The Mythical Path of a Princess from a Destroyed Kingdom

As she turned the corner and entered a study, she saw a stern-looking, red-haired middle-aged man and a magnanimous blonde noblewoman standing there. Upon seeing them, Maginus immediately threw herself into the woman's arms and burst into tears.

"Mother!"

"My gem, I'm so glad you're alright~".

When Queen Hilda Imperius saw that Maginus was unharmed, she visibly breathed a sigh of relief, embraced her wailing daughter, and wiped away her endless tears with a handkerchief.

Maginus's father, King Lynch Imperis of the Kingdom of Neserys, maintained an unchanged expression, but his fingers, which had been tapping the table, stopped. Susan then entered the study and gave a slight bow.

"Your Majesty, I am very sorry, I have frightened Her Highness the Princess."

"This isn't your fault, Susan. Nobody expected this to happen. I thought they would be more positive, but I was wrong..."

A shadow crossed Lynch Imperius's eyes, but his gaze softened as he looked at Maginos and stopped speaking. Maginos, caught up in her tears, didn't notice.

After a while, the red-haired princess cried so hard she could barely breathe. The frightened girl fell into a deep sleep after crying for a long time. Lynch waved slightly, and Hilda carried her daughter to the bedroom.

After placing her daughter on her own bed, Hilda stroked Maginos's chubby cheeks, which looked even more swollen after crying. The queen's smile vanished, and her sorrow was evident.

“My treasures, my jewels, my daughter… what will you do when we’re gone?”

Hilda pressed her face against Maginos's cheek, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. After a gentle kiss, she rose and left the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her.

The sky was crimson as always.

The earth was as crimson as ever.

When Maginus opened her eyes, she saw the scene again. Her forgotten memories began to resurface. How many times had she seen this scene before?

The girl with long, pale red hair was unaware that, in her hazy, dreamlike state, only one voice kept reminding her...

Run!

She had no idea why she was running or where she was going, but Maginus's body moved nonetheless, even ignoring the fact that her clothes were starting to wear out as she ran.

She ran aimlessly, and the unchanging scenery before her eyes began to change, but she still saw the colorful "little mounds." The girl's mind finally started to move, and she kept resisting seeing that scene again.

But her consciousness couldn't break the inertia of the dream. Just like before, Maginus once again came to the pile of corpses of her loved ones. Their gruesome deaths left them staring wide-eyed at the last survivor.

These corpses seemed to be questioning Qi San Leng Si D Jiu Qi Shan, questioning why she was able to survive.

……

Maginot sat up in bed with her eyes wide open. Her throat was a little hoarse and she couldn't make a sound. Looking at the bright moonlight outside, her tense muscles gradually relaxed. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter what she did.

Lying in bed, the girl looked out the window at the moon, recalling the sudden assassination attempt.

Why would someone try to assassinate her? Why were those people so well-equipped? Why...?

Many questions arose in Maginot's mind. She lifted the soft blankets, got out of the warm bed, sat down at her desk, and took out paper and pen.

As a mage and sorcerer, even though she was still a child, her intelligence and thinking surpassed those of wealthy merchants in some aspects. At this moment, she closed her eyes and recalled the events that had happened recently.

More and more doubts arose in her mind. Maginus scribbled on a piece of paper, sorted out the strange things around her, and finally confirmed one thing.

The reason why the noble ladies distanced themselves from her and why Teacher Santi left was probably not because she was about to get engaged, but because of more serious matters such as national issues.

As for what exactly was so serious, Maginos didn't think about it any further. She got up, went to the door, and whispered in her ear. After confirming that the maid outside was drowsy, she raised her hand and cast a spell.

The girl's face was very determined. It was only around seven or eight o'clock in the evening, and everyone should still be discussing things. If she went over quietly now, she should be able to hear something.

Maginot didn't want to be kept in the dark, nor did she want to remain uninvolved. This was her home, her family. Even if she couldn't do anything about it, she wanted to share her worries with them.

Invisibility and silence.

After putting on her shoes, she quietly opened the door, used her small stature to squeeze through, and easily made her way through the garden into the corridor. She stopped at just one turn, listening intently to the sounds coming from the brightly lit room.

She heard her mother's slightly tearful voice, and a shocking truth.

"They're about to attack us under the pretext that we have evil blood flowing through our veins. What should we do?"

"...Let's talk about it tomorrow morning. I'll have a good talk with the children."

Having only heard two sentences, Maginus, noticing the guards approaching, immediately dispelled the spell and pretended to sneak into the kitchen to find something to eat. The guards, seeing this, indeed acted as if they hadn't noticed.

Chapter 9 The Declining Nation

The next morning, after not sleeping all night, Maginos saw his three brothers, sister, and queen enter the study. He then got up and quietly climbed out of the window.

She even had some dark circles under her eyes at this moment. As soon as she reached the vicinity of the study, she pricked up her ears to listen to the family meeting that was taking place inside, which excluded her.

"Your Majesty, can't we ask the temple for help to show that we are not as evil as they say?"

The princess said, followed by the king's cold but helpless voice: "My naive Sylvia, do you really think they came from the blood of tyranny and strife flowing in our veins?"

Thinking of the country's current situation, Lynch Imperius clenched his fist and smashed the wooden table in front of him.

"Of course not!" he growled, his eyes blazing with fury. "They're only here for their own gain; they're the very embodiment of conflict!!"

"Father... what should we do now? Even if we flee our country, the allied forces probably won't let us go. Most importantly, our allies are turning against us one after another, and those lords are also starting to abandon us."

Wang Jie's voice came from inside, filled with resentment that the Imperius royal family had fallen to such a state: "If the Duke of Protectorate hadn't died..."

"There's no point in saying anything more. If we really have to wait until the most critical moment, we can abandon everything and leave to hide for the time being. Even if we don't live to see the day when we can fight back, our whole family can still save our lives."

The Queen regained her dignified demeanor in front of the children and the Queen, but her tone suggested she had given up hope.

Upon hearing his mother's words, the eldest prince immediately chimed in, "Regarding this, Father, Mother, and Your Highness, I think Maggie should also be married off. Find her a good fiancé so that she can be like my second and third sisters and not have to get involved in these matters..."

Secretly eavesdropping on the conversation using magic, Maginus gradually learns about the "disaster" that has befallen the Kingdom of Nesery and even the Imperius family.

The Kingdom of Nesery is a small country with a long history. Although its territory is small, it possesses a mountain range rich in precious metals and magical minerals, making it coveted by other neighboring countries.

However, in Maginot's memory, nothing major happened during her childhood, and according to her sister, it all started with the death of the Duke of Protectorate.

“Grandpa Eddie?” An image of a kind-faced, white-haired old man came to mind.

In her memory, this unmarried old man, who always wore a kind smile, was actually the one who had ensured that other countries dared not attack Nesery after the death of the previous king of the Kingdom of Nesery, who was also her grandfather.

It wasn't because he was a great commander, but because he alone could withstand an army of ten thousand.

On the continent of Noir, there is no clear distinction between the strength of extraordinary individuals; instead, spellcasters determine their strength based on the difficulty of the spells they learn.

At the same time, Maginus remembered that Teacher Santi had said that the mages of the Mage Guild seemed to be planning to differentiate their strength into different levels.

In addition, the strength on the mainland is divided into four stages, with the first three stages being vastly different from the last.

The first three stages are quite simple and are referred to as low-order, mid-order, and high-order.

Take the warriors with the biggest gap as an example. When low-level warriors fight, they don't show any special skills. They are just like ordinary people. They can get injured, and after being seriously injured, they are unable to fight. They are easily killed if they are not prepared for various kinds of damage.

Mid-level warriors have already shown performances that are different from ordinary people. Warriors who specialize in defense can continue to fight the enemy for a short period of time even if they are seriously injured, as long as their limbs are not greatly damaged. Their resistance is greatly enhanced, and ordinary poisons are difficult to be effective against them. Even if they are effective, they can only achieve the minimum effect.

Maginus had never seen a high-level defensive warrior, but according to Teacher Santi, they could fight against a large army for ten days and ten nights before dying. Minor wounds could heal immediately, and even when they were on the verge of death, they could have a five-hour period of lucidity before death.

Above these three stages lies the power sphere encompassing Duke Eddie, her grandfather, and other important figures in the nation; this stage is called...

legend!

As for just how strong they were, Maginus didn't know. The difference in strength between legends was also huge. Some people could move mountains and fill seas, while others, although they couldn't do that, could kill the guy who could.

A legendary warrior can gather a group of people and establish his own small country, and a legendary mage will be respected wherever he goes.

In short, the Kingdom of Nesery had a continuous line of legendary warriors before, and the surrounding small countries dared not invade. Unfortunately, after the death of Duke Eddy, Nesery never had any more legends, and even with a powerful army, it could not withstand the coalition of neighboring countries.

This must be the reason why neighboring countries formed a coalition to attack our country, and why our domestic lords are so unstable...

Maginos's face was full of worry. This was really not something she could help with. The only thing she could do was probably sell her flesh.

Maginus was also curious about the inexplicable reason used by the allied forces: what exactly was this "blood of evil"?

The Imperius family possesses some magical abilities due to their bloodline. However, a sorcerer's magic doesn't necessarily originate from bloodline; it could be from accidentally drinking dragon blood, consuming something containing dragon blood, or making contact with an outer plane...

These factors could all make someone a potential sorcerer, but she and the entire royal family did indeed possess sorcerer talents due to their bloodline.

So where does this bloodline come from?

Shaking her head slightly, Maginus was sure her parents and siblings were almost done talking, so she quietly left and returned to her room. She then walked out the front door openly and leisurely towards the dining room. Today was a day for the whole family to reunite, and if nothing unexpected happened, they should eat all three meals together.

When she arrived at the restaurant, everyone was already seated. Beth Imperius picked her up with her big arms and kissed her slightly chubby cheeks: "Maggie~, you seem to have gotten even fatter in the three days I haven't seen you~."

"Sister Wang!"

Maginot made a sulky face... well, she was sulky. She hated it when people said she was fat. It was just that she ate a little too much!

Even though she thought about many "big things," she was still just a thirteen-year-old child. When she was emotional, she could easily put those things aside temporarily and was not affected by her troubles.

The princess shook her head: "Stop bullying your sister, come and sit down quickly."

Beth sat in a chair with Maginot in her arms. The youngest girl greeted her relatives one by one. As usual, the king asked a few questions and then waved for everyone to eat.

Chapter 10 The Tragedy of the Weak

After everyone put down their knives and forks, Lin Qi's gaze fell on Maggie, who was playing around with Wang Jie. After a long silence, he spoke to his youngest daughter, "Maggie."

"What's wrong, Father?"

Maginus turned to look at her father with a blank expression. Lynch hesitated for a moment before asking, "If you were to live with your partner in the future, what kind of person would you want them to be?"

The first image that came to mind was still Susan's resolute figure, followed by Inser. But Maginus quickly realized that her father wanted to do as her elder brother had said in the study, to choose a betrothed for her so that she could escape the soon-to-be-chaotic capital in time.

The girl was silent for a moment, then tilted her head and tapped her cheek with her finger: "Hmm~, I don't have any requirements for my other half, as long as he can bring benefits to the country, preferably someone powerful."

Her answer surprised everyone. The adults mostly sensed something was wrong, but none of them offered comfort. Beth, however, tightened her grip on Maginot's arm. Lynch's expression remained unchanged as he slowly nodded and said:

"I understand, you can go out and have fun now."

"it is good!"

Maginos was quite pleased with her disguise, unaware that the adults had already seen through her act. After she had walked away, the somewhat frail second prince, who fit the stereotypical image of a mage, couldn't help but sigh:

"Father, it seems that Maggie is now aware of what has been kept from her. What are you going to do?"

Lin Qi rubbed the ring on his hand, closed his eyes to think, and when he opened them again, he had made his decision.

He originally only had two candidates in mind. As a father, he naturally wanted his daughter to have the greatest possible happiness, and in this case, the head of the guard, Susan, was a qualified candidate.

Lynch had witnessed the couple's relationship. If Nesser hadn't ended up in the current situation, he might have given Susan a noble title, let her slowly climb up the social ladder, and then married her to Maginos.

But that's no longer possible. So he originally planned to let Susan take her daughter and leave, so the two could find another place to live. Even if life wasn't as good as in the palace, they could still be rich young ladies.

Susan is a mid-level warrior, and Maggie is a low-level mage. The two of them should be able to survive. The only worry is that the allied forces might want to eliminate them completely, which is not impossible.

But since his daughter has clearly expressed her determination today, if she continues to think this way for some time to come, Lin Qi has decided to treat her as a more mature daughter and let her make a sacrifice.

“I’ve decided to have Maggie and Inserluti sign a marriage contract,” Lynch said calmly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Ebeslut has rebellious tendencies, and Inser, as his only daughter, is in love with Maggie. Given this, Lynch felt that marrying Maggie to him would at least guarantee his safety in the short term, and there was even a certain probability that he could pull this duke with treacherous tendencies back to his side.

Hearing his father say this, the youngest person present, the third prince Walker, who was only about three years older than Maggie, showed a worried expression: "But Father, Inserluti is Aibesluti's child."

“I know, but that’s precisely why Maggie is able to live a better life by marrying Inser. Even if Inser’s feelings change in the future, at least she still loves Maggie now.”

Moreover, marrying Maggie to Inser also gave Ebes sufficient claim rights.

Lynch didn't say this aloud. If they really couldn't survive this crisis, the rebellious Duke Ebes might actually side with Maggie and use the claims she brought to seize the Kingdom of Nesery.

In Lynch's mind, the ambitious duke was more trustworthy than other lords from other countries. Well, letting someone with the blood of the Imperius royal family inherit the kingdom was the only option.

"...Yes." Seeing that he had made up his mind, the others no longer objected.

"Heh, if possible, I really want to possess that kind of evil bloodline power they talk about."

After everyone left, Lynch Imperius, still sitting in his chair, gave a bitter smile. As a father, he couldn't protect his family; as a king, he couldn't defend his throne. He was a complete failure...

"Evil bloodline, evil bloodline..."

Meanwhile, Maginot secretly sneaks into the palace library in search of something related to the so-called evil bloodline. She is very curious about this matter, and her subconscious tells her that her nightmares every day may be related to this.

She had no intention of using her bloodline to defend against enemies, nor did she think about what she would do after obtaining the power; it was merely out of a mage's curiosity.

Unfortunately, after searching most of the library, she only found a few words. This is quite normal; if there were any detailed records, the allied forces might not have dared to attack.

"Only three pieces?"

Maginus muttered to himself, looking at the three fragments of books encased in glass, barely able to make out the somewhat distorted but still legible words, and read them aloud, word by word:

"The blood of tyranny flows in their veins, but as time passes, the evil in their blood begins to dilute, and they do not succumb to their nature, but instead dedicate themselves to goodness..."

"Their bodies contained the purest blood of slaughter, but unfortunately they chose resistance instead of submission, which caused them to lose their power..."

"However, when those related by blood completely wither away... wait? How did they just disappear??"

The sentences looked very similar, differing only in the words "tyranny" and "murder," and the last prophecy lacked detailed information. Maginus, holding the fragments of the book, was somewhat puzzled and eventually put them back in their place.

"ah!"

As Maginus bent down to put the fragment back, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her fingertip. She cried out in surprise and quickly looked up at her finger. Her index finger had been pierced at some point, and blood was slowly dripping out.