The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

"N-No. Y-You need to be punished!"     

Looking at her teacher's aggrieved appearance, Evelyn barely resisted the urge to pat her head as she raised her hands in surrender. "Teacher, I know I was wrong. But you wouldn't tell me, and I just got so curious, you know? B-But of course, I'll accept any punishment teacher deems fit. Just don't be angry with me?"     

Aurora frowned as she considered her words. It was true that children at Evelyn's age were generally unable to resist their curiosity. Her student had usually acted so mature for her age that she had almost forgotten that this was still just a young child who hadn't even been in the academy for a year yet.     

Punishing her for being curious really might be a bit much.     

The platinum blonde cleared her throat. "W-Well, I will forgive you just this once. B-But you're never allowed to do that again."     

Evelyn nodded. "Of course."     

Aurora frowned. Looking at the cheeky face of the pink haired girl, even she could tell that she hadn't learned a lesson. But what could she do? She really wasn't suitable for dealing with children.     

Had she known Evelyn would be so naughty, she would have definitely taken a more sensible student under her care a few years ago, so the girl could have a senior to keep her in line.     

Unfortunately, the only student who had dared to meddle with her was that brat Cecilia, and just thinking about that girl 'teaching' Evelyn sent shivers up Aurora's spine.      

The two of them already drove her up the wall individually, she couldn't imagine what they would do if they ever banded together to bully her.     

Evelyn had the feeling that her teacher was having some bad thoughts about her, so she cleared her throat to catch her attention. "Actually, teacher, aside from the eye and the array disc, I also found a few more things in Craig's spatial storage…"     

Aurora blinked. 'Wasn't she still avoiding the fact that she killed him?'     

The rate at which her student's insolence grew was truly mind-boggling.     

Looking at the various 'trash' that the girl had started pouring out into her previously pristinely clean room, Aurora's expression couldn't help but turn slightly dark.     

The pink haired girl remained oblivious to her teacher's expression as she continued throwing the 'precious keepsakes' from the girls that had been in Craig's storage. "And then there's this, uh, whatever it is supposed to be… some hair pin type of thingy? Supposedly belonging to some lady 'Lavi Vismont', doesn't serve much of a purpose aside from looking good and being able to detect poison in food."     

Aurora couldn't help but let out a tired sigh. "Why are you showing me all of this?"     

Evelyn blinked. "Eh? Oh… right, well, I just wanted to know… do you think this stuff is useful?"     

The platinum blonde tilted her head. "Useful?"     

Hadn't she already been telling her the use of each of these objects herself? Even if she examined them carefully, Aurora doubted the results could be any more detailed. Whatever ability her student had when it came to deducing the function of artifacts and arrays clearly far surpassed her own, after all.     

Evelyn cleared her throat awkwardly. "I-I mean aside from the obvious function of the artifacts. They're supposedly from distinguished ladies, right? I don't know much about the customs of the other kingdoms and empires, or even where each of these families are from, but teacher must know, right?"     

Given that Aurora had lived for so long, even if she stayed in the academy most of the time, it was impossible for her to know nothing at all given that students from all over the continent came here as students.     

Aurora glanced at the 'trash' that was now strewn about her room before letting out a tired sigh. "Given what you have told me so far, these must be the 'promises' from the girls to Craig."     

"Promises?"     

Aurora nodded. "In Terrazyme, Aquavahn and Gwyntere, when a marriage is proposed, a 'promise' is often sent along with the proposal, serving as a physical proof of sincerity. If the promise is not returned, the proposal is considered to be accepted, and other terms can be discussed."     

Evelyn's eyes went wide in realization. "Ah! So all of these are promises from these girls, right? Craig was going to marry so many people?"     

The platinum blonde tilted her head. "As the Terran crown prince, it would be stranger if he didn't have a few hundred concubines by the time he took the throne."     

Evelyn couldn't help but blink in shock. "Is this something specific to his kingdom?"     

Aurora shook her head. "No, this is true for all but the Lavinian Empire."     

The pink haired girl couldn't help but be curious. "Why?"     

Aurora looked a little embarrassed, but decided that instead of waiting to see what kind of insolent thing Evelyn would try if rejected, she might as well tell the girl. "T-There are two ways for someone to be born with spirit physique... the first is the pure spirit egg method, and the second is the regular birth."     

Evelyn blinked in surprise as Aurora continued her explanation, her face getting a little more red with each word.     

The platinum blonde didn't dare to look her student in the eye as she turned her head away. "T-The second method is only possible using specialized medicine to modify the spirit physique. In a way, it can be considered changing parts of their bodies to mortals. Inherently damaging, and unnatural. But very desirable for the royal bloodlines."     

Evelyn frowned as she thought about it. 'So it's something like changing their reproductive organs forcefully? But what's the point?'     

Aurora coughed. "W-Well, so, the baby born this way is technically a 'spirit physique', though their inherent talents are weaker than one born from a spirit egg, and not even comparable to those from a blessed spirit egg, the fact that their bloodline is pure matters a lot to some families, since they don't consider children from eggs to be their real children."     

After saying this, she couldn't help but sneak a look at her student. As a child born from a spirit egg, it wouldn't do if the girl started wondering if she was really her parent's child.     

Evelyn tapped her chin in thought. "So what about Craig? I'm guessing he was born using the same method? But if so, his talent—"     

Aurora's look turned grim. "That is where the need for so many wives comes in…"     

The pink haired girl blinked in surprise. "So basically, they just have a lot of children, and the one who is the most talented among them becomes the crown prince? They rely on the numbers to give them better results in the end, to make up for deficiencies?"     

Aurora thought that her student's conjecture was quite good. It would be great if that really was the case, but unfortunately, the truth was far from it. "Do you know how many siblings Craig has?"     

Evelyn shook her head. In this world, there was no such thing as the internet, and information regarding the royal families was considered top secret. If not for Eula, she wouldn't even know the name of the Aquan princess.      

Thanks to her slave, she could now access the information on the Lavinian royalty, but knowing how many descendants the other royal families had was far out of her reach. The only way she could try to find out would be to have the third princess inquire about it from her father, and disregarding the risks that would entail, would the Lavinian Emperor necessarily know the truth?     

Aurora sighed. "Craig… was the only remaining prince of Terrazyme. Although his father had hundreds of concubines, all but the empress passed away at childbirth."     

Evelyn was slightly surprised, but recalling the effects of the seed of rejuvenation, she wasn't that shocked.     

Her teacher's next words went quite contrary to her expectations, however.     

"The children born from these concubines are used as sacrifices to 'bless' the child of the empress, the true heir, with greater talent."     

Evelyn gaped in shock. "Wait… how does that work? Can two babies be merged together to combine their talent? How?!"     

Aurora chuckled. "No, that wouldn't be quite as tragic. Even I don't know the exact method they use to achieve such a thing, but I know that the other children all perish except for the one born from the empress, each generation. And the soul of the 'Crown Prince' is definitely not formed from merging with others."     

Evelyn gulped. "S-So… those children, they—"     

The platinum blonde nodded. "Right, my theory is that they are used to apply permanent enhancements on the crown prince. Whatever method they use, it relies on their blood relation to work."     

The pink haired girl couldn't help but feel a shiver run up her spine at the thought. No wonder that prince Craig was so talented. He probably had hundreds of layers of buffs from his dead siblings!     

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