Chapter 69
69
===
As soon as I returned to the Royal Palace amidst boisterous celebrations, my mother dismissed everyone around us, saying she had something to discuss with me alone.
Even knowing I hadn't eaten a single meal all day, she couldn't help it.
'She must want to know if Rosa received Divinity.'
But Rosa didn't receive Divinity.
'Not yet.'
That was a clear fact, and not a lie yet.
Even in the private chamber with just the two of us, Mother didn't forget to console me for my hard work.
"You worked so hard, my dear. I'm so proud of you."
I was just trying not to cry in my mother's arms.
'It's what I've wanted most since I became younger again.'
To receive my share of the Divination and say that I was more useful than Rosa.
Was it impossible after all?
'Can I not overcome Rosa's Foresight this time either?'
Even though I was given such a strong ability, I wanted to forget the reality that God had chosen Rosa.
"Are you very hungry? I know you had a hard time today, but there's something I really want to ask you..."
Mother began to speak in a very cautious voice.
"My dear. Didn't you hear anything about your sister Rosa...?"
I didn't hear anything about Rosa.
The words God said to me were just...
—It's not you. Let another child come.
It was just a denial of me.
Actually, what I wanted to do even more than eat was to meet Yan.
"Ea embraces everyone without rejecting anyone, and you are the daughter of Ruelle, whom She chose. The only daughter."
If Yan hadn't said that, I wouldn't have been able to endure that Divination.
I probably wouldn't have been able to calmly cut my palm in front of my family and the Temple Priest.
But I remembered Yan's voice in that desperate Temple.
"I'll scold you if you don't remember later and cry and whine. I clearly said it."
Yan gave me enough hints, and I should deal with it excellently.
'Just like seven-year-old Rosa used her cunning to trap me...'
I will escape this trap this time for sure.
"I didn't hear anything about Rosa, Mother."
Disappointment settled on my mother's face.
"I see... Then can you tell me what you heard?"
I deeply thanked Yan and opened my mouth.
"Welcome, daughter of Ruelle."
Hoping that what I was doing now was not blasphemy.
"I will give you the power to heal anyone but the dead."
My mother's eyes widened.
"Really, Lilin...? That's what She said?"
I nodded.
"I think so. But I was so tired after waiting for so long... I might not remember correctly."
"Good heavens, Lilin..."
Mother hugged me again.
"Indeed, you are my daughter whom God wanted to protect."
If one of us had been abandoned according to the royal tradition of avoiding twin Princesses, it would probably have been me, the second-born.
Mother mentioned that fact and shed tears.
"God chose you. She didn't abandon our Ruelle..."
Then, for the first time, she revealed the worries she had never voiced before.
'The magic of the Imperial Magic Tower has developed so dazzlingly, but the Divinity of the Sacred King has only decreased with each generation.'
Since I was reminded of the Empire, I brought it up.
"Mother, I... I heard the Marquess talking at the banquet last time."
"The Marquess...?"
Mother didn't seem to know what I had heard.
"The Empress of the Empire... is ill, isn't she?"
"Ah..."
Mother was a little flustered, but quickly changed the subject.
"Yes, but the Magic Tower will be able to heal her."
Then, without giving me a chance to ask again, she added.
"You must be hungry, shall we go eat first?"
I nodded silently as well.
The announcement of Divinity came before the Empress's illness.
And I was really... so hungry.
The next day.
Princess Rosa was on the verge of getting cramps in the corners of her mouth from responding to the congratulatory greetings everyone gave her.
At the same time, she was busy looking for Joy with her eyes.
"Joy should have come, where is he?"
While even Dakota was joining in the search for Rosa's friend, the yellow-eyed boy appeared in the banquet hall.
The boy no longer looked like a commoner at all at first glance.
It seemed worthwhile that Rosa had put so much effort into him from head to toe as if he were a doll.
Even the fact that his hair had turned gray from using Divinity too much in the past looked rather special.
'Was his hair color originally like that?'
Dakota thought for a moment, but Rosa's eyes, smaller than Joy's, couldn't see his hair color well.
"Your Highness...!"
As the boy ran up and spoke, Rosa grabbed Joy's wrist as if snatching it away.
Then she immediately went to the King and Empress.
"Mother."
In fact, the King had secretly visited Sei Palace the night before.
Then he sat holding Rosa for a long time without saying a word.
Rosa made full use of her mother's sympathy and asked.
"Well, I've safely completed the Divination..."
She effectively stalled for time there and then continued.
"I want to go to the prayer room with Joy and offer a prayer of gratitude."
Now that such great Divinity had manifested in Lilin, the two of them would not be able to continue playing the role of one Princess.
But the play was not over yet.
'If the young Princess leaves the banquet hall on the grounds of a prayer of gratitude, it will be a good example for others...'
The King tried to hide his pitiful expression and replied.
"Alright."
As expected, the surrounding nobles praised in unison.
"She is so smart and virtuous, that's why she is chosen by God."
"We have so much expectation for Ruelle's future."
Rosa bit her molars tightly without showing it.
When heading to Hatin Palace with Joy, Dakota and Icarus followed.
Of course, only to the entrance of the chapel.
As soon as the narrow prayer room door closed, a sharp smack! sound rang out.
"I shouldn't have trusted someone like you."
Rosa's anger was justified today.
Being hit by a small hand didn't hurt much.
Joy thought that he would be happy even if one part of his body was broken if it would relieve Rosa's anger.
'If only I could regain the lost trust.'
He didn't dare ask about the contents of the Divination, but Rosa burst into tears and confessed.
"My sister Lilin received Healing Power. A great power to heal anyone but the dead."
"...That can't be."
As Joy muttered unconsciously, Rosa burst into anger.
"You were a Temple Page, are you daring to doubt the Divination now?"
"Ah, no... It's just that I..."
Joy carefully continued.
"It seems too early than I thought... It's very strange..."
"Very strange? Is that all you have to say? You said the Divination would eventually be mine! You were so confident!"
Rosa had only believed those words and even left a note for Lilin, pretending to be relaxed.
She was even thinking of acting extremely grateful and apologetic when Lilin came to concede the Divination to her later.
'If she comes to concede on her own...'
Not only that.
Under the pretext of behaving properly during her sister's Divination, she even waited for Lilin in Sei Palace, fully adorned.
'It's all ruined now.'
Whatever ability Joy had shown in the prayer room that day, it seemed she had been tricked by his shallow trick.
In the end, Lilin took the Divinity as she had feared, and now she would only be a useless First Princess.
'Everyone will think of me as ominous.'
Ruelle's impious twins.
Moreover, since one of them received great Divinity...
'How insignificant will the other, incompetent one look?'
Rosa cried out loud, but Joy was silent for a long time, as if lost in other thoughts.
The sorrowful weeping continued for so long that her throat was hoarse.
It was only when Rosa was about to stop crying that Joy went down to her feet and knelt.
Then he asked.
"...The secret Divination, no one can hear it, right?"
"Yes! But Lilin's words are true. As soon as she came out of the Temple, she cut her palm and showed her Healing Power!"
Rosa was speechless and opened her mouth because Joy snickered.
"Are you laughing now? Is it funny?"
"Your Highness."
Joy called Rosa that and sparkled his yellow eyes.
Rosa felt uneasy because he seemed different from usual, but Joy only looked her in the eyes and spoke in a confident tone.
"Your Highness will soon be announced as the First Princess. Your Highness cannot imitate the Healing Power of the Second Princess."
Rosa frowned.
"You, now...! You said I also had Divinity!"
Yellow eyes looked straight through Rosa as if to penetrate her.
"Did I ever say that it was Healing Power?"
"...What?"
Rosa reacted as if she had heard a foreign language she didn't know.
Then she asked back in bewilderment.
"Then my ability is different? My mother and my grandmother, the late King, both had Healing Power?"
Joy pulled up the corners of his mouth and smiled like a painting.
"The ability that Your Highness will receive is not as trivial as Healing Power."
"...Then?"
Considering he was saying something amazing, Joy's tone was the same as usual.
"Your Highness will receive Foresight."
Joy was calm until the end.
At that moment, Rosa saw for the first time that some of Joy's dark hair had turned white and sparkled.