Chapter 3 — The Princess ( Part 1 )
The next morning, Ren was sitting cross-legged on his bed, meditating.
He had already been cultivating mana for several hours when a light knock came from the door.
"Sir Hero Ren," the head maid said as she entered. "Her Highness, Princess Lyra, has arrived to see you."
Ren slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a beautiful face leaning toward him.
A young woman with long golden hair stood before him, her gorgeous face framed by delicate features and bright, curious eyes. Her cherry-red lips added to her striking beauty, while her elegant gown struggled to conceal her voluptuous figure. She had a generous chest, a narrow waist, curving hips, and a full, supple bottom that gave her an unmistakably feminine appearance.
Princess Lyra straightened when she realized he was awake.
Ren blinked once before sitting up.
"Forgive my lack of etiquette, Your Highness. I was so absorbed in my training that I failed to notice your arrival."
That was, of course, a lie.
He had sensed her approaching the moment she entered the room.
He simply hadn't cared enough to stop training.
"Oh, no, please don't apologize!" Lyra quickly replied. "I'm the one who should apologize. I entered your room without an invitation and disturbed your training."
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She smiled apologetically.
"You've been working so hard for humanity's sake. I shouldn't have interrupted you."
"That's simply what I should be doing, Your Highness."
"Please, you don't need to be so formal with me."
Lyra sat down beside him.
"Just call me Lyra. You don't have to keep saying 'Your Highness' or 'Princess.'"
Ren nodded.
"All right, Lyra."
The princess smiled.
"I've been incredibly curious about your previous world. Would you tell me about it?"
"Sure. Why not?"
Ren glanced toward the maids.
"Could you leave us for a while?"
The head maid hesitated briefly before bowing.
"Of course, Sir Hero."
The servants left the room, closing the door behind them.
Once they were alone, Ren began telling Lyra about his former world.
He kept his explanations relatively harmless. He talked about cities, transportation, machines, communication, science, and other everyday things.
Lyra listened with genuine fascination.
"So people can travel through the sky without magic?"
"Yes."
"And you can communicate with someone even when they're on the other side of the world?"
"With the right technology."
Her eyes widened.
"Your world really is amazing."
Ren smiled.
As their conversation continued, however, he began paying more attention to Lyra herself.
She wasn't pretending.
Her reactions were completely genuine.
She really was that sheltered.
'So the princess is genuinely innocent.'
Ren leaned back slightly.
'That makes the king's intentions even more obvious.'
Sending his daughter directly into the Hero's private quarters was hardly something King Valen would do without a reason.
Ren was now the only person in a thousand years to possess SSS-grade magic talent.
If his potential was even half as great as the kingdom believed, the royal family would naturally want him tied to the throne.
'He wants me close to the royal family.'
Ren quietly created a diagnostic spell.
A thin strand of mana spread toward Lyra before disappearing into her body.
He examined her physical condition, magical characteristics, and bloodline.
The results came back almost immediately.
'She's genuinely sheltered.'
There was no indication that she was an experienced manipulator or that she had been trained for this sort of political game.
Then Ren noticed something else.
'Interesting.'
He examined her bloodline more carefully.
There was no biological connection between Lyra and King Valen.
Ren's expression didn't change.
'So she isn't his biological daughter.'
Several possibilities immediately entered his mind.
Perhaps King Valen had adopted her.
Perhaps there was some secret involving the queen.
Perhaps she was simply being preserved because of her beauty and value as a potential political marriage partner.
Ren didn't particularly care which explanation was correct.
'Whatever the truth is, the king sent her to me.'
His lips curled slightly.
'And if he's giving me this opportunity, why would I refuse?'
Ren had been struggling with one major problem since arriving in this world.
His mana capacity was growing far too slowly.
He needed a way to accelerate it.