3. Omen (3)
3. Omen (3)
"Your Highness."
-Gasp.
Startled by the voice that suddenly came from behind, I turned around to find the Night Knights Captain standing there.
"Let's go."
"·····Alright."
Following the Night Knights Captain, I once again used the secret passages to head toward the imperial palace's basement.
Normally, basements are used by servants.
They're places for storing grains or food ingredients, or keeping furniture and miscellaneous items.
But inside, there was a secret passage known only to the emperor and the Night Knights Captain.
"·····Come in."
And here, the moment the emperor placed his hand on the magic artifact that proved his imperial status-
-·····Grrrrrrumble!
A path opened to an even deeper place, the imperial family's treasure vault whose value couldn't be exchanged for anything.
"·····Let's go in."
Amidst all the black walls, only this area was impossibly sealed with pure white walls.
"Wow·····."
It was magnificent.
That seemed like the perfect description.
The walls didn't appear to be made of ordinary stone either.
They looked expensive at first glance and didn't seem like they could be breached by conventional methods.
And most importantly, transparent vaults that looked like glass were filled with magnificent weapons and armor.
Having handled swords since childhood, my eyes naturally wandered everywhere.
With my long experience and interest in swords, I could tell at a glance how extraordinary and powerful these weapons were.
In one corner was a sword that continued to burn with fire, and there was also a dark breastplate as unfathomable as obsidian.
It was truly a 'treasure vault' in every sense of the word.
Facing weapons I might never see again in my lifetime was truly moving.
"Your Highness."
"Ah, my apologies."
My steps had halted while my attention was captured, so I continued walking.
After all, our destination wasn't here but the deepest underground level.
Thus, we passed countless weapons, spirit potions, and armors as we descended endlessly down the stairs.
Starting from the top level and going down more than two floors, the quality here was truly on another level.
There were weapons seized from the Demon King's Legion Commanders in the past, and even magic artifacts with such strong egos that they could drive one mad upon touch.
And when we reached the innermost part, there stood the legendary Divine Sword of the First Emperor and a single bottle of shimmering purple elixir.
"·····Jerod."
"········I understand."
The time had truly come.
I slowly approached and took the bottle in my hand.
Then I slowly removed the stopper.
There was no particular smell.
I thought its purple color might give off some scent, but it was an odorless elixir.
"After you drink it, you'll likely lose consciousness for a while. Then the Night Knights Captain will discreetly take you to your room without anyone noticing."
"Yes, Your Highness. We've prepared everything - the room and names for the newly born princess you will become with His Majesty."
I brought the bottle's opening to my lips.
"Listen as you drink."
-Gulp, gulp.
"We'll claim I sent you on a training mission outside the empire for certain reasons. And announce that we've been raising you in secrecy until now."
-·····Gulp.
"Your new name is Jaina von Leopold."
Jaina.
That was my new name.
Perhaps because I'd swallowed the elixir, heat began to spread throughout my body.
And simultaneously, from my spine to my brain, all my nerves began burning as if on fire.
"Gguueuk·····! Kraaak····!"
As I tried to endure the pain, my eyes slowly closed as my father had said.
The strength drained from my body, and just as I was about to collapse unable to support myself,
Thump.
The Night Knights Captain caught me.
"·····See you tomorrow, my son. No, I suppose I should call you daughter now."
With those final words, my memory went dark.
####
"Place her in the room with the Divine Sword."
"As you command."
Literally, unless one was a female of the imperial family, they couldn't wield the sword, so the captain manipulated Jerod's, no, Jaina's hand to grip it.
Even though the appearance remained the same, Jaina's body could already wield the Divine Sword.
"Um, Your Majesty."
"What is it?"
"This was too reckless a plan. How could you be so certain the Second Prince would accept this request?"
"·······."
The emperor briefly met the captain's gaze.
There, the captain genuinely felt concern for the empire and the life of his son, the Second Prince.
If the Second Prince had refused, he would have truly committed seppuku.
But the emperor's perspective differed.
"·····From the beginning, I anticipated that Jerod wouldn't be able to refuse this request."
"·····Pardon?"
The emperor's words were somewhat shocking.
This meant one could only view it as the emperor truly using his own son.
"·····I'm aware of it too. That I'm disqualified as a father. So captain, I ask this of you. Please search the entire world if necessary to find that elixir so Jerod can return."
The emperor was a sage ruler.
A sage king who would sacrifice his own son for the people.
But as a father, he would be disqualified.
Instead of simply sending the Second Prince to the battlefield, he specifically changed him into a woman to wield the Divine Sword and send him to war.
··········The emperor couldn't possibly be unaware of how women are treated on the battlefield, whether by allies or enemies.
Thus, the emperor was selfish.
The judgment to protect the empire by using his son.
But beyond that, wasn't he asking to find the elixir that would restore that son to him?
Nevertheless, the Night Knights Captain didn't dislike the emperor.
Because this proved his qualities were absolutely not those of an ordinary person.
And the emperor had to be more extraordinary than anyone.
"I will search for it."
"·····Thank you."
At the very least, as the Night Knights Captain who had served numerous emperors, he found this current emperor to his liking.
Enough to seem truly worth serving with sincerity.
####
'·····Heavy.'
My chest feels stuffy.
What is it, why does it feel so suffocating, like something is pressing down from above.
Did I accidentally sleep with a thick blanket covering me before falling asleep?
"·····Mmm."
I naturally tossed and turned.
But why does it feel so strange.
And what is this sound·····-
"·····Huh?"
It was a voice I'd never heard before.
Moreover, the source of the voice was none other than my own throat.
I gently opened my eyes.
As I sat up, feeling an unusually heavy sensation, I instinctively brought my hands to-
-Squish.
"·····Eh."
I hurriedly looked around for a mirror.
A full-length mirror that shouldn't normally exist was placed in one corner of the room.
And my eyes met those of the woman in that mirror.
"·····Uah."
My first impression was that she was beautiful.
Like mother.
Long, glossy hair with unparalleled shine compared to before, and the fatty tissue below was incredibly large.
I understood why I felt suffocated while sleeping.
"·····Haa, ·····Did I shrink?"
Roughly estimating, it seemed my height had decreased compared to before.
Well, since my chest and hips had developed so much already, I had no regrets about my height.
No, I mean, it's not that I'm satisfied because of other things, but rather that since they're so visibly apparent, I accepted it more quickly. Anyway, that's how it was.
"Ah, the Divine Sword·····!"
Only after processing everything did I remember all that happened last night.
Following my father into the treasure vault, drinking the elixir there, and losing consciousness.
Following some instinctual pull, I turned my gaze to find the Divine Sword placed there.
It felt as if it was saying "I'm here."
Well, it is a sword so divine it's rumored to have been bestowed by a god himself.
It couldn't be just an ordinary sword without any reaction.
I carefully lifted the Divine Sword.
-Clang.
"·····Ah."
It responds.
The First Emperor's Divine Sword that only imperial females can wield.
Only then did it truly feel real.
That I had obtained a female body through the elixir, that I had become a woman.
My gaze unconsciously returned to the mirror.
An overwhelmingly violent figure was reflected back at me.
No matter how you look at it, isn't this too excessive?
Breasts that looked twice as large as my mother's from childhood,
And hips and buttocks that I couldn't help but notice even when trying not to.
Moreover, the muscles I'd built over the years had disappeared somewhere, leaving only soft, smooth skin visible.
"·····Ggeuung."
Can I really wield that Divine Sword freely like this?
I felt somewhat worried, but I set that concern aside for now.
Because,
Knock knock.
-Princess, did you cough?
A visitor had already come to my room.
Is there anything awkward?
Looking around frantically, I realized I was still wearing the clothes from before I lost consciousness.
This might look suspicious.
No matter what, as royalty, I was wearing men's clothes that a woman would never wear.
'Uh, what should I do·····?'
-·····Since there's no response, I'm coming in.
'Eh, whatever!'
In desperation, I threw off all my clothes and stuffed them under the bed.
Then quickly lay on the bed and covered myself with the blanket.
Click. Creeeak.
"·····! ·····You're awake."
"I never said you could come in yet."
Seeing me sitting on the bed barely covering my nakedness with the blanket, the woman in maid uniform jumped in surprise.
"I, I've committed a capital offense."