Chapter 248: You Shall Not Pass (3)
The Path of Glory wasn’t created to mistreat families far from the capital. It was created so the royal family could distinguish who was on their side.
Sefira had never been chosen before, so it wasn’t recorded in historical texts. However, the other noble families knew that if they simply waited comfortably, the royal family would send a carriage for them.
For example, the kingdom’s strongest family, the Browning family, received three luxurious carriages a day before the Path of Glory began. The crown prince’s carriage, the second prince’s carriage, the third prince’s carriage... The head of the Browning family only needed to choose the carriage of the prince he supported and ride it.
Other families also chosen by the princes had the same opportunity to make a choice, though the timing varied. Some families received a carriage on the day of the summon, others, two days later. There were even cases where the carriage barely arrived on the last day.
If the carriage arrived that late, how would they reach the royal palace in time? It was simple. By using magic. They were breaking the rules by riding a mount anyway, so why would they bother honoring a rule about not using teleportation?
The royal family could break the law however they pleased. The carriages themselves had teleportation magic infused into them. Thus, instead of traveling by road, they teleported instantly to the capital within one second, no matter where they were in the kingdom. This was the absurd secret hidden within the Path of Glory.
Then what happened to families who weren’t chosen by any prince? Such cases didn’t exist. No matter how insignificant the family, a prince would at least send a carriage sooner or later. The only difference was timing.
Of course, the carriage of the highest-ranking prince, the crown prince, wouldn’t be sent. Neither would the second prince send his. Instead, the lesser third or fourth princes would send one, more out of courtesy than anything.
Despite being a noble family, Sefira hadn’t received a carriage from the first or second prince. During the previous Path of Glory, the third prince had sent one.
However, things would have been different this time. With Keter present, even if not the crown prince, at least the second prince should have sent a carriage. But because Keter had completed the Path of Glory on his own, the first and second princes could only be taken bewildered.
In the history of the Path of Glory, there had never been a family that completed it while abiding by all the rules. Not because it was impossible, but because doing so would offend the royal family. Yet Sefira could become an exception again. They could just claim they weren’t aware of the rule about carriages being sent.
News that Sefira had arrived reached the princes. Because they arrived in such a bizarre way, it would have been impossible for the report not to reach them.