Arbo withdrew the hand from my cheek and looked at the terrorist behind me. His gaze turned ice-cold in an instant. The warmth he had shown me felt like a mirage now.

“You are the last one.”

Arbo fixed the red-haired man concealed behind me with a lethal stare and spoke. When I turned my head, Arbo’s blade was already leveled right beside the red-haired man’s neck. A red aura clung to Arbo’s sword. It was sword energy.

Sword energy was not something just anyone could use. Just as only the chosen could wield magic, the same held true for sword energy. Arbo wielded that notoriously difficult sword energy with complete freedom, the way one moves a part of their own body.

Powerful sword energy could even cut through magic. The sword energy that had been rippling along Arbo’s blade sharpened its edge and erased the terrorist’s magic in a single stroke.

“That is sword energy……!”

The nobles stared in open-mouthed awe at Arbo’s swordsmanship, which cut through magic with ease. At the same time, the murderous intent emanating coldly from Arbo’s body filled them with dread. The sword that had protected Arbo on a battlefield swarming with countless threats of death now pointed precisely at the terrorist’s throat.

“You would do well to confess who is behind this. I am not particularly forgiving.”

Arbo’s low, measured voice made everyone’s knees go weak. The nobles had heard plenty about the feats Arbo had achieved in the war, but seeing the ruthless side of him from the battlefield on full display was unsettling enough to send chills down the spine.

The terrorist’s magic had vanished without a trace under Arbo’s sword energy. The flustered terrorist inched backward, crawling along the floor.

“D*mn it…… Mph!”

The terrorist had apparently decided to take his own life as a last resort and moved to bite down hard on his tongue. But Arbo’s scabbard drove itself into the terrorist’s mouth even faster.

“It is too soon to die.”

“Mph, mph!”

The moment the terrorist jerked his head up with the scabbard jammed in his mouth, a swift motion of Arbo’s hand knocked him unconscious. The fallen red-haired man looked so helpless it was hard to believe he was the same terrorist who had been unleashing merciless magic just moments before.

With Arbo’s arrival, the attack was suppressed, and before long, the Emperor, who had been lying still like the dead, forced his eyes open with great effort.

“Your Majesty!”

Mecato, who had been tending to the Empress, rushed over the moment the Emperor stirred and checked on his condition. But the Emperor’s gaze was fixed on Arbo, who was sorting through the wreckage.

“Arbo, what on earth happened here?!”

The Emperor demanded of Arbo. Mecato stood at the Emperor’s side and swept a sharp gaze over Arbo from head to toe.

“I witnessed the terrorists taking control of the knight order and arrived late because I was helping them.”

Arbo calmly explained to the Emperor why he had been delayed. Blood marked his body and face in various places, evidence that his claim of dealing with the terrorists who had taken control of the knight order was true.

“And I tried to keep as many of the terrorists alive as possible, but they took their own lives. I apologize.”

The bloodstains were a stark mismatch with his gentle face. The unsettling and eerie air around Arbo made everyone in the room, myself included, shrink back.

“Ugh!”

In the midst of the silence that had settled, a sudden pain struck my heart. It was Arbo who moved quickly and caught me as I pitched forward.

“Princess! Are you all right?”

Arbo asked me in a startled voice. But I could not answer. I had to press my palm over my mouth to hide the small drops of blood that burst from it.

‘My vision is blurring…….’

No matter how many times I blinked, my blurred vision would not clear. Using more magic than necessary while my body had not fully recovered had taken its toll.

“The, the princess used magic……!”

“How did a bastard manifest magic before Lord Norman?”

The nobles who had witnessed me using magic backed away, looking at me the way one looks at a monster.

“Princess, you are bleeding……!”

Arbo, on the other hand, paid no attention to the nobles’ reactions and checked on my health first. I wanted to say I was fine, but I could not open my mouth.

“Princess? Princess Aedis!”

I fought to hold onto my fading consciousness. But I could not, and I closed my eyes and lost consciousness right there in Arbo’s arms.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the sky was what I saw. A sacred energy enveloped my entire body along with a blue sky where pale clouds spread like brushstrokes of paint. The natural scene, so convincing it seemed like the real sky had been transplanted there, had to be the ceiling of the Grand Temple.

“You have opened your eyes.”

With those words, Father’s face filled my vision. He looked down at me with a healthy complexion. The terrorists who had cast the curse had died, and so the curse had lifted.

“Drink this.”

After receiving treatment from the Grand Temple’s attending physician and taking the medicine he gave me, my body felt clean and refreshed.

“This is the Grand Temple’s bedroom.”

I already knew. There was no way I would not recognize a space that had once been my home.

If the imperial palace dazzled with its coating of gold, the Grand Temple always gleamed with bright light. The office was the same. Even without any particular windows, magic had created a sky overhead, making it feel almost like stepping into heaven.

“From what I have gathered, you used magic to subdue the terrorists. His Imperial Highness Prince Arbo carried you here himself.”

“His Imperial Highness did?”

I asked back with a voice full of surprise. And then I recalled the tender side of Arbo I had seen at the Grand Ducal Household not long ago. Arbo was famously someone who did not let others close. Yet somehow, in this life, Arbo was strangely warm toward me, someone he had met only briefly.

‘It would have been awkward to pretend not to see an injured person.’

But the thought also crossed my mind that Arbo, who had a genuinely kind nature, might have taken pity on me and helped out of compassion.

“Is it true that you manifested magic?”

Father asked me in a tone that said he could hardly believe it. I gave a straightforward nod.

“It is.”

I felt Father checking the aura of my magic. After confirming the magic that had manifested within my body, Father let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face with his dry hands.

“To think you would manifest before Norman. No, how did you of all people manifest magic……”

“Because I am also of the Aedis household.”

“But you are only half.”

By nature, the Aedis family rarely manifested magic unless the bloodline was pure. Even so, the reason Father had registered me into the family register was that Norman showed no sign of manifesting magic as he approached the deadline of twenty years old.

No one could have known that a mutation like me would appear. No one could have anticipated that something which had not happened in centuries would come to pass. Nor that a mutation like Norman would be born.

“You, you really…… I should have listened when His Majesty opposed registering you.”

“You already know, Father. That Lord Norman can never manifest magic.”

“How do you know that……”

“Because that must be the reason you registered me despite His Majesty’s opposition.”

Father’s face darkened. There had never been a case of the eldest son of the Aedis family failing to manifest magic. I had to make it clear in this private meeting with Father. That the one who would become the next head of the Aedis household was me.

“There has never been a pure-blooded Aedis who failed to manifest magic. But I believe you know best when it comes to Norman’s magic, Father.”

Father did not answer my words that cut to the bone. No, it was not that he did not answer. He had nothing to say.

The right to succeed as head of the Aedis household went to whoever manifested magic first. And the position of High Priest had been held by the head of the Aedis household for generations.

By all rights, Father should have been appointing me, who had already manifested magic, as the next household head. But Father could not bring himself to make that decision easily, keeping in mind the possibility that Norman might still manifest later.

“I know that by principle you should appoint me as the next household head, but I understand you are hesitating because of Norman.”

The position of next High Priest held no immediate meaning for me. It was a seat God would pass to me regardless. There was no need to reach for it hastily.

“Then please appoint me as the next household head on a provisional basis until the last day of this year, when Norman’s window to manifest magic closes.”

“That I cannot do. Registering a bastard into the family was already enough to set tongues wagging, and now you want me to hand over the next household head position on top of that. It is out of the question.”

Even faced with my reasonable argument, Father flatly refused my proposal. But I did not give up and spoke with conviction.

“Can Norman, branded as a firstborn son in name only, truly lead the Grand Ducal Household? He will likely become the laughingstock of the Keadi Empire.”

Father closed his eyes with a troubled expression. Even the mere thought of the Aedis household, which was as precious to him as his own life, becoming a subject of ridicule seemed to pain him.

“But if you hand the next household head position to me, the one who suppressed the terrorist attack, that ridicule can be avoided. At the very least, I have the power to subdue those who mock the Aedis name.”

My blue eyes flashed. With this magic, I could bring everyone to their knees. Even the Emperor, if it came to that.

“And with this incident as a backdrop, the eldest son of the Aedis household who could not manifest even a trace of magic will lose the trust of even the Grand Ducal Household’s own servants.”

“……”

“Is it not abundantly clear in the end who they will bow their heads to?”

The worry on Father’s face deepened. Unable to find a middle ground, Father broke his long silence and gave me the answer I had been waiting for.

“Very well. I will entrust you with full authority over the Grand Ducal Household and appoint you as the next household head.”

“……Father.”

“However, if Norman manifests, you will step down from the next household head position.”

My objective was achieved. I had never intended to bargain over the position of High Priest to begin with.

“It will not last long. The next High Priest will be Norman.”

Father still held a small measure of hope for Norman.

‘Regrettably.’

Knowing the future as I did, that belief only looked pitiable to me.

“It seems you and I will be spending a great deal of time in private meetings from now on, Father.”

It was a declaration of war in all but name. Father squeezed his eyes shut at my words.

“That will not happen.”

But the future was already set. The one God had chosen was me. The first time, and the second time, both.