Chapter 53: The Pampered Princess

"You know, Eboncrest, you are spoiling Milliani."

"A few weeks ago, she ran away from home on an adventure toward one of the most dangerous sectors and almost died!"

"What would have befallen her if she had not met that boy who helped her? She would have died in a strange sector without anyone even being aware!"

Isadolla complained with a worried expression, causing everyone around the table to quiet down.

"And also, Demois, I have big news for you about your sister," Isadolla said as Demois slowly raised his gaze from his food, swallowing hard.

"Oh, and what could that be, mother?"

"Well, your sister here dropped from the top five best students of Cthulhu Academy to number eleven!"

Isadolla said, causing Demois’s eyes to widen in shock as he turned toward Milliani, who quickly lowered her head and dived back into her food, avoiding eye contact with everyone else in the room.

"Well, I would say it must have been due to her adventuring days and her near-death experience. Would you not agree with me?"

"Perhaps she needs less time playing around with those human gadgets, and Professor Irgis needs to be brought back into the castle to spend some time with her,"

Demois suggested, but it soon became his turn to look down at the food in front of him as he avoided Milliani’s eyes, which seemed capable of boring a hole through him.

"You! You dare!" Milliani roared in fiery anger, causing Isadolla to slam her hands onto the table.

"For the millionth time, Milliani, a princess does not raise her voice!"

Isadolla said, causing Milliani to quiet down once more as silence returned to the table.

"I am planning to follow Demois’s suggestion."

"I can no longer have you running around in the streets and getting yourself into danger, nor can I continue watching your studies plummet."

"What type of image would you leave for our Eboncrest family if the only daughter of Revered King Eboncrest had her grades fall from fifth to eleventh and was defeated by an Eldritch commoner in a fair battle?"

"You must act as a princess and uphold the image of the family wherever you go!" Isadolla said as King Eboncrest cleared his throat.

"I have to agree with your mother on this, Milliani."

"Headmistress Axua called me yesterday, and she mentioned the matter of your falling grades, even mocking me slightly because of it,"

King Eboncrest said seriously, causing Milliani’s eyes to flash with shock.

"Tch, who keeps spreading the news..." she asked grumpily.

"Do not get things wrong, Milliani. They are not after you. They are after Demois. They are doing everything they can to defame him and stain his mighty reputation.

"Since you are Demois’s sister, you are an indirect way for them to stain his name."

"They could say that the mighty Prince Demois was so busy making a good name for himself that he had abandoned his sister, leading to her own downfall."

"I am sure you will be hearing something like that soon. Your actions do not only affect you. They affect your brother, your family, and our kingdom as a whole,"

King Eboncrest said, and this time, Milliani could sense that he was serious.

But what type of parent would be happy watching his child narrowly escape death because of childish decisions and then be happy seeing her grades plummet at the same time?

"I am sorry, father," she apologized as King Eboncrest shook his head.

"I am not deeply offended."

"I just hope you understand now that you will no longer have access to your human gadgets, and Professor Igris will truly be coming back to the palace to help you with your lessons."

"But father..." Milliani protested, but he cut her off.

"You will understand, will you not, Milliani?" King Eboncrest asked in a quieter voice.

Milliani bit her lower lip in frustration before finally lowering her head.

"I do, Father."

"Good," King Eboncrest said, and a fresh breath of air seemed to pass through the room.

"That said, Demois, how was your journey to Sector F? Were you able to get a result from your experiment?" Isadolla asked as Demois nodded.

"I did, mother. The experiment was a failure, though. Still, something good happened to us during the journey," Demois said, immediately piquing everyone’s interest.

"Oh, and what is that?"

"We found an Eldritch stray boy in the human settlement. One with our royal blood," Prince Demois said, causing everyone at the table to furrow their eyebrows.

"According to my knowledge, he had been raised by humans in an orphanage ever since he was born."

"That could be confirmed by the fact that, even though he was standing just a meter away from me, I could not immediately sense that he was an Eldritch and thought he was a human."

"Poor one," Isadolla said sympathetically.

"That is why I have banned Eldritch from moving away from the settlements without an important reason." King Eboncrest said before asking,

"And how old is he now?"

"A teenager. He should be around 18 or less."

"Good. Connecting him back to the settlement might be difficult, but it can still be done. He simply needs time. Keep an eye on him, Demois," King Eboncrest said as Demois gave a firm nod.

"I will, father."

"What say you bring him to the castle instead?" Isadolla suggested as she turned her gaze toward King Eboncrest.

"The palace is the best place for him to grow."

"Simply giving him a home to live in and a duty would only lead to a boring and lonely life."

"He’ll be wishing to return to the human settlement after, something which, as you just said, is far from ideal."

She explained and King Eboncrest’s eyebrows furrowed. There was truly some truth to that.

"Besides, I am pretty sure our now-lonely Milliani, without her human gadgets, would not mind having a younger brother, would she?"

"I never said I needed one,"

Milliani protested, still feeling a slight burn from the previous episodes, causing Isadolla to chuckle.

"He will be going with you to Cthulhu Academy, and it will be your job as an elder sister to watch over him," Isadolla said to Milliani, who rolled her eyes.

"So, what do you say, honey?" she asked Eboncrest, who did not give it much thought.

He knew what type of woman he had married and was already used to her compassion, so much so that even the decision to adopt a child did not surprise him much.

"Anything for you, my dear, if the boy agrees, of course," he replied as the family quickly finished their dinner before retiring to their rooms for the night’s sleep.

___________________

[Congratulations, Host’s bloodline has reached its highest peak of purification and has reverted to its original bloodline by twenty percent.]

Arlo slowly rose from the pool, its purple hues now faded, much of the energy that had once filled it having been drained away.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

Doma’s voice came through the door.

Arlo dismissed the notification, quickly dressed himself, and walked toward the door.

The ritual normally lasted an hour at most, yet Doma had been waiting for three.

Impatience gnawed at him as he wondered whether something had gone wrong.

His worries vanished when the door finally swung open, revealing Arlo.

"Uh? You’ve grown..." Doma looked the boy up and down.

Arlo had shot up from 1.6 meters to 1.7, his frame filling out from exceptionally skinny to faintly muscular.

"I smell...strange." Arlo said as he caught an odd scent on himself.

Doma sniffed the air, and a broad smile spread across his face.

"Finally. You carry the scent of an Eldritch now. Come, all that remains is getting you to your new home..." Doma turned and headed for the exit, with Arlo following behind.

Just behind the Eldritch royal palace stretched a long row of boxy homes.

Arlo and Doma walked up to one of them.

"This settlement was built for those who serve the Eboncrest family. For now, feel free to explore, even the other side."

"Your real duties begin in three days, once you have properly settled in..." Doma handed him a card before turning and walking away.

"Hmmm."

Arlo studied the card before swiping it across the scanner on the gate. Golden runic lines flared across the metal, glowing with faint light, and the gate swung open.

He stepped inside.

"Pretty nice..." Arlo muttered as he took in the room before him.

It was a compact living room with three sofas and a glass center able resting atop a central rug.

Everything was tiled in pitch black with faint splashes of gold.

Thankfully, the room was not oppressively dark, thanks to the multicolored crystals embedded in the ceiling that cast just enough light to keep the space from feeling too dim or too bright.

Three other doors branched off from the living room.

One led to a kitchen, another to a bathroom, while the last opened into a bedroom with a bed large enough for a family of three and a wardrobe that already contained clothes.

[Congratulations: Hidden Quest: Infiltrate The Eldritch Settlement Completed!]

[Rewards: +2 Level Up Cards]

A system panel materialized before him, and Arlo smiled triumphantly.

"Finally. I made it..." he mused, satisfaction warming his expression as he barely restrained the urge to jump for joy.

Everything had gone according to plan, and he had finally achieved the goal he had been working toward since his arrival.

[Now you can properly learn Eldritch magic while retaining your human cybernetic enhancements. A win-win, I would say...]

The system spoke, and Arlo nodded, though his eyes dimmed at the memory of Captain Ennessa’s, having her watch him leave willingly with her sole nemesis.

"That must have hurt her... a lot."