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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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To be honest, I was tempted the moment I saw the elixir.
It was an item I would need not long from now.
‘But it’s not possible now.’
The elixir was an item that existed in the coin shop anyway.
Although it had an absurd price of 50 coins, it was not impossible to collect that much.
So if I missed this opportunity, I should choose an item that I would never be able to obtain otherwise.
‘But where did he hide it?’
The Emperor also had his pride, so he wouldn’t have taken it out in advance.
Then it meant it was somewhere here.
After looking around for a while…
‘Found it.’
I discovered a small box placed in a corner.
Looking closely, it wasn’t a box but a safe.
A safe inside a warehouse where no one else could enter.
It was too obvious.
Just in case, I tried using ‘Examine’ on it.
Status: Locked
Description: A safe made of a metal that cannot be deformed under any circumstances. It has 12 security spells installed in a form that complements each other. Inside, lies the ‘Ring of Miracles’.
Bingo.
The Ring of Miracles.
It was an item I had wanted since the moment I entered this novel.
“I’ll take what’s inside this.”
The Crown Princess surely wouldn’t know about the Ring of Miracles.
But as if her unique sharp intuition was triggered, her expression was turning pale.
“Wait a moment…”
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“Where did you get this from?”
“Where else would it be from? I brought it from the warehouse. Schlus Hainkel chose this.”
“…”
Gustav felt a headache as if his skull was being crushed.
He had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but he really chose this.
He had deliberately taken it out of the flashy safe and put it in a small, insignificant safe…
He was regretting not taking it out in advance.
“Ha… It’s too late to go back on my word now.”
“What the hell is it that you’re acting like this?”
“See for yourself.”
At Gustav’s gesture, the court ladies and guards left the room.
He placed the safe in front of him and closed his eyes with his hand on top of it.
Since all the security spells were protecting each other, it was designed to take hundreds of years even if a Majin attempted to dismantle it.
However, as Gustav entered the passwords one by one, the spells began to deactivate one by one.
Finally, when the last spell was deactivated-
Click
The safe door opened with a light sound.
Before he knew it, the Crown Princess had come behind Gustav and was peeking over his shoulder.
Gustav sighed and slowly opened the safe door.
What was revealed inside was-
“What… is this?”
A pair of silver rings.
The two rings, not flashy but plain in shape, were completely identical and indistinguishable from each other.
However, when picked up, their feather-light weight indicated that they were definitely not silver.
“It’s an item called the Ring of Miracles.”
“I’ve never heard of it before…?”
“Of course. It’s an item that only the successive emperors of Freya knew about.”
The Crown Princess swallowed nervously.
“What kind of item is it?”
“A ring that revives the dead.”
“…!”
“If you deeply wish for someone’s revival with a strong desire, the ring will grant that wish. The dead person will return to the mortal world in the form of a soul. It’s an ability that can be used once every 100 years, and it has been used to seek the wisdom of the previous emperors.”
“Sh-Should we really give this to him?”
“Hey, you brat. That’s why I told you to watch your words.”
“Ah!”
A flick struck the Crown Princess’ forehead.
The Crown Princess rubbed her forehead but hung her head deeply with a solemn heart.
“Once the promise to give him whatever he chooses was made, we could no longer not give it to him. However.”
“However…?”
“We can use a slightly underhanded trick.”
A smile appeared on Gustav’s lips.
It was the smile he had when he came up with a despicable [T/N: the korean word is written as despicable but it is read as clever] method.
“Oh my. What a big problem. I think I’m going senile, I forgot the password.”
“Gramps! Don’t tell me…!”
“Yes. I’ll give it to him with the safe.”
Seeing Gustav chuckling, the Crown Princess opened her mouth wide.
My goodness.
To think the Emperor of the continent’s hegemonic power would use such a petty trick.
No. Perhaps one had to be that petty to lead the continent’s hegemonic power.
The Crown Princess became a bit confused.
“But why is it a pair?”
“Just accept it for now.”
“Pardon?”
Gustav flicked one of the rings over his shoulder.
The Crown Princess caught it with both hands and examined the ring with confusion.
“One is the main ring that performs miracles. The other is a replica. But it’s not without any function, it acts as a notification when the main ring activates a miracle. If Schlus happens to open the safe and activate a miracle… We’ll be able to know who was revived through it.”
“Aha.”
The Emperor put the main ring back into the safe and reactivated the spells one by one to lock it.
“Hand it over to Schlus.”
“Yes. I understand, Your Majesty.”
As the Crown Princess took the safe and left with the guards, Gustav leaned back in his chair with ease.
It was a safe that couldn’t be opened or destroyed no matter what means were used.
Schlus Hainkel wouldn’t keep something he couldn’t even open forever.
They could retrieve it later when he sold it, or even after his death.
There was no problem at all.
Even though that should be the case, Gustav strangely felt uneasy.
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I accepted the safe the Crown Princess handed over.
Perhaps because it was made of black steel, the hardest material in the world, it was quite heavy despite its small size.
“What was inside it?”
“Unfortunately, this safe can no longer be opened. The password has been completely lost.”
“…”
What kind of despicable trick was this?
I almost cursed at Aria’s awkward acting.
Status: Locked
Description: A safe made of a material that cannot be deformed. It has 12 security spells in a complementary form. Inside, lies the ‘Ring of Miracles’.
Fortunately, it seemed they didn’t mess with the contents.
The Ring of Miracles was safely inside.
“Once chosen, your choice cannot be changed. Now take that safe and get lost.”
“Please wait a moment.”
“…?”
I ignored Aria, who tilted her head, and placed my hand on the safe.
12 security spells.
Seems breakable, right?
With that thought, I turned off my vision and hearing and concentrated.
‘No way, crazy.’
However, I barely broke 2 spells, and the rest were impossible.
Moreover, as soon as I removed my hand, even the spells that were already undone locked again.
I had to start from the beginning.
Since the spells weren’t individual but encrypted each other, it was especially difficult to break.
“Hmph. It’ll be hard to break without the password.”
Aria, waving her hand, had already lost her composure.
Cold sweat was now flowing down her pretty neck.
Now it won’t do.
I had no choice but to use my ability.
‘Selection and Concentration. 5 seconds on computational power.’
The computational power stat instantly surpassed 100 and became 147.
It was a stat that could dismantle most spells in an instant, but even after 3 seconds, only 4 of the safe’s spells were undone.
However, as the number decreased, the mutual encryption seemed to weaken, and the difficulty of dismantling gradually became easier.
7 in the 4th second…
And in the final 5th second. Just before the time limit of ‘Selection and Concentration’ ended.
Click
All 12 spells were dismantled and the safe door swung open.
While Emilia’s reaction was lukewarm as she didn’t know how many-layers the spells were-
“Wh-What…? How did you…?”
Aria showed a truly honest and fitting reaction.
Yes. This is it.
It’s so nice to have an honest person next to you.
If Emilia and Aria had opposite personalities, it would have been great.
No. If someone who was going to be the Crown Princess didn’t show anything on her face, it would be a bit scary.
I opened the safe door and took out one of the rings inside.
It was the appearance of the MacGuffin that was only mentioned but never shown even once in the original work.
Status: Clean. No abnormalities.
Description: Once every 100 years, it can summon the soul of a dead person.
Even when checked with ‘Examine’, it was unmistakable.
The Ring of Miracles.
A ring that allowed one to meet the dead again… to commit a taboo.
I clenched it tightly in my hand, afraid of losing it.
“It was just a ring after all. I-If you want, I can exchange it for something else now?”
“Didn’t you say it couldn’t be exchanged earlier?”
“I-I suddenly feel like showing mercy. You can replace it with something else.”
“No. How can a man go back on a decision he has made? I will take this.”
“Okay… Do as you please.”
It was fun to tease her as she kept fidgeting and sweating profusely next to me.
She was someone I wanted to keep playing with.
By the way, this safe was also quite a valuable item.
Even without the security spells, a safe made of black steel was rare.
Since I had already unlocked it, I could set a new password, so it was essentially mine now.
By the way, perhaps because I used too much computational power, my head hurt as if it would split, so I had to press my temples for a while.
“Ah, that…”
“What is it?”
“I’ll carry it, Mr. Hainkel.”
“It’s quite heavy. It would be better for me to carry it.”
“No. I feel like I’m not doing enough…”
Emilia glanced at me and spoke as I picked up the safe.
She seemed to think she had nothing to do all day, just following behind me.
Knocking out a rude knight wasn’t even considered work?
Even if not, just having an ally by my side was reassuring enough.
“Then please carry it, Miss Emilia.”
“I understand.”
I entrusted the safe to Emilia.
If it eased her mind, then so be it.
“Then, as per Your Highness’ order, I shall take my leave. It was truly an honor to meet you again, Aria.”
“Aria? Who is that?”
“… It was a slip of the tongue. Please forget it.”
This idiot.
The Crown Princess doesn’t have a name yet.
To make such a big mistake even when misspeaking.
“Now you’re blatantly being rude. I don’t even want to see your face anymore. Get lost.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Fortunately, she didn’t seem to find it particularly suspicious.
After being body-searched by the guards to check if we took anything else, we left the underground warehouse.
The way out of the palace was very long.
It was actually long, but it felt endlessly longer compared to when we came.
I occasionally looked at my left ring finger and relieved my anticipation.
As soon as we left the palace, we rented a luxurious carriage on the main road.
Since all the travel expenses would be charged to the Imperial Family anyway.
Even if not, now that I had been granted Black Eagle Medal, I would receive a pension, so I could afford this much luxury.
“Miss Emilia. Can you wait outside for a moment? I want to be alone.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
I went inside the carriage cabin alone, leaving Emilia outside.
Then I raised my trembling left hand.
Rubbing the Ring of Miracles on my ring finger, I prayed inwardly.
Please. Please let me see her one more time.
Even if it was brief. Even if it was for an instant. Even if it was just her voice.
Even if it was not kind words, even if she scolded me, even if she got angry, even if she resented me, it was fine.
Please, just once…
“Fuck. Am I an idiot…?”
Nothing happened.
It was natural.
Because she wasn’t from this world.
She was a person from the real world, not a resident of this damn novel.
That’s why there was no way her soul would return with this stupid ring.
Still, I tried it just in case… As expected, the unexpected was expected.
“This fucking useless ring.”
Just as I was about to take off the ring and throw it out the window, my hand froze.
No matter what, it was a treasure the Imperial Family valued above all else.
It wasn’t something to throw away in anger.
With my anger control instantly activated, I put the ring back on with trembling hands.
At first, I tried to put it on my index finger, but it strangely didn’t fit, so I put it on my ring finger.
But what was the meaning of a ring on the left ring finger?
I forgot.
“Ha… Life.”
Seriously.
I fucking miss you.
I thought I could live without you now.
I thought I had overcome my sadness.
I guess I’m rotten after all.
No matter how much time passes, I can’t forget you.
I’m still an idiot chasing after your ghost.
Your last words telling me to meet someone good…
“It’s too cruel.”
I can’t forget.
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“This crazy bastard…”
The Crown Princess, left alone in the warehouse, trembled.
The safe, which she had been assured by the emperor himself that even a Majin couldn’t open, had been unlocked.
And by a mere human.
No, a commoner.
It was an unbelievable situation.
Was she deceived by the Majin who had told them that?
By the esteemed previous emperor?
Too many incomprehensible things had happened, and the Crown Princess was unable to suppress her emotional outburst.
“Ahhh…! How do I explain this to Gramps!”
Schlus had gotten his hands on the Ring of Miracles.
Without even knowing its value.
It wasn’t a good sign.
There was no way to rule out the possibility that he might carelessly sell it to a random goldsmith on the street.
“We need to retrieve it quickly…!”
The Crown Princess almost ran out of the warehouse.
There was no time to waste.
She had to immediately track Schlus’ movements and monitor if he sold the ring.
Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed the replica of the Ring of Miracles she had received earlier.
It was said to act as a notification when the Ring of Miracles was activated.
Although the possibility of Schlus activating the ring was extremely low, she put the replica on her left ring finger just in case.
“But Aria? Who is that?”
Come to think of it, he had mistakenly called her Aria.
It was an unfamiliar name.
To confuse the Crown Princess with another woman and address her wrongly…
At the time, she had brushed it off as if it was nothing, but thinking about it now, it was a bit annoying.
But strangely, the name ‘Aria’ felt affectionate.
There shouldn’t be a single person with that name around her.
It was strange.
Just as the Crown Princess was having such idle thoughts.
Bzzzz…
“Huh?!”
The ring vibrated.
Startled by the sensation of her whole body trembling, the Crown Princess raised her left hand with flushed cheeks.
The Ring of Miracles was activated?
Did Schlus, who didn’t even know how to use it, operate the ring?
Could it be that he accidentally figured out how to use it?
The Crown Princess touched the ring in shock.
Then, the name of the deceased summoned by Schlus appeared before her eyes.
[Han Ah-reum]
“Who the hell is this?”
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[T/N: just going to say in advance the person he’s trying to bring back is written in a gender neutral term so i cant tell if its a man or woman yet but based on the context and what we know so far im assuming its a woman, also the name is feminine]
Forgetting the meaning of putting a ring on the left ring finger is such a forced plot point…
Haha
But I also forgot that’s meaning ಥ‿ಥ
Lol, when the princess gets her name, she going to remember this and wonder how he could have known. I’m betting on a time travel/regression misunderstanding xD
Actually what tn said at the end raises more questions. Yes, a few chaps ago they distinctly said ah-reum was his deceased girlfriend, but even earlier mc kept talking about his father almost foreshadowing something.
Thanks for the chapter 😁
Bruh what do you mean female? It’s literally his gf’s name. Did the TL change?
People are 100% gonna misunderstand after seeing both of them have the same ring