When I heard about the last thing that happened from the spirits... I don’t know why, but I didn’t feel relieved or disappointed.
It actually made things easier for . The Aroniel’s acceptance that Alith was ’Alith’ was the best possible outco.
Yet... even though I couldn’t see them... what I had heard had caused sothing completely different to arise in .
Satisfaction? No.
Sadness? No...
...
I wasn’t sure.
I took a deep breath, leaned back. I closed my eyes, deliberately slowed my breathing, and focused.
What should I have felt?
If there was no Absolute Mind, if I was not a wiera, if I was a ’human being’ who had actually made it this far... what would be the feeling that would arise in ?
...
I paused, my eyes slowly opened, but all I saw was... the ceiling, which seed gray because of the dim light. There was only silence surrounding , only spirits looking at as if trying to understand what was happening.
And... at this very mont, I realized sothing.
I hadn’t done it for a long ti, but I brought a system window in front of and looked at perhaps the most important and problematic skill I have.
The description hadn’t changed at all; it was still the sa as when I first acquired it. The grade was just A- at first and now A . That’s all.
I ran my eyes over the description, then focused on a specific group of words in the last sentence.
Cleansed of all thoughts and emotions that can stress them out and negatively affect their state of mind.
I squinted and... a detail I hadn’t realized until now suddenly flashed before my eyes.
All the things that can negatively affect my state of mind.
This skill... does not simply block ’negative’ thoughts and feelings.
No... it tries to prevent anything that would negatively affect , be it good or bad.
Sotis, it doesn’t succeed, but it still tries its best.
...
I closed the screen in front of and stared blankly ahead.
It tries to prevent even desire.
How nice.
Isn’t it?
*******
I waited another day for the Aroniels to recover.
The situation they were going through was not easy.
Even though they had accepted Alith, it was another matter for them to get used to him and his new identity. A long process, for sure. But the reason I waited now was because I wanted them to accept the situation a little bit more.
I wanted them to overco this problem a little bit and go back to the problem we had in the first place.
But, at the sa ti... I was waiting for sothing.
Not a specific event, but at least a small movent, a change.
A move from Saligia.
It was impossible for them to be unaware of the situation. If they were able to turn Alith into a wiera twelve years ago, now, after all this ti, they must have infiltrated much further.
Yet they were silent. So far... they had made no movent.
And that was not good.
Whatever they were going to use the prince for, the fact that this was happening when they had been willing to wait years for it should have forced them to try to do sothing.
They had just been quiet so far, that’s all.
I was lost in my thoughts, pondering what their next move might be, when... I paused for a mont.
Wait.
One word appeared again and again in my mind.
A specific word.
Quiet.
Quiet...
I stood up with a slight frown.
They are silent.
And they will not break their silence.
Because... whatever they do, they do it in silence.
In secret, unseen by anyone.
Just like they turned Alith into a wiera all those years ago without anyone knowing.
I clicked my tongue and walked out of my room with quick steps. The place we were in, the four guests of Eshaware, had four separate rooms and a shared hall. The only person in the hall was currently Alysia, who was watching sothing on a screen in front of her.
A... TV show.
But as soon as she saw , she paused, her brow furrowed, and stopped what she was watching.
"Did sothing happen?"
"Yes, sothing happened."
I tore my gaze away from her and wandered into Adrian and Julian’s room.
"Co out!"
And almost imdiately they listened. They both ran out of their rooms in just a few seconds. Adrian was drenched in sweat and Julian, in his casual clothes, looked like he had just woken up.
Well, it was normal since it was still early in the morning. The only abnormal one... was Adrian, I don’t even know why he was sweaty.
Still, it didn’t matter.
"Alysia, stay in the room and don’t go out. Sothing dangerous might happen and I don’t want you to get caught in the middle."
Before they could realize what was happening, I turned toward the other two.
"As for you two... forget whatever you’re doing, don’t even bother changing your clothes. Follow ."
Without even checking their reaction, I turned around, walked out of our room, and opened the door. As soon as I did, our own bodyguards and elven guards, who were always on guard, looked at with a strange expression.
"Do you have a request?"
Our own bodyguards were the first to approach, not the elven guards.
"Yes... but my business is with the guards."
I turned to the two guards who looked at with a puzzled expression.
"I need to see His Royal Highness again, and it’s urgent."
But then I paused, looking at the two guards in front of ... and for a mont I had a completely different idea.
"I have a suspicion about Saligia’s silence, and if I am right, the royal family itself is in danger."
The first of the guards... couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He seed both aware of the gravity of the situation and unable to fully believe what he was hearing.
The second one... remained relatively calm. Yes, he too had a rather puzzled look on his face, but he was more composed.
And it was this second guard who answered .
"We will... inform His Royal Highness of your request, please wait in your room. No matter how urgent the matter, he is not a person you can see as you please. We will convey your suspicion to him personally."
The first guard turned slowly toward his friend who had spoken these words, looking at him with a strange expression. The second guard... did not compromise his posture at all.
In fact, he turned around, ready to leave to convey my request to his king... when suddenly, he paused.
"Are you sure... that you will convey my suspicion to him?"
He turned back with a frown, an almost annoyed expression on his face.
"You... doubt ?"
He had dropped the formality, there were almost tiny traces of anger on his face.
"I am an honorable guard sworn to protect the kingdom and the royal bloodline, you have no reason to distrust . Go back to your room and wait for His Royal Highness’s answer, please."
And then he started walking.
He took a step.
He took another step.
He continued...
But, then...
"I’m sorry, if you’re really innocent."
He paused. He turned to us so abruptly that a normal person might have hurt themselves... but he only had widened eyes.
"But this is not sothing I can ’wait’ for."
He raised his hands to protect himself.
But... our bodyguards were no better.
And understanding the aning behind my words, they sprang into action as soon as I finished speaking.
Suddenly finding himself between three high-ranking guards, the guard didn’t stand a chance. Within milliseconds, he received a kick and two punches to the body... and then he was knocked unconscious against the wall next to him.
The first guard to see what had happened to his friend reached for the sword at his waist, but he was blocked by... soone else.
Adrian.
Before the poor guard realized what had happened, he was punched hard in the face with a mana-loaded fist and, like his friend, was pinned to the wall of the corridor.
Of course... these two were not the only guards in the corridors.
There were others patrolling, standing guard over other rooms.
Dozens of them, almost.
And they all rushed to the scene as soon as they saw what happened.
The only difference... the next ti I opened my mouth, they all stopped where they were.
"Saligia is trying to do sothing quietly and we need to report it to His Royal Highness as fast as possible!"
I slamd my cane down hard.
The sound was so loud that it probably echoed not only here, but in other corridors as well.
"I’m not sure exactly what they’re doing, but I’m pretty sure they’re trying sothing and it’s not going to be ’good’!"
I ran my eyes over the guards surrounding us, one by one.
"I am also quite sure that His Royal Highness has told you to pay special attention to , to let him know imdiately when I request a eting, and to act as if he accepted it on the spot!"
I pointed with the tip of my cane at the first guard we neutralized.
"But this guard said that he would personally inform him of my request for a eting and that I should wait, despite His Royal Highness’s order! Isn’t that suspicious?"
Yes, that was the main reason why I suspected him.
Maybe he was so kind of a dummy who thought too highly of the pride and honor of the elves, of the royal family... who knows?
But it was not a possibility I could risk.
"Now... when the situation is so serious, when the royal bloodline itself could be in danger... are you really sure you want to surround us like this and stop us?"
There were probably spies among them.
There couldn’t be none, there had to be at least one.
And they could hear what I was saying.
But... that’s exactly what I wanted.
To get them out of their quiet corners, if I could.
And even if they didn’t... to go to King Faelan’s side and report the situation.
A scenario where I have nothing to lose.
It’s just that...
~shing!
~sssskkk!
There was a scenario that I never thought would co true.
~Shhhkt!
~whoosh!
And that is that Saligia was so wary of that they made sure that all the guards around were their own.
Without a single exception.
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