The Young Consort Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 72

* * *

At those words, I widened my eyes.

“You can gauge the amount of mana?”

“Yes. I don’t know the exact amount, but I can roughly estimate it.”

Yuri, having answered like that, narrowed his eyes as if gauging.

“Just like Her Majesty, Your Highness also has a great amount of mana.”

It was a plain voice that sounded like he was stating a fact, not a guess. I couldn’t help but be surprised by that. The more mana one has, the larger the scale of magic they can use.

In other words, in terms of abilities, it means the more mana you have, the greater the ability you possess. If I have a large amount of mana, why can’t I use abilities?

I quietly clenched and unclenched my hand. It felt no different from usual, nothing special. I had lived in this body for several months but never felt anything like an ability.

Of course there isn’t any, right?

‘Was it because I didn’t know how to use it?’

After thinking for a moment, I turned my gaze to Gowun.

“Gowun. Could you show me if you can use an ability?”

Although they said abilities are sealed, Gowun had stayed in the imperial palace for a long time and was also the emperor’s shadow, so he might be able to use an ability.

Gowun nodded and disappeared from that spot.

‘…Huh?’

Thinking his ability might be teleportation, I looked around, but there was no one nearby.

“Chirp.”

And at that moment, a small cry was heard at my feet. Looking down, I almost laughed. So his ability is shapeshifting into animals.

It was a young bird with spiky feathers. I bent down, patted its head once, and said,

“You can come back now.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Gowun appeared in that spot again. His clothes didn’t shrink together, but he had a knack for it and roughly put on his clothes as his body grew.

Jisu snapped his fingers, and Mirinae sang a song, so I thought there might be some necessary action when using an ability. But Gowun used his ability without any of that.

“How do you do it?”

Gowun made a perplexed expression at my question. He hesitated for a moment, then soon opened his mouth with a determined face.

“It is manifested through will.”

It must have been an answer Gowun gave after much contemplation, but I felt deflated. I didn’t ask because I didn’t know that.

“Can you explain it a bit more in detail?”

This time too, Gowun couldn’t answer right away.

“Well…”

“…”

Yeah. My bad.

‘Indeed, among those with abilities, there is no one who doesn’t know how to handle their ability.’

It would be a very natural thing, just like a human breathing as soon as they are born.

But why don’t I know?

‘Even though they said I have a lot of mana?’

I quietly glared at the teacup on the table. The Yeoran family’s ability is powerful, and this body has that bloodline. If I actually have the ability to use it because I have a lot of mana, but just don’t know how to use it…

‘In the first place, I never tried using it because I thought I didn’t have an ability.’

It seems worth trying. He said it’s a manifestation of will. Does it mean I just need to think about using it?

‘…Rise up!’

I glared fiercely at the teacup and shouted inwardly, but nothing happened.

It was a bit embarrassing even though I didn’t say it out loud. But I tried again.

‘Rise up!’

This time, I ordered with more conviction. And surprisingly, nothing happened.

“…”

Ah, forget it. I’m not doing it. I really don’t have it.

Quickly giving up on the attempt, I let out a deep sigh and said,

“But it’s true. I cannot wield any ability.”

“Is that really so?”

Yuri asked back as if he couldn’t believe it. I was frustrated too. The Yeoran family’s ability was very powerful, befitting of one of the seven families blessed by the dragon. I don’t know the full extent, but since it’s psychokinesis, the possibilities for utilization were also endless.

If I had something like that, I would have become a main character, not struggling like this trying to outwit Giyun.

“It seems you saw incorrectly.”

When I concluded firmly, disappointment was evident on Yuri’s face.

“Then how…”

“First, let me ask, does it not matter what kind of ability is stored in it?”

Yuri nodded at my question. Thinking he answered hastily, I asked again, but the answer was the same.

“An artifact uses the stored mana in a specific way, so whichever ability enters the artifact, it transforms into a primordial mana state. It utilizes that, so it’s fine.”

Then that’s good enough.

I was briefly worried he might not be able to do it, but it seems there’s no need for that.

I leaned back comfortably in the chair and fiddled with the dragon hairpin. The dragon hairpin stuck in my half-twisted hair made a small sound as it bumped against the chair.

“Even if I can’t use my ability, it’s something that can be resolved on my end. Don’t worry.”

The thing abilities reside in is a part of the dragon. In other words, abilities can be stored in the wish-granting jewels.

When Jisu faced Sunyu, he didn’t use his ability after his wish-granting jewel turned green. No, it would be more accurate to say he couldn’t.

‘Could it be that the ability was absorbed into the wish-granting jewel?’

The more colors mix, the murkier it becomes, and eventually it turns black.

And the two wish-granting jewels I have are both black.

It would be too much of a coincidence to be just that, and Sunyu’s words were also meaningful, and what I saw was meaningful too. I should definitely ask later. And if he says it’s not…

‘I’ll carry around that white object and ask them to pour abilities into it like collecting vitality.’

“And just in case, let me ask. It doesn’t seem like you’re getting very good treatment at Hwanhui Hall right now. Is that right?”

When I asked like that, Yuri laughed as if embarrassed. It was a sufficient answer. Then I won’t go out of my way to save them, but just in case, I asked Yuri one more time.

“Then can you completely cut ties with them?”

* * *

“Yuri, my son. No matter what happens, endure it.”

The heavy and serious voice of his father.

Those were the last words Yuri heard from his father before leaving Sylvanus.

The depletion of mana in the Western Continent happened too quickly to prevent. It was like a natural disaster that couldn’t be stopped. The dwindling mana couldn’t be held onto.

It didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t a problem only for Sylvanus.

The mana within the Western Continent was gradually being depleted. Unable to find a solution within it, they turned their gaze elsewhere.

The Eastern Continent, Seora had pursued a foreign policy close to isolation for a long time. Forget exchanges, there was no record of anyone from the Eastern Continent ever visiting the Western Continent, and occasionally the Western Continent would send envoys, and that was it.

However, by a stroke of luck, Seora’s founding festival was approaching. For the Sylvanus royal family, this was an opportunity.

If they could find a solution to the mana depletion in the Eastern Continent, they could drive out the tyrannical Regent Duke and regain power.

But the royal family, whose power had been taken by the Regent Duke, had no strength, so including a clever prince in the envoy group was all they could do.

And naturally, the Duke and his forces were not pleased with Yuri’s presence.

The treatment he received as a prince in his home country completely disappeared. Yuri was treated almost like a servant. But Yuri couldn’t do anything that would displease the Duke. Traversing the Eastern and Western Continents required a teleportation spell, and Yuri’s mana was nearly depleted from helping others who had lost their mana.

Because the Eastern Continent had more abundant mana, it was recovering, but for some reason, it wasn’t very fast either.

The duration of the envoy group’s stay in Seora was two weeks. Even at an estimate, it wasn’t enough time for it to fully replenish within that period. The Duke also knew that, and because of that, various harassments continued.

From petty things like not providing meals or locking him in a warehouse, to serious things like not even revealing Yuri’s identity to the reigning Empress of Seora.

Yuri, whose identity was not revealed, was nothing more than an attendant from the Western Continent. If he could at least meet the Empress, he could reveal his identity, but due to the Duke’s schemes, the palace people of Hwanhui Hall all believed Yuri to be an attendant brought by the Duke.

Still, Yuri tried his best. He diligently attended the banquets and eavesdropped here and there to find out that the Empress cherishes her only princess.

However, most of the important figures did not attend the frequently held banquets, and the princess he managed to meet sent him away without even listening to his story.

Still, Yuri did not give up. Since the princess was his age, if they became close, there might be a chance to have a private audience with the Empress.

Yuri really tried his best. It was a situation where he could be discouraged, but he pulled himself together spiritedly.

However, life was not so easy. When Yuri followed behind the princess’s palanquin to exchange even a single word with her, he did not receive even a glance.

His appearance, wearing luxurious clothes and following behind the palanquin bearers, drew quite a bit of attention, and the introverted Yuri had endured it.

But when he was blocked at the door of Flower Dragon Palace, under the mocking gazes of everyone, Yuri couldn’t hold back his tears from the misery and sorrow.

It wasn’t something he could stop after sobbing a little. Tears gushed out like a faucet had been turned on.

Yuri walked while crying loudly, looking for a place with no people. And arriving at a garden with no one around, Yuri sat down right there and burst into tears again.

His feet ached and swelled from walking so much. That added to the already overflowing sorrow. He was hungry and his sleeping place was uncomfortable, so his body was tired too.

The faces of his parents, who had held his hand and urged him several times, flickered before his eyes.

Yuri cried out loud. He kept crying without knowing how much time passed. The fact that even if he disappeared, there would be no one looking for him in this vast continent made Yuri even sadder.

Mom, I’m sorry, but what do I do. Our country is ruined.

As he muttered this and that and cried, who knows how long it had been, a voice was heard as if it were a lie. Startled, he turned around and saw the princess standing there. Her usually indifferent violet eyes were round as if puzzled.

It was finally an opportunity for conversation, but Yuri was not in a state to make a rational judgment.

And after that, everyone knows how it went.

When Sanya made a face that said she had a headache, only then did Yuri’s crying subside and he thought while hiccuping.

Ah, it’s really over.

Even if he spoke slowly and clearly, it wouldn’t be enough, so what kind of disgrace was this? It was something Sanya wouldn’t listen to even if she were four years old, let alone eight.

“Have a safe trip. I won’t see you off.”

So even more so, Yuri couldn’t accept this current situation. Sanya, who had come out to the main gate, waved her hand at Yuri with her usual indifferent face.

Yuri absentmindedly waved back at that friendly greeting. Even though she had come all the way out to greet him, Sanya turned her body as if she had no more lingering attachments and headed towards her palace.

Yuri blankly watched her retreating figure. What Sanya had proposed in exchange for saving his country was very simple.

‘Just talk in front of Her Majesty…’

It was very unexpected for the young head of the household Yuri, who had even thought of risking his life if it was serious. If it was something like that, he could do it a dozen more times.

But why did Sanya deliberately propose such an easy task in exchange?

Yuri was smart, and as such, he could quickly deduce the reason.

‘She helped me.’

Sanya had shown mercy upon hearing that pitiful story.

Yuri deeply reflected on judging Sanya solely by her outward appearance. The princess of Seora possessed excellent insight and benevolence befitting of a leader.

I won’t forget this help. Although I have no power now, I will surely repay my benefactor someday.

Yuri returned to Hwanhui Hall with a warmed heart, a full stomach, and a strong resolution.

If Sanya knew this, it would be something she would find very puzzling.