News that the First Princes of the Welshmar Republic had awoken from her coma and was recovering at the Royal Hospital spread through the capital city and surrounding kingdoms like wildfire.

Months ago, when the ancient teleportation array had burst to life in the city square, the First Princess was the centre of attention for commoner and noble alike. No one since the founding of the country, back before it was a republic, had anyone used the array, however, an armed contingent of twenty special forces had suddenly exploded forth like beserkers and escorted the gravely wounded princess to the hospital, throwing anyone or anything that had got in their way to the side like a sack of potatoes.

The city had turned into an uproar, wild speculation and emotions running rampant until the local security forces had been mobilised and reassured everyone.

Since then, things had somewhat calmed down. However, it was still a common topic amongst the population, especially since the Palace hadn't confirmed or denied that the princess had been rescued or even if she was still alive.

Not that the public needed confirmation, the fact that the royal guard had locked down two blocks around the hospital, gem realm masters in power amour screening anyone who entered or left, was more than enough proof for most.

Before her return, the kingdom had all but given up hope on the First Princes, only believing that a miracle would return her to them.

It was well known that no one had ever escaped the mysterious organisation that was terrorising the four continents, but also that the council had refused the ransom, saying that giving away the military might of three hundred soul crystals for a single person, if she was the next successor to the throne, would lead the country to ruin.

But a miracle they apparently got. It seemed that not only had the princess escaped by herself, but she had also killed her own captors before the rescue team arrived and, in her confused state, made fools of the highly trained warriors as they tried to restrain her. Most didn't really believe this, thinking it a baseless claim or propaganda to bolster the kingdom's image but the fact that the princess returned without losing their summoning power was well received nonetheless.

As such, they expected some sort of reprisal if she indeed had escaped, killed their men, or been rescued, making the heavy military presence almost a given.

With interested rekindled, rumours once again exploded, strangely accurate, about the condition of the princess's body when the rescue team arrived, as well as the torment she had suffered during captivity. Now that she was awake, everyone wanted to know what had really happened as well as how bad the political fallout would be.

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There were even rumours that she had formed her cultivator's core, but this was seen as an outrageous claim and forgotten almost as fast as it appeared.

The biggest question that was on everyone's mind, the one they didn't dare utter out loud in public for fear of being heard by a royalist, was that the First Princess, first in line to the throne, had not only been raped but was now infertile, severing her bloodline.

No one knew who started this rumour, but the more people thought about it, the more they feared it to be true. While it wouldn't be the end of the royal family, it had far-reaching implications that could result in instability, something everyone feared in this dog eat dog world.

For a hereditary republic monarchy, the concept of someone ascending the throne who could not bear children was not only ridiculous but extremely dangerous. Everyone held their breaths, wanting to know what would happen next.

While the rumours continued to get more and more outrageous, the person at the centre of the controversy, Nyx, was sitting in a room on the highest floor of the Royal Hospital with a deadpan expression as five doctors stood awkwardly at the foot of her bed, seemingly scared of getting too close.

A thin, silver chain was clasped to her wrist, leading to the side of her bed where a female guard, wearing standard issue, leather armour, was sitting on a chair.

While she could have once been called beautiful, if a little manly, the jagged, scar that ran from the top of the guard's right eyebrow to her chin gave her an intimidating, unapproachable look.

"Come on Nyx, don't be like that. If you are going to fall for something so stupid, then you can only blame yourself," said the woman as she chuckled, watching the princess out the corner of her eye. As she knew that no matter what they did, not only would the doctors be ignored, if they got too close, Nyx would take flight, she also ignored them and continued to build a friendly relationship with the estranged princess.

The guard also didn't want the doctors to become impatient again and decided to try and force or corner Nyx. If they cornered her, the princess would turn into something that could only be described as a monster. It was only by pure luck, and all the medical staff being high levelled cultivators who knew how to look after themselves, that someone hadn't been killed during these moments.

Her quick and violent temper was also partially the reason for the many light stones illuminating not only the room but the entire floor in a bright, unnatural light. This was because bright light seemed to negate, to a certain extent, the stifling, eerie aura that seemed to wrap around Nyx when there wasn't much light as well as calm her down. However, even though this was the excuse, the main factor was because she really did change into a monster when covered in darkness.

Her form seemed to become hazy, Nyx's entire body seemingly melding with the darkness around her and as long as she wasn't wearing anything too heavy, she could almost float like smoke.

That issue was something that the doctors and experts didn't want to talk about, blaming Nyx's body's absurdly high affinity, and declaring that she was lucky to have created her core when she did, or she really would have become an inhuman monster or dispersed into elemental energy.