Sending the last noble out of my office, I sighed in relief at finally finishing the duties assigned to me by Mother and Father, though it was very tedious and annoying since most of the problems they proposed were trivial; however, at least I've finished them, so I won't have anything to do for some time. Or I at least thought so, but I heard someone knocking on my door, causing me to groan in irritation, and just as I was about to chase them away, they boldly opened the door and entered my office.
"Haa, thank goodness, it's only you, Sarah; I'd thought you were another annoying noble who needed their problems fixed." Said Elif with relief as he looked at Sarah approaching him.
"Well, your assumption wasn't entirely wrong, your Highness; I do require your assistance with something, but at least I'm not annoying." Replied Sarah lightly with a smile as she sat down opposite Elif, who gave her a blank stare.
"Don't give me that look, your Highness; you're not the only one who's been receiving training for their future position; I've been reinstated as the heir to the Eve family, so I've been tasked with dealing with day-to-day problems that arise." Added Sarah with a sigh of defeat as she looked down while shaking her head.
"Since you're my friend, I'll help you, but could you inform me beforehand next time? I had thought I was done for today." Said Elif blandly as he leaned back in his chair and signaled for Sarah to speak about her problem.
"I appreciate it, your Highness, and you don't need to worry; the issue isn't something big, just something minor regarding the opening of the Treasure realm that'll be taking place within a few days." Stated Sarah with a grateful nod while smiling.
'Treasure realm, huh? That term has been mentioned quite a lot lately; it seems like everyone is excited about such an opportunity.' Mused Elif with a thoughtful expression as he listened to Sarah.
Treasure realm is the name given to a heavenly realm we had captured many eons ago, back in the Flourishing Epoch. It's a relatively normal heavenly realm; the only thing that makes it stand out is its time difference; one year inside the OverRealm equates to one thousand years inside the Treasure realm. Of course, such information isn't that interesting; we've got dimensions with a much greater time dilation that'll allow one to experience time millions of times faster; however, they are all pretty small, the biggest one being about one-twentieth the size of Yggdrasil, which is very small compared to most dimension.
Having read the book Knowledge on the OverRealm, I've learned quite a bit about dimensions, and a common theme among them is that the smaller the dimension, the greater the time dilation is; of course, there are some outliers, but those are the minority. This is what makes the Treasure realm so unique compared to other realms since most heavenly realms have a time dilation of at most fifty times the OverRealm, while Spirit realms can reach upwards of two thousand; again, there are outliers, such as the treasure realm, though that's what makes it special.
With the Treasure realms significantly increased time difference, we're able to grow various heavenly plants of the Divine and God rank as if we were mass producing them, which we are; while we do have a few spirit realms with incredibly high time dilation, they're only helpful for growing Heaven rank plants and below; not very useful if you ask me.
However, while the Treasure realm is something quite important to our Empire, every generation, we'll open the treasure realm to the public, and they'll be allowed entry for one hour, which doesn't sound like much, but given the time dilation, that'll be one-thousand hours, roughly forty days; that's more than enough time for one to come across numerous treasures for themselves.
Though I say open to the public, it'll only be opened to a select few that have earned a medallion after winning a tournament that is held in several cities throughout the Empire; of course, with how many cities within the Empire, there wouldn't be that many people, not even one hundred; that's why, the top one-hundred participants of each city tournament will be allowed entrance, so a total of five-thousand people. Adding the various nobles who have been given medallions based on their nobility rank, there should be a total of six thousand or so participants.
While that may sound like a lot, given the trillions of people that reside within our Empire, it's incredibly minuscule; besides, the Treasure realm is a Heavenly realm, so even I would find it impossible to traverse the entire realm within forty days, so there is no need to worry about them taking too many resources. Not to mention, it's not like the place is empty; beasts roam around the Treasure realm, and while none will be powerful, obviously, they can still kill the participants. So, in all likelihood, most will be killed by beasts, meaning very few treasures will be taken in the end.
"So the Eve family is missing a medallion? Please tell me, how an Arch-Duke family loses such a vital medallion, Sarah?" Questioned Elif, baffled by such news as he eyed the awkwardly smiling Sarah.
"I-I don't know, your Highness; I wasn't the one who lost such an item; I'm merely here to deliver the news and request an extra medallion. As they say, don't shoot the messenger." Replied Sarah in slight shame as she avoided eye contact.
"Haa, whatever; here, you can have mine; I don't really need one anyways; I'm the Prince, after all." Said Elif with a shake of his head as he summoned a silver medallion with an image of a tree before tossing it to Sarah, who stored it in her dimension ring.
"Thanks, your Highness. I'll try to find the lost or, more likely, stolen medallion, but considering we haven't found it yet, I doubt we'll find it." Stated Sarah with a charming smile that slightly uplifted Elif's mood.
"Now then, since business has been taken care of and I've got time to spare, let's go out; we haven't enjoyed each other in some time, your Highness." Added Sarah enthusiastically as she stood up and approached Elif before grabbing his hand and pulling him along, catching him off guard.
"Have some decency, Sarah; I'm your Prince, after all." Remarked Elif while practically being dragged by Sarah as they exited the room and walked down the halls, causing many servants to give them weird looks.
"That's rich coming from you, your Highness; you're the only Prince I know who acts the least like a Prince." Replied Sarah with a smirk as she slowed down and released Elif, allowing him to regain his bearings.
"She's right, your Highness." Said Illumia blandly as she followed behind the two, though all she got was a blank look from Elif while Sarah chuckled.
"See, even Miss Illumia agrees with me, so you should be the last person to reprimand me about my etiquette." Added Sarah.
"Tch and it's not like your words hold any weight either; how many Princes do you know besides me?" Asked Elif with a smirk while eyeing Sarah, already knowing the answer.
"I know, Birger." Said Sarah smugly as she stuck her tongue out at Elif, though her words caused him to smile slightly.
"Ho, Birger? I knew the two of you were friends, but I didn't expect you two to be so close that you were calling him without an honorific. has my little Sarah finally found a man?" Remarked Elif with a teasing smile while covering the bottom half of his face with his quạt tay, causing Sarah to blush slightly.
"Hmph, why are you speaking like that, your Highness? Birger is just a good friend, nothing more, nothing less; besides, I call all my friends without using an honorific, so it's nothing special." Replied Sarah with a slight blush of embarrassment as she folded her arms and looked away.
"Hehe, really? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm your friend, yet don't you always call me by either Prince Elif or Your Highness; I've never heard you call me by just my name." Declared Elif with a triumphant grin while eyeing the irritated Sarah.
"I-I have called you by your name, y-your Highness; you-you must just not remember it."
"If that's so, can you call me by my name then, since I don't remember it? If you do so, it may jog my memory." Said Elif with a mischievous grin as he looked at the flustered Sarah.
"Haa, and to think we were friends; I can't believe I've been fooled this entire time; what misery!" Added Elif in fake sadness since Sarah didn't say anything, causing her flustered state only to increase.
"E-Elif." Muttered Sarah quietly with her head down, nearly inaudible.
"What was that, Sarah? I couldn't hear it. If it's not too much trouble, could you speak louder?" Asked Elif with a devilish smirk while eyeing Sarah.
"Elif!" Yelled Sarah with slight traces of anger as she eyed Elif, causing nearby servants to stare at them in confusion.
"Hehe, now, was that a difficult thing to do, Sarah?" Remarked Elif with a chuckle, though it seemed like Sarah had enough.
"Hmph, I'm done with you, your Highness; where is Her Highness Elaine? I'll go and play with her; at least she isn't as frustrating to deal with as you." Declared Sarah with a huff of annoyance as she turned around and headed towards Elaine's room, all while a laughing Elif followed behind.
"Hahaha, great idea; I can tease the both of you; that'll be much more enjoyable." Said Elif with a smile.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 190: Elif & Elaine's Plan) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 71: Lily, Simba & Marlin) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 117: OverPowered Devil Fruit) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]
Yolo; how's it going ya'll?
Creation is hard, cheer me up!