Adelheid 3: Aura and Magic

***

-Excerpt from the Chronicle of Veles, Chapter 1

In the beginning, Veles did not exist. The world did not exist.

No light, no darkness, no wind, no fire, no water, no earth.

Nothing existed, only chaos.

For countless ages, the situation remained the same until it came. It had no name, only known as the Beginning. The Beginning was a creature with countless limbs, four eyes, one large, three small, and one horn atop its head.

Nobody knew the origin of the Beginning, only that it had miraculously appeared one day. From then on, the chaos had a new resident.

The Beginning simply existed for an unaccountable number of eons until one day, it perished.

From its body, the world formed.

From its muscle, the land existed.

From its skin, the meadow covered the land.

From its spikes, the mountains and volcanoes sprang forth.

From its blood, the seas and ocean appeared.

From his veins, the rivers brought water from the oceans to the land.

From its hair, the plants grew and covered the land.

From its bones, the metal took root under the land.

From its nails, precious gems were hidden throughout the land.

From its breath, the wind and clouds caressed the land.

From its voice, thunder sprang forth.

From its sight, lightning struck the land.

From its horn, a pillar that separated the land from the sky.

Its largest eye became the sun, and the world knew light.

Its three smaller eyes became the three moons, and the world knew darkness.

The world of Veles had been created.

But no life existed on the land.

Eons passed, and the Beginning's blood emerged onto the land and became the animals that roamed the land. Wolves roamed the forest, snakes slithered through the meadows, falcons roosted on mountains, bears traversed the icy tundra, eagles soared the skies, sharks swam in the seas, and squids inhabited the abyss.

The animals slowly conquered the land through the ages, but their time was over. The Beginning's brain split into hundreds of parts. Slowly, the pieces of the Beginning's brain began to change shape and became the titans.

The titans domesticated the animals and plants and became the rulers of Veles. However, like the beasts that conquered the land before them, their time came to an end.

Slowly, one by one, the Beginning's organs began to take form.

Its lung became a many-winged beast that hoarded the clouds and winds to itself. Its name was Invidia.

Its stomach became a beast with a body that almost completely formed from its mouth that devoured everything in sight. Its name was Gula.

Its liver became a beast with eight legs that could cover half the continent. Its name was Avaritia.

Its gonads became an amorphous beast that spawned numerous smaller beasts of all shapes and sizes. Its name was Luxuria.

Its kidney became an unseen beast that lurked in the abyss of the oceans. Its name was Acedia.

Its heart became a colossal beast with scales thicker than shields, hands with nails sharper than any blade, legs thicker than ancient trees, a tail that could split the earth in a single strike, two wings that could shroud the sky, and two horns. It had an unquenchable wrath to destroy everything. Its name was Ira.

Each of these six beasts brought countless disasters to the land of Veles, nearly exterminating all life in the world. The six beasts became known as the first monsters, the Six Calamities of Veles.

Just as all hope seemed to be lost, the six strongest titans formed from the largest fragments of the Beginning's brains rose up and led the titans to fight the Six Calamities.

The war between the titans and the Six Calamity was long and brutal and caused the near extermination of the titans. However, one by one, the six strongest titans killed the Six Calamities.

All except the monster formed from the heart, Ira.

The beast created from the Beginning's heart was special. As long as Veles existed, Ira would never die. No matter how many times the titans slew it, the final beast would always resurrect. Left with no other choice, the six titans sealed the final calamitous beast so that it would never awaken again.

The titans won the war that would become known as the War of Creation. However, the price they paid was heavy. One of the six strongest titans was tainted by the last beast, and only a few of the titan race was left.

The price was heavy, but so were the rewards.

The six strongest titans received their just rewards and ascended to godhood.

The Holy Seraphina, the leader of the titans, became the Goddess of Light.

The Evil Demiurge, the strongest of the titans, became the God of Darkness.

The War Iras, the bravest of the titans, became the Goddess of Fire.

The Silent Acyss, the most mysterious of the titans, became the God of Water.

The Fleeting Lyonis, the swiftest of the titans, became the Goddess of the Wind.

The Bearer Pillum, the sturdiest of the titans, became the God of the Land.

The Six Pillar Gods would usher in the age of prosperity and the rise of contemporary races.

***

Adelheid closed the book, the Chronicles of Veles, and leaned back on the headboard of her bed. It had been about a month since the seventh princess had awakened, and for the past month, Adelheid had been confined to her room.

She was beginning to feel claustrophobic despite the vast size of her room.

"Your Highness, Healer Elune is here."

Adelheid nodded at Sofia's words.

The door opened, and a middle-aged female walked in. She wore white clerical robes and had a pleasant smile upon her face that could make anyone lower their guard. "How are you feeling, Your Highness?"

Although Adelheid was addressed with honorifics, it felt as if Elune was addressing her as a granddaughter instead. Despite appearing only in her early forties, the female healer was actually in her sixties.

After a few words of pleasantries, Adelheid took off her nightgown and turned her back towards Elune.

Her rehabilitation wasn't as she had expected. Adelheid had expected physical therapy in order to regain all the loss of mass she had sustained during her three-year coma. Admittedly, her body wasn't as malnourished or scrawny as it could be. Adelheid heard it was the work of the magic circle under her bed that kept her as healthy as she had been, which had since been removed.

Adelheid closed her eyes as Elune's warm palm was pressed against her back. Something warm began to flow into her and spread throughout her tiny body.

The awakened princess could discern that it was not magic like the diagnostic spell the court mage had used on her a month ago. According to Elune's explanation, it was a type of power known as aura that came from a person’s life force, so everyone was able to use it with enough training.

The soothing sensation continued to extend throughout the princess's body, revitalizing her. Adelheid could feel an itchy sensation, just not as strong as when she had first started treatment. The itchiness was a natural process, as it meant that Adelheid's muscles were being stimulated and developing.

After about an hour, Elune pulled back her hand. The healer took out a handkerchief and wiped the thin sheen of sweat off her face. She took a moment to catch her breath before smiling. "Congratulations, Your Highness. Your recovery rate has exceeded my expectations."

Adelheid held up her hand, motioning that she didn't need Sofia's aid in dressing herself. After she wore her nightgown once more, she turned towards Elune. "Does this mean I can finally leave my room?"

Elune nodded. "Indeed. However, as a precaution, I'm going to need to monitor Your Highness for another week."

Adelheid nodded in acceptance. She waited for a few moments, but the healer still stood there, not leaving. "Is there something else?"

"Your Highness, didn't I say I'm going to need to monitor you? What if something unexpected were to occur while I'm not present?" Elune said.

The seventh princess nodded her head in acceptance. "Matilda, Sofia, select a dress for me."

"As you wish, Your Highness," Sofia and Matilda accepted their orders and began to pull out numerous dresses of all colors for Adelheid to choose.

Every single one of the dresses was packed full of laces and frills, but that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that over half of the dresses were eye-achingly pink. Through gritted teeth, Adelheid asked, "Why are so many of them pink?"

"Replying to Your Highness. All these dresses were designed according to your preference from three years ago,” Sofia said.

Adelheid suddenly had the urge to time travel to the year 1731 HPE so that she could asphyxiate the newborn princess so that such a travesty never occurred. Who in the right mind would like such… such...such a crime against fashion?

"Put them all back. Are there any clothes with pants?" Adelheid asked. She had thought she could accept wearing dresses since her body was biologically female, but after seeing those abondimations, Adelheid had lost any and all desires to wear a dress.

"Ah, but Your Highness would look so good in this one," Matilda said, holding up one of the pink dresses.

It was the pinkest, glitteriest, puffiest, frilliest, and laciest dress of the bunch. That dress was the single most offensive sight that Adelheid had ever seen. Had she not seen Matilda’s innocent eyes, she would have thought the maid was doing this on purpose to shame her. "Matilda, burn that dress now."

"Huh?" Matilda said, her face baffled.

"Matilda, that thing offends me. Burn it. Now," Adelheid said. If sight alone could set objects on fire, that dress would have become ash in an instant. "Make sure that not even the ashes remain."

"But why? It's so pretty and perfect for you," Matilda said, not understanding Adelheid's sudden mood swing. Was the seventh princess experiencing her time of the month? But Matilda remembered that Princess Adelheid was at least five years too young to experience such bodily functions.

Adelheid's face darkened at Matilda's words. Her with pink? Preposterous! Never in a million years!

"Perhaps Her Highness's preference has changed. Go and find some pants for her highness," Elune said upon seeing Adelheid's increasingly dark face and Matilda's obliviousness.

Matilda wanted to ask some more, but Sofia quickly latched onto her wrist and pulled her away. She lowered her voice and harshly whispered to the younger girl. Matilda whispered something but quietly relented with obvious disappointment.

When the two girls returned, they only brought back a single outfit. Sofia carried a white dress shirt that was slightly frilly but not offensively so and heeled boots, while Matilda carried a high-rise black pants on her arm.

"There were actually pants in my wardrobe?" Adelheid asked, surprised. She hadn't really expected her wardrobe to have any pants at all. It was just something she said in the heat of the moment. "Give them to me."

"Your Highness, perhaps it would be best to let us dress you," Sofia said, but Adelheid was adamant. With no other choice, they laid the clothing down.

Adelheid stepped off the bed, slightly unused to the floor beneath her feet. Taking only a second to adjust, she began to undress. She might have been embarrassed letting other people see her near-naked body, but she had long gotten used to it after a month of being washed by her maids while she was too weak to wash herself. Once down to her underwear, Adelheid reached for the pants. Unfortunately, in the process of slipping her other leg into the pants, Adelheid lost her balance.

The seventh princess closed her eyes, expecting a repeat of the time she first woke up, but instead of the carpet, her face felt something soft. Opening her eyes, she saw white.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Sofia asked, having stepped forward and used herself to prevent Adelheid from falling onto the floor.

"I-I'm- yes, I'm alright," Adelheid said as she regained her balance, her face slightly flushed as she realized where her face had been planted.

"Your Highness, how about we help you. It seems that you aren't fully recovered," Sofia said, only this time succeeding in her persuasion.

"Alright, please do so," Adelheid said as he closed her eyes, trying to suppress the shame that was threatening to burst out from within.

Sofia and Matilda first helped Adelheid undress the pants. Then they slipped on her socks before fitting her into the white dress shirt. Only then did they put the pants on her.

Oh, I was wrong, Adelheid thought as she realized she had started to wear the clothes incorrectly, so even if she managed to get the pants on, she would still have failed. The shame threatened to explode once more.

Somehow, Adelheid managed to suppress the redness that was threatening to appear on her face. She was led towards the chair in front of the dresser by the two maids. Sitting down, the seventh princess observed herself.

Adelheid had long grown accustomed to her appearance. The inhumanly beautiful face of a child no longer caused her any surprise. It was amazing what humans, or rather halflings in this case, could adapt to.

"Your Highness, what sort of hairstyle would you like?" Sofia asked.

"Something simple," Adelheid replied.

"As you wish, Your Highness," Sofia said with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.

"I'll do it!" Matilda said excitedly, her hands reaching towards Adelheid's hair.

There was a slapping sound, and Adelheid glanced in the reflection to see Matilda's rubbing the back of her hand. Matilda emulated the face of a kicked puppy and retracted her hands. Adelheid had to suppress the urge to rub the flaxen-haired girl's head.

Under Sofia's skillful fingers, Adelheid's inky black hair no longer covered her back and was pulled tied into a fancy braided bun. Only her front and sidebangs were not tied up. "I thought I asked for something simple."

"Your Highness, this is the simplest hairstyle I can do," Sofia replied.

Adelheid tilted her head side to side. In her opinion, the braided bun was already quite fancy, but since it didn't take long, she took Sofia's word for it.

"Let's go," Adelheid said, standing up.

"Please hold on a second, Your Highness," Elune said. Seeing Adelheid turn towards her, she continued. "It's the Water Months. The air is cold. Please wear a cloak at least."

"Our apologies for not considering these matters." Matilda and Sofia bowed in apologies for forgetting about the cold weather. They had long grown used to it, plus their winter maid uniforms were quite thick and layered, making the cold not as harsh on their bodies.

"It's fine, just fetch me a cloak. I want to go out as quickly as possible. If you count the time I've been sleeping, I've been stuck in this room for over three years," Adelheid said.

Sofia and Matilda moved toward the wardrobe once more and returned with a red cloak that was perfect for her stature. It had a golden edge and the symbol of the empire embroidered into it.

The two maids fastened the cloak onto the seventh princess. Adelheid was surprised at how warm it was despite how thin it seemed but only for a moment. "Now, let's go."

Sofia and Matilda opened the door and bowed slightly as Adelheid and Elune walked out of the room. Once outside, Adelheid's steel-grey eyes scanned the environment, full of curiosity.

She saw the flower pots on their pedestals, the suits of armor, and the tapestries. Everything was fresh and novel to the now seven year old. Under her leadership, the three females behind her followed closely behind.

What Adelheid didn't expect was that she would be out of breath at the second corner.

Adelheild's back was nearly parallel to the floor, and she needed to leverage her palms on her knees to prevent herself from falling. Not only that, a thick sheen of sweat was covering her forehead. What the hell is wrong with my body? I only walked a few meters, yet I'm already out of breath!

"Your Highness, are you alright?" Matilda walked forward to support Adelheid, but Adelheid raised her hand and signaled Matilda that she didn't need any aid.

Sofia had also reached out to support the seventh princess just a bit slower than Matilda. Seeing that Adelheid didn't want their help, she retracted her hands, but she was ready to step in at any time in case Adelheid collapsed.

The calmest one was healer Elune. She slowly placed her palm on Adelheid's back with practiced ease, and Adelheid felt a warm sensation flowing into her body from the point of contact. "How about we return, princess? Your muscles have atrophied too much. If you push your body too much, it will do more harm than good."

Adelheid stayed silent as she stood straight once more. Then she looked towards Elune and asked, "Have I reached the limit of my body?"

Elune wanted to say yes, but upon seeing the seriousness in Adelheid's eyes, she began to hesitate. Finally, she sighed and said, "No, not yet. With my help, you can probably move for another hour or two."

Adelheid nodded. "Then let's continue."

The seventh princess began to walk down the palace corridors once more, only this time her pace was slower, and each step was calculated to minimize exertion. Elune, who saw this, widened her eyes. Although the act of using the least amount of energy to complete a movement sounded simple, applying the principle in reality was another matter and not usually something a child could accomplish.

Followed by her two concerned maids and a healer, Adelheid made her way from the sixth floor, which her room was located on, of the palace to the ground floor. The process took nearly two hours, including the break time, but Adelheid was satisfied. After being caged in her room for a month since waking, she finally experienced a bit of freedom.

Perhaps, she would lose interest in the castle after a few more rounds, but Adelheid was sure that she would not be idle. There was still so much she had to learn about the world she currently resided in. She had already died once, she didn’t want to die a second time.

"Princess, you are almost at your limits. If you push yourself, it will only delay your recovery." Elune kindly reminded from her side.

Adelheid stayed silent. "I'll go back after I see what's outside."

She had already reached the ground floor. It would be a pity not to go outside.

"Your Highness, the closest exit doesn't lead to the garden but the training grounds for the knights," Sofia said. As a dutiful maid, she had completely memorized the palace's layout, at least the parts not restricted to her.

"Sofia, what are you saying? The knight's training ground is the greatest place in the palace," Matilda said. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. "Maybe the princess can even join them!"

After speaking it aloud, Matilda realized her idea wasn't bad at all. On the contrary, the more she thought about it, the more excellent the idea became in Matilda's mind.

A vein appeared on Sofia's temples. "What do you think you're doing? Her Highness has only awakened for about a month. Accidents happen constantly at the training grounds. How can you let Her Highness go see such a place? What if it agitates and scares Her Highness?"

"What? How can you say that?!" Matilda said, pushing her face right into Sofia’s. "The knights are the backbone of the empire. How can Princess Adelheid not want to look?!"

"You!" Sofia shouted and pointed her fingers at Matilda, finally unable to restrain her temper any longer.

The two began arguing back and forth, causing quite a commotion in the palace halls. Adelheid even saw some servants rushing over after hearing the noise.

"Enough, stop making a scene," Adelheid ordered, causing both of them to swiftly bow but not before sending one last glare at the other.

Adelheid sighed.

"Healer Elune, are the knights trained in the usage of aura?" Adelheid turned towards the oldest member of the quartet. On Earth, magic and aura did not exist, so she was curious as to the strength of knights. How would they compare to the weaponry of the modern world?

Elune hesitated for a moment before replying truthfully, "Yes, but to be clear, only aura journeymen can be knighted by the Vuldar Empire."

"Aura journeymen?" Adelheid asked, tilting her head.

Adelheid didn't know that her actions coupled with her confused gaze resulted in an inexplicable charm that caused those who saw it to want to abandon everything and embrace the seventh princess. In fact, had she done this on the streets of Midgard, a kidnapping might even occur.

Matilda squealed in delight as her face flushed, and not even Sofia was immune as her breathing became rough. Upon hearing the squeal, Adelheid turned her head towards Matilda, expressionless but with a raised eyebrow.

Matilda squealed even more.

Elune coughed into her fist, bringing Adelheid's attention back to her, and sent a warning glare to the two maids. Earlier, she had been affected as well.

"Aura mastery is divided into several stages. An aura novice is, as the name implies, an initiate in aura usage. Next are the aura disciple, aura journeyman, and then aura master. Most people can’t even reach the realm of aura master in their lifetime," Elune explained.

Adelheid nodded. "There are higher aura stages, right?"

"Of course, but the people who can reach such a stage are incredibly rare. Within the empire, only about a hundred people have exceeded the aura master stage," Elunesaid.

"What about you?" Adelheid asked.

Elune smiled. "I'm just an aura disciple. My primary profession is a mage. Aura is just something I learned to aid my healing."

Recalling the soothing sensation she felt, Adelheid nodded and gained a better understanding of aura. "Alright, let's go see the knights’ training grounds."

Upon hearing Adelheid's decision, Matilda showed a triumphant expression to Sofia. Sofia promptly ignored Matilda and obediently followed behind Adelheid who was already walking towards the training grounds.

"Humpf," Matilda blew a raspberry at Sofia before following, walking shoulder to shoulder with Sofia.

The knight's training grounds within the palace were the training grounds of the Imperial Guards Knight Order, the Vuldar Empire's strongest knights. Only members of the Imperial Guards had the right to train within the palace walls.

Adelheid glanced at the guards who showed surprised expressions when they saw her and her three attendants. The two guards wearing full armor crossed their spears and blocked the entrance to the training grounds.

"Halt, identify yourself. Only authorized knights and personnel are allowed to enter," one of the knights said, his brows furrowed when he saw Adelheid's clothing and her three attendants.

Adelheid opened her mouth to speak but stopped when Elune's hand touched her shoulder.

"Impudent," Sofia said, her voice cold and dignified. "Before you is the seventh princess of the Vuldar Empire, Adelheid von Vuldar."

The two guards stilled for a moment before they removed their spears and bowed their heads. "Forgive our rudeness for not recognizing Your Highness. Please forgive our previous offense."

Adelheid didn't speak, only nodding. Judging from Elune's previous actions, the seventh princess guessed that the nobility or imperial family did not lightly speak to knights or perhaps those of lower status according to convention.

In the eyes of many nobles, knights were only half nobles at best since they lacked the most crucial feature that defined a noble, the right to pass down the title. Because of this, even barons, the lowest-ranked among the nobility, towered above knights in status.

Adelheid took the right action as the two knights thanked her for her grace. The two then removed their spears barring the entrance to the training grounds, which the quartet passed. Before even entering, the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard. When they entered, the sight of warriors engaging in a deadly dance of blood and steel could be seen, dazzling Adelheid's eyes.

The training grounds were easily over five thousand square meters in size and split into various sections. Even within the confines of the imperial palace, it took up a good portion of space, signifying the importance placed upon the knights.

Despite the vast size, only about a hundred people were present, but over half the space was utilized despite the seemingly low number of people. Adelheid soon discovered why.

The training grounds had differently sized sections, ranging from fifty square meters, one hundred square meters, two hundred square meters, and one five hundred square meters area. Most of the areas were fifty square meters, and almost all of them were filled.

Within each of the training areas, two people could be seen moving far too fast to be tracked by the naked eye. One moment, two people could be seen clashing swords at one spot, but they would suddenly appear at another point the next instant. Not only that, large gashes would mar the ground in their wake, that was if it weren't already. Evidence of their swiftness were apparent all over the grand as deep imprints of the knights’ sabaton.

At this moment, the power of aura practitioners was deeply imprinted into Adelheid's mind. Each one of these knights, if any one of them were to appear in the Olympics, they would break any previous records. If you told me that these knights could block bullets, I would believe it.

Just as Adelheid was enraptured by the power of the knights, a loud explosion caught her attention. Twisting her head towards the source, Adelheid felt her breath hitch.

In the largest training area stood two figures. One was a stereotypical knight wearing full plate armor sans the helmet holding a zweihander in one hand.

But it was the other figure that caught Adelheid's attention.

The figure was clad in full plate armor of pale gold that shone with holy light. The armor was a work of art, seemingly too beautiful to be used as an armament of war. Around the golden knight floated six swords that danced in the air.

One sword crackled with electricity.

Another emitted a fiery heat that died the blade red.

The third was circled by numerous icicles that chilled the surrounding air.

The fourth was ten times as large as the rest and encased in gray rocks.

The fifth seemed to have been formed from the shadows itself.

And last, but not least, was a holy blade of divine white.

The knight in golden armor leaped into the air, the six magic swords dancing behind him.

In response, the helmless knight brandished his sword, and a white aura erupted from his body. Even from afar, Adelheid's heart palpitated after sensing the pressure emanating from the man.

In midair, the golden knight pointed a finger at the helmless knight. Acting on command, the six swords behind him shot towards the target like bullets.

The helmless knight stood firm as the six swords neared him. The white aura coalesced onto his sword and enchanted it with ethereal sheen.

Adelheid's eyes could not discern what happened next. One moment, the six swords neared the helmless night. The next moment, he became a blur. Before Adelheid knew what happened, the six swords had been deflected. Each sword had been embedded into the ground.

However, the helmless knight didn't have any time to catch his breath as the golden knight landed a mere meler away from him. The golden knight reached towards the side of his waist, and a flash of light later, the golden knight pulled out two swords of light and slashed towards the helmless knight.

Adelheid's brows furrowed. Earlier she thought she had seen a circle formed from strange symbols appear at the golden knight's waist moments before the glowing sword materialized out of nowhere. Compared to the white aura from the helmless knight, Adelheid was even more sensitive to the strange circle that appeared.

Regardless of Adelheid's thoughts, the duel between the two knights continued. It was a dance full of danger, and any slightest mishaps would result in grievous injuries—a cut tendon here, a sliced vein there, or a slit throat.

Despite this, the deadly dance of steel continued between the two, their life and death balancing on the edge of a blade.

As the battle continued, the golden knight summoned another sword of light and increased his offensive against the helmless knight. At the same time, the six magic swords that had been embedded into the ground had pulled themselves out and attacked the helmless knight again. The helmless knight was quite literally surrounded on all sides.

The helmless knight held against the golden knight's assault admirably, but the outcome was already evident, even to the inexperienced seventh princess. Rather than a one-on-one duel against the golden knight, the helmless knight's situation was closer to being encircled by seven knights.

Not long after, the helmless dropped his sword and shouted, "I yield!"

Instantly, the golden knight and his six magic swords froze. Moments later, the two glowing swords disappeared into tiny glowing particles, and the magic swords floated behind the golden knight.

Afterward, the two knights shook hands and began to talk.

Adelheid was broken out of her daze from witnessing the dazzling duel between the two knights when she heard Matilda sighing behind her.

"Sir Gerrald is one of the strongest knights, being an aura master. Unfortunately, his opponent was Sir Griselda," Matilda said in lament.

Wait, Griselda? Isn’t that a female’s name? The golden knight was a she? Adelheid thought. I thought female knights were addressed as dame or lady before their name. Or perhaps, it’s just a matter of address unique to the Vuldar Empire.

"You recognize them?" Adelheid asked.

Matilda puffed up her budding chest with pride. Without waiting for Adelheid to ask, she spilled everything. "Of course I know. Sir Griselda Ritter is the current knight captain of the Imperial Guards, taking orders directly from his majesty, Emperor Wilheim! Not only that, I heard that she's only twenty-one years old! She is the youngest in the history of the empire to take the position, and there's a rumor that she is the strongest knight of the empire despite her young age!"

Adelheid took a step back, a bit frightened by the fanaticism in Matilda's eyes. All that was missing was for the aspiring knight to scream, "I wish I were Griselda Ritter!" or “I want to have Griselda Ritter’s child” in her loudest voice.

"As for Sir Gerrald," Matilda's voice returned to normal, almost as if the excitement from earlier was a hallucination. "He's a former member of my father's now-disbanded knight order."

"Hey, hey, you praised Griselda to the sky and back, but that's all you have to say about me? I'm hurt." A boisterous laugh neared, causing Adelheid to swivel her head in surprise.

Griselda and Gerrald had finished their conversation and had noticed their audience. Gerrald immediately recognized Matilda and, by association, discerned that Adelheid was the recently awakened seventh princess.

"Sir Gerrald, I respect you, but how can you compare to Sir Griselda?" Matilda saidr without a hint of shame, causing Gerrald to laugh even more.

"You sure say whatever is on your mind," Gerrald said, and then he looked teasingly at Griselda standing next to him. "What do you say, Miss Strongest Knight?"

Griselda stayed silent for a few seconds before replying. Her voice was neither high nor low, perfectly androgynous and pleasant to the ear. "Miss Avery praises me too much. I still have much to accomplish before I reach the heights of my predecessor, Sir Leif."

Then Griselda turned towards Adelheid and performed a full salute. She kneeled with her right leg forward, placed her fist over her heart, and lowered her head. "Forgive my earlier rudeness for not greeting Your Highness. I am Knight Captain Griselda Ritter of the Vuldar Imperial Guards."

Adelheid stood there, dazed by the elegance of Griselda's actions. After a few seconds, she broke out and quickly said, "A-ah. Rise, there is no need to be so formal. You are in full armor. It is not convenient for you to perform the full ceremonial bow. In the future, a nod of the head will do." Only later did Adelheid notice that Elune hadn’t stopped her from talking.

Griselda rose up from her bow and nodded her head, still covered by the helmet. "Thank you for your grace."

"You are the emperor’’s knight. There is no need to lower yourself more than necessary," Adelheid said as her thoughts drifted off. Speaking of her grandfather, Emperor Wilheim, she had yet to see even a hair of him, but she felt she would meet him soon.

Focusing her attention on Griselda's armor, Adelheid could see the sculpted image of a woman on her chest plate. The sculpted woman had blazing hair, a divine visage with one eye covered by an eyepatch, and a valiant air to her. This was not the first time Adelheid had seen the image of the woman, because she was War Iras, the Goddess of Fire and the patron deity of the Vuldar Empire.

"Don't be so uptight. The little princess won't mind such meaningless formalities." Gerrald glanced at Matilda and then continued, "After all, Matilda is her highness's maid."

There was a moment of silence before an indignant cry could be heard.

"What do you mean by that, Sir Gerrald?!" Matilda's eyes were full of resentment as she glared at her father's former subordinate.

Then to her further anger, she heard a snort of laughter. Slowly, Matilda turned her head towards Sofia who had an impeccable poker face, but Matilda had known Sofia for years and would not mistake her laughter. Stomping towards Sofia and bringing her face dangerously close to Sofia's, Matilda said through gritted teeth, "Whatcha laughing about, huh?!"

"Ew, say it, don't spit!" Sofia made a disgusted face as she retreated a few steps. Taking a handkerchief from her apron, she wiped Matilda's spittle off of her skin and uniform.

"Hmpf," Matilda crossed her arms, unwilling to back down. "So what? That's what you get for laughing at me!"

There was a delicate little snort, and both Matilda and Sofia turned their glares at the sources and were immediately befuddled. There, a little distance away from the two stood Adelheid laughing.

But for Matilda and Sofia, they could only feel shame as their faces heated up. Not only had they forgotten about the princess, but they made themselves a laughingstock in front of her, a girl younger by them by several years. Even Gerrald and Elune had slight smiles on their faces while looking at the two maids with amusement.

The only one who showed no reaction was Griselda, and that's because her armor covered up her entire body. Realizing that she made a fool of herself in front of the target of her admiration, Matilda sank into despair.

"Alright, alright, why did you bring the kid princess here?" Gerrald scanned Adelheid from head to toe. "Don't tell me you're going to train her as a knight? But I heard that the princess's body hasn't fully recovered."

"The kid princess would like to tell you that she isn’t a little kid," Adelheid said. The moment she was called a kid, she felt a sort of incongruence. After all, she had memories as an adult, and being called a kid was shameful. Adelheid had a hard time putting the feeling into words.

"Alrighty then, Your Highness," Gerrald said.

Seeing that Gerrald didn't take her words to heart, Adelheid didn't dwell on the matter. After all, she truly was a kid right now. Instead, she wanted the answer to another question.

"Why did you think I was here to train?" Adelheid asked, perplexed.

"Aren't you? You're wearing the uniform of female knights after all," Gerrald said as he looked at Adelheid's clothing once more. "I didn't think the uniform came in your size at all. It must have been custom made."

"Really?" Adelheid said more to herself than others as she glanced at her clothing. She turned towards Elune and asked, "Did you know?"

Elune nodded. "Of course. Considering that Your Highness needed to train your body, I thought the uniform was rather fitting."

Adelheid accepted the explanation. There wasn't much to consider since it was only clothes, but she made a mental note to order more pants to be made for her. She then turned towards Griselda, wondering what the knight captain would look like out of her armor and in uniform. She should be rather dashing, right?

"Is there something wrong, Your Highness?" Griselda asked, seeing Adelheid's lingering gaze.

Realizing she had been staring, Adelheid quickly thought of a question to cover her blunder. "I was wondering what the sword of light you used was. I didn't see anything at your waist, so I couldn't help but ask."

"It is nothing much, Your Highness," Griselda answered as she put her hand forward. The circle appeared again, and the sword of light magically materialized again. "It's simply a third circle spell, Sword Creation."

"Third circle spell?" Adelheid asked, not knowing the context.

"Yes," Griselda answered. "Spells are divided by circles, from single circle spells to the mythical tenth circle. As a seventh circle mage, I can easily use a third circle spell."

"You make it sound so easy. Which seventh circle mage is as young as you? Not to mention that you don't need to use a wand or stave. Unbelievable, I say," Gerrald chipped in.

Griselda became silent at Gerrald's word but soon turned her attention back to Adelheid, who was staring intently at the mana sword in her hand.

"Prince Albr—Father said that my talent in magic is incredible. So I should be able to use Sword Creation too, right?" Adelheid asked. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t reign the excitement in her voice. If a person’s strength could reach this point, I wouldn’t have died in my previous life, right?

"If Your Highness puts in enough effort," Griselda said after a moment's hesitation.

"Thank you," Adelheid said, a fire had been lit inside of her.

"Your Highness, must I remind you that your body needs to recover first before you can do anything else?" Elune said, dousing Adelheid's excitement. "In addition, you will also need to catch up on your lessons that you missed in your three years' sleep."

"I understand,” Adelheid said. She had long expected lessons. It would be a joke if a member of the imperial family wasn’t educated. In addition, Adelheid could gather intelligence and discern what her situation and status was like. She saw affection in Prince Albrecht’s eyes, but no deep love, so she couldn’t help but wonder how much she was valued.

Not long after, Adelheid and her attendants bid farewell to Griselda and Gerrald under Elune's urging. Much to Adelheid's embarrassment, she was carried back to her room. The seventh princess had protested, but Elune was firm in her judgment. Adelheid had already walked for two hours. Any more would be detrimental to her recovery.

At least it was a princess carry and not piggyback, right?

After Adelheid returned to her room, she was stripped of her clothing and changed into her nightgown.

I should really ask the seamstress to sew some underwear instead of this negligee.

Most of the nightwear provided were loose fitting and easily got tangled or shifted while she slept. Adelheid missed the form fitting underwear of Earth that did not exist in this world. As a princess, requesting customized clothing should not be difficult.

It was only after laying on the bed that Adelheid noticed how exhausted she had become from simply walking for about two hours, and she had almost fallen asleep in Elune's arms on the way back. Just as Adelheid was about to tuck herself into bed without a care for all else, a voice stopped her.

"Princess Adelheid, before you rest, you mustn’t forget to drink your medicine," Elune said.

Adelheid's head that had started drooping straightened as she recalled that she hadn't drunk her tonic yet. It was something she drank every morning and night, but she had just been so tired that it left her mind.

The concoction was brewed by the palace's imperial alchemist. Supposedly, it was supposed to strengthen Adelheid's constitution and maintain her health.

"Your Highness," Sofia said as she brought the small bowl of liquid over.

While Adelheid had been drifting between drowsiness and awareness, it seemed that the bowl of medicine had already been delivered to the room without her knowing. With a clink, the cover was removed from the bowl, revealing the red-violet concoction within. The viscosity was slightly runnier than honey, but that wasn't saying much.

Taking the bowl, Adelheid directly downed the tonic without a second thought. The liquid had a slightly metallic tang, something that Adelheid did not dislike, but nor was she overly fond of either. What she loathed, however, was the bitterness that made her want to vomit all the contents within her stomach.

"Ugh," Adelheid gagged as she pushed the bowl away and reached for the cup of sweetened milk in Matilda's hand. Only after gulping the whole cup in one breath did Adelheid feel that the bitterness had receded.

Adelheid moved to cover herself with her blankets once more, but she didn't feel like sleeping anymore. The bitter tonic must have some effects, because she felt energized every time she drank it which made her drowsiness disappear.

She glanced at the two maids standing attentively at the side, waiting for her to enter slumber. Healer Elune had already left for the night. Adelheid moved her eyes around the room, slightly bored. As her eyes glanced at the mirror, her eyes widened, and she bolted upright.

"Your Highness?!" The maids cried out in surprise.

Adelheid ignored the shocked maids calling to her in lieu of observing her reflection within the mirror. Reflected on the mirror was her exact visage, no differences at all, but Adelheid could have sworn she saw her pupils glowing red a second ago.

"Do my eyes look any different?" Adelheid asked her two maids. Matilda and Sofia looked at each other before shaking their heads negatively. "I see," Adelheid muttered. Seeing as the two still had concerned looks, Adelheid reassured them that nothing was wrong before laying down once more. The seventh princess could only attribute what happened earlier as herself hallucinating from fatigue.

Not long after, Princess Adelheid of the Vuldar Empire drifted off into unconsciousness.