74.2. What Matters - Part 2

The Minister of Magical Research Rina walks gracefully into the room and only her weary face reveals that she hasn't been sleeping since it all started. Her assistant Nestelle doesn't look any fresher. Everybody is working super hard, not just me. I'm eternally grateful for such diligent subjects, I'm really not alone in this.

"Your Majesty, you summoned us to discuss the shield?" Rina bows deeply and so does Nestelle. "The crystals are indeed getting depleted, but we have many volunteers who signed up to recharge them. There's no need to worry."

"Can I see the crystals?" I ask and Nestelle readily hands me one of the smaller pieces.

It's rather crude and not as pretty as I expected, but it's doing its job. Still, with some processing and proper tuning, it would be much more effective. I make the crystal levitate a few centimetres above my palm and carefully study it from all angles.

Crystals are simply fascinating—beautiful and automatically responsive to Celestials. I wonder how humans figured out their magical properties even though there was no real magic in the world before the Great Evolution. The crystal above my palm vibrates when I send it a tiny bit of my mana and absorbs it immediately—the best external mana storage. Is it thanks to its unique inner structure?

I apply light telekinetic pressure on the crystal to find out if I'm able to reshape it. The Dragonkin traditionally work with ores and monster material, but crystals and gems were always associated with Celestials. It would be beneficial if we could process them ourselves.

I vibrate the floating crystal again and now I recognise its structure more clearly. I can't see it with my eyes, but I distinctly feel the mana vibrating inside of it. And it's as if it almost begs me to flow without obstructions. Feeling enthusiastic to experiment right away, I start carefully cracking the crystal with my finest telekinesis and grinding it into a perfect hexagonal prism because I've always liked that shape.

I'm surprised by how easy it is. It would take humans a lot of time and specialised instruments to work it like that, yet with some mana manipulation, it's just a matter of focus and precision. It's as if the crystal demands to be shaped, there's no resistance. When I let it land on my palm again, the previously crude crystal is now a beautiful shiny prism, perfectly attuned.

"It should work better like this," I hand the crystal back to Nestelle.

Only now do I realise how quiet the room became and that everyone is staring at me in absolute silence and with their mouths open wide. But I didn't do anything miraculous this time, right? I just shaped one small crystal into a nicer form. Oh, damn, I left a mess on the ground! The maids won't be pleased.

"No, I don't have the energy to even comment on it," Liana performs an exemplary facepalm and collapses into an armchair in front of me. "Aefener is just beyond common Celestial sense."

"H-how...? So effortlessly...? It's perfect!" Nestelle studies the crystal in his hands with amazement and shows it to no less astonished Rina.

"Just a bit of telekinetic pressure," I answer nonchalantly and take another cookie from the plate. The shaping process wasn't that mana-demanding, but I'm still recovering.

"Seriously, love?!" Gotrid shakes his head in total disbelief. "Just like that? In a few minutes without any preparation?"

"It's not that difficult, I'm sure everyone will be able to do it," I claim, trying to divert their attention, and gobble another cookie. "In fact, start immediately. Crystals shaped like this and properly attuned will absorb much more mana and channel it out more steadily."

"I wouldn't even know where to start!!!" Nestelle loses it. "You're too divine, my Emperor. I don't understand what you just did."

"Nobody did, trust me," Liana says pointedly, looking at shocked Ministers.

"You just need to feel where to crack it," I try to explain. "Here, I'll show you."

I want to pull Nestelle's sleeve to make him come closer because I'm not strong enough to stand up, but Erik quickly stops my hand for some reason.

"No touching, love," he reminds me. "People without special privileges and permissions are forbidden to touch you, so you shouldn't touch them either."

"You're overdoing it," I frown.

"No, it's an overly practical measure," Erik insists. "Your direct touch is seen as a blessing now, so you have to be careful with whom you're touching and why."

"I hate it," I mumble, getting upset over it.

"Maybe if you didn't demonstrate your divine powers so casually, we wouldn't be so crazed about touching you," Liana sighs. "We have to limit the people who can approach you, you know that."

"So be it," I'm pissed off at this point because we're losing precious time over formalities. "Rina and Nestelle came up with a solution how to power up the shield, so I'm granting them my blessing. Erik, Gotrid, let them sit next to me, I need to show them how to do it. We can't afford to waste mana; the shield has to function 24/7."

"It's improper for them to be so close...," Gotrid starts and however much I love him, I run out of patience.

"We don't have time for nonsense," I hiss and the room gets cold with my leaking menacing mana. "I can't exactly go to the laboratory now and court formalities will mean nothing if the shield fails. I'm sure everyone will be able to do crystal processing with some training, but we don't have the luxury of time for that right now. I'll teach Rina and Nestelle how to do it directly so that they can pass the knowledge to the rest of the research team."

Nobody tries to oppose me now, even if Gotrid and Erik still look sceptical and unhappy when making space on the sofa. For a moment, I ceased to be their partner and became their ruler and they felt it. I hope I didn't traumatise them, but I had to do it. Their overprotectiveness got in the way of me needing to protect my people and that's something I can't allow.

"Sit, I don't bite," I pat on the sofa to my left and right. "Do you have more of these crystals on you?"

Rina nods and pulls six pieces out of her robe before slowly sitting down next to me. Nestelle sits down even slower, nervous about what I have in mind for them. But they trust me and that's all I need.

"Levitate a shard above your palm," I instruct them and they flinch when I hug them with my wings. "Sorry, but I'm switching to telepathy, no time for lengthy lessons."

I try to be as gentle as possible, but it's obvious their minds aren't ready. I don't have to force entry only thanks to their devotion towards me. I've never really done it before and still, I somehow feel it's possible. I pour my knowledge of crystal processing directly into their minds and encourage them to practise it.

It takes them several attempts and a few crystals crack when they overdo it, but in just half an hour, they manage to shape their own perfect prism hexagons. I'm really proud of them. I might have speeded their learning, but proper mana channelling, focus and precision were all their doing. A mediocre caster wouldn't be able to master it so quickly even with my guidance.

"Show the others," I tell them with a content smile. "Everyone can do it with some practice. After making sure the shield is stable, take a rest—that's an order."

I release my wings which makes them sad. They felt safe and blissful in their Emperor's embrace. I have a suspicion that it's a lethal combination of both my enormous mana and me being a telepath. I may be unintentionally making Celestials addicted to me, but that's a problem for the future me to deal with. We have more pressing matters to solve right now.

"Ouch," I whine and massage my temples because my mild headache developed into a migraine.

Erik and Gotrid are back with me in an instant.

"He needs to go to bed, Viceroy," Gotrid says adamantly. "There's no way we can let him continue working in his condition."

"I know, he just performed another miracle. It's funny how it's becoming a new norm," Liana chews her lip and stands up. "Rina and her team will be working on stabilising the shield while we try to stabilise the political situation. Until the US government contacts us, I forbid His Majesty to work."

I want to oppose her, but everyone can see that I'm in no shape to continue working and is nodding approvingly. This is the only instance I have no power over and have to listen to my subjects for a change. The Emperor's health is the highest priority to Celestials.

Erik takes me into his arms and transports me into our bedroom. At first, I don't think I will be able to fall asleep anyway. The call from the US government can come at any moment. Draconians all over the world could lose patience and start revolting at any moment. But Erik and Gotrid keep petting my wings and my eyes close eventually.