Piece 27 (part 1)

Whenever I put my mind into something, I was always successful in doing it.

It has always been like this. All I needed was enough commitment, and I'll be able to do simply anything. This includes academic subjects or even practices outside of school, like cooking or swordsmanship.

However, if there's one thing that I have never once been good at, or at least I have always failed at doing, is probably magic.

Yes, I know, put down the pitchforks. Many have mentioned that I'm talented at magic, and many even said that I have plenty of similarities with my mother and father. However, that wasn't always the case.

When I was very young, I had many people try to teach me magic. There was a class in elementary school that teaches basic magic. I had plenty of chances to learn magic, but I was never once that great at learning.

However, it was revealed to me many years later by my grandmother, regarding why I wasn't able to learn magic properly.

A magical crystal was implanted inside my body. Not sure where exactly, but the purpose of the magical crystal was to keep me away from ever utilizing magic. With such an item inside me, there was no way for me to ever use magic properly, hence I was never able to learn it.

As for the reasoning behind it, Grandma has only ever mentioned it to me once.

'It was to keep your life safe.'

It was to protect me. My identity as the princess of a fallen empire can very easily be revealed if my talent in magic were to increase. It's because both of my parents are monsters when it comes to magic, that it's only natural that my magical talent will be monstrous as well.

And when people look at those with monstrous magical talents, they will for sure become suspicious. My identity as the princess will be in danger, and considering the amount of people that are after my life, it will not be that impossible for me to be killed.

Of course, I only understood this after I grew up. Because right after my parents returned after becoming a statue for ten years, they pulled away the Crystal of Magical Suction from my body.

That has successfully allowed me to reveal my monstrous talent. But even then, I still couldn't exactly utilize magic outside of the basics, since I had no one teaching me the more complex stuff. I had Mom teach me a little bit, but she grew to realize that I deserved a better teacher than her. Someone who can realize my true potential and point out exactly where I need to carve my path.

Unfortunately, someone like that never existed for me.

"We'll find someone else who is capable of teaching Milly. Surely, a good magic teacher isn't that difficult. Right?" Dad commented positively towards the situation at hand, but no comment seemed to be replying back.

We are now at a rather extravagant hotel that Grandma booked for us. While we were playing at the beach, she and Uncle John went around the town for a bit before finally landing at a rather expensive-looking hotel for nobles. I wasn't certain why she got us such an expensive hotel, but it's definitely a welcomed surprise.

It's a pretty large room with multiple bedrooms and one large living room. The furniture that existed here was definitely top class, and I can tell that this place isn't exactly for mere commoners. Of course, I'm stupid for thinking that we are simple commoners.

And while resting in the bedroom at this incredible hotel, Dad started the conversation about what kind of teacher would best suit me. Originally, they were thinking of having the ex-Archmage of Veldonia, Sir Tim Felton, to be the one teaching me. However, that doesn't seem possible anymore.

"It's still unsure whether or not Tim is a good teacher for the brat. For as long as I've known him, he was always a self centered bastard." Grandma commented so coldly while enjoying her coffee at the big dining table not far from the living room, and we all turned to her quite confused.

"But, you said it's fine if Tim was the one to teach Milly?" Dad asked from the sofa, and Grandma let out a sigh.

"Well, it's a good thing we didn't end up having him. But, I wouldn't know who else to replace him."

"I'm wondering why you never even thought about finding her a teacher all these times. We wouldn't be thinking so hard right now had you done that." Mom complained from the kitchen of the hotel room, and Grandma chuckled hearing that snarky addition.

"And risk your daughter's life? Though to be fair, I was thinking of getting her a magic teacher. But, I'm planning on doing that only after she turns eighteen. So, can the two of you go back to being a statue for another six years?"

Holy snarky. Grandma just doesn't lose.

"L-Let's all calm down, now. If we can't find a teacher for Milly, we can always teach her ourselves. Right, honey?" Dad calmed the situation down and turned to Mom, but the empress only shook her head.

"We can't. If things really start to heat up with rebuilding the empire, then the two of us will be incredibly busy with government business. We've talked about this, the two of us most definitely cannot be Milly's magic teacher."

Mom's argument turned Dad down, and I can realize why. When it comes to the incoming government affairs that the rebuilt empire will go through, that will always take priority over teaching me magic. It's important because it involves so many people at the same time, while me learning magic is more of something that is optional.

Right. It is optional, after all.

"There's no need to hurry, you two. I can still learn magic by myself for a while until we find a good teacher." I tried suggesting from the sofa across Dad, but what replied to me was only sighs.

"I can't believe this… I'm sorry for being useless, Milly." Mom apologized from the kitchen, which really surprised me.

"We can't even find you a proper teacher… even though your talent is like one in a trillion." Dad also said with such a saddened tone, but what the last part of his words made me intrigued.

"O-One in a trillion…?"

My confused and surprised tone caught the attention of the three, and Dad jumped from his sofa before sitting right next to me. His hand took out an object from his storage ring, and I was surprised to see such an item.

It's a magic checking tool. I remember seeing it once before at school, and I remember it not working for me for some reason.

"Do you know what this is?" Dad asked as he placed the tool down on the short glass table in front of us, and I nodded firmly.

"Yes. It's a magic checking tool, right?"

"It is, and this one is a more advanced version than the one I once used to see my magic talent for the first time. A colleague of mine invented this, and it was sold all over the land." Dad explained the origins of the tool, and I became widely surprised.

Veldonia, as an empire, is incredibly powerful and rich. The two biggest reasons why they are so powerful and rich were their military and their merchant market.

The military is self-explanatory, but the business empire within Veldonia is even larger than the empire itself. There are so many business startups that began during Dad's ruling, and it grew so rapidly that it changed the tide of the economy in the whole land.

Included in the categories that were massively changed was the magic-related market. There were plenty of inventions and tools that involved using magic for even things like daily life stuff. And one of the objects that has gotten incredibly popular is the very object that we're looking at right now.

The magic testing tool. This tiny item is being used widely across all existing nations, and the main purpose has been the same. To test, value, and inform the users for any magical talents and capabilities that the user has. It's a highly advanced tool that cannot be compared with any of its predecessors, and yet the availability of it was so common.

And the person who invented this was Dad's colleague? That can only mean one person.

"W-Was it the famous magic scientist from Veldonia?" I tried guessing, and he nodded firmly.

"That's right. I bet he became super famous many years after Veldonia collapsed. He was someone who created many advanced magic inventions during my short ruling, including this item right here. And yet, he was only a simple third-rate mage when I first met him."

"That's incredible… That old man is really famous now at Xyphon." I informed him about what I last heard about him, and Dad nodded to tell me he already knew.

"Yeah. He became the grand-mage. Which is… not a position I expected from him, but I guess his capabilities have increased in the past ten years.

In any case, I want you to use the item. You've probably used it before, but the result is most likely blocked by the Crystal of Magic Suction. So, try it again."

I turned my attention back to the device, and I tried remembering how to use the tool. The tool looks a lot like a type-writer machine, where you type things into a paper. But, the part where you type is the part where you place your entire palm onto a crystal pad. 

The crystal pad will then obtain information based on the presence of magic within your palms, and that shall be what is told.

I lifted my hand and placed my palm onto the crystal pad. The device began to light up after it detected magic on my hand, and it began to work its task. Once it was done, another smaller crystal pad in front of my palm came out from the body of the device, revealing the results of the test.

My test result is… huh?