She glided across the floor with light and almost soundless steps. She had elegant comportment and her demeanor was gentle. The golden horns on her forehead weren’t scary in the least, instead looking very beautiful with the intricate engravings that became more obvious the closer she got and when light shone on the gold horns that tipped each white wing, it caused a halo to form just above her head, making her look like an angel.
Unlike the other women, she didn’t have a maid and she walked forward alone with a small wooden box that wasn’t even wrapped nor had a bow on it resting in the palm of her hand.
“This lowly princess greets Your Highness, may you reach the point of radiance.”
Like the fine tinkling of a crystal bell, her voice was clear and crisp, sounding very pleasing to the ear.
“This princess has no fortune to speak of and can only gift the prince something of mine that I have treasured for a long time.” She looked over nervously at Hannah. “I hope not to offend.”
“Princess Adelyn is too polite.” Hannah smiled comfortingly in response. “Please.”
Like she had been granted amnesty, Princess Adelyn gave a relieved sigh then came forward to open the box in her palm.
Inside the crude and unassuming wooden box was an even more unassuming ring made from white feathers, wooden beads and some sort of black thread. Watching it, it looked quite odd but the light blue veins on the feathers were also very pretty.
“We have a custom in my tribe where when a woman is pregnant, she will weave a ring out of the feathers from her wings with beads made from lightwood and the tendons of a magic beast. That ring would then be blessed with a spell of protection and when the child is born, it would be worn on their wrist as a charm for luck.”
She took the small ring out of the box, placing it in the middle of her palm then she lightly tossed it into the air. As it rose up, a soft blue light suddenly emitted from the ring as is gradually grew in size at a speed visible to the naked eye until it was large enough to be placed on a person’s head as a crown.
Murmuring and sounds of wonder sounded in the room as the ring landed back in Princess Adelyn’s hands in its new size and as she caressed it with her fingers, her eyes showed a complex look.
“This ring was made for me by my mother; however I was fortunate and lived a life without knowing hardship so the charm placed on it has never been used. My hope in giving this gift is that Your Highness lives a life free of illness and pain and that the spirit of your mother will always linger near your side.”
With such touching words, she leant forward and held his small left hand while holding the wide ring in the other and as the ring was placed around his wrist it once again glowed before shrinking rapidly to fit the baby sized wrist.
Seeing the bracelet clasped around the small hand, the odd, stuffy feeling that had been brewing in chest since having that dream the previous night instantly disappeared and Adelyn knew that she had made the correct choice.
She was about to raise up when all of a sudden, she felt a something tug on her head and Adelyn almost screamed and struggled on reflex at the distinct feeling of having her horns touched when she next heard Hannah gasp and say, “Stop it, Your Highness! It is improper to touch a Horned Eagle beastman’s horns.”
Eh? Was it really? But, they’re so pretty and even though they look like they would feel rough with this much carvings on them, they were actually cool and smooth. Couldn’t he touch them just a bit more?
Feeling as though he was being bullied, he turned a sad look up at Hannah but she was firm.
“Even if you think that they’re pretty, what’s wrong it wrong. Now, please release Princess Adelyn.”
Some of the people in the room laughed seeing Hannah seriously scolding a one month old. Did she really expect him to listen? But in the next moment they could no longer laugh because the prince truly released Princess Adelyn’s horn even though he had a look like he would cry at any minute as he continued to stare at them from where he was.
It was such an adorable look, the women in the room felt their hearts melting. Even Adelyn whose face was slightly red in embarrassment felt guilty seeing him like that. Hannah was the only one without a heart.
“Even if you cry, what you did was wrong. Now apologize to Princess Adelyn.”
Now everyone thought that Hannah was taking it too far. How could she expect such a thing from a baby? They were all mothers and couldn’t tolerate it and some of them were getting ready to speak out when beyond all of their expectations; the child that was hardly large enough to fill a person’s arm looked up at Princess Adelyn and said, “Wee.”
Although he said he was sorry, in his mind he was still lamenting that Hannah was too stingy to not let him touch those horns for just a little while longer. He couldn’t hurt them and even Princess Adelyn herself hadn’t said anything so why did she have to complain?
Lost in his own thoughts, he was unaware that his simple act of apologizing which was something he had done often with Hannah in the past month had shocked the other people in the room silly.
It couldn’t be that at only a month old the twelfth prince could already understand speech, right? Something like that would be really too much of a miracle. But thinking of miracles, they couldn’t help but remember exactly whose child this prince was and gradually calming their shock, their expressions instead became ones of admiration. As expected of the son of the Light Maiden.
“As expected of Lady Sophia’s son, only a month old but already capable of communicating; truly a child favored by the light. His life will definitely be radiant.”
One after the next, Queen Elise spoke successive complimentary words, but there wasn’t a smile on her face and the irony in her eyes was full. That familiar look caused him to shudder as he realized that he messed up.
In his last life, wasn’t it precisely because he stood so far out in the open that he ended up that way? What was he doing showing off like this? And at such a young age.
He wanted to turn around and look at Hannah, but Queen Elise’s gaze was too intense and pinned him in place. A single drop of sweat slid down his temple as he faced this queen who was suddenly showing her true colors. He really messed up.
Just when he felt that he would do something shameful and start crying under this pressure, he was suddenly shifted from his position of lying down in Hannah’s arms and moved into an upward position against her shoulder, facing away from the room. He felt her hand slowly patting his back comfortingly and he sighed.
God, was it too late to act dumb?
“I thank Your Majesty on behalf of My Prince for your kind words.”
“Hmmph.” Queen Elise snorted as she showed a disdainful look, no longer having any of her earlier grace and magnanimity but even so, none of the people in the room seemed to be surprised.
“Well, since everyone else has given their gifts to the young prince, as the queen, it would be shameful for me to fall behind.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Hannah grew apprehensive when she saw the nasty light shining in the queen’s eyes and she subconsciously held the child in her arms tighter.
She knew from the start that this woman coming over here was nothing good to begin with. What ‘enlightening’? Wasn’t it just a farce to come over to laugh at them and pick at the wounds? She was cruel as always.
Not minding Hannah’s glare, Queen Elise turned to one of the maids following behind her. “Present the twelfth prince with his gift. I truly hope that Your Highness cherishes it. The number of these things in the whole world number less than ten, getting my hand on this piece just for your amusement was a very challenging task.”
She had only just barely glimpsed his ability to understand, but already she was speaking to him like one would to an older person instead of talking to Hannah like before. Gripping Hannah’s shoulder with his small hands, he frowned.
Hannah watched the maid come over one step at a time while carrying a rectangular crystal case and did her best not to frown.
The case wasn’t very big and was just enough to fill two palms. As there were many people present, Hannah wasn’t at all worried that Queen Elise would do something out of turn, but she was instead worried about what would happen after and what schemes she would conduct in the dark.
This was her fault. She had long noticed how extraordinary her prince was, but she had gotten too used to treating him in a particular way over the past month and slipped up at a bad time. She needed to find a way to rectify this.
While Hannah’s mind was running, Queen Elise’s maid had arrived near her.
“May Your Highness reach the point of radiance.” She bowed respectfully, but in the present situation, it couldn’t be thought of as anything else but a mockery. “Please accept Her Majesty’s gift.”
Without waiting for Hannah’s response, the maid then flipped open the lid of the case, exposing the contents inside and causing everyone to gasp.
Hearing the collective intake of breath, he couldn’t help himself from turning around to see what it was that the queen had brought out, but all he saw was a rather plain milky white crystal lying against a blue satin cloth. He couldn’t see what was special about it.
When Hannah saw the white crystal in the case, her pupils abruptly shrunk and she fought hard not to lose her composure as she heedlessly sent a vicious glare over to Queen Elise who was standing smugly in the corner with her arms crossed.
This bitch….
“Your Majesty’s good intentions were received; however My Prince couldn’t possibly accept this affinity stone.” Hannah politely declined while looking down at the seemingly plain gem with a frosty expression but Queen Elise was the opposite as she smiled brightly.
“Lady Rand needn’t worry yourself. Since I intended for the twelfth prince to have this piece of stone, I naturally took care of everything beforehand and notified the church and magic associations. You can rest assured that there would be no trouble.”
She’d be damned if there was no trouble with this blasted woman handling things! Hannah gritted her teeth.
“We are all aware what use the affinity stone has so I believe that my intentions for gifting it are perfectly clear.”
“That’s rather forward of you Your Majesty.” Hannah took the chance to throw a jab, smiling sarcastically but Queen Elise only maintained her same pristine smile and said, “I truly am ashamed, but can you blame me for wanting an early peak at the talent that belongs to the Light Maiden’s child? If his mother were any other person, I wouldn’t be half as curious.”
The women in the room had all lowered their heads in silence at this point, not even daring to look at the arguing duo.
Hannah’s face paled in anger and she was gritting her teeth so hard that she could taste blood. She really wished that she could just charge over there and rip off that bitch’s face and be done with it. She had endured enough of this woman the past few years but acting on her desires would only have her executed regardless of what status she held and when that time came, what would happen to her prince then?
For the sake of her prince she couldn’t be rash.
Seeing Hannah stay still even after a long time, Queen Elise began to grow impatient.
“Could it be that you are dissatisfied with This Queen’s present Lady Rand?”
“This servant wouldn’t dare Your Majesty...”
“Then pick it up!” Queen Elise’s shout caused not only the servants in the room, but even several of the dignified royal consorts to fold into themselves, cowering. “Have the twelfth prince hold the affinity stone and don’t waste anymore of my time.”
Not waiting for Hannah to act on her own, the queen’s maid took the stone out of the box while it was still wrapped in the piece of satin cloth and stuffed it into Hannah’s hand. “Lady Rand, please.” She showed a smile.
Holding the affinity stone in one hand and the child in the other, Hannah could no longer stall and with a sigh, brought the white stone over to touch his hand.
Seeing the stone that the queen brought out coming close to his skin he felt a bit apprehensive but he trusted that Hannah wouldn’t hurt him and allowed the part of the stone exposed from within the satin cloth to touch his hand but even after a long time, nothing happened.
“Lady Rand, are you playing me for a fool?” Queen Elise had a sunken look of anger and impatience.
“No Your Majesty, I’m not.” Hannah was likewise, shocked, but no matter how many times she touched the stone to the prince’s skin, there was no response.
“Is it defective?” Wondering as such, she pressed the stone to her own face and after a short while the plain white stone gradually lit up with colors of red and blue that swirled endlessly in strands.
Seeing her own dual affinity for fire and water represented perfectly fine, Hannah removed the stone from making contact with her skin and it once again became a plain milky white. She then moved it over to touch her prince’s skin… but there was still no response.
Hannah’s face instantly drained of all color and her heart stuck as she came up with a conclusion but before she could even think about it, the sound of Queen Elise’s laughter filled the room.
The beautiful woman with an elegant bearing lightly covered her lips as her laughter that was filled with undisputed joviality rang in the air. Her emerald eyes sparkled and her cheeks became red from exertion, looking exceptionally lovely.
“Truly, the goddess is just and her radiance is impartial. Even for the most beloved children of light there will be a day of reckoning; but who would have expected the son of the brilliant Light Maiden to be a good-for-nothing with no magic affinity.”
Queen Elise laughed with abandon in a way that she hadn’t laughed in years since the king first brought that cursed woman into the palace and looking at the child in Hannah’s arms, her mood that had become a little unpleasant earlier suddenly felt much better.
Smoothing down her dress, she turned to leave with a light smile still on her lips and seeing the queen leave, the other consorts didn’t dare to stay, quickly filing out behind her without so much as a glance back.
The last ones to leave were Lady Victoria who seemed to want to say something but in the end sighed and left quietly and Princess Adelyn who wanted to say something but didn’t know what to say, stopping to look back multiple times as she left.
In the room that was once again empty, it was like a storm had just blown through and they still had yet to recover, slowly putting themselves back together.
When Hannah finally came back to herself from the shock of realization she threw the stone in her hand and cursed. “Shit!”
The affinity stone crashed into the marble floor with great force and one would expect it to break, but the one that suffered damage instead was actually the floor, cracking into a spider web around the fist sized affinity stone.
“Please forgive me My Lady!”
Suddenly, a wail rose up from a corner of the room and when they looked over, they saw a maid kneeling on the ground and he remembered that she had been the one to open the door and allow the queen’s entourage to enter.
“Please forgive me My Lady. I wanted to stop them but there was nothing I could do. Please forgive me My Lady. My Lady…”
“Enough!” Hannah snapped at her, annoyed. “Stop them? Even with a thousand guts, is that something you could do?”
The maid who was a young girl who looked no older than twenty bit her lower lip and hung her head silently, not knowing how to respond. Seeing her like that, Hannah shook her head.
“Forget it, you couldn’t have stopped them even if you wanted, she is the queen. But let me ask you, who received them at the front door?”
“That… that was me My Lady.”
Hannah nodded her head and walked over to put the child in her arms into his cradle.
“And since you accepted them at the front door, why did you not send anyone to inform me?”
Hannah’s look was stern as she turned back to look at the maid still kneeling on the ground and the girl was scared witless, her mouth opening and closing, flapping like a fish yet no sound was heard. Hannah nodded again.
“I understand, you have no excuse. In that case, pack your things and report to the labor office to be reassigned. Ivy Mansion has no more need for you.”
The girl instantly panicked and crawled forward to grab Hannah’s leg. “Please. Please My Lady, don’t kick me out. I’ve only ever worked at the mansion and I don’t know any other places! If you kick me out I’ll suffer, you can’t…”
“I can’t because you’ll suffer?” Hannah’s gaze turned in anger and her hand struck fast, slapping the girl across the face. “Impudent! Guards, come drag her out.”
“No!” the girl started sobbing as two guards in armor entered the room on Hannah’s command and came to grab her under both arms dragging her out of the room, kicking and screaming.
“Someone!” She called out again and the door was knocked briefly before a maid entered with her waist bent at a respectable angle and her head bowed.
“Yes My Lady?”
Standing at the foot of the cradle, Hannah gently reached down to pick up the child who had already fallen asleep in the short time she had put him down and wrapped him in a blanket.
“Prepare a carriage; I’m going to see the king.”