Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 267: Brooch History

"It’s alright, Miss Evelyn."

Seeing Evelyn looking composed, her long legs clad in transparent stockings standing straight, seemingly unaffected by the anomalies just like her, Astrid pondered for a moment and decided not to reveal the scene she had just witnessed.

"Speaking of which, since Miss Evelyn knows the reason why this brooch is judged as an ancient human relic, could you tell me more about it?"

"For example, the time of its excavation, or the location of its discovery."

The fact that it could create images in her mind even through the magical barrier set up by a Arcanist level mage, coupled with the woman she saw earlier standing on the clouds splitting the sky, Astrid was almost certain that the owner of this brooch was far more powerful than anyone in the current era.

"The time I’ve spent holed up in this library is probably longer than the time I’ve spent eating all these years, and I’ve also carefully studied the things inside. If Princess Astrid is curious, of course, I can tell you."

As soon as she finished speaking, Evelyn paused for a moment, suddenly thinking of something, her lips slightly pursed.

"Speaking of which, this brooch has some connection with Princess Astrid’s father, Frostfall Knight of Crimson Blood Hughes Calliste."

"Its excavation was only fourteen years ago, making it one of the most recently unearthed artifacts among the ancient relics. It was found in the Adler region in the northeast of the empire, specifically at the Port of Adler."

"Many local residents of the Port of Adler make a living by fishing. On clear days, they will sail out of the port into the deep sea area about two hundred nautical miles away from the eastern Endless Sea to fish. Fourteen years ago, there was a strange fish tide at the Port of Adler, which was an important reason why this brooch came to light."

At that time, the residents had several bountiful harvests in the first few days of the fish tide.

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long.

On the fourth day, magical beasts with the strength to tear apart ships appeared in groups, not only destroying ships and killing fishermen but also continuously advancing towards the coastal cities.

Realizing the severity of the situation, the emperor immediately issued a decree to mobilize part of Duke Charles’s army to the Port of Adler for vigilance, while offering substantial rewards to mages and knights near the Adler region to participate in the containment of the fish tide.

"On the third last day of the fish tide, millions of low to mid-level magical beasts invaded the Port of Adler. Although these creatures were accustomed to living in the ocean and should have had no connection to land, they still attacked the city and destroyed buildings without any purpose. Some even chose to come ashore and attack the residents."

"Hughes believed that the source of the chaos was in the deep sea, and dealing with the magical beasts near the shore was not enough to quell the crisis. So, under the cover of the army, he forcibly led a team of elites into the sea and eventually killed an Eleventh Tier high level magical beast, the Split-Tentacle Octopus."

"After that, the fish tide gradually receded, and Hughes also obtained the crystal stone of the high-level magical beast and a dark blue brooch emitting a strange magical reflection from the body of the Split-Tentacle Octopus."

Needless to say, the dark blue brooch they were seeing now was the spoils of Hughes’s battle against the high-level magical beast.

"So, strictly speaking, it wasn’t unearthed by humans but was originally located in the deep sea, then accidentally eaten by a high-level magical beast, and later brought to land by a ship?"

After hearing Astrid’s words, Evelyn nodded, her slender white fingers hooking a strand of purple hair by her ear, her voice melodious.

"Yes, it was a very accidental discovery. If it wasn’t for that Split-Tentacle Octopus, this brooch might have been submerged at the bottom of the sea forever, never seeing the light of day."

Being submerged at the bottom of the sea corresponded to the battle in the illusion, where the brooch on the woman’s chest was affected by magic, falling from a high altitude into the deep sea, gradually moving away from the light.

Thinking of this, Astrid was almost certain that what she had seen earlier was the truth, but it was separated from the era she was in by thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Looking at Astrid’s thoughtful clear eyes, Evelyn continued.

"Besides the brooch itself, there is another point that is equally surprising. As a high-level magical beast, the Split-Tentacle Octopus, it should be a purely water-element magical beast according to various literature records."

"But when Hughes pierced its heart with his sword, he was surprised to find that there were two magic crystal stones inside the Split-Tentacle Octopus. One emitted a light blue luster, undoubtedly the most important water-element crystal of the ocean magical beast, while the other was icy cold, a typical ice-element crystal."

Eleventh-tier high-level magical beasts can be compared to middle stage Arcanist mages or middle stage Crusader among humans.

There are also magical beasts with dual crystals, such as the Ice-Fire Two-Headed Dog and the Sand Thorn Giant Scorpion, but the reason they have dual crystals is that their body structure supports the use of two types of magic, naturally resulting in two organs for storing energy.

However, the Split-Tentacle Octopus is only a water-element magical beast. Even though ice and water are related, it is impossible for it to grow an ice-element crystal.

"The only regret is that the ship was too close to the Endless Sea at that time, and there were many menacing magical beasts wandering nearby. Hughes could only barely obtain the two huge crystal stones and the dark blue brooch, unable to recover the entire body of the Split-Tentacle Octopus. Not only did he lose a large amount of precious magical potion materials, but the reason for the mutation of the Split-Tentacle Octopus also sank into the sea with that body."

Astrid listened quietly to Evelyn’s narration and, based on the scene she had seen earlier, roughly guessed the ins and outs of the matter.

This lost brooch should be the truth behind the mutation of the Split-Tentacle Octopus.

However, since Evelyn had been in this storage room for so long, she must have also carefully examined the dark blue brooch in front of her. Why hadn’t she mentioned anything about the illusion from beginning to end?

Could it be that this brooch also has a screening nature, and only special people can receive the information it conveys?

Glancing sideways at the mature woman in a long dress with a slender figure, Astrid withdrew her gaze and continued to observe the blue brooch inside the glass.

If, like the holy and flawless Sword of Light, this blue brooch also has some special screening conditions, then which aspect of her activates it?

Most likely, it was her outstanding ice elemental affinity. The owner of the brooch seemed to be an ice mage specializing in ice magic, so perhaps based on this, the magical circle inside the brooch began to operate and transmit this information to her.

If she could get this, maybe she would know more.

Thinking of this, Astrid slowly spoke.

"Miss Evelyn, all these things in the storage room should nominally belong to the Valeria Empire’s royal family, right?"

Hearing this, Evelyn was slightly stunned, then quickly understood Astrid’s meaning.

"Indeed, the empire’s laws clearly state that even the territories of the four great lords legally belong to the emperor and are an inseparable part of the entire empire."

In the early days of the Valeria Kingdom, the four dukes who contributed the most were granted the largest territories, sometimes even seriously threatening the royal power.

The existence of these noble groups also planted the seeds of division for the nascent kingdom.

It wasn’t until later, when the fifth king of the Valeria Kingdom ascended the throne and transformed the kingdom into an empire, that this situation changed significantly.

This tough emperor not only vigorously developed naval power externally, opening up the empire’s route to the Pan-Human Alliance, but also implemented a strong de-religionization internally, using decades to expel the Holy Light Church.

At the same time, he issued political bills regarding the power of the dukes, clearly stating that everything they had, including land, people, and property, came from the emperor.

At least nominally, that is the case.

"Princess Astrid... wants to borrow it?" Evelyn asked.

Hearing this, Astrid nodded slightly, her crimson eyes reflected the dark blue brooch.

"I’m very interested in it. I will ask my father in a while if I can borrow it for a closer look."

Firstly, she is Hibbort’s most beloved daughter, the noble third princess of the Valeria Empire, and using the property that already belongs to the royal family has a clear basis, with no level of transgression.

Secondly, according to Evelyn, this brooch was obtained by her biological father, Hughes, after personally killing the Split-Tentacle Octopus, and was then voluntarily handed over to the national treasury.

Now that his daughter wants to borrow it, it is likely that the emperor will not be unwilling.

Evelyn obviously also considered this, swaying her long legs a few times, her heels clicking on the floor tiles, and couldn’t help but sigh at how convenient it is to have a royal identity.

Although she could often enter the storage room, touching the items inside required submitting an application half a month in advance, then going through layers of procedures, and only then could she touch a specific collection for less than half an hour.

The more she thought about it, the more envious she felt. Seeing Astrid leave the glass counter with the brooch and continue walking inside, she also gently exhaled and continued to follow.

The clock hands creaked as they moved, and the quiet storage room was left with only the crisp and clear footsteps of the two.

After looking around the collections, there were no relics that gave her a special reaction like the brooch, nor any particularly noteworthy information. Astrid came to the central display stand, where the stele she initially wanted to learn about was placed.

The stele was entirely white, but only a small piece of its head remained in the display stand, with the bottom end being a jagged and broken surface. Looking down, one can see that the internal material was consistent with the exterior.

Despite being in a shattered state, it didn’t feel fragile at all, but rather gave a sense of indestructibility.

This strangeness made Astrid, seeing it for the first time, unconsciously furrowed her brows, her pale pink lips slightly pursed.

Moving her gaze up, the surface of the stele was engraved with lines of Elders Speech, with the empty parts filled with black liquid, forming a black text on white background engraving style, each character arranged extremely neatly, with no visible errors.

It was clear that the ancient humans who made this stele must have been very meticulous.

[You are the beginning of all things and the end of all things, the mother of all things, the father of all gods, the source of all matter and energy, the master of time, life, and death.]

The question on the exam paper indeed came from here, but besides that, there were some other texts on the surface of the stele that were not included in the additional questions.

Perhaps Evelyn saw that the end was broken and missing a part, so she didn’t add them.

[You are the cornerstone of the existence of the real world, the maker of the rules of the world, the bridge connecting matter and spirit, and...]

Everything stopped suddenly here, with only a lonely single-person radical left at the broken position of the stele.

Astrid thought about the context and guessed that it was probably the character for "Creator."

"This stele was discovered a bit earlier, specifically dating back a thousand years. However, although it is made of special materials and has a long history, its excavation site was quite ordinary, in an inconspicuous small village in the central part of the empire. After it was unearthed, the emperor at the time sent many mages to continue excavating the area, but apart from this fragment of the stele, nothing else was found."

This also led to Evelyn’s speculation that the stele might not have originally stood there, but appeared there by chance due to various reasons.

Astrid nodded after listening and focused her attention on the jagged broken surface after reading the Elders Speech.

Charlotte once said that this stele has an indestructible nature, and even space cannot cut off even a small piece of it.

Space and time are concepts that only the creators of spells can touch. If even space cannot sever the stele, then what could possibly turn it into its current state?

Looking at the white broken surface in front of her, Astrid couldn’t help but think of the blue-haired woman she saw earlier.

When the frost dragon charged at her, the powerful magic that materialized space tore through the dragon’s body, and the rippling magical waves seemed to make the heavens and earth tremble.

Only an attack of that level could possibly damage the stele.

"Princess Astrid?!" Evelyn suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, Astrid instinctively stopped her movements, her pink lips parting slightly: "What is it?"

After speaking, she felt her hand covered by a warm and soft jade-like hand, gently pressed down by the woman’s strength.

"Don’t touch the display stand casually. Besides isolating magic, these glass panes also have a counterattack effect."

Evelyn held Astrid’s hand, her seductive lips moving up and down.

"Although the counterattack from a light touch isn’t severe, Princess is delicate and weak, so it’s best not to try."

It wasn’t that she wanted to tease her on purpose, but just a moment ago, Astrid was about to touch it.

The silver-haired princess, coming to her senses, moved her fingers a few times, looking at her right hand being held by Evelyn, who then slowly let go with a seductive smile at the corner of her lips.

"Next time Princess Astrid wants to touch it, you can request it in advance."

With a double entendre, after saying this, Evelyn nonchalantly touched the back of her own hand.

Hearing this, Astrid didn’t pay much attention to Evelyn but straightened her legs again, brushed the silver hair in front of her and continued to examine the stele.

Compared to feminine charms, she was more concerned about her afternoon’s harvest.

Originally, she thought that coming to the storage room, she could use Elders Speech to understand a part of the world’s truth.

However, after seeing so much, not only were her inner doubts not resolved, but they were also deepened.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l