Thud. I threw a pebble at a window. Then, after waiting for about 10 seconds, a figure appeared on the other side of the windowăźbehind the thin curtain. Thud. Thud. Thud. I threw three more pebbles. The curtain was then parted open and Her Highness Anastasia appeared.
She opened the window and I slipped in.
The illumination from the magic lamp made the interior of the bedroom stand out.
Her Highnessâs bedroom was about the same size as Muge-sanâs warehouse, and a canopy too big for one person alone sat in the center.
ăMy heart is thumping.ă
Her Highness wrote on a memo paper.
There was a reason why I visited Her Highness Anastasiaâs room late at night. To pull out Her Highnessâ skill orb. If this fact is ever revealed, I can say bye-bye to my head, so I wore a hood deep over my eyes and wrapped a piece of cloth around my mouth. I looked like a cat burglar no matter how you looked at it.
Her Highness, who expressed she was thrilled, was wearing a light blue silky dress. Nightwear, I suppose⌠The lives we live are way too different. The nightwear seems to be more expensive than the formal wear I borrowed at the guesthouse for the audience.
That made the bandage wound around her neck all the more painful to look at.
ăThis is theăMana Controlăskill orb.ă
After we met during the day, I looked around the Empire to buy a skill orb. Lev people canât use skill orbs, so I thought it might not be sold here, but they were sold at general stores like normally. No, it wasnât even a specialty store but just a general store, so it might not be that normal.
They didnât have a 2-star, so I bought twoăMana Control â ă.
ăLetâs hurry.ă
Her Highness nodded as I urged. We were tense about two things. One, if someone would find it, and the other, if all goes well, Her Highness might be able to speak again.
Her Highnessâ peculiar constitution is thatăFire Magicăis automatically invoked by voice. If her skill of controlling mana improves, the activation of magic should naturally be suppressed.
The High Elf royal family should have understood this much immediately, but maybe they didnât becauseăFire Magicăis just that much of a taboo for elves⌠Is a princess adored byăFire Magicăjust that much of a stain to their honour?
âŚLetâs not think about that right now. Concentrate.
I had Her Highness sit on a chair in the room. I have triedăOrb Detachmentăseveral times, so there should be no problem.\n
ăFor the time being, I will extract all the skill orbs. Are you ready?ă
Her Highness does not know what kind of skill orbs she has. To think even she doesnât know it herself⌠Her Highness being in such a circumstance made my heart feel disconcerted, but now is not the time to be swayed by my emotions.
Since there is a skill orb likeăOrb-Seeăin this world, the Emperor must have investigated the orbs that Her Highness possesed.
Her Highness nodded in response. I went around in front of Her Highness and reached for her chestăźHer Highness quivered with a start.
ăAh. S-Sorry for being impolite. I will have to touch there to pull out the skill orbs. It may be unpleasant to be touched by me, but please bear with me a little.ă
ăâŚâŚâŚ!ă
Her Highnessâ face turned red and shook her head sideways. She straightened her back and placed her hands on her knees.
âŚâŚA guy came into a womanâs room late at night, made her sit on a chair, and within the small illumination or the magic lamp on the floor, he tried to touch her chest.
This is not something I can talk out of if witnessed by an outsider, right?
âŚLetâs hurry up.
This kind of thing must be finished quickly.
I put my right hand on Her Highnessâ chestâher body twitched a little, but that was all.
As my right hand trembled from the feel of Her Highnessâ soft, smooth and warm skin, I formed the image of pulling out skill orbs in my mind.
ăâŚsuâŚ!ă
A voice leaked from Her Highnessâ throat. As soon as it did, flames rose as if butterflies were dancing in the air and disappeared. This is the automatically invokedăFire magică, huh⌠with just such a small voice.
A black skill orb was held in my hand. Pale glowing words emerged.
ăOrb Camouflage â â â ă
Orb Camouflage?
What even is this?\nAnyway, I have to pull out all the rest for the time being.
The next thing that came out was a red orbâblack is âOrb Strengtheningâ, while red is âPhysical Characteristicsâ.
ăReproductive Disruption â ă
When I saw the words emerge on the orb, I was at a loss for all words.
What theâŚ
What the hell is this!
ăReproductive DisruptionăââIn other words, it means Her Highness will not be able to bear children?
Ah⌠thatâs what it was.
TheăOrb Camouflageăthat appeared first was probably to avoidăOrb-Seeăand other such skills in order to hide the true nature of the skill orbs inside Her Highnessâ body.
Her Highness was âgiftedâ to another country.
This skill orb means âdonât make a childâ in that country.
Does the High Elf royal family think they have the right to play as they please with Her Highnessâ life?! The life of this girl named Anastasia?! Donât screw with me! Already born with a burdensome body constitution, and the High Elf royal familyăźis this something her own family should do to her?!
ăâŚâŚâŚâŚ?ă
Her Highness stared puzzled as I trembled with anger.
Since she has seen me pulling out skill orb once, Her Highness did not let out a voice the second time. But I donât think she has seen the skill orb I was holding just yet.
ăâŚIâm going to pull out the rest of the skill orbs.ă
I decided to keep the talks for later. I put the skill orb in a leather bag and reached for Her Highnessâ chest.
The last skill orb that came out was extremely rareâit was a blue skill orb, which is âMagic Characteristicsâ.
ăMana Propagation â â ââă\n\nI heard Her Highnessâ voice for the first timeânot the voice that unexpectedly leaked just now, but the voice that she herself wanted to make.
A crystal clear beautiful voice.
Tiny sparks danced around. But that was all.
ă!ă
Her Highness looked at me.
I nodded.
ăLetâs train. If you have aăMana Controlăskill orb with more stars, you can control it perfectly.ă
ăââââă
Tears formed in the corner of Her Highnessâ eyes. And it dropped.
ă~~~~~~~~~ă
Her Highness Anastasia was suppressing her voice even when she was crying in happiness.
I didnât even want to imagine the life she must have lived since birth. But itâs going to be different from hereafter. One day, she will be able to laugh aloud or sing a song whenever she wants to.
It happened at that moment. When I was feeling relieved having pulled off this mission.
Maybe I had also dropped my guard a little.
Even if I had been careful, it was just too sudden.
The glass window broke all of a sudden and something flew in. It stabbed me in the left shoulder. It was coated with poison. Paralysis poison.ăWorld Rulerăwarned me so, but power slipped out of my body and I finally collapsed.