" Princess.. Princess.. Wake up! "
The whispers came from the left. Ise's eyes were almost glued together. She desperately wanted to rest some more. However, she is already awake. Once awake, Ise closed her eyes in pain, wishing to block the light.
She stretched out her hand unhappily for the wet towel. It only occurred to her there should be no warm wet towels after death half-way through wiping her face.
Only, her manners learned from young kicked in, thus, she did not immediately stop to verify the situation.
Instead, she wiped her eyes slowly and gently.
It looked like she had been crying, otherwise, her eyes wouldn't be glued shut this badly.
She did wish for a redo when she was about to die. Yet, he could not bring herself to open her eyes to confirm the truth. What if it is only an illusion ? What if this is only a death dream?
Her already wounded heart could not withstand another battering.
Thus, she wiped her eyes clean, yet, would not open her eyes.
Suddenly, a cold breeze lifted the curtain on the window, hitting Ise's face directly.
The cold she missed so badly!
The smell of fresh snow and pine wood !
Ise opened her eyes automatically.
The jute curtain in front of her is lifting up lightly as wind whistles past.
It's cold, but not uncomfortable.
The fur under her feet is soft and lush.
Ise pulled up the curtain that's blocking light from the window.
The soft winter light fell on her, lighting the dark room. A vast frozen lake spread out in front of her, lined by willows with frozen drops of ice on them.
With the breeze, the icicles rubbed against each other, chiming sweetly, creating a gentle melody. This is the early spring in Frigia.
Ise turned around.
For a moment, she did not recognize the people in front of her, despite the familiarity she feels.
Then, her brain started working.
It's Suse, as a fourteen year old. Besides her is her old nanny, who was supposed to look after her from the day of spring debut ceremony.
Today, all the noble children of Frigia will arrive and they will go to the top of the frozen mountain, in plain clothes, in the freezing cold. The air of Reotonarch mountain is spiritual.
When the noble children reach eleven years of age, they participate in climbing up the mountain, absorbing the cold spirit of the mountain, maturing their martial art base.
The beginning is a frost denizen, who could bear any amount of cold without dying. Second step is frost fighters, who could fight easily in the cold and hold ice in their hands without harming themselves.
From the third step, they were divided into frost mage, and frost warlock.
Mages are able to create ice structures, and frost warlock is able to fight with ice freely. One's success depends on one's physique.
The physique's are made of two things, spirit seed, and meridians. Both of which could have a yin or yang nature, which in essence indicate small or big, respectively. Spirit seed is like a lake, while meridian system is the canal that lets out the spirit energy.
A person Yang spirit seed with a yin meridian system would have a great amount of endurance, for he has a lot of energy, but low energy output. They usually train to be craftsmen.
A person with Yang spirit seed, and a Yang meridian system could be trained as a warrior, or mage. they have great energy, they can exert most of it with a single action.
A person with Yin spirit seed and Yin meridian system usually become artisans, being able to do extremely precise magical work all too easily.
A person with yin spirit seed and yang meridian system is useless, for their spirit seed could never hold enough spirit energy to push through their meridian system. It's like pouring tap water into an inter-region canal and calling it a river.
By the time it's half way through the canal, the water would have long evaporated.
Similarly, the spirit energy long dissipated before it could take form.
Unlike what one would expect, the situation of yin spirit with yang meridian's is very common.
It occurred fairly often in women, but never with such extreme's case as Ise.
Her Yin spirit seed is as small as sesame seed, while her yang meridians are as big as a six-lane road.
While others born with the same problem could overcome the problem with some effort, In the case of Ise, the effort is equal to the effort of a child born with an IQ of hundred and ten getting enrolled at a top tier university based on his own scores and merit.
Could it not be done ? Sure, it could be done. Only with perseverance and discipline bordering on madness.
It is exactly for this reason her father had advised Ise to not practice.
" My lady! We are running late. " The governess told her anxiously.
In her last life, this governess betrayed her as soon as they reached the celestial capital. It was also this governess who kept praising all her bad decisions, including the one to abandon learning about the ancient art.
However, Ise is the only royal child, for her uncle had abdicated the throne for love.
Her uncle's wife is from the Demon clan.
Between the throne and love, he chose love.
That is the reason his betrayal hurt so much. It is not something he hadn't had in the first place.
Why in the world does he have to betray and kill her father to take the throne ?
Ise pushed aside all thoughts. She entered the washroom, bathed and arrived in a hurry.
Suse and the governess held up the dress for her, assisting her in dressing. Though the dress is simple, there is an order to wearing it. All the pieces must go on in strict order. It must be done right, none of the steps missing.
As soon as she wore the clothes, the governess lit camphor on the coals, smoked the clothes on her body, along with her hair. The incense burned for this ceremony is predetermined.
It must be pine for women, cedar for men.
The capital's ceremony is the biggest.
Soon, Ise walked out under the ceremonial umbrella, indicating that she is a child under protection.
She stopped at her location in the parade, stepped out from the umbrella. This indicated that she is stepping out of the protection of her parents, ready to embark on a path of her own.
On either side of the parade ground, scrolls were displayed on the tables, each with a different color, all arrayed beautifully.
is the major reason that this ceremony is ever so loved, despite the danger and difficulty of climbing the Reotonarch mountain.
In the entire year, this is the only time the Royal family opened their collection of martial art scrolls to the public.
No matter how powerful, one could not access the royal martial arts if they do not go through this ceremony.
In Frigia, the royal family has the most efficient and best martial techniques, as well as best practicing sites. While some nobles do have hereditary martial arts they own, it's ants to elephants when compared to royal collection.
Ise looked around somberly, looking at all the people around her.
Finally, her eyes met those of the king's. Last time around, she met him on the stage before coming down. It truly must have written in stone her spoiled and weak princess image in the eyes of public.
Suddenly, there was a loud gong.
All the chittering kids stopped chirping and looked ahead, their chests puffed up with pride.
There is a sort of pride in being able to attend royal ceremony of bestowal.
"Let the ten thousand one hundred and twenty ninth year initiation ceremony commence. " the herald announced.
The priest took the candidate list, presented it respectfully to her uncle Maxim Frost.
Her uncle took it up to her father, king Andrei.
The king cut the seal on the candidate list with a ceremonial silver knife.
" The seal is released. " The herald announced with another gong.
" Today you are here to make the most important decision of your lives. May Lumea guide your path. " the king spoke, then handed the list to his brother.
Maxim Frost took the scroll from the king's hands with a great sense of ceremony.
Then, he stood upon the podium, announced first name. "Crown princess Ise Van Frost " Ise stepped forward.
" Do you agree to embark on the road of spirit cultivation ? " Her uncle asked her somberly.
In her previous life, Ise said 'no'.
She wanted to live a normal life.
Now, looking at this ceremony, she could see how much of a downer and party pooper she had been.
She is the crown princess and she was not willing to work.
Moreover, this is the first time her uncle Maxim participated in the initiation and bestowal.
How disappointed must he be, to hear 'no' from the only family member he had here ?
How much the others would have laughed at him ?
Her uncle was prideful, he had good reason to be that proud.
He is the strongest warlock in the nation, and he was a stalwart protector. He protected the border with the water country, for the simple reason he abdicated the throne.
He made the trip all the way here, just to participate in this ceremony for her sake. Ise could only imagine his disappointment in last life. Her uncle did not come back to the capital after this ceremony.