The small estate of Worchester was situated at the foot of rugged mountains that separated Northern Mainland from the rest of the Empire.
There were hardly any travelers who visited this place, and there was only one inn. It was a rural village with nothing to see, and with no other lands to pass through, it was natural.
The only employee working at the inn, Neela, was carefully carrying water upstairs. A rare guest had been bedridden for several days.
Arriving at the room where the guest was staying, Neela awkwardly knocked on the door. A unique accent was heard from inside.
"Come in."
Creak. As she opened the old wooden door and entered, the room filled with the scent of flowers greeted her. Neela approached the guest lying on the bed in the innermost part of the room.
"Guest, I've brought the water you requested. Are you feeling okay?"
The room, tightly closed up to the wooden shutters, was dark and gloomy. However, after a while, the petite lady who rose from the bed shone brightly even in the dim light of a cheap candle.
Even the silk dress that the priest's sister proudly wore every Sunday seemed inferior to the white nightgown worn by this lady lying on the bed.
Neela placed the water jug on the bedside table and sneakily glanced at the guest's face.
Was it her imagination?
The guest's eyes, flickering in the candlelight, were not transparent like ordinary eyes but sparkled like jewels.
Yes, reflecting like the large gemstone in the priest's hand... an eye?
Forgetting her intention not to disturb the high-status guest, Neela absentmindedly stared at that sparkling gaze. The guest looked at Neela and smiled faintly.
Her red lips parted.
"What is your biggest secret?"
"Excuse me?"
Suddenly? Enchanted by the beautiful smile of the guest, Neela absentmindedly blurted out without thinking. However, the guest kindly asked again.
"I wish you would tell me your biggest secret. I'll be leaving soon anyway, so it doesn't matter, right?"
A secret... Neela felt convinced as she looked into those shining eyes. Yes, this guest would be leaving soon, so what harm would it do to tell her?
In a paralyzed state, Neela confessed her biggest secret.
"I... actually stole something from the guest. And I framed it on Darel."
Neela, known to have been born and abandoned by a Gypsy couple in this village, was the illegitimate child of the innkeeper's husband among the innkeeper couple.
Yet, despite being known as a child born to the Gypsies in this village, the innkeeper couple took Neela in and raised her like a slave. It was a world of difference from how they treated Darel, who was born to the legitimate wife like a princess.
It was about two years ago. Neela pretended to be sick when a seemingly wealthy guest stayed at the inn. And when Darel found out about the guest's generosity, Neela took the opportunity to steal the guest's pearl brooch.
Suspected of theft, the innkeeper couple immediately caught Neela. But how could a sickly child like her commit such an act?
Moreover, Neela had hidden the brooch on the floor of Darel's room, so the item never surfaced.
In the end, the matter concluded with Darel carelessly losing the guest's belongings, and the innkeeper couple had to demand a large sum of money. Perhaps when the truth came out, Neela would not just face consequences but be driven away.
Neela had sworn never to reveal the incident until now. She thought of it as a secret she would take to the grave. However, with this guest... strangely, she felt that speaking was the right thing to do.
"Thank you for telling me. Forget what you told me."
It seemed she was believed. Instead of blaming Neela or calling the innkeeper couple to say, "We can't stay where there are thieves," the guest kindly said.
Neela nodded, truly 'forgetting' what she had said.
As the child quietly left the inn room, the blonde guest, Neris Trude, stood up from her seat. She touched her dizzy forehead and took out a hand mirror from her luggage.
The purple eyes radiating light in the small hand mirror the size of a baby's fist.
The eyes of Elendria, one of the three legendary warriors.
It was a jewel that was known to appear only in the imperial family.
***
Clack, clack.
The sound of carriage wheels rolling and crushing stones was heard.
Neris admired how a path had been carved in such a place as she looked at the cliff visible through the carriage window.
Even beyond the black veil hanging from her hat, the jagged cliffs and scattered boulders were clearly visible.
Who would have imagined a passage leading to Mainland on the outskirts of the village of Worchester in the secluded valley.
Even the villagers themselves seemed unaware of the existence of this road, except for a pigsty in the village that seemed to have been planted by Cledwyn from the beginning.
Officially, Cledwyn, who rarely left Mainland, seemed to have several secret passages besides this place. Although she hadn't received precise guidance on that.
'The mysterious man.'
He could achieve the impossible without being a wizard. Abelus had even shown signs of jealousy. Being a remarkable figure compared to me who was given everything since birth.
Even if Abelus was born as a prince, in reality, the state affairs were taken care of by his sister, Kemil. The Emperor and Empress didn't care what their children did as long as they didn't break the rules they had set, and they turned a blind eye.
'The idea that the jewel is a symbol of a born ruler is ridiculous.'
Before the jewel blossomed in her previous life, Neris, like the other people of Vista, believed that the jewel belonged exclusively to the imperial family.
However, just before the summer vacation of her 18th year, a few days before, Neris suddenly fell ill with a fever and strangely acquired the jewel.
The situation was not well understood, but in any case, she had to take final exams. So, the rumor that Neris Trude had the jewel spread throughout the school in no time.
Through various coincidences, just as Neris was about to be adopted by the Elendria family, she began to understand to some extent the abilities of her jewel.
Mind control.
When Neris looked into the other person's eyes and spoke, her words contained almost absolute persuasiveness.
Of course, no matter how great this ability was, persuasive statements related to the other person's life, such as 'stab yourself,' did not work.
And in situations where the other party did not understand at all, the range of abilities to be exerted was narrowed.
But what kind of constraint was that? Using the jewel, Neris accomplished many things. Initially, the Elendria family, and later the royal family, benefited from her abilities.
It was strange. Those in the royal family who possessed the jewel did not have such abilities. Since the abilities manifested after the jewel, it was undoubtedly something dependent on the jewel.
As far as Neris knew, she was the only one with abilities similar to hers. In any public records, no one else besides her had such abilities. Especially the records of the royal family were always meticulously preserved.
The previous life's Nellucian explained this phenomenon as follows:
"From the beginning, the jewel was just a unique trait that some people were born with. It wasn't a symbol of the royal sanctity or a unique trait of the royal family. Yes, Neris. In my opinion, your abilities stem from the jewel. Perhaps it's a hereditary trait that is rarely discovered once in a very long time."
But why hadn't such a trait manifested in others until now?
In response to such a question, Nellucian at the time excitedly presented a hypothesis:
"If it hasn't manifested in others? Neris, I think 'Honest Elendria' among the ancient three warriors was the owner of the purple jewel. Why 'Honest' Elendria specifically? Why not 'Strong' Elendria or 'Sturdy' Elendria! Everything he said was believed to be the truth! All because of the ability of the jewel!"
In the portrait of 'Brave Visto,' the direct ancestor of the royal family among the three ancient warriors... the importance of the jewel was always emphasized.
However, the eyes of the other two warriors, who were usually depicted beside him being crowned as emperor, were never described with the jewel.
Neither Elendria with the jewel nor Palos with gray eyes, neither of them.
It was natural. The belief in the jewel extended even to those who believed it was a special gift given by the gods as a symbol of imperial authority. If evidence had emerged that someone else among the three warriors had the jewel, it would undoubtedly have caused a sensation.
Therefore, no one believed that the jewel would manifest in the bloodline outside the royal family. While there were cases where the royal lineage manifested the ability, their eyes were always a deep blue.
The royal blue eyes that manifested the jewel.
Nellucian had also formulated a hypothesis on that aspect:
"Until now, we have been thinking of royal blue eyes and the jewel as separate entities. Because both were unique traits existing only in the royal family. It was due to a lack of samples. We believed that to manifest the jewel, the royal blood had to be so strong as to have royal blue eyes. But in reality, if you don't have special colored eyes, does the jewel not awaken from the beginning?"
"Special eyes?"
"People commonly consider royal blue eyes, purple eyes, and gray eyes as precious. Until now, we thought that it was reverence for the legendary figures. But what if it wasn't just reverence for the figures in the legend?"
That was a conclusion that could not be reached in a day or two.
"Neris, think about it. It is known that only the former Emperor of the ancient three warriors was particularly outstanding. But does that mean others lacked abilities? Your abilities can be a tremendous weapon depending on how you use them. But why did no one know about Elendria's jewel?"
Everyone who could answer that question had long been dead and gone. Elendria buried herself in the night for the glory of the royal family... Even if she spoke such dream-like words, no one would understand.
"So, think carefully, Neris. Even if we exist as faithful subjects, the royal family will never tolerate the dominance of our family. The Palos Duchy, whose descendants were cut off and disappeared... Perhaps they, too, had descendants with the jewel?"
Perhaps all three of the ancient warriors, besides Visto, had the jewel.
And they all became so great because they used the abilities bestowed by the jewel.
But for some reason, those records disappeared, and the fact that the three eye colors were special remained only in people's subconscious.
The fact that only descendants with the exact same eye colors as those three ancestors, namely royal blue, purple, and bright gray, could awaken the same abilities had been forgotten.
So, what was the special ability of Visto's jewel? Neris asked fearfully, afraid that the royal family might come for her and kill her.
"The royal people are particularly resilient and strong. We have always thought that was the sacred trait given to the descendants of the warriors. But nobles who don't have royal blue eyes also suffer from common ailments."
It was true. Lady Maraiya, a noblewoman, suffered from a childhood illness that made her body uncomfortable.
Lady Maraiya's eyes were not royal blue.
"But."
There was clear evidence against Nellucian's theory.
"Then what about Cledwyn Mainland?"
Cledwyn's eyes were also bright gray. In fact, compared to old portraits, they were quite similar to Palos's color. Perhaps one of his ancestors had married someone from the old Palos Duchy.
If Nellucian's theory was correct, Cledwyn should have had the jewel and the extraordinary abilities that came with it.
However, he showed no signs of manifesting the jewel. Magical traits usually manifested by the time one became an adult.