Chapter Forty: I See Great Potential in Your Bones

In the summer, beneath a translucent blue sky, a caravan arrived at Snow City and halted by the silvery lake shore.

“Here are two gold coins for you…”

The elven mage Connor handed the fare to the leader and then walked over to the silver-haired maiden. “Lady Eve, what are you looking at?”

“Mecha.”

Her face veiled, the young woman gazed at the mech standing in the center of the lake, struck by the beauty of its design. It was the very mech once piloted by the Little Prince. After its restoration a year ago—its self-destruct mechanism removed—it had become the symbol of Snow City. Many visitors came to experience it, though the fee was a hundred gold coins.

“Connor, are you a Snow City graduate?”

“Yes. Is this your first time here, Lady Eve?”

“No… I was here three years ago…”

She brushed back her windswept silver hair. Though her face was hidden, her gesture was captivating—Connor quickly averted his gaze, not daring to be disrespectful.

This silver-haired maiden had never attended school, yet she was the youngest major in the history of the Elven Kingdom in a hundred years. She was only twenty, but looked no older than sixteen—a consequence of the forest elves’ youth, which, though they no longer possessed immortality, could last for centuries, making age almost impossible to discern.

“Lady Eve, let’s head into the city soon. Annie should be done with the paperwork,” Connor suggested.

Eve nodded slightly, and the two made their way toward the gates of the Paladin Academy. The entrance was crowded; everyone wishing to enter had to go through procedures.

“I didn’t need to do any paperwork the last time I came.”

“That rule was implemented a year and a half ago. After the legend of the Little Prince spread, girls from all over the world flocked here—and not all with good intentions. The Queen ordered stricter checks.”

Connor explained as Eve observed the crowd of young women at the gate—elves, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and even other races. The tale of the Sleeping Prince was truly powerful, drawing so many girls.

“Our Little Prince really is something,” Eve remarked with a smile.

“Isn’t he?” Connor replied enviously. “The Queen sells Prince-related merchandise all over the world. The most popular song in Victoria is ‘Ding Long Dong Qiang’, and even the harpies of the Wildwood are collecting Little Prince figurines.”

As he spoke, Eve noticed a human merchant bargaining with an elf by the roadside.

“This projection stone—every female mage in Sky City has one, and you want two thousand gold coins? That’s robbery!”

“That’s a bootleg! This is a limited edition, supervised by the Queen herself, high definition. If you don’t want it, I’ll sell it to someone else!”

“Wait, can’t we negotiate the price a bit…”

Such haggling was common along the road. In recent years, thanks to the Little Prince, the Queen had grown wealthy—not only buying back the Cleric Academy from the Lord of Light but even distributing allowances to each clerical student, greatly increasing the number of children who aspired to be clerics.

“Why is it, when the Little Sun is in danger, the Queen is still doing business…” Eve wondered aloud, though she didn’t dwell on it, for another subordinate had returned.

“Lady Eve!” Annie, lively and spirited, waved eagerly. She was both an assassin and an intelligence officer, as well as Connor’s childhood friend and fiancée. “I want to introduce you to the most distinguished girl in Snow City!”

Eve had already noticed the demure maiden behind Annie, also veiled, with eyes as green and lovely as emeralds. Eve’s thoughts turned lightly: “Annie, so you know the future Princess Consort.”

The maiden looked at Eve in surprise. “You know who I am?”

Eve shook her head. “Of all the girls in Snow City, none is more distinguished than you.”

It was an easy deduction: among the girls of Snow City, the most distinguished was the future Princess Consort—heir to the Queen, and said to be her business advisor. Some claimed the idea of granting allowances to students had come from her.

And it was only natural for the Princess to wear a veil to conceal her identity.

“Why has Her Highness sought us out?” Eve asked, not believing someone so exalted would be brought over by her subordinate for no reason.

The maiden regarded Eve; this silver-haired sister seemed very clever.

“I heard you’re elves recently returned from the front, and very skilled,” she said. “I want to ask if you’ll join me in a challenge—to rescue His Highness the Prince.”

Eve looked at Annie, who seemed a bit guilty. “Lady Eve, weren’t we going to see the Lord? I thought since it’s on the way, perhaps…”

“Annie!” Connor scolded his fiancée. “We have important intelligence to report. How can we waste time?”

“This isn’t a waste at all!” Annie raised her fist. “It’s everyone’s duty to save the Little Prince. Look at all the human girls who’ve come to rescue him!”

But in truth, she simply wanted to have fun. In the past three years, there had been at least five hundred, if not a thousand, girls who had ventured to the castle to save the Little Prince—including dragon girls—yet none had succeeded. Only a handful had glimpsed the Prince’s sleeping face at the penultimate trial, but no one had passed the final challenge.

Eve knew full well that she and her group were no better than those girls; a trip to the castle would end in vain.

“So, Your Highness wishes to save the Little Prince?” she asked out of curiosity. “Do you often seek out others to form teams?”

The maiden nodded. “I’ve challenged the castle with forty girls, but never succeeded.”

“Then you must have invited at least four hundred girls,” Eve mused. This girl seemed quite fond of the Little Prince.

The reason was simple: the way to awaken the Prince was with a kiss. Whoever succeeded would likely become a candidate for Princess Consort—her rival. The girls undertaking the challenge would see her as a competitor; it was hard to imagine anyone teaming up with her.

Moreover, the maiden didn’t seem the type to hide her identity or deceive others…

“In that case, may I ask you a question?” Eve lowered her voice. “Is the Sleeping Prince a carefully crafted advertisement?”

Ever since arriving in Snow City, she’d felt something was off. The place was too peaceful, the atmosphere too commercial. The Queen using the Prince’s predicament for business simply didn’t add up. Was the legend of the Sleeping Prince actually a clever marketing ploy?

The maiden’s face was filled with astonishment. It was the first time she’d met someone so perceptive. It had taken her over a year to uncover the truth, yet Eve had nearly guessed it at once.

“Perhaps she can succeed,” the maiden thought, then nodded. “It’s not an advertisement, but it is a meticulously designed game—created by the Prince himself.”

Eve was dumbfounded. “If that’s so, can’t he just end it himself?”

“No…” The maiden’s eyes reddened. “His Highness has always taken his games seriously. He said only someone else should awaken him; he would never end the game himself. But now, the game has changed from what he designed. The Queen has set challenges so difficult that no one can succeed.”

“Why would the Queen do that?” Annie exclaimed, but Eve had some inkling—there were enough dark tales about the Queen from the battlefield that she wasn’t surprised.

“We must awaken His Highness… He must be so weary of the game but unable to get up. That must be agonizing!”

Tears welled in the girl’s eyes. Beside her, a figure in a black cloak nodded vigorously. “That’s right! For three years, he’s been desperate to get up!”

Eve and her companions were startled. When had this person appeared? He’d come without a sound.

“Who are you?” Connor shielded the two maidens.

With a snap, the figure caught Annie’s dagger as she thrust at him, then stepped back.

“Don’t panic, heroes. I can see you’re all extraordinary—the very ones to rescue the Little Prince!” The cloaked figure produced a booklet. “I have here the ‘Castle Challenge Guide 3.0’. Since fate has brought us together, I’ll sell it to you for just a thousand gold coins!”

Connor glanced at the cover. “‘Bear’s Gourmet Guide’?”

“…Sorry, wrong book!” The cloaked man hurriedly tucked it away and produced another. “That was my brother’s first publication—I bought it to see how he’d get himself killed. This one’s the real guide.”