Galaxy Fall: All My Skills Are Maxed-Chapter 190: The Weight Of A Crown
[Ragon City - Central Watchtower]
Mirabella placed her palm on Delphine’s shoulder, and the next moment, the two vanished from the street, stunning all the onlookers. The spatial displacement was instantaneous, bypassing the city’s localized energy grid entirely.
They both reappeared on the tallest watch tower in Ragon city, station at the very center of the city. The sudden shift in altitude brought a biting, cold wind that whipped through their clothes. Below them, the decaying, rundown city stretched out like a sprawling maze of shadows and flickering tavern lights.
Delphine moved her gaze around, her face filled with confusion, the slap still clear in her head. The physical sting was nothing compared to the psychological shock. She was truly speechless; she is the imperial princess, the first child of the family! Her bloodline was practically divine. No one, not even her father had slapped her before, and now, Mirabella just landed her a very resounding slap, and in front of everyone. Although none of them knew her identity, but the slap still harms her dignity.
But what can she really do? The power scaling of the System was absolute. Mirabella can kill her in one second without even batting her eyes, and she knew; before the lady standing in front of her, she was nothing but an harmless kitten. Her dual-bloodline stats meant nothing against the monstrous aura of this anomaly.
"Do you know why I slapped you?" Mirabella’s words snapped her out from her shock. The blue-haired warrior wasn’t looking at her; her eyes were scanning the dark alleys below, Delphine blinked, staring at Mirabella, who was holding the reeling, staring at the city.
"Why?" Delphine asked in a low voice, feeling her redden cheek. The sting was a harsh anchor to reality.
"Have you fell so deep?"
"Huh?"
Delphine was confused by the question, the metaphorical weight of it going entirely over her head: "Fell deep from what?" She asked in confusion.
Mirabella looked at her over her shoulder. Her blue eyes were devoid of any subservience or respect for the crown; they were the eyes of someone who had watched the world burn and back again. "Truthfully, I shouldn’t even interfere with what you’re getting yourself into, but I can’t just let you jump into a ranging fire and willing burn yourself."
"....?!"
Delphine was getting even more confused, her royal pride flaring defensively to mask her unease: "What are you saying?! Stop speaking in riddles!" She finally snapped.
"Why did you give your heart to Xavier? You love him so much that you would even risk the lives of everyone in your empire, have you fallen to such a bad state?" Mirabella asked, staring at the night sky. The sheer tactical stupidity of trading a nation’s foundational artifact for a boy’s safety was unfathomable to a seasoned survivor.
"Huh? When did I say I will risk the lives of my people? I’m not that foolish!" Delphine stated, staring at Mirabella back, genuinely offended.
"The Flameheart Bell you offered me... What if I agreed, and you gave me the bell. Later on, I sell it to the other empires, what will happen to you and your people then?" Mirabella asked, turning around to face Delphine, her back resting on the reeling. A God-class artifact like the Bell didn’t just boost stats; it commanded the very leylines of the Dragon Empire. Handing it to anyone was equivalent to handing over the keys to the kingdom’s defense arrays.
"You?! I trust you! That’s why I offered such a thing! Why are you so sure that Xavier will die?!!! And... And, you’re not only Lord Hayatobi’s student, you’re also a student of the dragon empire academy!" Delphine pointed out, clinging to the naive belief that titles and institutional loyalty bound a person’s soul.
"Oh Princess Delphine, you shouldn’t trust me that much... Of course, I promise to protect you on this journey, but the moment this journey ends, the promise will be invalid... You see, there are three Master Teachers, and also three empires, what make you think yours is better?"
".....?!"
Delphine froze, staring at Mirabella in shock, the cold wind suddenly feeling much sharper against her skin: "Do? Do you plan to betray the empire in the future?!" She asked in disbelief.
"Princess, when did I say such a thing...? I am just stating the truth. I can sell the Flameheart Bell for billions of awakening stones in any empire, what will you do then?" Mirabella’s voice was flat, illustrating the brutal economics of Galaxy Fall. Billions of awakening stones could buy a private army or fund the creation of an entirely new Guild to rival the Great Clans.
Delphine swallowed, the horrifying reality of Mirabella’s hypothetical scenario finally sinking in. She had let her heart blind her strategic judgment. "So... You think my relationship with Xavier will affect the empire stability?" She asked, changing the subject, desperately trying to pivot away from her monumental blunder.
Mirabella turned to Cupcake, who sat quietly on a wooden chair nearby, observing the exchange with glowing, predatory eyes, then turned back to Delphine.
’In my past life, this Xavier isn’t a good person, he’s one reason Delphine lost control and almost wiped out half of the dragon Empire with the Flameheart Heaven Eye... Maybe this time, I should let her see the truth, maybe then her eyes will open.’ She thought, the bloody memories of a devastated capital flashing through her mind. If left unchecked, the Princess’s blind devotion would trigger an apocalyptic event. Mirabella nodded slowly.
"After the Glory flag competition, I will take your somewhere... What happens next will be up to you." Mirabella said, and stretched her hand to Cupcake, which vanished, returning to her soul sea in a swirl of light.
"Oh... Princess Delphine, I shouldn’t hear anything about that bell from you. I mean, you should never offer anyone this, not everyone is as kind-hearted as me... Go back to the Duke’s mansion, I will take care of the remaining members, they’re only 50." Mirabella said. Her casual dismissal of fifty high-level Devil Cultists as a mere chore highlighted the terrifying gap in their power. And with that, she vanished, leaving a stunned Princess behind in the biting wind.
Delphine stared at the empty spot Mirabella was standing on, the silence of the tower pressing down on her, and held her chest where her heart hammered anxiously against her ribs: ’Is there something about Xavier that Mirabella knows about that I don’t? But... What is it?’ She thought, staring at the moonless night, the seeds of doubt finally taking root in her mind. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
"Xavier, Are you hiding something from me?" She muttered in a low voice, the once unshakeable foundation of her love beginning to fracture.
