Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Grand Sanctuary (2)
“As I looked into that man, I really think we need to be careful!”
The moment we stepped into the Grand Sanctuary, Aya said that, looking like she was about to explode with agitation.
While Milene, clad in heavy armor, sat blankly in her seat, Aya was filling the room with urgent advice and warnings directed at her.
“I saw that everyone around him was all women. I know there are plenty of promiscuous members of the royal family, but it’s rare to see someone so openly crude about it! Most of them at least try to act refined!”
...Granted, her advice sounded very biased, but it wasn’t like she was completely making things up without any basis.
If Aiden himself had heard it, he’d be flustered beyond belief.
“Hey, Aya.”
At the rare sound of Milene speaking in her usual voice, Aya abruptly stopped her furious rant.
Milene almost never spoke properly, let alone attempted anything resembling a conversation.
“What do you think he meant when he said he wanted us to be ‘close’?”
Right after saying that, a black-haired woman who seemed to be part of his group had dragged him away like she was possessed.
Anyway, it wasn’t long ago that he suddenly dropped that line on her and left. She hadn’t even had time to ask what it meant.
“…You don’t need to worry about him, my lady!”
Aya, now a beat late, growled and spat out her words.
Although there were times when Milene caused her no end of trouble, she had stayed by Milene’s side practically her whole life. From a half-parental standpoint, she just couldn’t tolerate a wolf-like man approaching the princess!
“…”
But Milene only tilted her head slightly at her words.
Hmm.
That didn’t feel quite right.
So she sighed and closed her eyes.
“…Mm.”
It was time to gather her focus and start moving again, just as she always did.
If Katya Heinkel Craven, due to the overwhelming divine power she was born with, suffered physical side effects from it, then Milene had the exact opposite problem.
Milene was born with divine power so faint that it was barely enough to be considered royal.
However, thanks to the ‘special nature’ of that divine power, she had secured the privilege of second in line to the throne.
Inside her body, the 'black divine power' pulsed.
A bizarre and foreign supernatural ability, utterly unlike that of any other royal, stirred within her.
Her divine power didn’t burn what was around it.
It rotted, corroded, and decomposed instead.
'...I wonder if that’s really okay. Saying something like that to me.'
Milene yawned long and wide as that thought crossed her mind.
This kind of ability was something the other royals tended to avoid.
Katya might be ‘ignored’ by those around her, a reaction that didn’t quite match her power, but the treatment Milene received was more like... ‘fear.’
It was similar to the feeling one had when staring at a venomous snake loaded with deadly poison.
'People won’t exactly speak well of him.'
Aiden Kellermain, was it?
He really was a strange man.
With that thought, Milene slowly moved her armor.
▣
The Second Princess Milene’s trait—divine power with the property of ‘penetrating extreme poison’—was, in itself, an extremely valuable skill.
It had its flaws and vulnerabilities, but if she could overcome them and land a hit on the enemy, the return was all but guaranteed.
As the term “extreme poison” suggested—it carried such a brutal effect that if the user didn’t explicitly will it otherwise, one could assume that anyone struck by it was as good as dead.
There was a reason why she held the second succession rights right after the peerless superhuman Alester.
That was precisely why he had approached Milene in the first place.
To secure a surefire method to eliminate the ‘true mastermind’ of this scenario.
However, the fact that he couldn’t just openly explain all of that was the core reason Aiden’s suffering kept escalating.
“…I’m telling you, I meant it in a purely political sense.”
“…”
“…Dame Noel. I can’t feel my arm.”
“…”
After appealing to Noel, who was glaring daggers at him, she finally clicked her tongue, seeming at least somewhat willing to listen.
“I’ll give you points for guts, saying that with your fiancée right next to you, Mr. Aiden.”
“No, I mean, that wasn’t the intention at all…”
“Don’t you think the very fact that you need to explain your intention is the problem here?”
“…”
Hmph.
Trying to win this with logic wasn’t going to work. Her stance was just too firm.
In times like this, the only viable method was…
“Comparing someone like that to Dame Noel in the first place is completely absurd.”
“…Excuse me?”
“How could that person possibly compare to Dame Noel? I understand why you’re angry, but the thing is, I don’t even like that person.”
“…”
Noel’s lip twitched as she listened quietly.
…That worked.
“Then say it out loud, properly.”
“Pardon?”
“Who is it that you like, Mr. Aiden?”
“…”
It felt a little much to have her demand it so directly like this.
“…It’s Dame Noel.”
The corners of her mouth, which had been twitching, now shot upward like they were ready to take off.
Seeing someone who usually carried themselves with such dignity grinning like that stirred a kind of metaphysical dread—but given how much she obviously liked hearing it, it felt wrong not to say it out loud at least once…
“Say it one more time.”
“…”
With a quiet sigh, Aiden spoke again.
“It’s Dame Noel.”
“Again.”
“…”
Fortunately, before that hellish loop could continue, someone stepped in and cut things off.
“They said the room assignments are done. We’re on the second floor of Saint Azelia Hall—”
Katya, who had just opened the door to the waiting room, narrowed her eyes when she saw Aiden kneeling on the floor with both arms raised.
“…Were you disciplining him?”
“I believe it was appropriate.”
“He kind of deserved it.”
In a rare moment of agreement with Noel, Katya sighed and acknowledged it before handing Aiden a stack of papers she had been carrying in her arms.
“They said the official induction event and the first ceremony begin tomorrow. We’re supposed to unpack and get a good rest today.”
“Aha. Looks like we were all assigned to the same suite.”
As soon as he said that, both Noel and Katya’s eyes gleamed in an instant.
“T-then, let’s decide right now who’ll be sharing a bedroom with Mr. Aiden—”
“We’ll be sleeping separately.”
Before Noel, swallowing dryly, could finish that thought, Aiden pressed his temples and cut her off.
Fundamentally, Noel and Katya were currently inside the Grand Sanctuary in a role of ‘aide’ accompanying him.
Sharing a bedroom with them wasn’t just a matter of propriety—it was a procedural issue as well…
Besides, they’d even been assigned a spacious room specifically to prevent anything like that.
“Starting tomorrow, things are going to get really hectic, so let’s just avoid any unnecessary trouble and rest today.”
The moment he said that, a flicker of disappointment passed over Noel and Katya’s faces.
Even while unpacking in the room later, they kept pouting the entire time…
“…I’ll step out for a bit.”
Aiden quietly slipped away into the hallway to escape that atmosphere.
Of course, avoiding that awkwardness was one reason, but the truth was that Aiden’s busy schedule didn’t start tomorrow—it started today.
‘Investigation is essential.’
Judging by how things had gone so far, he figured it’d be best for his mental health to give up early on the idea that things would unfold according to the sequence he knew.
The main scenario had essentially begun the moment he set foot on this island. The longer he sat still and wasted time here, the more people would die in real time—it was that kind of situation.
'…If I remember the structure correctly…'
It began with the first incident, the “Tournament,” where ominous accidents would slowly start to occur out of sight. As the scenario progressed, larger catastrophes would erupt, causing massive casualties one after another.
From what he remembered, those kinds of incidents weren’t the sort that just happened out of nowhere. They were only possible if someone had already made preparations ahead of time.
Meaning, the “traitor” embedded somewhere on this island had likely already begun their activities. He had to uncover them in advance.
If he couldn’t identify who they were, he’d at least need to pick up on the signs and trace them to a clue.
“…”
And as he moved through the area like that—
Aiden spotted the enormous torch blazing in the center of the island and let out a faint chuckle.
If Urgan had a “priestess” as a means of communication, then for Sia, the God of Purification, this was how divine revelations were delivered to his believers.
This was the proof of the “First Vow” made with the first human who wielded divine power. It was a cornerstone that upheld the very foundation of the Holy Crown Kingdom.
There was a reason this was the site where the succession ceremony was held.
'…Wait, didn’t I have a way to use that thing?'
As he recalled the thought, Aiden opened his skill window.
-Skill Info
◆ First Vow
※ Unique – Only this character possesses it!
A vow that imitates the oath made by the first seeker and the God of Purification. It excels in firepower and allows the user to manifest their own unique trait through a <Vow Ritual> with the God of Purification.
◈ The ritual has not yet been performed, so the unique trait is currently locked.
…There it was.
Seeing the final line, Aiden narrowed his eyes.
A “unique trait,” huh.
'Katya's numbness, Milene's extreme poison—'
Not just divine power itself, but the unique “property” of divine power possessed only by the chosen royals.
He hadn’t yet seen what Abigail III or Alester had, but no doubt they had one too.
It sounded like Aiden could also unlock something like that through the ritual.
'Maybe I should ask His Holiness about it later.'
Closing the window with that thought in mind, Aiden suddenly flinched and looked around.
Thanks to the recent battles, his qi sense had sharpened, so he was able to notice the odd sensation right away.
'…Just now.'
Someone had been watching him.
He could feel it clearly—how to describe it?
A ‘sticky’ gaze.
“…”
What the hell was that?
▣
“Ganesha, you bastard.”
[…What is it, Boss?]
“I just saw him for the first time—why didn’t you tell me?”
[…Tell you what?]
“He’s ridiculously handsome! Totally my type!”
[…]
Silence returned from Ganesha on the other end of the call.
It practically screamed: What do you want me to do about it?