The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 576: Isn’t it nice when your inheritance is not only valuable but also fun?

Chapter 576: Isn’t it nice when your inheritance is not only valuable but also fun?

Within the peaceful and lush greenhouse, the four of us huddled around a treasure box. The note on top of it read ’the box is part of the hunt’.

Heh--I couldn’t help but smirk. Well, at least she still worked diligently. Since I couldn’t go anywhere during my ’pregnancy’ and had no intention of letting her come to the Lord’s Castle, I had passed the drops of Amrita through Heraz. It was also kind of a test, to see if she still acted diligently even if I didn’t show myself in front of her.

Seemed like she still had some tact. Or because she hadn’t found any alternative cure and someone strong enough to undo the hex. Well, the hex was made by D’Ara, so unless she found another Sacred Guardian, that would be unlikely.

For now, though, let’s enjoy the treasures.

"The box itself is beautiful, but does it have any function?" Aina stroked her chin curiously. "It wouldn’t be treated as a part of the treasure if it’s just for normal storing, don’t you think?"

"Maybe, but I’m not very proficient in magical craft--oh, wait!" I briskly walked to the patio and cupped my mouth. "Halurean! Are you there?"

It wasn’t a loud shout, but someone jumped out of the forest only five minutes later, nimbly crossing the lake as I waved at him. In less than a minute, the Greay Forest Alnin’s guide was in front of me.

"Did you call, my Prince?"

"I told you to stop with that," I hissed in embarrassment because my three friends were starting to giggle inside the Greenhouse.

"I can’t do that," Halurean was stubborn this time. "We’re in the Demon Realm, so we should let everyone know your status."

Ugh--and by ’we’ he meant every ranger sent here by the Council of Chief, who would still stay in the Lord Castle until the Chiefs came here. I was thinking that the Chiefs would just come here to see Shwa, but I realized now that they were also coming for the naming ceremony and the banquet afterward.

Huft. Those Grandpas and Grandmas would probably go around calling me ’Little Prince’ again, huh?

"Ah, fine--just come here," I waved my hand and walked back to the Greenhouse. "Oh, have you seen Aunty?"

"Lady Amarein went to the border to meet up with the Chiefs."

"I see. How much do you know about druid crafting?"

"I have some knowledge; my mother and aunt are craftsmen--the guiding bracelet is the invention of our family."

"Oh, I came to the right person!" I clasped my hands excitedly and spread my arm toward the treasure box. "Then, can you do some appraisal?"

At first, he looked at the box curiously. Then, his lips parted and he stood frozen for five seconds before his lips and hands started to tremble. "Is...is that...from the palace...?"

Looking at Halurean’s expression, I was...stunned. Ah, how stupid. I shouldn’t have kept the recovered treasures for myself and shared them with the other druids. While they were technically mine as the last ’prince’, those items were also important for the druids.

"Yeah...I want you to examine it."

Even after my confirmation, Harulean did not rush and approached carefully. He touched the box like it was made of crystal, like how Neel handled a baby. His fingers brushed over the carving on the side of the box and his lips trembled even more.

"This is truly..."

"Do you recognize the box?" I asked. The girls had retreated to the couch so the druid could receive more natural light and examine the treasure more relaxedly.

Although, there was no way he could do it relaxedly even while soaking in a comfortable hot spring.

"I’ve never seen the box personally before, but it was made by my family--here, this is our family’s crest," Harulean showed a carving of a hexagonal flower in the corner. "I heard that my great-grandmother was tasked by the palace to make a trick box once; I guess this is it."

Our senses were tingling at that. "Trick box? What do you mean by ’trick box’?"

"Here," Harulean shifted the box so the narrower side was facing me. He pressed a carving of a tree on the middle and a section of the box in the bottom slid away, revealing a small spot.

Zarfa and Aina gasped--and so did I. "A USB port?!" we shouted in unison.

Zia and Harulean looked at us with confusion. "A what port?"

Naturally, I ignored the question. "What is this slot for?"

"Mana," Harulean explained, sending a flow of mana inside the slot. "There’s a secret compartment in this box that could only be opened by a druid mana. That’s not the only thing, however. Hmm...would you like to try, Your Highness?"

Ugh--once again ignoring the title, I placed my hand over the slot and sent my mana inside. It flew in a small strand following the room in front of the slot, but then, I felt it hit a wall. I tried to probe the room and found out that the path was turning, which I immediately followed. But then, I found a forked path, and when I tried to send my mana to both paths, it got blocked.

"Huh?" I blinked and looked at Harulead, who swiftly explained it further.

"It’s a key that is shaped like a labyrinth," he said. "But have to find the path fairly to reach the trigger, Your Highness. And while any druid could try to find the path, the trigger is only activated by purified mana."

"Oho! So it’s a puzzle that can only be opened by those with royal blood?"

"That is so," Harulean nodded and stroked the box once more before pulling his hands away. "You can try to figure it out little by little, Your Highness, and..." he looked at me before asking hesitatingly. "Would you mind...showing me what you find inside later? Oh, even if there’s nothing, may I look at the unlocked box?"

He looked at me with a mix of plea and anticipation, so, how could I reject it? Only a psychopath could. "Don’t worry. I don’t know how long it’ll take for me to solve it, but I’ll let you know if I do."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Also...once Grandma--I mean, once the Chiefs are here, I’d like to gather the other druids and show you all the lost treasures I managed to find so far," I told him. "Can you relay it to the others?"

"O...other treasures?" Harulean, who had managed to calm down, trembled again. "Are you...gathering the palace’s treasures, Your Highness?"

I kind of felt guilty for not telling them about it, so I just nodded quietly. For some reason, however, Harulean looked at me with glistening eyes. "Your Highness..."

"Uhh...umm...well, there’s that, so..."

"Hey," Zarfa peeked her head between us and grinned. "The box is not the only thing here, you know?" she knocked the top of the box lightly, and I gasped.

Right--the box was initially a place to store the other stuff that Tsalinade found. Immediately, I opened the box lid and we peeked at the content together.

"Oho?"

Two items were lying there; a bracelet and a scroll. The bracelet was, of course, of a beautiful craftmanship that screamed a collaboration between drows and druids. Harulean was instantly sparkled-eyed at the sight of the bracelet, but as usual, I immediately checked the scroll.

The problem with the scroll was aside from druid, no one could read it, so there was a chance that it was just a regular druid scroll instead of one from the palace. When I unscrolled it, however...there was nothing on it.

"Huh?" I tilted my head and flipped over the scroll. But there was...nothing?

"Hmm...could this also be a ’trick’ one?" Zarfa snapped her fingers. "You know, like...it needs your mana or something? You druids seem to like using that so much."

"Is that so?"

Just like Zarfa suggested, I tried to pour my mana inside. The parchment’s surface seemed to ripple, but nothing more came out. I was ready to write a whole angry essay to Tsalinade, but Harulean suggested an upgrade.

"What about sending in a purified mana, Your Highness?" he said. "Some of the royal scrolls could only be opened by the royal family after all."

"Sounds like you have a lot of exclusivity," Zarfa commented. It sounded dry and slightly accusatory, but Harulean did not look offended, fortunately.

"The palace did regulate high-level knowledge," he nodded. "That’s because most druid skills are...dangerous."

"Ah," I exclaimed in agreement.

Now that I think about it, from controlling the mana to fusion, everything possessed a risk of death--or existential erasure--if it came to druid magic. At one point, there was even a talk about how some druids chose that kind of death, letting themselves blend with nature.

Hmm...perhaps my reckless tendency was just genetic.

"Those who wanted to learn the skill that the palace kept had to go through various proficiency tests, and there would be a contract on what they would use that skill for."

"Oh--so like...government official examination?" Zarga wiggled her eyebrows and Aina gasped in agreement.

Naturally, Harulean was confused. But he probably chalked it up to human culture and moved on.

"But...does it mean no one can learn such skills now?" Zia asked. "Considering..."

"The Chiefs taught us who are deemed qualified," Harulean replied gracefully with a calm smile, perhaps because Zia sounded apologetic. "It’s not as organized as before, but...we managed."

Haa...as I thought, I shouldn’t keep these items to myself.

Oh, well--for now, let’s try pouring a purified mana into this scroll.

"It had been a while," I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Ever since my body struggled with mana deficiency, I hadn’t done any purification. Surprisingly though, it did not feel as jarring as I thought--something like muscle memory? Soul memory? In fact, my core had been resting for so long that it gobbled up the surrounding mana greedily, and I glob of purified mana flowed from my palm in no time.

"Oh!" the girls exclaimed as a soft green light came out of the scroll and clapped their hands. When the light finally faded, the parchment was no longer empty.

"Huh? This is..."

This time, it wasn’t a guide for a skill.

It was a floor plan. Of the palace.