Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Why do you sound so upset, Rubens?” Eve replied.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?! I’ve heard of this Monster of the Floating Prison. He refused the ritual of allegiance to our father the emperor. Naturally, he was banned from joining the Imperial Guard and was thrown straight into prison. Do you think that you can imprint a man who even our father failed to subjugate? That’s plenty of reason to be upset, don’t you think?”

“Brother, how dare you speak such words. What do you mean, Father failed? There is clearly something wrong with the homunculus—that is why he did not bend his will as he should have toward Father,”said Eve, turning and looking pointedly at her father.

As expected, the Emperor looked extremely displeased after hearing Rubens’ mention of failure.

“Ye... yes, of course! I misspoke. Please, forgive me, Father.”

Eve had successfully manipulated the social etiquette standards regarding the Emperor’s supreme power in order to shut down Rubens. The tension around the table eased once more.

“Eve, do you truly intend to imprint this monster?”

“Yes, Father.”

“As Rubens mentioned, that monster is a dangerous individual who hasn’t even performed the ritual of allegiance to me.”

The allegiance ritual was a brainwashing process carried out by the Emperor. It prevented homunculi from ever doing harm to a member of the imperial family and guaranteed their loyalty. It was a baptism of sorts, and only homunculi who had undergone this ritual could leave the training center and enter the real world.

If Mikael had been any other ordinary homunculus, he would have been branded as a “failure” and killed on the spot. However, because his abilities were remarkable, his death was postponed. It was likely that, at the time, the Emperor thought a second attempt to subjugate Mikael would go more easily. To his chagrin, Mikael did not comply with His Majesty’s orders.

Greatly angered by the second failure, the Emperor threw Mikael in the infamous floating prison instead of killing him immediately. As time passed, His Majesty had slowly forgotten about him. It was this forgetfulness that enabled Mikael to live for so long—three years and counting.

In my previous life, Mikael would remain locked up in the prison for another two years. He successfully underwent the ritual at age 23, and only then was he released and allowed out into the world. Sometime around then he must have learned how to overpower both the allegiance and imprint rituals. He must have fooled Father by somehow keeping his abilities hidden.

But luckily for her, at this point Mikael’s position was simply unclear, since three years had passed without any allegiance ritual being performed. Because the brainwashing ritual wouldn’t work on him, he should have been disposed of, but it had been so long that it was too late to brand him a failure and have him removed. Mikael’s very existence was a smear on the Emperor’s absolute authority, and Eve had openly mentioned this mark of shame.

I need to tread carefully here.

In terms of technical difficulty, the allegiance ritual was a lower-level magic spell than the imprint ritual. If a mere princess claimed she could imprint a homunculus that the Emperor had failed to break in, her actions could be taken as a challenge to his authority. One slight misstep and the Emperor might order Mikael killed immediately in order to reestablish his dominance.

Eve chose her words with extreme caution. She had to use every bit of diplomatic skill she’d acquired up till now—and in fact, she even had to draw from reserves eight years in the future.

“Father, homunculi can only see the light of day after undergoing your ritual. For them, the allegiance ritual is like a blessing, a baptism. I pity this homunculus for being unable to accept it properly.”

“Hmm, true. It is their own loss if they cannot accept the blessing of the ritual. That damned monster... how dare he refuse a blessing from my own hand?” said the Emperor, growling through clenched teeth.

This wasn’t good. Eve quickly changed tack before he could grow too agitated.

“It occurs to me that perhaps he wasn’t actually refusing you. The extent of your power is astounding, Father—you are the master of the Philosopher’s Stone, after all. You are capable of imprinting the entire Imperial Guard. How could a mere single homunculus truly resist your will on a whim? I can’t imagine any natural outcome that doesn’t involve every homunculus bowing at your feet.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“I’ve considered why, despite all these facts, the ritual did not go as planned. My guess is that there is something wrong in the mana pathways of this particular homunculus. I wish to resolve this issue and then be able to take him as my personal knight.”

“Hmm...”

The Emperor looked doubtful. She had to push harder.

“After all this time, the Monster of the Floating Prison is now just remembered as an exception, which is neither a success nor a failure. To the imperial family, he is like a thorn in our side. It’s time we plucked it out. I would like to remove this problem using the talent I have inherited from you, Father. Please grant me permission to try.”

Eve got back up from her seat. She bowed and waited with her knees slightly bent. She felt her lips go dry. After a pause, the Emperor spoke.

“Very well, Eve.”

Eve looked up at her father. and found that his expression had softened.

“Eve, you are well deserving of the titles of princess and alchemist. When faced with a challenge such as him, it seems to bring out a fighting spirit in you. Well, this is certainly not a bad trait. You may do as you wish.”

“Thank you, Father. I knew that the king of alchemists would understand,” said Eve, unable to contain her joy.

The Emperor hadn’t finished, however. He added in a stern tone, “On one condition, Eve.”

“Yes?”

“As my substitute and as an imperial princess, you must succeed in imprinting this monster. Should you fail, you must get rid of him yourself.”

“...As you command, Father.”

Eve had been expecting something along these lines, but she could accept this. Having checked that the allotted time for the morning greeting was over, Eve adjusted her dress and said gracefully,

“I will now see myself out in order to keep the traditions of the imperial family and ensure the authority of Your Majesty the Emperor remains absolute. Father, sisters, brothers, I wish you all a peaceful day.”

The time was ripe to act on her plans to gain succession to the throne.

Possession over the King of the Homunculi

“My lady, I was so surprised! I wondered why you seemed so determined today. What a huge decision you made last night!”

Sedella burst into excited chatter as soon as they stepped off the elevator platform.After the harsh treatment she had received when her mistress refused to follow imperial tradition, Sedella felt a fierce joy over Eve’s new choices.

“I want the entire palace to see you being escorted by your very own personal knight!”

Her tone was bright and cheerful, but there was a hard glint in her eyes. The white knuckles on her bunched-up fists made it seem as if she were thinking of someone she’d very much like to punch.

Eve walked across the main hall as Sedella continued to gush excitedly. They had just reached the entrance when her eyes met Sylvestian Millard, who was standing there waiting for Rosenitte to return. He strode over and greeted her politely.

“Nice to see you again, Your Highness.”

“Rosie will be out soon. Have a good day, Sir Millard.”

She was about to pass him when Sylvestian spoke quickly.

“Would you like to wait a moment for the eighth princess and return with her to the annex? I can escort you both.”

“There is no need. I am headed somewhere different.”

“Where will you be going?” asked Sylvestian. Eve didn’t have a chance to respond because just then, Rosenitte rudely called her name from far behind, descending from the floating platform.

“Eve!”

“Oh...”

She was incensed by Rosenitte’s false mask of benevolence.

Just minutes ago Rosenitte had tried to stab Eve in the back by making her a target of her father’s anger, dragging her into a conversation about selecting a personal knight, and yet here was Rosenitte, so happy to see Eve. Even Sedella’s expression had hardened a little. She’d been present for the morning greeting as well.

Rosenitte walked closer, saying, “Sister, I hear you’re going to go do the ritual right now. I wish you all the luck.”

“Yes. Thank you, Rosie.”

“I was a little nervous, actually, when you suddenly declared that you wanted to have a selection ceremony of your own when my own birthday was just around the corner. I thought maybe you wanted to steal the homunculus knight I was interested in.”

Eve, utterly dumbstruck, took a moment to collect herself.

“What a ridiculous thing to assume.”

“Well, Sylvestian is quite famous, as you know. And the timing was just so odd. In any case, I’m relieved to know it was a misunderstanding. Based on your reaction, it seems you really weren’t considering anything like that. I hope you understand me.”

Rosenitte had misunderstood, then expressed how she had made the mistake, and now here she was asking Eve to understand.

Eve was at a loss. Then Rosenitte added, in an assertive tone, “I’m looking forward to this, as I’m sure Father is. You’ve chosen this homunculus after refusing the family tradition for so long. I’m very curious as to who he is. I’d love to see him in person, so I do hope you succeed in imprinting him.”

There was a hint of haughtiness as she spoke. It was clear that she thought whichever homunculus Eve chose, he would be inferior to Rosenitte’s own choice, Sylvestian.

She really can’t bear to have anything but the best, can she?

Her pettiness was so glaringly obvious that Eve nearly burst into laughter.