed like inhabitants of the Demon Realm, but they weren’t very strong. At most, they were comparable to ogres.
Elaine had once taken a blow from an ogre’s club and knocked it out with a single punch to the gut.
The monsters she had encountered thus far had all met similar fates.
The winds blowing in, the damp stench, the peculiar slimy feeling left behind by the monsters she dispatched, and the coarse texture of the earth underfoot—all felt far too vivid to dismiss as mere illusion.
Following her request in the letter, it had solely been a continuous series of battles until now. naturally, suspicions sprouted. Elaine began weighting more toward the notion that this world was indeed all an illusion.
Would she spend the entire duration just hunting monsters until her time was up?
If that was the case, she’d at least prefer it be the type of high-stakes duel that keeps the adrenaline pumping.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she spotted a human figure in the distance. Focusing her mana, First Princess Elaine took a closer glance. It was a boy, roughly 160cm tall. He wore goggles, possibly to guard against the gusts of dust.
With blond hair and green eyes, he looked adorable, but his expression and gaze radiated serious determination. And there was a perfectly placed beauty mark right in the most suitable spot.
“Oh my?”
His appearance was quite to her liking.
For a fleeting moment, the First Princess wished this world was indeed real.
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