Not everyone was an Ascendant.
But that didn't mean that everyone was powerless.
Some non-Ascendants could also possess powers like magic or swordsmanship.
The Queen was not an Ascendant. However, she held a power akin to foresight.
That type of person was also called a Seer.
And her daughter, Princess Aurum, seemed to inherit a similar power.
What made a difference was the Queen was born a Seer. Meanwhile, her daughter manifested her power during a particular event.
What was the event?
It was when Aurum bumped into Niveus at the front of the jewelry shop.
When their body part touched—in this case, when Aurum's feet landed on Niveus's—both were assaulted by flooding memories.
Familiar fragments were seeping into Niveus's mind, naturally becoming a part of him. On the other hand, unfamiliar and bloody fragments forced their way to be a part of Aurum, causing her to faint because she could not withstand the mental experience of the memories.
Aurum saw many things in the memories, mostly bad experiences.
After recalling the unfamiliar memories, she concluded that it told about the end of the world.
If there was a problem, it was that Aurum did not know the validity of the memories and to whom did it belong.
But after consulting with her mother, the Queen, she realized it might be the power of a Seer.
Determined to test her newfound power, Aurum returned to the jewelry shop and bought (confiscated) all the rings embedded with unknown gemstones.
Why would she do that? Naturally, it was because of a thing she saw from the memories.
She saw a horrifying incident that could wipe out her Kingdom in one night. The cause of it was the ring with an unknown gemstone embedded in it.
Moreover, according to the memories, that tragedy would begin tonight at the very grand hall she was standing at.
Aurum stood on the second floor, overseeing the situation below. She spotted several guests wearing the unknown ring. And every time she spotted one, she would murmur to herself.
'There are 41 people exactly like in the memories...'
41 out of 127 were quite a number. That was almost half of the guests participating in the occasion.
Imagining those 41 people turned into creatures of at least tier 7, Aurum suddenly felt shivers run down her spine.
'The other guests could subjugate them. However, the damage that those creatures caused would be significant. Not to mention...'
Aurum turned her attention toward the huge door with a sun carving.
'There are more of them outside.'
Just as she said, those who wore the rings outside the grand hall would be much more significant than those attending the Grand Banquet.
If it was left unattended, the tragedy that occurred in the memories would repeat. Aurum didn't want that, and so the Queen, who learned of her daughter's foresight.
So, with her authority, the Queen had ordered the special units, Shadow, to spread around the capital and stand by.
She had also asked for Starling and the Vanguard units, however, she got a response that Starling could only send not less than 5 Vanguards because they also had to deal with the situation in the Kingdom's realm.
But that was okay. Because the second strongest Vanguard member was here, attending the Grand Banquet.
Turning her attention to the grand hall's first floor again, Aurum searched for a particular person. When she did find them, her eyes stopped at a white-haired individual who was sipping a cup of tea elegantly.
Soon, her eyebrows knitted.
'He is... different?'
Aurum gave Niveus a look of wariness and a face full of questions.
...
Casually enjoying his time at the banquet while consuming only a cup of tea, Niveus ignored the people who stared at him. It was obvious what they wanted, but he would not give them anything.
However, amongst the stares he received, Niveus could not ignore one that came from the second floor, precisely where the Chrysantheus royalty were.
Initially, he had thought it was the Queen. But she was too busy talking and attending to the Young Dragon from the Carissa Empire.
Then, when he looked in that direction, Niveus only saw a short individual with long blonde hair and two golden eyes staring at him. Her expression seemed to signal her wariness and suspicion toward Niveus.
But why?
Wasn't it just fine when they were meeting for the first time during dinner?
If anything could make the Princess suddenly act like that toward Niveus, it must be...
'...when the Princess was frightened in front of my room. Did she see and recognize my face? But, why would she be frightened?'
Should not she be charmed and awed instead of frightened?
At least, that was the Glacend Knights' reaction when they figured out Niveus's face that he had been hidden behind the mask.
It was not like the Princess had seen Niveus's face, even if she recalled the time when she was in Glacend.
'Should I ask her?' Niveus contemplated for a moment and then sighed. 'Maybe I should if I were to fulfill her majesty's request.'
Niveus recalled the Queen's request.
That day, she had asked Niveus to protect her daughter, Aurum Chryseus.
For what reason? Niveus had a guess.
The Queen told him to be loyal to the Princess even if Chrysantheus no longer existed.
If it were other people, they would be confused by the Queen's bold statement.
But as someone resourceful—Thanks to Nono—Niveus guessed it must have related to the world's end.
Niveus was unaware of the Queen's power. In fact, no one but Aurum, who recently found out, knew if the Queen was a Seer.
Now that he thought about it again, Niveus could not help but question how the Queen knew if the world was about to end.
'Is it a coincidence? A maternal instinct? Or does she have a hidden power, like Clairvoyance?'
Niveus called Nono and asked her about the Queen again.
The first time Niveus requested Nono to inspect the Queen, she said that the Queen was not an Ascendant, so it was impossible to figure out.
Even now...
["Sorry to break it to you, but I still have no idea how she knows about that. My guess is more or less like yours, Niveus. Either it's a coincidence, a maternal instinct, or she possesses a Clairvoyance."]
["My best guess is that she possesses a Clairvoyance or other powers that allow her to see the future."]
'Aren't you supposed to be an all-knowing entity?'
["You're right. I guess I'm not anymore."]
A resigned voice was included in Nono's voice.
Hearing her sulking, Niveus could not help but chuckle internally.
'But... Clairvoyance, huh?'