The sun is not even started to bloom on the horizon yet, but a lot of people gathered in front of a mysterious monument made of stones, unfortunately, no one can enter due to the thin barrier envelopes the whole building.
Among the crowds, 2 people in their late thirties are talking in serious faces, wearing black capes with the empire emblem, based on the atmosphere around them, they seemingly are important figures in the empire, one of them is in full set armor and holding a long sword, while the other one is wearing a long robe carrying a wooden staff.
"We greet His Majesty the sun of the Azure Empire and His Highness the Imperial Crown Prince"
Both of them and the rest of the crowds are bowing in respect to the Emperor and Crown Prince who just arrived at the location.
"Imperial Head Magician and Imperial Head Knight, report the current situation"
The 2 figures who wear the black capes with the Azure empire emblem are started to speak
"Yes, Your Majesty. After observing the barrier we believe that this is some kind of an elaborated ancient seal"
The Head Magician is reporting his finding of the ancient seal to Emperor Drake.
"Can you break the seal?"
"We apologize for our incompetence, but the seal nullified any of our Magic and Physical attack"
The Head Knight is taking the turn to report about the durability of the barrier.
"Ancient seal... what a troublesome thing, we have no choice but to gather all the magic historical scholars and archeologists from all over the Empire to examine the seal"
Emperor Drake said while heading towards the barrier, he touched the ancient mysterious seal but suddenly...
Snap!
Grizel who is observing the whole scene from afar snapped her fingers when the Emperor is touching the barrier.
Woooosh...
The barrier is becoming thinner and smaller until completely vanished in the hand of the Emperor. Grizel perfectly matches her timing with Drake's gestures, make it looks like the Emperor was the one who broke the seal.
Gasp!
"This..."
All of the people who witnessed the disappearance of the seal are gasped in unison, most of the knights and magicians present had tried their strongest spell and attack but the thin seal didn't even show any signs of breaking.
However, looking at the Emperor effortlessly erased the ancient seal, everyone will reach the same conclusion.
"Please pardon my interruption, Your Majesty. But, This tomb appears to recognize you as the rightful descendant of the Azure Imperial Family"
"Hhmm, I assumed it is"
Even though Drake has little doubt of the sudden disappearance of the ancient seal in his hand when he has done nothing but touch on it, but the statement of the Head Magician is the most sensible now, the crowds are nodding in silence as if in agreement with the opinion.
"Head Magician and Head Knight come with me, the rest of the Knights and the Magicians surround the tomb to prevent any intruder, and Rex..."
The Emperor glance at his son, he bends down to talk face to face with Rex while grabbing his son's firm shoulders.
"Wait here and do not enter, I don't know if the tomb is safe or not, but as the descendant of the tomb's owner and the current Emperor, I need to go as well"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I pray for your safe return"
Rex bows to the Emperor, this 8 years old youth understand his father's meaning, it's his duty to fill in the Emperor's absence.
The huge statue of the First Emperor is moving on its own reacting to the Crown on the current Emperor's head, the crown of the Azure empire is the real key to move the statue and open the path to the hidden staircases.
Thanks to the novel, Grizel was aware of the existence of the hidden button prepared by the First Emperor himself in case the Crown was damaged or stolen, hence, she didn't need to sneak into the Emperor's chamber to borrow the crown.
Grizel's lips curled upward forming a satisfied smile, she has erased the suspicion of the tomb being robbed by making a fake scene of the seal disappearance in the hands of the Emperor.
Also prevented the Temple from emptying the tomb and flawlessly avoided the severance of the Azure empire's diplomatic relations inflicted by the Temple.
It was the most favorable results in her numerous mind simulations.
'Master, those drunkards are doing better than expected'
'Yeah, who knows they have the guts to ring the palace bell and wake the whole capital'
The Palace bell is meant to be a warning of the enemy's invasion, terrorism, monsters attack, calamities, and many other big occurrences, it was a sacred bell of the empire yet these 2 drunkards carelessly ring the bell and wake the whole capital residents.
However, the more the merrier, this situation is what Grizel needs, the news about the tomb will spread like a wildfire make it impossible for the temple to lay their hands on it.
"Let's go, Lucy"
"Yes, My liege"
Grizel, along with Lucy following behind her is stealthily moving back to the Von Belial castle.
-â¢-
"Son, this is for you"
Emperor Drake gives his son a crystal-like red stone, they are in a secret room beneath the Emperor's chamber.
"Hhmm? Perhaps, this gemstone is... Uncommon?"
Rex tilted his head, he looks confused with the way his father giving the mysterious gemstone to him, they are currently in a place which is only known to the Emperors and the heirs for generations, this is the most secretive place in the palace.
"I have confirmed it with the representative of the historians, this gemstone is indeed the ancient treasure"
Rex widens his eyes, each discovery related to ancient times will always shock the world, even a paper contains 2 or 3 mere sentences of ancient language can be considered as a great discovery, yet they found ancient treasures in the tomb.
He knows about this stone called ancient treasure, a legendary item treated as a national treasure, ever since the founding of the Azure empire, there were only 2 Emperors who possessed these stones, the First Emperor who build the empire and Matthew, the Emperor who succeeded in uniting the whole Azure continent under his regime.
Both of those heroic figures have something in common, they are in possession of ancient treasures called Stone of God, legend said the stones contain God's blessings, and the blessing can change one's fate drastically, bloodshed happened several times in the history of the other nations inflicted by the fight over the Stones of Gods.
To prevent the same tragedy, Emperor Drake gave Rex the Stone of God secretly, the rebellion at the Western Region and the issues with the nobles faction are already a headache for Drake, he didn't wish to increase any internal discord more than these.
"Father, are you sure to give this precious stone to me?"
Rex asked his father hesitantly, Emperor Drake is still healthy in his thirties, it's normal for the Emperor to take the stone of God to lessen his burden, but he gave it to Rex instead.
"Son, you have more potential than Emperor Matthew and the First Emperor, I believe this blessing will shine brightly in your hands"
"...Thank you, Father"
Rex looked at the legendary Stone of God in his hand, the history books said that the name of the stone and blessings are only known after fully absorbed, no one knows what kind of unique blessings in this stone, yet his eyes were already burning in determination.
Even if he is the legitimate heir to the throne, a prodigious prince, and a Warrior class Awakener, he needs an absolute power to fully control the empire and this vast Azure continent, the obstacles are not only rebels and nobles, the temple which is meddlesome in Imperial internal affairs also an eyesore for him.
He closed his eyes and hold the Stone of God tightly, suddenly a beam of red light appears from the stone and creeps to Rex's hand as if moving from the stone to a new vessel, thereafter the red light warped his whole body.
Emperor Drake watches silently in the corner of the room, he doesn't want to disturb Rex absorbing the blessing from the Stone of God, until his ears caught a murmured.
"...The name is... Stone of Artemis... and the blessing is..."
To be continued...