Revolutionary Princess Eve

Chapter 11

"Why do you sound so upset Rubens?" Eve replied.

"Did you think I wouldn't be?! I've heard of this Monster of the Floating Prison. He refused the ritual of allegiance to our father the emperor. Naturally, he was banned from joining the Imperial Guard and was thrown straight into prison. Do you think that you can imprint a man who even our father failed to subjugate? That's plenty of reason to be upset, don't you think?"

"Brother, how dare you speak such words. What do you mean, Father failed? There is clearly something wrong with the homunculus—that is why he did bend his will as he should have toward Father," said Eve, turning and looking pointedly at her father.

As expected, the Emperor looked extremely displeased after hearing Ruben's mention of failure.

"Ye...yes, of course! I misspoke. Please, forgive me, Father."

Eve had successfully manipulated the social etiquette standards regarding the Emperor's supreme power in order to shut down Rubens. The tension around the table eased once more.

"Eve, do you truly intend to imprint the monster?"

"Yes, Father."

"As Rubens mentioned, that monster is a dangerous individual who hasn't even performed the ritual of allegiance to me."

The allegiance ritual was a brainwashing process carried by the Emperor. It prevented homunculi from ever doing harm to a member of the imperial family and guaranteed their loyalty. It was a baptism of sorts, and only homunculi who had undergone this ritual could leave the training center and enter the real world.

If Mikael had been any other ordinary homunculus, he would have been branded as a "failure" and killed on the spot. However, because his abilities were remarkable, his death was postponed. It was likely that, at the time, the Emperor thought a second attempt to subjugate Mikael would go more easily. To his chagrin, Mikael did not comply with His Majesty's orders.

Greatly angered by the second failure, the Emperor threw Mikael in the infamous floating prison instead of killing him immediately. As time passed, His Majesty had slowly forgotten about him. It was this forgetfulness that enabled Mikael to live for so long—three years and counting.

In my previous life, Mikael would remain locked up in the prison for another two years. He successfully underwent the ritual at age 23, and only then was he released and allowed out in the world. Sometime around then he must have learned how to overpower both the allegiance and imprint rituals. He must have fooled Father by somehow keeping his abilities hidden.

But luckily for her, at this point Mikael's position was simply unclear, since three years later had passed without the allegiance ritual being performed. Because the brainwashing ritual wouldn't work on him removed. Mikael's very existence was a smear on the Emperor's absolute authority, and Eve had openly mentioned this mark of shame.

I need to tread this carefully here.

In terms of technical difficulty, the allegiance ritual was a lower-level magic spell than the imprint ritual . If a mere princess claimed she could imprint a homunculus that the Emperor had failed to break in, her actions could be taken as a challenge to his authority. One slight misstep and the Emperor might order Mikael killed immediately in order to reestablished his dominance.

Eve chose her words with extreme caution. She had to use every bit of diplomatic skill she'd required up till now—an in fact, she even had to draw from reserved eight years in the future.

"Father, homunculi can only see the light of day after undergoing your ritual. For them, the allegiance ritual is like a blessing, a baptism. I pity this homunculus for being unable to accept it properly.'

"Hmm, true. It is their own loss if they cannot accept the blessing of the ritual. That damned monster... how dare he refuse a blessing from my own hand?" said the Emperor, growling through clenched teeth.

This wasn't good. Eve quickly changed tack before he could grow too agitated.

"It occurs to me that perhaps he wasn't actually refusing you. The extent of your power is astounding, Father—you are the master of the Philosopher's Stone, after all. You are capable of imprinting the entire Imperial Guard. How could a mere single homunculus truly resist your will on a whim? I can't imagine any natural outcome that doesn't involve every homunculus bowing at your feet."

"Yes, that is true."

"I've considered why, despite all these facts, the ritual did not go as planned. My guess is that there is something wrong in the mana pathways of this particular homunculus. I wish to resolve this issue and then be able to take him as my personal knight."

"Hmm..."

The Emperor looked doubtful. She had to push harder.

"After all this time, the Monster of the Floating Prison is now just remembered as an exception, which is neither a success nor a failure. To the imperial family, he is like a thorn in our side. It's time we plucked it out. I would like to remove this problem using the talent I have inherited from you, Father. Please grant me permission to try."

Eve got back up from her seat. She bowed and waited with her knees slightly bent. She felt her lips go dry. After a pause, the Emperor spoke.

"Very well, Eve."

Eve looked up to her father and found that his expression had softened.

"Eve, you are well deserving of the titles of princess and alchemist. When faced with a challenge such as him, it seems to bring out a fighting spirit in you. Well, this is certainly not a bad trait, you may do as you wish."

"Thank you, Father. I knew that the king of alchemists would understand," said Eve, unable to contain her joy."

The Emperor hadn't finished, however. He added in a stern tone, "Oh one condition, Eve."

"Yes?"

"As my substitute and as an imperial princess, you must succeed in imprinting this imprinting this monster. Should get rid of him yourself."

"...As you command, Father."

Eve had been expecting something along the these lines, but she could accept this. Having checked that allotted time for the morning was over, Eve adjusted her dress and said gracefully,

"I will now see myself out in order to keep the traditions of the imperial family and ensure the authority of Your Majesty the Emperor remains absolute. Father, sister, brothers, I wish you all a peaceful day."

The time was ripe to act on her plans to gain succession to the throne.