"Hmm..."
As Leon carved the final stroke, a glow of Hieroglyphics bloomed across Lydia's fair, delicate back.
Leon pressed his palm lightly over it, gently easing the surfacing Falna back into her body, then took up the parchment he'd prepared in advance and deftly finished the imprint and the seal.
"Lydia, this is your Falna info."
He handed the parchment to Lydia, who was blushing and flustered as she pulled the straps of her revealing white gown back onto her shoulders. At the same time... Lydia keenly noticed the way the man was looking at her, a gaze blazing with heat, as though... he were looking at some precious treasure.
"Heh..."
A very faint, cold laugh came from the side.
Persephone took a step forward, planting herself squarely between him and Lydia.
She turned around to face Leon head-on.
She said nothing, only fixed him with an ambiguous, almost-smiling look.
No countdown, no warning. Just a slight tilt of her head, the gaze behind her lenses settling on his face with that same not-quite-smile.
Leon: "..."
Silence spread through the air for a moment.
A wordless standoff often carries more weight than speech.
From Persephone's expression, Leon read a clear note of warning.
Setting that subtle tension aside for now. On the other side, from the moment Lydia's Falna ceremony ended, the several ladies led by Laurier could no longer hold back their curiosity and had eagerly crowded around their new companion.
"Lydia, hurry up and let us see your Falna!"
"Hmph hmph, judging by my extensive experience..."
Laurier propped both hands on her hips, looking like a little grown-up.
"Just from the face Leon was making a second ago, I can tell, you've definitely got a special skill too!"
At that, Lydia stole a shy little glance at Leon, then quickly lowered her head as if startled. She pushed down the inexplicable flutter in her chest and fixed her attention on the parchment in her hands, the one carrying her secrets.
...
[Name]: Lydia Melaelsiorelu Chulz
[Age]: 18
[Title]:
[Race]: Human
[Occupation]: Princess
[Affiliation]: Hart Familia
[Level]: Lv.1
[Floor Reached]:
[Basic Abilities]:
Strength: I0 Endurance: I0 Dexterity: I0 Agility: I0 Magic: I0
[Development Ability]: None
[Weapons]:
Scepter: Staff of Elsiolu (ceremonial staff, mage staff, national treasure, first-class adventurer equipment, custom-made by the great magic nation Altena, one of the "Five Supreme Staves")
Dagger: Goddess's Blade (ceremonial dagger, national treasure, first-class adventurer equipment)
[Equipment]:
Casual wear: White classical court-style stand-collar ruffled lace princess blouse with a small butterfly ribbon, black tight riding breeches, knee-high heeled knight boots
Uniform:
Formal wear: White lace-trimmed strappy fitted high-slit mermaid dress, lace long gloves, white thigh-high stockings, ivory-white side-cutout red-soled high heels (mage robe, possessing a degree of physical defense and extremely high magic defense, first-class adventurer equipment)
Training wear:
Armament: Black royal hooded cloak with gold floral trim (princess-exclusive, first-class adventurer equipment)
[Magic]:
Holy Resurrection:
Highest-tier recovery magic.
Effective range expands as mind strengthens.
Possesses grievous-wound healing (the heavier the injury, the stronger the effect), sustained recovery (ongoing recovery afterward), and purification (removes status ailments) abilities.
Super-wide-area recovery magic.
[Skills]:
Beloved's Crest:
Detection Disruption; an unremarkable disguise that deceives the gods, hindering divine lie-detection and detection.
Potential Enhancement, Hyper-Accelerated Growth; raises potential and vessel capacity, growing at an extremely fast rate.
Holy Royal Family:
Magic-Replenishing Healing; through a certain special medium of the body, heals injuries, restores stamina, replenishes mind, and purifies ailments.
Perpetual recovery of stamina and mind.
Chulz Bloodline:
Magic Enhancement.
Magic Effect Amplification.
Holy-type magic effects doubled.
Goddess's Echo:
Massive boost to all abilities.
[Technique]: Resurrection (achieved by "sleeping" with the target: one night, and condition fully recovers)
...
"Hsss...!"
Having read the information on the parchment, the whole room drew in a sharp breath as one.
The once-warm room dropped several degrees in an instant.
Laurier's eyes went wide as she stared in disbelief at the princess, who still kept her head down, cheeks flushed, soft and delicate of figure, and felt her scalp prickle all over.
She opened her mouth a few times, then finally asked in a careful, low voice:
"Th-this, this... Lydia, this Goddess's Echo of yours... what on earth is going on with it?"
Her voice was even trembling a little.
"It's, it's not really what I think it is, is it?"
Aura's expression too, in a rare moment, lost its usual calm. She studied this nobly-born companion, whose figure was even fuller than Margaret's, and murmured under her breath:
"Holy Royal Family, Chulz Bloodline, Goddess's Echo..."
"If just one of them showed up on its own, you might call it coincidence. But three skills appearing all at once, well, you can't help but let your imagination run..."
Laurier glanced around the room, then mimicked a certain someone's habitual gesture, pushing up a pair of glasses that weren't there, and announced loudly in an exaggerated tone:
"In that case, there's only one truth! And that is..."
"Stop!"
"Huh?"
Leon raised a hand, cutting off Laurier just as she was gearing up, full of enthusiasm, for her big "deduction." Under her displeased stare, he pressed his index finger lightly against her lips.
"Shh... just keep it to yourself, that's enough."
"This kind of thing, no need to spell it out in the open."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the variously colored faces of the group, his tone returning to its usual casualness:
"Besides, far as I know, the Chulz royal line having rumors like this isn't anything new. Flip back through the past ten thousand-odd years of history, and you'll always find, in certain eras... a few special people born."
With that, Leon shrugged and went on in a flat tone:
"So there's no need for you all to make such a big fuss either."
Everyone: "..."
They all looked at him with strange eyes, as if meeting him for the first time.
Margaret looked at Lydia, then at Iri, and then spoke up:
"Leon, but that's..."
Leon waved a hand:
"Ah, it's just some goddess leaving a bloodline behind in the mortal world a few thousand, or maybe ten thousand, years ago, right?"
"Wha! Don't say something this important in such a breezy tone!"
Leon gave Laurier's golden hair a hard ruffling, mussing it into a total mess, and only let go under her kicking, punching struggle, saying indifferently:
"However special a goddess's bloodline is, can it really be more special than our Beloved's Blessing and Beloved's Crest?"
Laurier: "..."
Everyone: "..."
Right! That does seem to be the case!?
So we were the most special (cheat-having) ones all along?
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