"Princess, are you alright?"
Hearing Princess Alice's sigh from beside her, the maid who was attending to her asked worriedly.
"I'm fine... cough... cough..."
Princess Alice began to reply with a tone of helplessness, but before she could finish, she was overtaken by a series of coughs. Her current state left her incredibly frail.
"Princess, you've been even weaker since yesterday. Is this really safe?"
The maid couldn't help but ask as she heard her princess's coughing. The princess's health had always been poor, to the point where she couldn't move freely and had to use her "Ether Body" to act independently.
Ether Body... In the world of magic, this was called a plasma body, a soul duplicate created by manipulating spiritual energy.
However... constantly using such a soul duplicate would only make her already fragile body grow weaker and weaker.
"Go to the guest room!"
Princess Alice didn't answer verbally, but calmly returned to her Ether Body.
"Yes."
After the maid left the room and arrived at the guest room, she saw another person sitting gracefully on the sofa who looked exactly like Princess Alice.
"Princess..."
The maid was already accustomed to this sight. Since she couldn't move physically, Princess Alice usually moved around using her Ether Body. The advantage of this method was that she could instantly appear anywhere she wanted.
Princess Alice shook her long, shimmering white-gold hair and spoke to the approaching maid in an unsteady voice: "Prepare several cups of tea... both sweet and bitter varieties."
"Understood, Princess."
The maid nodded slightly, feeling puzzled. Prepare several cups of tea... This must be for guests, but... who could it be?
Though curious, the professional maid didn't ask further questions. She simply went to prepare the tea.
After about ten minutes, the guest room was filled with the aroma of tea, though not too strong.
"...If... I said I caused trouble again, what would happen?"
Princess Alice gazed at the maid before her and murmured something that sounded like both a question and a self-comment. The maid's hand trembled momentarily as she poured tea, having heard the princess's words. According to her previous understanding, Princess Alice was known for her composed nature.
It was said that even when facing the rampant Campione, she could maintain her calm demeanor. Perhaps this very composure had earned her equal prestige in Europe with several Campione who had lived there all their lives.
"Though I don't know what happened, I'm certain that whatever it is, Your Highness can handle it."
As an ordinary maid, she possessed no special abilities. If there truly was trouble, all she could offer was this symbolic reassurance.
Beyond that, there was nothing else she could do.
"Ah! If only I hadn't agreed to those old men from the Wise Men's Council. Now we've stirred up this kind of trouble..."
Hearing her maid's words, Princess Alice regretted her decision once more. If she hadn't agreed to those old fools, she wouldn't have further shortened her already limited lifespan. Worse still, she'd brought their enemies right to her doorstep.
However... things didn't go as planned. In truth, Princess Alice had no desire to sneak and investigate a Campione either.
Not all Campiones were like that Black Prince...
Especially when facing an unknown Campione, if they were someone like Marquis Voban, the consequences would be unimaginable.
But some things can't be avoided just because one doesn't want to do them. Although Princess Alice had long since resigned as the Wise Men's Council's president, whenever members encountered problems beyond their capabilities, they still instinctively sought help from their former superior.
The Wise Men's Council was a special organization formed by busybodies for exchanging intelligence. Among the countless pieces of information, the most crucial undoubtedly concerned Campiones or Heretic Gods.
Naturally, when a New King was born, members of the Wise Men's Council wouldn't stay at home obediently. Instead, they would do everything possible to gather all available information about him.
This included his family background, childhood experiences, romantic relationships, economic and social connections, and most importantly, the number and nature of his powers.
However... the New King was like a blank slate. The world held no records of their existence, as if they had emerged from a stone like Sun Wukong.
They had appeared out of nowhere.
With no way to understand the New King's true nature, the Wise Men's Council reluctantly turned to their former leader for help. At the very least, they needed to comprehend the extent of the New King's powers and capabilities.
Though reluctant, Princess Alice had no choice but to accept the council's request.
When she attempted to divine the New King Phoenix's powers through divination, she found her efforts yielded nothing.
Next, Princess Alice tried using her "spiritual sight" to observe the New King. To her surprise, not only did she fail to gain any insight, but the newly crowned monarch detected her presence.
The New King's counterattack proved devastating. While Princess Alice might have previously endured for another decade, now she could barely survive three years.
In this world, the "spiritual vision" of miko and witches is a remarkable ability. They can receive "revelations," witnessing scenes from the past and future.
However, they don't actually see them directly.
The world of Campione can roughly be divided into three realms: the Material World where ordinary people dwell, the "Yōsei" or "realm between life and death" as mages call it, and finally, the Immortal Realm where the gods reside beyond this boundary.
The Yōsei has a mystical function - it records all information from the Material World that has already occurred. The "spiritual vision" ability of witches and miko allows them to observe this recorded information, thereby reliving the past.
As for future information, witches and miko deduce the most likely events by organizing and analyzing known data.
By obtaining and inferring all past information to predict the future, this is the "spiritual vision" ability of witches and miko in this world.