《Rise of a Renegade Prince》 Chapter 1 An opulent and distinguished place with a noble atmosphere. Huge braziers were attached to one side of each of the twelve onyx columns, lighting up every part of the hall and covered the room in warm oranges and dancing shadows. The countless gems on the rounded ceiling danced in the flickering light while memorials looked down upon the marbled floor of this royal hall. An onyx rug ran in a circle around the room, with two paths at the throne and the main entrance while guidon banners with emblazoned tracery covered parts of the walls. Between each banner hung a torch, all but a few had been lit and in turn illuminated the artistic portrayals of late royal family members below them. Slim windows were framed by veils colored the same onyx as the banners. The curtains had been adorned with fine patterns and gold leaves. A ceremonious throne of obsidian sat in front of a large window radiating light onto the throne and was adjoined by two smaller and less elaborate seats for visiting royalty of other nations. The throne was covered in intricate illustrations and fixed on each of the stubby legs was a gilded head of a legendary creature. The thin pillows were a dark onyx and these too had been adorned with gilded quilting. Directly behind the throne, at this moment stood a man. He was more than 180cm tall with a strong yet slender build and his entire person seemed to exude an air of dominance and majesty. Facing the sunlight coming through the window, the golden glow lit up the side of his face and enhanced his handsome side profile that was like a work of art from the hands of the gods themselves yet the shadow cast by his long eyelashes gave a sorrowful and deeply melancholic feeling that was enough to break the heart of any onlooker. His pair of grey pupils hidden under his hooded eyelids were like two black holes in space that sucked in every ounce of light and left them dark and vacant without the slightest sign of life. At this moment the two large doors at the back of the hall swung slightly open with loud creaking sounds as the great oak slabs weighed on their metal hinges and a young chamberlain entered. ¡°I remember asking to be left alone.¡± The voice that rang in the hall was like a toll from the heavens itself. It was deep and dignified but also a little gloomy and on any normal day would cause one to feel reverence and a need to worship this distinguished person, but as of late, this voice had come to be a source of terror. Bowing to that hazy god-like figure beyond the throne, the chamberlain¡¯s whole body was shaking as he felt very pitiful. His heart thundered in his chest and his breath seemed to seize as his whole body shook while recalling the two senior chamberlains and several servants who had been beheaded in this very hall within this past month for various reasons, but then he also recalled the identity of the person standing outside and he truly wanted to cry as he felt that he could neither advance nor retreat without suffering injury. In the end he could only grit his teeth and announce what he had come to say, ¡°Lady Rand seeks an audience with Your Majesty.¡± The young chamberlain almost collapsed on the spot after uttering that sentence and felt that he had seen his short life of ten plus years flash before his eyes. In the last month, anything pertaining to Ivy Manor and the person who lived there had become taboo within the palace and Lady Rand was that woman¡¯s own personal maid servant. He could feel his death approaching, yet even after a long time he heard no response and when he reached out to feel, his head was still very much attached to his neck. It was only then that the young chamberlain found a little courage to raise his head and look upon the dignified person who had come around at some unknown time to sit upon the obsidian throne. The seat of the throne was wide so that a second person could even be seated comfortably on it, yet the majestic presence of that person seemed to make the whole world around him seem small and insignificant. He slightly reclined into the seat and a hint of sorrow could be gleaned from his posture as he flipped a crude silver bracelet over in his hand, his fingers caressing its dull surface with tenderness as one would to a lover. Except for this action of slipping the bracelet through his fingers, he remained still and absolutely unmoving. Like an exquisite stone statue that could steal the hearts of men with a single glance, he didn''t move for an unknown amount of time before he suddenly raised his head, his gloomy grey eyes locking onto the young chamberlain and making him shudder. ¡°Send her in.¡± ¡°Yes Your Majesty.¡± Receiving his orders, the young chamberlain didn¡¯t dare to delay, swiftly turning around to leave and stumbling in his haste as though he was escaping death. It wasn¡¯t long after the chamberlain had left the hall when another figure walked through the open doors, but unlike the chamberlain¡¯s quick and urgent, flustered footsteps, this person¡¯s steps were slow, steady and crisp against the marble floor and when they stepped onto the padded carpet, although muffled, those steps still sounded clear and dignified. ¡°This loyal subject greets Your Majesty. May you reach the point of radiance.¡± Dressed in a plain, dark blue maid¡¯s dress, the woman¡¯s conduct was respectful and in line with all codes of conduct when facing the ruler of a kingdom, yet not a shred of reverence could be felt in that kneeling posture. Looking down on her, the man on the throne had a look of ridicule flash through his eyes. ¡°You may rise.¡± With permission, the woman slowly stood up and as her body that had been curved straightened out, it revealed a point that had been missed earlier as the king had not been paying attention when she entered the room. The silver bracelet slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground and rolling down the steps, along the regal carpet, silently without a sound and coming to a stop as it knocked into the woman¡¯s shoe, lying there silently. The woman did not speak as she watched the king whose shocked expression slowly morphed into anger before he pointed at the child in her arms and shouted, ¡°Hannah Rand! Exactly what is your meaning by bringing this here?! Are you asking to be executed?!¡± The thunderous roar caused the very room to shake and the flames of the torches on the walls flared like they had been doused with oil, flickering wildly yet the woman showed no visible change in her expression as she continued to watch the agitated king coolly as though she had done nothing wrong and replied, ¡°Your Majesty has greatly over exaggerated; this subject has no intentions of dying.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Yet your gall seems to indicate otherwise.¡± The words were spat out through his teeth. ¡°Have I not made it absolutely clear that I refuse to see him?¡± Anger and hatred were most prominent in his gaze as the king looked down at the child in Hannah¡¯s arms who had silently woken up at some point as though he were looking at an enemy and sorrow slowly seeped into that gaze. ¡°If it were not for this child, my Sophia¡­¡± ¡°Surely, Your Majesty must be joking.¡± Hannah was quick to interrupt. ¡°You couldn¡¯t possibly be thinking to shift such heavy blame unto a child who is barely a month old.¡± Abruptly, a surging aura of anger burst forth from her neat and petite body that was quite frightening and it caused even the king to feel apprehensive and suffocated. ¡°May I ask exactly who was the person that relentlessly chased after My Lady asking for her hand in marriage despite being rejected time and again? Who was the one that took advantage of My Lady¡¯s desperate time and forced her to live in this rotten place, spreading lies and rumors and cutting off her freedom to fulfill their own selfish desires? And for exactly whose sake was it that My Lady decided to go through with this pregnancy despite her body¡¯s poor condition?¡± Hannah was livid and her every question was like a poisonous knife being driven into the king¡¯s heart. ¡°You treated My Lady in such a way and it will forever be a mystery to me exactly why she came to love you, yet she did. She loved you to the point that she sacrificed herself to bring your own flesh and blood into this world and in the end, you still have the nerve to look down upon this very child and blame him for My Lady¡¯s death? Wendelin Beaumeister, I have truly become disgusted with you for the last time.¡± All pretenses of a ruler and subject were discarded at this moment and she even dared to call the king by his name, yet King Wendelin could not bring himself to be angry or refute her words because it was in fact the truth. The death of his beloved, was it not all due to his selfishness? He could still recall how frightened she was when the first glow of a life appeared within her. She had wanted to call a priest and send the child right back into the Goddess¡¯s arms or at least find him a better mother, but he had refused. He had wanted her to be the mother of his child more than anything else and now that she had died to fulfill that request, he truly wanted to blame this child that she had painstakingly brought into the world? At this moment, the handsome and powerful great king of the western kingdoms had completely vanished and what was left was only a man with regrets. In an instant he became haggard and worn as though the world had left him without any hope. He looked at the child that he had refused to see for the past month and what he saw was a pair of familiar grey eyes staring back at him on a strange little face that held no expression. He couldn¡¯t find even a trace of his beloved Sophia in those features and instead all he saw was a perfect replica of himself. He could no longer sit upright and collapsed weakly into the throne. ¡°What do you want?¡± he asked Hannah like a man who had exhausted all options. ¡°It has been a month since his birth yet My Prince is still without a proper name to be called. I ask Your Majesty to give My Prince a name.¡± It was unknown if seeing the king look so utterly defeated had softened her heart, but Hannah had once again put on a look of a subject as she addressed him, causing the king to sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t. Stop.¡± He waved his hand weakly while standing up from the throne and walked down. ¡°Between you and I, there is no need for pretenses.¡± ¡°I have never once pretended in front of Your Majesty from the first moment that we met and I have no intentions of doing so in the future. However, as a citizen of this country it is only right that I see the Great King with at least this much etiquette. But I assure you that if Your Majesty is ever in need of a person to knock you off your high horse, I will gladly avail myself.¡± There was some semblance of laughter in Hannah¡¯s last sentence that helped to lighten the mood and a small arc curved the corner of the king¡¯s mouth before he looked down at the child she held in her arms. In the time when his beloved was pregnant, there were few days that the king did not spend on his knees with his ear pressed against her stomach listening to the small life thriving inside and feeling the warmth of his light and he had greatly anticipated the birth of this child. He looked forward to when he would hear his first cries and hold him after he was born, yet when the time came it had only been a tragedy from his worst nightmare and now that he was looking at this child properly for the first time, an entire month had already passed. ¡°Is he always this quiet?¡± Although he was only a baby, somehow the king found the child¡¯s stare to be quite focused and piercing, making him uncomfortable and he couldn¡¯t help asking. ¡°Except for the moment he was born My Prince has never cried once and he is incredibly intelligent. In the past month we have already developed a method of communicating.¡± ¡°Is that true?¡± ¡°I would never lie to Your Majesty.¡± Looking at Hannah¡¯s offended look, the king knew that she wasn¡¯t joking and he looked at the child in her arms again, this time, his gaze becoming gentle. Indeed, even if he didn¡¯t look like her, this was definitely the child of his beloved. How could he be an ordinary child? ¡°He must have the spirit of a king.¡± King Wendelin said this and he saw the baby¡¯s eyes widened, causing him to look quite cute and his heart that he had hardened in the past month softened even further. His hands by his sides suddenly itched with the desire to reach out and hold him, but the child looked so small and frail that an odd fear sprung up in his heart and suppressed it. Instead, he only reached out to lightly touch the small face and the soft, fragile feeling of the infant¡¯s skin under his rough palm only caused that fear to grow. King Wendelin had seven consorts in his palace and this number was still expected to grow in the future. Together, these seven women had borne him fifteen children but none of these women had been brought in by him and had instead been sent into the palace for political reasons weather by the nobles of his own kingdom or any of the other kingdoms in the country. Even his marriage to his rightful wife, the Queen was an arranged marriage and sleeping with those women was nothing more than a royal obligation in his eyes. The only woman King Wendelin had ever loved and pursued was Lady Sophia. The only woman whose child¡¯s birth had been so greatly anticipated by him was Lady Sophia¡¯s. Never had this king held any of his children before when they were this small and now that he truly wanted to, he was terrified of hurting him especially with the significance this particular child held. He had never known that babies could be this fragile. ¡°What name will Your Majesty give My Prince?¡± The king who had shortly fallen into shock was woken up by Hannah¡¯s voice and he thought for a while before asking in a slightly hoarse voice, ¡°How did she call out to him?¡± It was no mystery as to who the ¡®she¡¯ the king referred to was. Hannah replied. ¡°My Lady passed on the very moment that the prince was born and she was not able to call out to him.¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± King Wendelin closed his eyes in a seemingly pained manner and it was as though he could once again see that lovely visage sitting on the stone bench in the ivy covered pavilion on the lake with the hundreds of apple blossoms raining down around her. ¡°Then I shall give Hersheik to be his name with Roland as his seconder.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± There was an obvious note of relief in Hannah¡¯s voice and she smiled at the infant nestled in her arms. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good Your Highness? You¡¯ve been given a name.¡± In fact, Hannah was quite happy about this. Although it was only somewhat of a superstitious belief that being given a name by their fathers would bring a child good luck, it was a fact that a child being named by their father, especially among royals and nobility, was a sign of favor. Lady Sophia¡¯s reputation was something that could only be utilized outside. Here, inside these palace walls, the little prince didn¡¯t have any standing to speak of and as the king¡¯s twelfth son he was far in line for succeeding the throne. Without King Wendelin¡¯s support, he would surely be pecked on by just about any wild dog or fowl off the side of the path and possibly be killed off before he became old enough to protect himself but this name would make a difference. He was named ¡®Hersheik¡¯ by the king and not only that, but he was also given a seconder. It was more common for princesses to be given second and third names and even fourth names as they were treasures to ensure the wellbeing of a kingdom but between princes, if ten were born then it would be a miracle to see two alive by the time the throne succession was over, they were often only given one name, but King Wendelin had given Hersheik another name. Hannah was very satisfied. That very evening, a message was sent out to the entire kingdom that the king had given a name to the recently born twelfth prince and he would from henceforth be known as Hersheik Roland of the Beaumeister kingdom. Many people celebrated that the child of the much beloved Lady Sophia was in favor with the king and some even went to the temples and churches, lifting up his name to be blessed before the Goddess; everyone was in jubilation. Everyone that is, except for the person himself¡­.. Chapter 2

He had an ill-fated birth. The moment that he was born as the eldest son with the most succession rights to his family¡¯s wealth, he was already marked for a bad end and he was aware of it. So really, he wasn¡¯t surprised when his own younger brother put a gun to his head after having him beaten black and blue and forced him to sign over his position; he had even anticipated his own death. But what he did not expect was the ruthlessness his brother showed in killing his fianc¨¦e and the unborn life within her to ¡®tie up lose ends¡¯ as he called it. He also didn¡¯t expect his cruelty in shooting him multiple times in several non-vital places then leaving him to be burnt alive in that house. People said that the world was a dark and cruel place, but life had proved to him that nothing was wrong with the world and it was instead the darkness in the hearts of men that was the real problem; but he had thought at least, that between family there would be some semblance of mercy. It wasn¡¯t until his last moments that he learnt that crucial lesson¡­ The hearts of men were dark but the blood that tied people together was even more so. He died¡­ and then he was reborn. The place that he was born into was somewhere he definitely did not know. As his family¡¯s successor, even if he didn¡¯t want to, his education consisted of learning several languages, eight of which he became highly proficient in yet out of all the languages that he had learned, not a single one of them corresponded with the language he heard these people speak. It was a completely foreign place but at the moment he was a baby. He believed that with time and effort plus the odd fact that he was reborn with his previous life¡¯s memories intact, he would quickly be able to adapt and comfortably integrate himself into this new life. However, at the time that he had such thoughts he had yet to find out the existence of ¡®that thing¡¯. It first appeared when he fell asleep. In the dark recesses of his mind, he saw something flicker before a very familiar thing appeared before his line of sight. It was a text box. [RESET GAME?] [YES] [NO] Looking at those words that were like something straight out of his gaming screen, he hit ¡®yes¡¯ without putting much thought behind it. [RESETTING GAME¡­] [GAME RESET!] [CONNECTING TO SERVER¡­] [NO CONNECTION FOUND!] [SEARCHING FOR NEW CONNECTION¡­] [NEW CONNECTION FOUND!] [CONNECTING TO NEW SERVER¡­] [SUCCESSFUL CONNECTION!] [LOADING SKILL SHOP¡­] [LOADING NPCs¡­] [PREPARING TRAINING GROUNDS¡­.] It was a familiar stream of texts that he was used to seeing from playing games with his fianc¨¦e who was a game otaku. When he met that girl in high school, it was a time in his life when he had become so used to just following his family¡¯s orders and doing whatever he was told; he was like a robot that couldn¡¯t think for itself and his life had become so routine and rigid that when any changes occurred in his schedule he didn¡¯t even know what to do with himself. She was like a wild typhoon that swept in and completely turned his life on its head. Before he met her, where would the successor of an elite family like him neglect his homework and play online games until the next morning then have to rush and complete it the next day before class? She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the square he had let himself be boxed into and she showed him a completely different world, bringing his almost dead soul back to life. After graduation he thought that he would be back to his old routine of doing as he was told but it seemed like he was fated with that girl. By the time he died, gaming had become such a normal part of his life that in place of where he wouldn¡¯t even glance at a gaming console in a shop window, he had clicked a ¡®game reset¡¯ button upon seeing it in a dream. [SYSTEM ONLINE!] [START TRAINING?] [YES] [NO] Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Again, he selected ¡®yes¡¯ without much thought and what popped up was yet another set of texts. [SELECT TRAINING SKILL!] [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE¡­] [LANGUAGE SKILL] [WALKING SKILL] [EXIT] At the time, he wondered exactly what kind of stupid game this was and ridiculed it endlessly in his mind, but in the end he still chose to train in the language skill because ¡®learning how to walk¡¯ just didn¡¯t seem to make any sense. After selecting the ¡®language skill¡¯ option, the scenery around him abruptly changed and he found himself sitting behind a desk in a room with wooden walls and floors. Hanging in midair near the roof supports was a transparent bar with black numbers in one corner that currently said ¡®0/100¡¯ which he quickly recognized as a progress bar. At the front of the room were a whiteboard that hung on the wall next to a clock that currently pointed out the time to be exactly twelve o¡¯clock and a desk with teaching materials next to which stood a blonde lady with blue eyes in a long skirted French maid outfit. She didn¡¯t seem to be surprised by his sudden appearance and instead smiled. ¡°Welcome, my name is Olivia. In the time that we are together I will do my best to assist you and answer all of your inquiries so please don¡¯t hesitate to ask any questions. Let¡¯s begin.¡± The moment that she finished speaking, the clock hanging on the wall chimed and began to ticking. What followed was an introduction to an odd language he had never heard of before called ¡®Ancient Text¡¯ but with the Olivia¡¯s easy to understand explanations and his own superior knowledge on languages he was able to make quick progress, earning consecutive notifications of gaining EXP which went towards filling up the progress bar and for every five EXP he managed to gain, he would gain one SP. He had always been a diligent person and once he immersed himself in something he would quickly lose track of time and everything else around him. Before he knew it, the hands on the clock had made a full rotation, pointing back to twelve o¡¯clock once again and the clock loudly chimed which broke his concentration and he looked up at the progress bar hanging in midair. Within twelve hours of being exposed to this new language, he had managed to gain 20/100 EXP and the once transparent progress bar had a portion of it filled with a glowing green. ¡°Well done, you¡¯ve made excellent progress.¡± Olivia smiled while closing her book. ¡°That¡¯s all for today, see you in the next class.¡± Once she said those words, his surroundings slightly flickered and he was once again in that dark place without a speck of light save the message screen in front of him that once again held the same set of texts from before with the acceptance of some changes. [SELECT TRAINING SKILL!] [CURRENTLY AVAILABLE¡­] [LANGUAGE SKILL (Beginner)] (Timed Out) [WALKING SKILL] [EXIT] The language skill he had just trained was now at the beginner level. Thinking back to the progress bar that was at twenty percent, he figured that if he could get it up to one hundred he might advance from beginner to intermediate level. In the time he had spent studying, he found that odd ¡®Ancient Text¡¯ language to be quite interesting as its characters were a mix of both letters and symbols and he found that the way in which the two were made to come together and make sense was absolutely fascinating and he also thought that the pronunciations of the words sounded very romantic. He truly wanted to learn it a bit more, but the ¡®Timed Out¡¯ status next to the skill let him know that he was no longer able to train it at the moment. A little bummed out and adamant that he wasn¡¯t going to do something like ¡®learning to walk¡¯, he unhesitantly selected the exit option. Once he selected it, the screen in front of him slightly flickered before disappearing, leaving him in total darkness but soon, in the distance, he could see a spot of light that was gradually getting brighter and brighter until eventually it became bright enough to blind and he cried out in surprise. ¡°Au! Auaua!¡± It was an odd crying voice, and for a moment he was startled, but after looking around the unknown environment and confirming his own immobility, he remembered that he had died and reincarnated as a baby. He remembered the noise and the panic from the moment of his birth and being passed from hand to hand to be taken care of. He remembered that he had come to a new place and started a new life as a completely new person and suddenly, he wished that he had trained a bit of that walking skill, however he quickly threw that thought to the back of his mind because that was only a dream and no matter how odd or beautiful dreams were, they sadly could not affect reality. From where he was lying, he couldn¡¯t see much of anything besides the blue canopy of the baby cradle and the gold gilded ceiling above but from the quality of the cloth used in the canopy and the fact that he highly believed the ceiling was made of real gold, he figured that the family he was born into this time was once again a wealthy one. He just prayed and hoped that he wasn¡¯t so unlucky to be born as the eldest son again so he could at least ease his way out of the line of fire. While he was thinking idly, the door of the room opened and he heard the sound of footsteps against a tiled floor before a woman¡¯s face appeared in his sight. The woman looked to be around her mid-twenties with light colored skin, dark brown hair that was pulled into a bun and a pair of pretty hazel green eyes that sparkled like gemstones when she smiled. Her facial features were Caucasian, making it difficult for him to try identifying where in the world he had been reincarnated from just judging her appearance and he thought that if all the people here were to look Caucasian, then he would just have to learn the language and find out as he grew older like any other person. However, he didn¡¯t expect when the woman opened her mouth to speak that he would actually understand her words. ¡°You¡¯re already awake, My Prince?¡± Finding that he could understand her words even though he had tried to no avail for hours after his birth to understand their babbling was in a single word, shocking! He didn¡¯t know how to react to the sudden development and ended up staring blankly for a long time which must have frightened the woman as she rushed to pick him up, but her actions were gentle. ¡°Your Highness, are you alright?¡± Being picked up had successfully snapped him out of his shock, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that he was confused. Why was it that he could suddenly understand this foreign language today when he obviously couldn¡¯t before? During that time and now, what happened? What had changed? ¡°Brown hair and grey eyes, you look exactly like your father. That selfish bastard, saying that he won¡¯t see you even after My Lady suffered so much to bring you into this world. And he dares to call himself a king?! He¡¯s no better than a covetous bandit¡­¡± The woman went off into an angry tirade that was obviously cursing the man who should be his father in this life but,¡­ hold on, did she say that his father was king? Was that meant literally or was it just another way of saying the man was full of himself or some kind of rich tycoon? Either way, from the way this woman was cursing so passionately, on the verge of tears about something or the other, he was certain that he had been born into some sort of unpleasant rich family drama. But, why was it that he found the way she spoke to be familiar? Although she was mostly grumbling and spitting words through clenched teeth, when she spoke actual words her diction was very clear and gave him a very familiar feeling that was a little¡­ romantic? He had only thought for a short while before he recalled where he had heard that kind of pronunciation before; Ancient Text language! He thought that the conclusion was crazy when he first thought of it, but the woman was still cursing at his apparently no good father so he had a readily available source for comparison. In the end, although he couldn¡¯t understand all the words she used, he found that the language he learned from the game in his dream and the language this woman was speaking were in fact, one and the same. The thought was absurd and absolutely mind boggling but it was indeed a fact. He had no idea how it was possible, but it was the truth. He thought about it in all sorts of ways but he just couldn¡¯t figure it out and in the end when the woman saw him with his brows knitted and an extremely upset look on his face, she first checked his diaper and after confirming that it was clean thought that maybe he was hungry and went off to fetch some food. She returned shortly after with a bottle of milk and although he thought that he wasn¡¯t hungry, in the end, he ended up drinking all of it, surprising both himself and the woman who then began to worry that maybe she had let him drink too much and ran off while yammering something about calling a doctor but he couldn¡¯t be bothered to worry about her because now that his stomach was full, his eyelids began to feel heavy and were quickly drooping shut on their own. In a short time he fell asleep, and the moment that his mind descended into darkness a familiar screen with texts appeared before him¡­ Chapter 3 The days following his reincarnation went by smoothly in quick succession, one after the next without much notice as he spent his days eating, sleeping and raising the levels of his language and walking skills. After falling asleep for several times and encountering that odd screen in the dark space, it became very obvious to him that this thing was neither a dream nor was it only his imagination but in fact some kind of entity. As to what it was and why he could see it, he did not know, but for now, as a baby with the mind of a twenty eight year old, he gladly indulged in it to alieve his boredom by raising the level of his language skill and also the walking skill that was originally thought to be useless. Unlike with the language skill where he was able to make quick progress and get quick results, making progress with this walking skill was much more difficult. It required more than twice the effort that he put into learning language and whenever he woke up he found that the physical exhaustion from training the skill was also present in his physical body which turned out to be a problem. The only time that the screen appeared was when he falls asleep, as such, he can only level his skills in his sleep but because of the exhaustion that training the walking skill mysteriously put on his body, after waking up he still feels tired, leading to him falling back asleep instantly after, sometimes without even drinking his milk, creating a seemingly endless sleep loop. For several days he was distressed about this, but he soon found that if he selects the ¡®exit¡¯ option once the screen appears, he would be able to fall asleep peacefully and that brought an end to the matter. However, that wasn¡¯t the point. Progress in training the walking skill was much slower than the language skill which had already progressed to 60/100 although he still couldn¡¯t speak; talking was a matter of physical development and he was, after all, only a baby, though making some basic syllabic sounds to mimic simple words was possible. In the beginning, he questioned what it was that this skill really did as he couldn¡¯t see any results until one day he rolled over. You have to understand that he was a baby that had only been born for several days, not even a month old yet, but he was able to roll over. Even he himself couldn¡¯t describe the way he felt when he came to recognize exactly what the ¡®walking skill¡¯ was and he thought that it was incorrectly named. Regardless, he began to train it in earnest. Of course, his early development did not go unnoticed by the people around him, but the only person he saw on a day to day basis was that brown haired woman with hazel eyes whose name was Hannah so nothing exaggerated like being called a genius had occurred yet. ¡°You¡¯re awake again, Your Highness.¡± She smiled from her seat next to his cradle where she was reading a book before getting up and coming over. ¡°You sleep an awful lot don¡¯t you? Are you hungry?¡± She brought up his bottle that had been standing off to the side but he only looked at her expressionlessly. Oi, he ate before napping only a short while ago. Was she trying to feed him into a pig? Seeing him remain expressionless and look at her without movement, Hannah nodded. ¡°Then would you like to read with me?¡± She put down the bottle and showed him the cover of the book she was reading, ¡®Horses of Stone¡¯ and he quickly raised both his hands above his head and smiled. Hannah laughed on seeing this and came forward to pick him up before going back to sit on the couch with him in her lap and she read aloud. As she read, Hannah would sometimes stop to explain to him what some words meant and explain certain terms as though she knew that he could understand her and it was for this reason that he enjoyed the times she read to him because he learnt many things. For example, it was only through reading that he learned this place he had been reborn to was not only foreign, but it wasn¡¯t even the same world and this place had only one large continent as its land which was named the Alveros Continent after the goddess of this world, Alverona. This was a place that had magic and monsters and the people who lived here were not only humans but also beastmen, elves, dwarves, fairies and all sorts of fantasy beings that couldn¡¯t have possibly existed on Earth. When Hannah first started reading him these books, he had believed them to be fantasy novels but after she personally demonstrated magic and often said things like ¡®the status of the beastman race¡¯s independence is different in every country¡¯, he was able to understand for himself. When he arrived at the conjecture that this was a cross world reincarnation, in other words ¡®transmigration¡¯, he honestly wasn¡¯t too surprised. After all, something like ¡®other world reincarnation¡¯ was something people heavily fantasized about in his previous life and even he had thought about it once or twice, but he never believed that it would actually happen to him. Maybe it was because it was only the two of them during the day, but Hannah spoke to him quite often about a lot of things so although she had never once brought him out of this room, he still came to know a lot of things about this place he lived in. The building itself was called Ivy Mansion. It was located deep inside of the royal palace and had been gifted to his mother by his father who was the ruler of this Beaumeister Kingdom, King Wendelin Beaumeister. Apparently, his mother in this life was a woman with a very special identity but due to some crisis she was forced to seek shelter at the royal palace and his father, who had been infatuated with her for a long time then took the opportunity to keep her locked up within this gilded cage. Hannah, who said she was his mother¡¯s hand maid from since a young age, seemed to be very unhappy with what his father did back then which led to her cursing the man to misfortune on several occasions. It was at times like these when he wondered if Hannah really believed that he could understand her or if she just entertained the idea. Whenever she started talking about his mother, Lady Sophia, Hannah would go on for long periods of times, bringing up memories from when they were both young and she would speak herself hoarse while staring at nothing in particular as her eyes became swollen from all her crying and at those times, he could only sigh. From Hannah¡¯s words, his mother seemed to be a very kind, generous and loving woman and in return she was also greatly loved but she was now dead; she had died to give birth to him. Somehow it made him think of his previous life. His mother from back then was not particularly loving and she was the type of mother who would show her affection with words and presents, spoiling him very much yet not investing any true feelings and leaving him to be raised by others. He had known that woman for twenty eight years and yet all the feelings from those years put together could not compare to the bit of warmth that he felt whenever he thought that this woman he hadn¡¯t met before had chosen to give up her life so that he could live.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The days within the mansion went like that and although he could sometimes hear voices beyond the door, he never saw any other people and it was just him and Hannah until one day this routine was suddenly broken. It came with the sound of trumpets, the banging of drums, the sound of horses and a loud shout. ¡°Her Royal Majesty the Queen has arrived in company of the Royal Consorts!¡± He was in the middle of drinking his milk after a bath and paused. The queen huh? However, Hannah¡¯s reaction was not as light as a sudden oppressive feeling gushed out from her and her expression turned bad. ¡°What is she doing here?¡± He could sense the tension and extreme dislike in those words and was startled. There was actually someone that Hannah disliked more than his father? He wondered what kind of person this queen must be but he didn¡¯t have to wonder for long because someone lightly knocked on the door and before Hannah could respond or go over to open it as usual, the door was pushed open and a pale faced young woman wearing a dress similar to Hannah¡¯s came in before quickly making way for a man dressed in a very pompous fashion, full of ruffles and lace with tights and pumpkin pants. When he saw the man with his face full of white powder and wearing a wig he almost burst out laughing which caused him to choke on his milk. Hannah quickly put down the bottle and began to pat him as the man at the door cried loudly in a shrill voice. ¡°Presenting Her Royal Majesty the Queen, Queen Elise Liosa Marie, Her Grace Royal Consort Lady Milan, Her Grace Royal Consort Lady Maria Tilly, Her Grace Royal Consort Lady Victoria Collette, Her Grace Royal Consort¡­.¡± He shouted a long string of names and graces and for every name that he called, an extravagantly dressed woman wearing a crown of silver and jewels along with two or three maids would come through the door like some sort of procession. Once he stopped choking, he watched the groups of women enter one after the next, gradually filling up the space of this room which was actually quite large, however it was with a feeling or curiosity toward the reason for their visit. His eyes carried no attentiveness and barely even lingered on any of the women for longer than the three seconds it took for him to commit each of their faces to memory along with their names. It wasn¡¯t until the man called out, ¡°Her Grace Royal Consort Princess Adelyn Persia Rose!¡± bringing the procession to an end did he finally feel some kind of interest in the person that walked through the door and that was mainly because the beautiful woman with blonde hair dressed in a delicate pink gown that brightened her rich, milky white skin and brought out the exquisite color of her garnet eyes had a pair of curved, golden horns protruding from her forehead along with a pair of large white wings tipped with similar golden horns hanging from her shoulders. When she entered the room then turned to walk to the side, he saw very clearly that those wings were not ornaments of any sort that had been strapped on, but were really and truly attached to her skin. ¡°This humble servant greets Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Consort ladies. May you reach the point of radiance.¡± He wanted to continue looking for a while longer, but the winged lady went to stand in a corner, turning away her back and Hannah stood up and bowed toward the throng of women with him in her arms, covering him within her bosom and he thought that he felt her arms momentarily tighten around him. ¡°You may rise.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Standing straight once again, Hannah faced the woman at the head of the group of ladies, Queen Elise. Looking at her, the queen was a beautiful woman who didn¡¯t look to be a day over thirty with lustrous tumbling golden curls that fell down to her waist and a sparkling pair of bright green eyes that shone like emeralds on a small face. The dress she wore was fairly simpler in style compared to the dresses of the other women in the room but it left them in the dust if the quality were to be compared, gliding gracefully against her slender figure and the front of her hair was pinned up, adorned with a gold crown. Her style was simple yet elegant. ¡°May I be so bold as to inquire the reason for Your Majesty¡¯s visit?¡± ¡°Surely you jest, or could it be that Lady Rand has forgotten about the twelfth prince¡¯s enlightening? It¡¯s already been a month.¡± Hm? Lady Rand, was that Hannah¡¯s title? And could that ¡®twelfth prince¡¯ she mentioned possibly be referring to him? ¡°Indeed this servant forgot.¡± Hearing Hannah say that, the queen showed an understanding look. ¡°You mustn¡¯t blame yourself. Raising a child alone is no easy feat, I know; but you must carry on in place of our dear Sophia.¡± All of a sudden, out of nowhere he felt something sharp stick into his leg causing him to cry out, ¡°Uwaah!¡± The sound was small, but people always tended to pay more attention to children. The small cry caused everyone in the room who had earlier been paying attention to the conversation between Hannah and the queen to now look at him. Ugh, he hated this feeling of being on display. ¡°So, this is the Light Maiden¡¯s son.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty, this is the twelfth prince.¡± Hannah looked down at him with an apologetic look while replying the queen but he pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in what he believed to be a glare, refusing to accept her apology. How could she pinch him?! This was child abuse; he wanted to call the authorities. But more than that, what did the queen just say? Light Maiden? What was that? He was the Light Maiden¡¯s son? He looked over curiously and found the queen watching him with a measuring gaze before an odd look crossed her eyes and she made a face as though she was disappointed with what she saw. Hey¡­. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like her, he looks more like His Majesty when he was young, especially those eyes.¡± ¡°Grey eyes are the distinguished trait of the Beaumeister family, My Prince is lucky to have them.¡± Hannah giggled while saying so and it caused a chill to run down his spine. If by now he still couldn¡¯t see that there was something odd with this conversation then he would have to accept being called as an idiot. While Hannah giggled, the queen laughed and from the outside the atmosphere around them surely seemed harmonious, but as the person caught in the middle of this cold war, his nerves were close to getting frost bite. ¡°Enough about all this. The reason for coming here today is to celebrate the twelfth prince¡¯s enlightening, he is already a month old. With Sophia no longer here, it is the duty of us sisters to look after¡­ah!¡± In the middle of a moving speech, she suddenly paused then turned to look at Hannah with a slightly embarrassed look. ¡°Look at me getting ahead of myself when I haven¡¯t even asked for the young prince¡¯s name.¡± The queen laughed, but he could feel that Hannah¡¯s body had gone rigid and looking up, her complexion had become ghastly white. What was the matter so suddenly? ¡°Lady Rand, would you please tell us His Highness the twelfth prince¡¯s name, what name did His Majesty give the prince?¡± Slowly, a stiff smile spread on Hannah¡¯s face and he could feel her body tremble. She said, ¡°Everyone knows that His Majesty has been deeply embroiled in his grief for the past month. Since the death of My Lady he has not come to the mansion and I am afraid that My Prince is still awaiting a name.¡± Eh? Wait, he didn¡¯t have a name?! Well, this was shocking. Since arriving in this world, at some point or another he had stopped remembering his name from his previous life, but he believed that it was a side effect of reincarnating. After all, he really shouldn¡¯t have any recollection of his previous life at all. He himself was aware that Hannah had never called him by his name, but knowing that she was a servant he believed it was due to some kind of rule where she could only address him by his title as a prince. He never thought that the reason she constantly referred to him as ¡®My Prince¡¯ was because he didn¡¯t have a name at all! He wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about that. ¡°Oh my.¡± The queen lightly covered her mouth then looked at him with a pitying gaze. ¡°Well, it¡¯s only been a month, there¡¯s still plenty of time. I¡¯m sure His Majesty will come around soon, this is the child of his beloved after all.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying so Your Majesty.¡± ¡°No need to be so polite. Come, come.¡± The queen waved to the other women who had been standing like silent decorations in the room. ¡°Present your gifts to the young prince.¡± Once she said so, one by one the different royal consorts came forward and had their maids place some pretty boxes with bows on the nearby table, bowing lightly and saying, ¡°May Your Highness reach the point of radiance.¡± But there wasn¡¯t a nick of sincerity in their actions. The only one he found to be different was, he believed she was called Lady Victoria Collette. She was a lady whose looks weren¡¯t too outstanding but she had kind and gentle brown eyes. She took the gift box from the hand of her maid behind her then came forward and opened it to reveal a shining silver locket that was shaped like the sun. ¡°With this light amulet I pray to the Goddess that Your Highness will always see good favor.¡± She then picked it up from the velvet cushioning by the thin silver chain and leant down to clasp it around his neck, arranging the pendant so that it sat at the center of his chest then she retreated several steps and bowed. ¡°May Your Highness reach the point of radiance.¡± ¡°Amu!¡± He voiced his thanks and showed her a smile, but it wasn¡¯t the gift he was thanking her for, instead it was for her candor, though he doubted if she understood that. ¡°The twelfth prince expresses his thanks for Your Grace¡¯s goodwill.¡± Ah, in the end it was Hannah that knew him the best. After Lady Victoria retreated, there was only one person left to present their gift. He stared at her as she walked forward. Chapter 4 She glided across the floor with light and almost soundless steps. She had elegant comportment and her demeanor was gentle. The golden horns on her forehead weren¡¯t scary in the least, instead looking very beautiful with the intricate engravings that became more obvious the closer she got and when light shone on the gold horns that tipped each white wing, it caused a halo to form just above her head, making her look like an angel. Unlike the other women, she didn¡¯t have a maid and she walked forward alone with a small wooden box that wasn¡¯t even wrapped nor had a bow on it resting in the palm of her hand. ¡°This lowly princess greets Your Highness, may you reach the point of radiance.¡± Like the fine tinkling of a crystal bell, her voice was clear and crisp, sounding very pleasing to the ear. ¡°This princess has no fortune to speak of and can only gift the prince something of mine that I have treasured for a long time.¡± She looked over nervously at Hannah. ¡°I hope not to offend.¡± ¡°Princess Adelyn is too polite.¡± Hannah smiled comfortingly in response. ¡°Please.¡± Like she had been granted amnesty, Princess Adelyn gave a relieved sigh then came forward to open the box in her palm. Inside the crude and unassuming wooden box was an even more unassuming ring made from white feathers, wooden beads and some sort of black thread. Watching it, it looked quite odd but the light blue veins on the feathers were also very pretty. ¡°We have a custom in my tribe where when a woman is pregnant, she will weave a ring out of the feathers from her wings with beads made from lightwood and the tendons of a magic beast. That ring would then be blessed with a spell of protection and when the child is born, it would be worn on their wrist as a charm for luck.¡± She took the small ring out of the box, placing it in the middle of her palm then she lightly tossed it into the air. As it rose up, a soft blue light suddenly emitted from the ring as is gradually grew in size at a speed visible to the naked eye until it was large enough to be placed on a person¡¯s head as a crown. Murmuring and sounds of wonder sounded in the room as the ring landed back in Princess Adelyn¡¯s hands in its new size and as she caressed it with her fingers, her eyes showed a complex look. ¡°This ring was made for me by my mother; however I was fortunate and lived a life without knowing hardship so the charm placed on it has never been used. My hope in giving this gift is that Your Highness lives a life free of illness and pain and that the spirit of your mother will always linger near your side.¡± With such touching words, she leant forward and held his small left hand while holding the wide ring in the other and as the ring was placed around his wrist it once again glowed before shrinking rapidly to fit the baby sized wrist. Seeing the bracelet clasped around the small hand, the odd, stuffy feeling that had been brewing in chest since having that dream the previous night instantly disappeared and Adelyn knew that she had made the correct choice. She was about to raise up when all of a sudden, she felt a something tug on her head and Adelyn almost screamed and struggled on reflex at the distinct feeling of having her horns touched when she next heard Hannah gasp and say, ¡°Stop it, Your Highness! It is improper to touch a Horned Eagle beastman¡¯s horns.¡± Eh? Was it really? But, they¡¯re so pretty and even though they look like they would feel rough with this much carvings on them, they were actually cool and smooth. Couldn¡¯t he touch them just a bit more? Feeling as though he was being bullied, he turned a sad look up at Hannah but she was firm. ¡°Even if you think that they¡¯re pretty, what¡¯s wrong it wrong. Now, please release Princess Adelyn.¡± Some of the people in the room laughed seeing Hannah seriously scolding a one month old. Did she really expect him to listen? But in the next moment they could no longer laugh because the prince truly released Princess Adelyn¡¯s horn even though he had a look like he would cry at any minute as he continued to stare at them from where he was. It was such an adorable look, the women in the room felt their hearts melting. Even Adelyn whose face was slightly red in embarrassment felt guilty seeing him like that. Hannah was the only one without a heart. ¡°Even if you cry, what you did was wrong. Now apologize to Princess Adelyn.¡± Now everyone thought that Hannah was taking it too far. How could she expect such a thing from a baby? They were all mothers and couldn¡¯t tolerate it and some of them were getting ready to speak out when beyond all of their expectations; the child that was hardly large enough to fill a person¡¯s arm looked up at Princess Adelyn and said, ¡°Wee.¡± Although he said he was sorry, in his mind he was still lamenting that Hannah was too stingy to not let him touch those horns for just a little while longer. He couldn¡¯t hurt them and even Princess Adelyn herself hadn¡¯t said anything so why did she have to complain? Lost in his own thoughts, he was unaware that his simple act of apologizing which was something he had done often with Hannah in the past month had shocked the other people in the room silly. It couldn¡¯t be that at only a month old the twelfth prince could already understand speech, right? Something like that would be really too much of a miracle. But thinking of miracles, they couldn¡¯t help but remember exactly whose child this prince was and gradually calming their shock, their expressions instead became ones of admiration. As expected of the son of the Light Maiden. ¡°As expected of Lady Sophia¡¯s son, only a month old but already capable of communicating; truly a child favored by the light. His life will definitely be radiant.¡± One after the next, Queen Elise spoke successive complimentary words, but there wasn¡¯t a smile on her face and the irony in her eyes was full. That familiar look caused him to shudder as he realized that he messed up. In his last life, wasn¡¯t it precisely because he stood so far out in the open that he ended up that way? What was he doing showing off like this? And at such a young age. He wanted to turn around and look at Hannah, but Queen Elise¡¯s gaze was too intense and pinned him in place. A single drop of sweat slid down his temple as he faced this queen who was suddenly showing her true colors. He really messed up. Just when he felt that he would do something shameful and start crying under this pressure, he was suddenly shifted from his position of lying down in Hannah¡¯s arms and moved into an upward position against her shoulder, facing away from the room. He felt her hand slowly patting his back comfortingly and he sighed. God, was it too late to act dumb? ¡°I thank Your Majesty on behalf of My Prince for your kind words.¡± ¡°Hmmph.¡± Queen Elise snorted as she showed a disdainful look, no longer having any of her earlier grace and magnanimity but even so, none of the people in the room seemed to be surprised. ¡°Well, since everyone else has given their gifts to the young prince, as the queen, it would be shameful for me to fall behind.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Hannah grew apprehensive when she saw the nasty light shining in the queen¡¯s eyes and she subconsciously held the child in her arms tighter. She knew from the start that this woman coming over here was nothing good to begin with. What ¡®enlightening¡¯? Wasn¡¯t it just a farce to come over to laugh at them and pick at the wounds? She was cruel as always. Not minding Hannah¡¯s glare, Queen Elise turned to one of the maids following behind her. ¡°Present the twelfth prince with his gift. I truly hope that Your Highness cherishes it. The number of these things in the whole world number less than ten, getting my hand on this piece just for your amusement was a very challenging task.¡± She had only just barely glimpsed his ability to understand, but already she was speaking to him like one would to an older person instead of talking to Hannah like before. Gripping Hannah¡¯s shoulder with his small hands, he frowned. Hannah watched the maid come over one step at a time while carrying a rectangular crystal case and did her best not to frown. The case wasn¡¯t very big and was just enough to fill two palms. As there were many people present, Hannah wasn¡¯t at all worried that Queen Elise would do something out of turn, but she was instead worried about what would happen after and what schemes she would conduct in the dark. This was her fault. She had long noticed how extraordinary her prince was, but she had gotten too used to treating him in a particular way over the past month and slipped up at a bad time. She needed to find a way to rectify this. While Hannah¡¯s mind was running, Queen Elise¡¯s maid had arrived near her. ¡°May Your Highness reach the point of radiance.¡± She bowed respectfully, but in the present situation, it couldn¡¯t be thought of as anything else but a mockery. ¡°Please accept Her Majesty¡¯s gift.¡± Without waiting for Hannah¡¯s response, the maid then flipped open the lid of the case, exposing the contents inside and causing everyone to gasp. Hearing the collective intake of breath, he couldn¡¯t help himself from turning around to see what it was that the queen had brought out, but all he saw was a rather plain milky white crystal lying against a blue satin cloth. He couldn¡¯t see what was special about it. When Hannah saw the white crystal in the case, her pupils abruptly shrunk and she fought hard not to lose her composure as she heedlessly sent a vicious glare over to Queen Elise who was standing smugly in the corner with her arms crossed. This bitch¡­. ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s good intentions were received; however My Prince couldn¡¯t possibly accept this affinity stone.¡± Hannah politely declined while looking down at the seemingly plain gem with a frosty expression but Queen Elise was the opposite as she smiled brightly. ¡°Lady Rand needn¡¯t worry yourself. Since I intended for the twelfth prince to have this piece of stone, I naturally took care of everything beforehand and notified the church and magic associations. You can rest assured that there would be no trouble.¡± She¡¯d be damned if there was no trouble with this blasted woman handling things! Hannah gritted her teeth. ¡°We are all aware what use the affinity stone has so I believe that my intentions for gifting it are perfectly clear.¡± ¡°That¡¯s rather forward of you Your Majesty.¡± Hannah took the chance to throw a jab, smiling sarcastically but Queen Elise only maintained her same pristine smile and said, ¡°I truly am ashamed, but can you blame me for wanting an early peak at the talent that belongs to the Light Maiden¡¯s child? If his mother were any other person, I wouldn¡¯t be half as curious.¡± The women in the room had all lowered their heads in silence at this point, not even daring to look at the arguing duo. Hannah¡¯s face paled in anger and she was gritting her teeth so hard that she could taste blood. She really wished that she could just charge over there and rip off that bitch¡¯s face and be done with it. She had endured enough of this woman the past few years but acting on her desires would only have her executed regardless of what status she held and when that time came, what would happen to her prince then? For the sake of her prince she couldn¡¯t be rash. Seeing Hannah stay still even after a long time, Queen Elise began to grow impatient. ¡°Could it be that you are dissatisfied with This Queen¡¯s present Lady Rand?¡± ¡°This servant wouldn¡¯t dare Your Majesty...¡± ¡°Then pick it up!¡± Queen Elise¡¯s shout caused not only the servants in the room, but even several of the dignified royal consorts to fold into themselves, cowering. ¡°Have the twelfth prince hold the affinity stone and don¡¯t waste anymore of my time.¡± Not waiting for Hannah to act on her own, the queen¡¯s maid took the stone out of the box while it was still wrapped in the piece of satin cloth and stuffed it into Hannah¡¯s hand. ¡°Lady Rand, please.¡± She showed a smile. Holding the affinity stone in one hand and the child in the other, Hannah could no longer stall and with a sigh, brought the white stone over to touch his hand. Seeing the stone that the queen brought out coming close to his skin he felt a bit apprehensive but he trusted that Hannah wouldn¡¯t hurt him and allowed the part of the stone exposed from within the satin cloth to touch his hand but even after a long time, nothing happened. ¡°Lady Rand, are you playing me for a fool?¡± Queen Elise had a sunken look of anger and impatience. ¡°No Your Majesty, I¡¯m not.¡± Hannah was likewise, shocked, but no matter how many times she touched the stone to the prince¡¯s skin, there was no response. ¡°Is it defective?¡± Wondering as such, she pressed the stone to her own face and after a short while the plain white stone gradually lit up with colors of red and blue that swirled endlessly in strands. Seeing her own dual affinity for fire and water represented perfectly fine, Hannah removed the stone from making contact with her skin and it once again became a plain milky white. She then moved it over to touch her prince¡¯s skin¡­ but there was still no response. Hannah¡¯s face instantly drained of all color and her heart stuck as she came up with a conclusion but before she could even think about it, the sound of Queen Elise¡¯s laughter filled the room. The beautiful woman with an elegant bearing lightly covered her lips as her laughter that was filled with undisputed joviality rang in the air. Her emerald eyes sparkled and her cheeks became red from exertion, looking exceptionally lovely. ¡°Truly, the goddess is just and her radiance is impartial. Even for the most beloved children of light there will be a day of reckoning; but who would have expected the son of the brilliant Light Maiden to be a good-for-nothing with no magic affinity.¡± Queen Elise laughed with abandon in a way that she hadn¡¯t laughed in years since the king first brought that cursed woman into the palace and looking at the child in Hannah¡¯s arms, her mood that had become a little unpleasant earlier suddenly felt much better. Smoothing down her dress, she turned to leave with a light smile still on her lips and seeing the queen leave, the other consorts didn¡¯t dare to stay, quickly filing out behind her without so much as a glance back. The last ones to leave were Lady Victoria who seemed to want to say something but in the end sighed and left quietly and Princess Adelyn who wanted to say something but didn¡¯t know what to say, stopping to look back multiple times as she left. In the room that was once again empty, it was like a storm had just blown through and they still had yet to recover, slowly putting themselves back together. When Hannah finally came back to herself from the shock of realization she threw the stone in her hand and cursed. ¡°Shit!¡± The affinity stone crashed into the marble floor with great force and one would expect it to break, but the one that suffered damage instead was actually the floor, cracking into a spider web around the fist sized affinity stone. ¡°Please forgive me My Lady!¡± Suddenly, a wail rose up from a corner of the room and when they looked over, they saw a maid kneeling on the ground and he remembered that she had been the one to open the door and allow the queen¡¯s entourage to enter. ¡°Please forgive me My Lady. I wanted to stop them but there was nothing I could do. Please forgive me My Lady. My Lady¡­¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Hannah snapped at her, annoyed. ¡°Stop them? Even with a thousand guts, is that something you could do?¡± The maid who was a young girl who looked no older than twenty bit her lower lip and hung her head silently, not knowing how to respond. Seeing her like that, Hannah shook her head. ¡°Forget it, you couldn¡¯t have stopped them even if you wanted, she is the queen. But let me ask you, who received them at the front door?¡± ¡°That¡­ that was me My Lady.¡± Hannah nodded her head and walked over to put the child in her arms into his cradle. ¡°And since you accepted them at the front door, why did you not send anyone to inform me?¡± Hannah¡¯s look was stern as she turned back to look at the maid still kneeling on the ground and the girl was scared witless, her mouth opening and closing, flapping like a fish yet no sound was heard. Hannah nodded again. ¡°I understand, you have no excuse. In that case, pack your things and report to the labor office to be reassigned. Ivy Mansion has no more need for you.¡± The girl instantly panicked and crawled forward to grab Hannah¡¯s leg. ¡°Please. Please My Lady, don¡¯t kick me out. I¡¯ve only ever worked at the mansion and I don¡¯t know any other places! If you kick me out I¡¯ll suffer, you can¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t because you¡¯ll suffer?¡± Hannah¡¯s gaze turned in anger and her hand struck fast, slapping the girl across the face. ¡°Impudent! Guards, come drag her out.¡± ¡°No!¡± the girl started sobbing as two guards in armor entered the room on Hannah¡¯s command and came to grab her under both arms dragging her out of the room, kicking and screaming. ¡°Someone!¡± She called out again and the door was knocked briefly before a maid entered with her waist bent at a respectable angle and her head bowed. ¡°Yes My Lady?¡± Standing at the foot of the cradle, Hannah gently reached down to pick up the child who had already fallen asleep in the short time she had put him down and wrapped him in a blanket. ¡°Prepare a carriage; I¡¯m going to see the king.¡±