“Why are you so excited, Brother?"
“I don’t look excited! I've heard of monsters in public prisons. That guy, he is the one who refused to swear allegiance to Father. Isn't this the guy who couldn't join the imperial guard and ended up in prison? Are you saying you're going to imprint a monster that failed even to subjugate Father? Is that a reasonable thing to say?”
“Brother, you are speaking blasphemously. Father failed? I can't believe it. To put it properly, he is not easily subordinated to my Father. There must be something wrong with the homunculus.”
As I finished speaking, I turned my head towards Desmond II.
As expected, Desmond II's expression looked as if he had chewed bitter grass due to Rubens' failure.
“Well, that’s right! I made a mistake. I’m sorry, Father.”
I succeeded in shutting Rubens up through the authority of Desmond II.
The table became calm again.
“Eve, do you really want to imprint the monster in the public prison?”
“Yes, Father.”
“As Rubens said, that monster is a dangerous man who did not even swear loyalty to me.”
The 'loyalty oath ritual' is a ritual that makes the homunculus loyal to the royal family and never harms them.
As brain work, it is executed directly by the Emperor.
Only through this ceremony, which is similar to baptism, can a homunculus be created.
They were finally able to come out of the training center and see the light of the world.
If Michael was an ordinary homunculus, at the point when the loyalty oath ceremony was violated, it would have been treated as a ‘failure’ and eliminated.
However, because Michael's abilities were so outstanding, killing him was put on hold.
Until then, Desmond II had no idea if he would try the ritual again.
He must have thought that he would succeed in subduing Michael.
Unfortunately, Michael did not go as smoothly as King Desmond II had wanted.
Desmond II was angry at this.
Although he did not kill Michael on the spot, he placed him in a public prison known for its cruelty.
And as time passed, I forgot about it.
This was the third year that Michael was able to survive thanks to the power of forgetfulness.
'In his last life, Michael was locked up for two more years and was released when he turned 21.'
He was able to go through the oath ceremony and come out into the world.
Probably at that time, he had already awakened his ability to nullify obedience and imprinting.
'It's clear that he fooled Father by completely controlling his abilities.'
Michael's existence became ambiguous as he was left without the oath of allegiance ceremony for three years.
Since the brainwashing work is still not working, they have to dispose of him.
Now it is too late to treat it as a failure and get rid of it.
Michael's very existence became a stain that undermined the Emperor's authority.
And I was now openly mentioning the Emperor's stains.
'I must speak carefully.'
In terms of alchemy and magical difficulty, 'The Oath of Allegiance Ceremony' is better than 'Imprinting'.
It was a low-level task.
The Emperor could not even make the homunculus obey.
There was a possibility that the Princess's intention to have it engraved in her name would be seen as a challenge to the imperial authority.
If I make a mistake, Desmond II will immediately kill Michael to assert his authority.
He might order me to kill Michael.
I carefully chose each word I would say in my head.
Now I'm using my ability to use coaxing to its full potential.
It was time to drag it out.
"Father, a homunculus must receive the rituals performed by my Father. They can see the light of the world, right? For them, the oath of allegiance ceremony is given by Father. If it is something like a baptism of blessing, I think it is truly pitiful that there is a homunculus who cannot properly accept it.”
“Hmm, yes. If they don't swear loyalty, they will only lose themselves. That damn monster... How dare he refuse the blessing that I gave him personally?”
Desmond II gritted his teeth.
It was difficult. Before he could get excited, I quickly changed his mind.
“When I think about it, I doubt whether he really rejected it. The dominion of my Father, the owner of the Philosopher's Stone, is enormous. My Father can engrave the whole thing, but he is just a homunculus. Just because he refuses doesn't mean things will go his way. At least one homunculus has long ago belonged to my Father. It’s normal to lie down at your feet.”
"Yes. Yes."
“I thought about why obedience was not achieved. I'm guessing there might be something wrong with the homunculus mana circuit. I want to solve this problem and appoint that homunculus as my direct knight.”
“Hmm..."
Desmond II looked worried. This time I had to push further.
“Until now, the monsters in public prisons have been neglected as exceptions, neither failures nor successes, right? To the imperial family, he is like a thorn in the palm of your hand, an irritating presence.
Now is the time to pull out that thorn. With the talent I inherited from my Father, let me try to solve the problem. Please forgive me, Father.”
I stood up again.
While I waited with my knees and waist slightly bent, I felt like my lips were getting dry.
A moment later, Desmond II's voice rang in my ears.
“Good, Eve.”
I raised my head and looked at Desmond II. His expression softened.
“Eve, you are both a Princess and an alchemist. Is this something that ignites the spirit of challenge? Well, not bad. Do whatever you want.”
“Thank you, Father. My father, the King of great alchemists. I believed you would understand me.”
It was a time when I could not hide my joy.
Desmond II's words were not over. He added sternly.
“There is a condition, Eve.”
" Yes?"
“As my agent and Princess, you must imprint the monster of the public prison. If you can’t imprint, take responsibility and get rid of him.”
“...I will do as you command, Father.”
It was an expected condition anyway. I accepted.
After confirming that the morning greetings were over, I held the hem of my dress and politely bowed.
“To follow the imperial tradition and establish the authority of His Majesty the Emperor. Let's get up first. Ah, Father, sister, brother, Rosie, I hope you all have a peaceful day.”
The time has come to declare full-fledged participation in the battle for succession to the throne.
***
"Your Highness! I was really surprised! For some reason, I thought Your Highness was having a special day today. You made a big decision overnight!”
As soon as I got off the floor transfer device, Cedella started chattering to me as if she could let out the breath she had been holding.
Cedella had been treated coldly for rejecting the imperial tradition.
As sad as it was, there seemed to be great expectations about the selection of my direct knight.
“I want to quickly show everyone in the imperial palace that Your Highness is being escorted by a direct knight!”
Cedella's tone of voice was very lively, but her eyes were unusual.
In particular, her clenched fist was tense, as if she was thinking of someone she wanted to punch.
Listening to Cedella's excited words, I walked straight across Central Grace Hall.
When we almost reached the entrance, made eye contact with Sylvestian, who was waiting nearby.
He came striding forward and bowed.
“See you again, Her Highness the Seventh Princess.”
“Rosie will be out soon. Now then, Lord Millard.”
I was passing by but Sylvestian added this urgently.
“I will wait for Her Highness the 8th Princess for a while and then we will go to the villa together. How about you go back? I will protect the 7th Princess.”
“There is no need for that. The destination is also different.”
"Where are you going?"
I could not answer Sylvestian's question.
Rosenit, who had just come down on the wings of the disc, rudely came from behind again.
Because he called me.
“Sister Eve!”
“...Ha."
Rosenit, who approached with a kind face, was disgusting.
In front of Desmond II, he mentioned the issue of my direct knights.
Aren't you pretending to be happy about the subject you were trying to screw over?
Just as expected. Cedella, who was at the greeting tea time, also had a slightly stiff expression.
Rosenit came closer and said.
“Sister, I heard you are going to perform the ceremony right now? I wish you good luck with your ceremony.”
"Huh. Thank you, Rosie.”
“Actually, I was a little nervous because Eve suddenly announced that she would hold a selection ceremony ahead of my birthday. I was wondering if you might be intercepting the Homunculus knight I had in mind.”
I was dumbfounded but responded calmly.
“That’s a ridiculous misunderstanding.”
“As you know, Silvestian is very famous. The timing was coincidental. Anyway, I'm glad the misunderstanding has cleared up. I'm relieved that my sister's reaction doesn't seem to have thought about that at all. Please understand, sister.”
After misunderstanding and resolving the misunderstanding on her own, she seeks understanding from me.
When I was at a loss for words, Rosenit added defiantly.
“I, too, am very looking forward to it. It's a homunculus chosen by my sister, who has so far rejected imperial traditions. I'm very curious about what kind of person he is. I really want to see him, so I hope my sister succeeds in imprinting.”
As Rosenit spoke, a sense of superiority was evident.
I got a homunculus. Even if it comes to this, it is better than Sylvestian, which Rosenit herself chose.
Confidence that I won't be able to do it.
'This girl is really a kid who has to be the best in everything she has.'
I almost laughed when I saw it so transparently.
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