July 12th, 1513; 06:40 hrs;
Inside a massive bed, covered in velvet sheets and duvets, was a handsome, blond young man lying unconscious.
And beside the young man sat a woman, staring at his unresponsive body in a daze.
Her makeup was smudged, her eyeliner was messed up, and her condition in general was messy.
She hadn't moved from her spot for over 50 hours, but thanks to her being a Paragon, her health hadn't deteriorated at all.
"Mom!" Jessica, who opened the door slowly, spoke.
In her hands was a tray of food and a glass of water. "Have some food, Mom. You can't starve like that."
Maria turned her head around, speaking softly, "I-" Her voice cracked.
"I appreciate the gesture, sweety, but I don't feel hungry at all." She spoke, her hands caressing Jessica's cheeks. "Don't worry, though. After all, I am strong."
Jessica felt sad, seeing her strong mother, who often fought with even the King, in such a state.
Then her gaze fell on her hateful brother.
It was all because of him and his stupidity.
'Tch!' She already didn't like Lucien, and this only made his image in her eyes worse.
"Huh?" She suddenly felt that she was hallucinating, noticing a ray of light emanating from Lucien.
Maria didn't miss this change in her expression at all, and her head immediately flung back.
Lucien's body suddenly started levitating, and rays of blinding of started shooting out of every orifice of his body.
He glowed and glowed, until it filled the entire room with blinding lights, forcing Jessica to look away.
But Maria looked straight at him and immediately realized what was happening.
Lucien was awakening.
He had done it.
Suddenly, every last drop of the spirit energy in the surrounding area started rushing towards Lucien's body, creating a vacuum in the particular wing of the palace.
This didn't escape the stronger Exalts' notice in the Palace, as they all cast their gazes towards the wing where Lucien was located.
It either meant that someone was breaking through or awakening.
And if one had the information on Lucien's condition, they would realize what was happening.
The higher-ups wanted to approach the location, but they had strict orders from the second queen herself.
They weren't worried about anything happening there, though.
It was just their curious nature as powerful Exalts.
But someone did dare to approach the location and even enter the room.
A towering figure materialized beside Maria, but she didn't mind it.
She saw it coming already.
Gerald was also curiously watching as Lucien went through the awakening process, which was in contrast to his cold and haughty nature.
"Jessica," Gerald called, his voice commanding. "Leave, and don't let anyone approach the room."
Jessica immediately nodded and walked out without uttering a single word.
Maria squinted her eyes at Gerald, but he didn't mind it and continued watching the process.
The process went steadily for a good few minutes, when suddenly,
Crack!
As if the reality itself was cracking, the space around Lucien cracked.
Both Maria and Gerald frowned, having never witnessed this.
"Is that… a mirror?" Gerald mumbled, and Maria had similar questions.
Crack! Crack!
The space around him shattered into fragments at a rapid speed, before Lucien's body was covered with it.
Neither of the two standing did anything to interrupt, fearing it would punctuate the process and might even harm Lucien.
"Maria, contain the blast," Gerald spoke calmly, sensing something that she herself couldn't.
Maria hated Gerald, but one thing even she couldn't refute was this man's powers.
A tangible spherical barrier was formed around the room, so strong that not even a missile could pierce through, no matter what.
Not long after Gerald said it, a low-pitched hum, strong enough to deafen anyone below the level of an Ascendant, was released from his body.
'It's coming.' Maria thought as she and Gerald shot out of the room.
Sure, they could withstand a blast from someone who was just awakening, but the bizarreness of the situation made them wary.
She wanted to be there for Lucien, but she knew she couldn't.
BOOOOM!
A massive blast occurred inside the entire room, and unlike what they were expecting, instead of the room blasting into bits, it vanished.
It simply vanished into thin air.
Everything inside the magic barrier that Maria had made disappeared.
'Huh?' A heavy frown appeared on both Gerald's and Maria's faces.
"The entire quarter just vanished?" Maria spoke for the first time while Gerald was there, asking if he knew anything.
But Gerald was also just as clueless.
"Maria, I'd send Lucien to your quarters later. I'd need to make sure he's not dangerous to other people in the palace," Gerald stated.
"You couldn't even catch the person who set my son up for this. And you let that Arthur guy off the hook so quickly? What makes you think I'd let you handle my son?" Maria started complaining, glaring, her face full of anger.
"Maria!" Gerald's voice was loud, silencing Maria. "I am not asking right now."
Feeling the glare of his wife, Gerald's voice toned down, "Also, we have already checked everything about Lucien's interactions with Arthur. Those chocolates were real, and Arthur neither had the time nor the incentive to do this.
"We cannot put a lot of pressure on him either. He's not only a Paragon and the vice dean of Lumen Academy, but also a permanent envoy from Solstice. Unless something happens to Lucien, we cannot put pressure on him."
Gerald was a man of few words, but somehow, he talked a lot with Maria.
Maybe it was because she treated him as an equal, or maybe because she hated his guts, so he didn't have to put a face in front of her.
Maria wanted to intervene, but she couldn't.
Her son was right in front of her, slowly gaining consciousness for the first time in days, but she couldn't approach him.
"There better not be a single scratch on my son." Saying this, she turned around in annoyance and vanished.
'He is my son too, Maria.' Gerald sighed under his breath, blaming himself for this sour relationship with her.
But soon, he turned around, his demeanor cold and curious.
He waited a few minutes before he walked forward without anyone seeing him.
"Oliver!" He called, and Oliver appeared right beside him, bowing. "Clean everything up here. Don't let anyone know anything you find here."
Gerald picked up Lucien, who was barely conscious right now, and before Oliver could register what had happened here, he vanished.