"Mother, are we actually invited to the palace for a princess selection?" Amy asked with bated breath.
Amy and her mother are at the gazebo where they are having tea. She needed to talk to her alone. She canceled the rest of her training for the day just to talk to her. Viola already got her news and now Amy wants details.
"News travel fast with Viola." She mused before her expression shifted. "We are invited to the palace and that includes all the women chosen are those with abilities."
Amy frowned. Her mother sounds uncertain. "Do you have the invitation?"
She pulled it out to give to her daughter.
To the Anthos family,
Clarissa Anthos and her daughters; Amaryllis and Violet, are hereby summoned to the Imperial Palace to meet her Majesty the Queen Helena along with many ladies with special abilities this month on the twenty-five at noon.
That's a month away. Amaryllis looked at the 'invitation' with a confused look. Then she saw the royal seal which is shaped to look like an outline of a horned dragon on the back. Rather than an invitation, it is a summon.
"I don't understand. How did you assume it will be a princess selection?" She asked and gave it back to her.
Her mother sighed. "Unlike regular noble families, the royal family choose their marriage partners based on their abilities. So when the invitation says that they invite us as well as other women with abilities that are registered such as yours then it usually means it is a selection to choose the future wife of the Prince. It has been decades since the last selection that not many people remember it anymore. I think I was born when the last one was done. I received this invitation when your grand aunt came over and she told me about this. This is why it isn't common knowledge." Her mother explained.
Amy felt a bit nervous. "H-How is the princess chosen?"
"It depends on the preference of the person hosting the selection. The previous selection was held by the king after his first wife died and it was said that he chose his next queen based on the fact on her fortune of having a powerful child since he had no heir. The queen dowager chose the deceased queen based on her powerful family. But they all have one thing in common. All previous queen consorts and princess consorts have special abilities. Usually the stronger the ability, the more likely they would be chosen. They believe it is a way for them to become stronger."
Shit! she frantically thought.
Amy looks nervous which her mother notices. "Oh, Honey. I didn't think it would bother you this much." She then hugs her daughter. "I sometimes forget you are still a child. This must be quite scary. I know. It scares me too. If you get chosen then there is a chance that you will be taken to the palace, away from us. People find that to be an honor but I do not want that. I want you both to stay with us."
The stronger the ability, the higher the chances of being chosen. Of course it is scary! She thought as she returned her mother's gentle embrace. The fear they share is mutual.
In King Leon's flashback, he got engaged to his queen, married her and had children with her. That woman's name is Melissa. Her maiden name is unknown but she has a powerful healing ability with an incredibly large range as she healed armies when she's at full power. While they are not affectionate in public nor in private, he respects and admires her than any other person in the kingdom and their relationship prior to their marriage is close as they were classmates and life long friends.
There was no mention of a selection though she knows that Melissa was chosen for him by his mother.
Violet was sheltered and dealt with poor health so it is highly likely she just simply didn't attend as an excuse. Viola didn't even exist in the story because of her premature death. Now that her twin is alive and Amy has been training her body, mind and powers for years, this is gonna pose a problem and competition to Melissa, not to mention that Viola is actually taking this seriously.
"We can't say no, could we?" Amy asked her mother with resignation in her tone.
Her mother was silent before speaking, "No, sweetheart. I'm afraid not."
There is no way she could prevent this. She has about a month.
What to do? What to do? she mentally repeated this mantra over and over again in her head.
"Mother,"
She then separated from her. "I hired a seamstress from the boutique to come take your measurements to make a new dress. Since you are going to the palace. You need to wear the perfect dress. Queen Helena is quite known for her fashion sense."
She took Amy by the hand back inside while the servants clean up the table.
*
Amy looked in her desk where she kept a handmade magical object and pulled out a marble. It looks like a simple transparent glass marble crafted from her construction ability. She stared at it with reluctance. Well, here goes nothing. She then swallowed it with the anticipation that it would and lets it sit in her magical pool. After a bit of a coughing fit, she waited as if she expected some consequences.
She sighed in relief. That wasn't so bad. The manga made it look so much worse. She never expected to use it this early.
She looked at her notes and diary which she had kept her plans and notes. It is enchanted to look blank to anyone but her and is securely locked.
Over the years, Amy deliberately kept her magic weakened enough to be seen as weaker than Viola even though in actuality, Viola's purification ability is the weaker one. Amy knows that while Queen Melissa is powerful, she's likely not gonna be like that now and she knows nothing personal about her, not even her maiden name. But her information network is vast for her age. She quickly skimmed through the pages until her eyes landed on the name she is looking for.
Melissa Campbell, age 4, fourth daughter of Marquis Arthur Campbell.
There are a few others in the social world and nobility with the same name but this is the only one she knows who is of similar age to Leon. Calling them classmates is probably an exaggeration due to their age difference but it might be a mistranslation and the right term might be schoolmates since the academy is a five year term. She is still too young to have any notable gossip about her nor have any clue as to what she looks like. As for whether she has an ability is uncertain. But she is at the age when they should start emerging.
Amy cannot remember far due to infantile amnesia but she is certain she has unlocked her ability since her infancy while Viola got hers when she was three. Amy deliberately revealed her purification ability when she was five.
She then sat down to think of what to do next. Viola wants her to train her. She could use training to tire Viola out but it won't be enough to weaken her power, if anything, it would do the complete opposite. She should've thought it through when she agreed to Viola's request but she is far too perplexed to think straight.
Dammit! She thought while laying her head on her desk in frustration. I'm so stupid!
The marble trick is also a terrible idea. It is far too suspicious and straight up impossible. If Viola gets a wind of this then she will definitely snitch on her so this is out of the question. That pearl is designed to absorb some of her magic. While it will weaken her, it is meant to be a training tool to increase her magical input and output capability and won't kill her. It is however, detectable so she has to spit out the marble before she heads to the palace.
"What to do?" she said to herself then she thought of something.