The Eighth Princess

Seth walked out when he activated Mind Shield. The tiny regenerated Psion dust in his head moved and formed the protective barrier.

This also reduced the leaking of the Psion energy.

As he moved, the white cape behind him flapped as if in the wind.

The glass ship he rode was oval in shape, with wing-like attachments on either side made of layers of flat rectangular glass panels.

It was an Imperial Vehicle that he owned by virtue of being a Realmere Prince.

The ship could camouflage, accelerate to twenty times the speed of sound, withstand impact and piercing attacks, and phase through objects. And it could only accommodate five people.

An Imperial Prince must always be inside for it to work, along with two pilots. One directed the ship to its destination while the other observed and controlled the engine functions.

The remaining two positions were for protection.

Chamberlain Rin was not with him; she had left for her assignment.

Seth came to the ship door and was covered in a force field as he descended to ground.

It was daytime, but it was the kind sun.

Before him stood old structures surrounded with long walls and before the gate, two hundred guards eyed him intensely.

The captain spoke, "May the throne blaze through you!"

Seth didn't glance at him as he walked forward, his mind focused on his head and how the leak had reduced considerably.

'Not enough,' he thought.

Gazes were on him from all directions. People were peering from different angles behind the soldiers and above the walls.

Seth was used to it. It meant nothing. It was their honour for them to gaze at him.

Inside the gate, guards were positioned all around in strategic locations, ready for battle.

It had to be. This was the Central Plain after all, the vast plain at the center of the continent was notorious for its endless underground scorpions and snakes.

"May the throne blaze through you!" A chamberlain came to him. "The Eighth Princess has been waiting..."

Seth ignored her and followed another path. She only sighed and followed him.

She didn't even register her presence; his thoughts were on his head and then his destination. The very reason he was here.

Something he should have done out of kindness but held up because he wanted his own safety and growth to be assured.

At the back of the ruin, on an elevated platform, young maidens around ten to fifteen years old played around a person in a wheelchair.

They clapped and sang as the person tried to mimic them.

It was a young girl, a smart eight-year-old. She could sing with them but stammered a lot.

Across her left eye was a scar, making it blind with no iris. Something she strangely inherited from her mother.

She was also crippled. Apart from her head and one hand, she couldn't move anything on her body.

Her case was worse than her mother's.

The oldest of the girls noticed Seth. She was about to greet him, but he shook his head and waved his hand.

She bowed and walked away silently and the rest also walked away.

"Hey, Sasha, where are you going? Come, I... I... I..." she stammered. Her head turned to Seth with a frown.

"Mama?" she asked.

Seth's heart skipped a beat. 'The other eye is gone too?' The other iris is fading as well.

"Who is this? Please speak!" she asked. Seth grabbed her nose and squeezed it.

"Haha. Uncle… Ssseth. Why are you always like a ghost!"

"I want t…tto scare you!" Seth mimicked her.

She pouted with fake anger. "Don't mi…mick me!"

"B…ut... I want…to!" Seth joked again.

"How are you?" he asked normally.

"Fine!"

Due to how Seth joked with her, somehow her stammering always increased around him.

Her mother hated it but had no choice but to let him be because he was the only one whom her daughter relaxed around.

"When are you joining the Imperial Academy?"

"Hmm." She held herself from answering until she repeated the words in her mind. "Not going. They will stare at me!"

"No. You will be joining. I will be there too!"

Seth said as he opened a glass bottle and began to pour water on her face and head.

She was startled but he didn't allow her to speak as he asked, "Is your mother in an angry mood or normal?"

"Nor…mal!" she answered.

"Liar. You wouldn't be here if she was normal!"

Seth placed the bottle in the girl's hand and said, "Let me go pissed her off more!"

"By.. the T…hrone. Don't cause us more trouble... please," she pleaded.

She was curious about what he had done to her with water, but she didn't really care. Her uncle was that unpredictable.

Seth climbed the stairs that went under the ruins. The chamberlain still followed him everywhere until he reached a black door.

The chamberlain quickly opened the door. Heavy pressure came out, and an angry woman with one eye stood at the center.

Before her was a man knelt, head down, trembling.

Seth swore the man showed mental relief when he came in.

"One-eyed sister!" Seth casually said as he looked around.

An empty room with only a black table and black chair. They were the most valuable objects in the whole ruins, the reason why the princess chose to stay here.

"Bratty boy!" she answered. "Why are you here?"

"I came to check on your blind eye!"

"Leave us!" she ordered, and the man left very quickly, happy to escape.

"Track the black box. I want answers today,"

The Eighth Princess ordered her chamberlain which nodded vigorously and pulled the door closed.

"You've recovered already," The Eighth Princess asked and added. "You shouldn't have left the palace because seven days after Psion Awakening you will have your Somatic analysis."

"Yeah," Seth said as he examined the walls. His Eye power was urging to be activated.

This was a place where thousands had died to save a few.

This was a ruin and temple of the dead.

He sighed. "I came because I realized this place is connected with the ruin I was sent to. Can you show me around?"

"No. I am busy." She went around the table and sat on her back chair, her black armor matching her short silky black hair.

Ten red blades floated around her at all times.

"If not for the scar, you would have been the most beautiful princess!"

She didn't react, and Seth teased. "You have grown up. You used to lash out at me, but now you hold back."

He had been calling her by her eye defect and making comments on it, but she refused to react.

"We are rivals. So don't think I will treat you as some little boy that I will lose my temper over!"

she muttered, but Seth could feel the anger in her tone.

"Hmm. Flexing your Rank 3 position on me," Seth snorted. "I don't care about the throne."

"Rank 3!" she asked, confused but very much interested. Eagerness lace her tone.

"Yeah. Wisdom Zeek said that according to him, you are ranked third when it comes to being close to the throne."

Anger vanished from her face as she stared at her brother.

"He said that about me?" Her voice rose.

"Yep," Seth nodded. "He insulted and demeaned me a lot about not having a chance at the throne."

"He would never insult you. You just don't like his views." The Eighth Princess voice has become inviting.

"Yeah. I don't like them. But I've decided the throne might be something I should not focus on." The Ninth Prince stated

"No imperial sibling can resist the allure of the throne." She did not buy it.

"Yes. But I'm trying." Seth said.

He now squatted before the black table, caressing it and scrutinizing it intensely.

"A cripple, and yet you still leak a lot of Psion Energy." She commented that it was her attempt to bring in a subject to discuss.

"Yeah."

"Tell me the truth. Why are you here!" she demanded.

"I want to go back to that ruin. But I fear that serpent. Will you come with me?"

"No," she said, standing up. "The guardian beast will not harm you."

She walked before Seth. "Please leave. Or I will force you..."

The black door burst open. "Mama!" A young girl shouted.

Eighth Princess Emmilia stared at her daughter like she had seen a ghost. The girl ran to her and hugged her.

"How?" she stammered. Her hand roamed around the girl's body, and then she stared at her eyes that could now fully see with vibrant black irises.

Tears welled in the princess's eyes, and she looked at Seth. "How?" Her voice was croaky.

Seth ignored her as he caressed the black chair. It was like he couldn't even hear what she was saying.

"What did he do to you, Saraah!" Princess Emmilia asked her daughter.

She handed her the bottle, "He poured water on me. And... and... I felt my body heat up and I slept, then I woke up like this!"

She didn't stammer.

"Sinra!" The Imperial Princess shouted.

A man came in, his eyes widening as he quickly took the girl away from her mother and moved her to a distance.

"Please stay away for a moment, Princess."

The Eighth Princess got angry but calmed herself.

"Miracle Stone dust was used on her," he exclaimed. "The curse is gone completely. But I don't know if it will reawaken."

With a snap of his finger, he made the girl fall asleep, and his palm glowed as he scanned her more thoroughly.

"The curse is gone," he repeated with shock.

The room became silent, only Seth's meddling with the table could be heard before he felt heavy gazes on him.

"What?" He glanced at his sister, who was looking at him with new eyes.

As for Sinra, he was in fear.

The Prince could only get Miracle Stone Dust when he used the stone himself.

'She trusts me, right?' Sinra thought. 'But what if the Prince demands my silence. Complete silence.'

Emmilia massaged her temple and ordered, "Sinra. Seal Saraah and send her to the Laboratory. I want an in-depth analysis of her current situation!"

"Yes. May the throne blaze through you!" He vanished with the girl in tow.

"You healed her!" she said.

"Yep."

"Did father give you the stone!"

"Hmm!" He snorted. "Father would desire to see me crippled."

She nodded. That was true. "When will you be going to the ruin again?"

Seth walked fast to her and held her hand. "Thank you, sister. But I haven't decided yet." He said, "When will you be free?"

"I am never free. But I can make time."

"Can I get the tour?" Seth asked about the ruin, and she nodded.

A genuine, kind smile came to her face.

She liked this visitation!