Chapter 49 – A Peek into the Future

The fairy festival commenced with the performance of a band, then a succession of various performances. The eyes of the people were fixated at the colorful stage, unable to look away. Levisia too found herself immersed as her hands clapped along; however, beneath the merriment, she couldn’t help but feel as though she was seated on a cushion of needles and moved about in her seat uncomfortably.

When would it end?

Now, handsome men and beautiful women were dancing together in elegant floaty dresses. It was appealing to look at but Levisia found herself missing her palace more and more as time went by.

She knew beforehand it would be uncomfortable but the seat felt intolerable, as if she was wearing clothes that didn’t fit her size. As time passed, the frequency of the occasional gaze towards her became more frequent, and her instinct to escape started to escalate; however, she didn’t have the courage to do so. It was impossible in itself to sneak out of a place where she could be seen by the emperor, along with everyone else. Neither did she have the audacity to leave openly. Most importantly, the main event hadn’t even begun.

The highlight of the festival was the competition between the Kraidens; however, none of the five Kraidens who had attended revealed what they had prepared.

After what felt like forever, the silent row at the back suddenly began to grow noisier. As Levisia glanced behind wondering what the ruckus was about, she saw that the Kraidens were starting to get up.

“Shall we get started?”

Lidan, who had been stretching his arms over his head, gazed at her and smiled fleetingly. He seemed confident of himself.

As the first prince descended the stairs, not a trace of emotion across his face, Elizabeth followed suit.. She glanced at Levisia and tucked her hair behind her ears. Then, she moved on quickly as though she never saw her. Behind them, Merril, Lidan and Siaphyl passed by. Siaphyl, who had been the last to walk past, mouthed something to her.

‘Look carefully, sister.’

‘At what?’ She wondered, tilting her head in confusion. But Siaphyl had already passed by her, walking down the stairs with a smile.

As the Kraidens took the center stage of the Horoseum, the crowd hollered so loudly it felt like eardrums would burst, but none of the Kraidens took any action until the crowd’s cheers died down. Once the thunderous roaring stopped, the servants handed them something.

“It’s a sword.”

Even before Levisia could identify what it was, the voice beside her answered her. Like most of the people in the Horosseum, the 17th prince was immersed in the Kraidens. From his eyes, she could easily read his feelings of envy and anticipation.

Without even glancing her way, he asked her in a slightly excited tone, “Aren’t you looking forward to it?”

Looking forward—Levisia considered the word before turning her gaze to the center. As she looked at the five most blessed successors staring at each other intrepidly she felt dread creeping into her, as though she was looking into the future.

Even in such circumstances, Lidan and Siaphyl’s smiles never faltered, even when each of them clutched a sword in their hands. It wouldn’t be strange if one of them were to stab the other in this situation.

Levisia felt herself tense up as her train of thoughts reached such a conclusion. She wasn’t sure what the 17th Prince thought as he looked at her, but she heard him say something that was far off from what was to transpire in the future.

“I’m sure if the 6 of them come together after being fully grown, no one will be able to mess with us.”

‘No, it is those six that cause this empire’s downfall.’ But she couldn’t say such things out loud, so instead she nodded faintly in reaction to the 17th Prince.

“It’s starting.”

The crowd was so quiet that the words someone muttered sounded unusually loud.

The First Prince, Cassian, received Nelle from Merril and raised it high up in the air. The cane-shaped Nelle changed into the shape of a sword. It was then followed by immediate darkness that shrouded everyone’s sight, causing baffled murmurs to erupt.

“What is this?”

“Wait, I can’t see anything in front of me.”

“It’s so dark I can’t… wait, no way!”

Levisia, who had been taken aback by the sudden darkness, too realised the identity of the darkness. ‘Wasn’t the First Prince’s ability darkness?’ And in a blink of an eye, he created darkness. The Horoseum was a large amphitheatre that could accommodate up to five thousand spectators. It was not a small scale. It was both staggering and frightening how the prince could perform his magic so easily.

Levisia rubbed her arm as she felt goosebumps when suddenly a golden spark appeared.

“Just now, something…”

Someone’s voice was soon buried as people awed. The spark started to splash in the dark and began painting colorful pictures. It was Elizabeth. In the darkness created by Cassian, Elizabeth’s ability shone beautifully, leaving afterimages, like fireworks decorating the midnight sky.

‘If they show something like this, then obviously everyone will be bewitched, right?’

Whoever had planned to combine the capabilities of Cassian and Elizabeth was quite the individual.