. Our Princess Can Tear Apart Beasts with Her Bare Hands
“Damn it, so it was true.”
Cardin clicked his tongue as he saw the uprooted tree. He had suspected it might be an ability related to moving objects, but he hadn’t been sure.
Seeing Lucius’s stiff expression at his probing question confirmed it, and Cardin let out a low tsk.
It would have been better for governance if it had been a nature-controlling power instead.
Though, even that would’ve only pleased the ministers. As family, it wasn’t good news at all.
After all, the royal family’s powers were directly tied to the user’s life force—the greater the power, the heavier the toll.
“Yeah, it’s better that it’s a power that won’t be used publicly. Though it’s annoying that it had to be that power. And Mikhail… he’s on a completely different level than the late Emperor.”
Even if he was still inexperienced in controlling his power, toppling a tree?
The previous Emperor had only managed to slam doors or move cups at best. There was no comparison.
Lucius’s expression remained hard at Cardin’s words, though the corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.
In truth, Lucius was relieved. The power gap was so wide that he never once froze in fear, thinking of the previous Emperor, even after seeing Mikhail use his ability.
At the same time, he had thought he didn’t really welcome Mikhail’s awakening—but now that his son displayed such exceptional talent, he couldn’t help but feel proud.
But his expression soon darkened again.
“You’re right, Cardin. I was surprised because it’s the same ability as the late Emperor’s. But… the reason we kept it secret was because of me.”
His son had awakened far earlier than he had, and Lucius had no idea how to train him.
He didn’t want to push Mikhail like the previous Emperor had done to him. Nor did he want to force the traditional, brutal training passed down through the royal family to awaken and control power.
By Lucius’s standards, those methods were cruel and inhumane—especially for a boy who was even younger than the average age of awakening.
So, he had first tried to help Mikhail control his power using techniques like meditation. But for a child with a short attention span, it didn’t work very well.
Lucius was at a loss.
More than anything…
“I’m worried I might’ve done something wrong without realizing it.”
Awakenings usually happened during moments of extreme crisis. Both he and Cardin had gone through similar experiences—and they had felt their power grow when pushed to the limit.
But Lucius had wanted to raise Mikhail like an ordinary child rather than a prince. And while Mikhail was indeed mature and composed for his age, he was still innocent. Or at least, Lucius had believed so.
“Maybe… Mikhail awakened so early because…”
What if his son had been under psychological pressure or gone through something painful without Lucius noticing? What if his parenting was flawed?
“Mother always used to say it, remember? She could control everything—except her own children.”
Cardin chuckled playfully—the very person their mother had been referring to.
“Our little prince is just a genius.”
If only Lucius hadn’t forbidden him from seeing the marquis’s daughter, he wouldn’t have been this anxious.
In other words, Cardin was completely absolving Lucius of any blame.
“But how did Mikhail awaken, anyway?”
He was genuinely curious. What kind of situation triggered the awakening?
Lucius looked away, a bit embarrassed.
“Well… he stayed up late studying, and when he finally lay down to rest, the window was open. He was too tired to move even a finger, so he just wished the window would close…”
“…?”
“And then… the door flew off its hinges and slammed into the window to block it.”
“Pfft—”
Cardin couldn’t hold back a laugh, picturing the image of the usually composed child acting so adorably.
While Cardin laughed, Lucius thought back with a sigh of relief—if he hadn’t gone to check on Mikhail sleeping that night after finishing work, the whole Empire might’ve learned about the awakening.
Cardin asked,
“Did you clean it up using your power?”
“Yeah. I was so shocked… I reversed time in that room.”
The shattered window reassembled, and the door that had been lodged in the frame returned to its original place. Mikhail had realized then that his father had used his power—and that he himself had awakened.
The ever-curious boy had sparkled with excitement, but before he could ask questions, he had passed out from the exertion of using his power for the first time.
“He woke up just a few hours later, and he’s been training since, so he should be awake by morning.”
“Didn’t you say you passed out for three days after your awakening?”
“….”
“Go on, keep talking.”
Lucius shot Cardin a look before continuing.
“I’ll have to talk to him again once he wakes up, but after what happened yesterday, I think he’ll understand why I didn’t want him meeting the marquis’s daughter.”
When you can’t control your power, you can be a danger to others as well as yourself.
Lucius thought back to the incident during the day that could’ve ended in disaster and breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“If it weren’t for the princess, it could’ve been a real disaster.”
“Our princess is amazing.”
“That’s why I’m planning to tell her everything.”
Cardin nodded.
Since Annette had witnessed Mikhail using his power and helped resolve the situation, she had every right to know.
“I’ll tell her about my ability, too.”
But at Lucius’s next words, Cardin froze.
“You might be right that we should figure out the root of all this, but… I owe her. I can’t just stand by while my savior is in trouble. Not unless it’s truly beyond my power.”
Lucius, who could manipulate time for specific people or places, had already tested his ability on Annette once—when their hands brushed as he handed her the purification stone, he had accelerated her time by about a week.
And he had noticed it too—when he used his power, her hair grew slightly longer, and she winced, as if feeling something.
“If she ever says she wants to return to her original form, I’ll gladly use my ability.”
It would take accelerating her time by over a decade to make her appear as an adult again. Even for Lucius, who had diligently trained his power, this would require significant life force.
Whether it was concern for her or worry that his plans to treat her kindly might fall apart, Cardin said nothing.
Lucius, imagining the grumpy face Cardin was probably making under his mask, smiled and gave his shoulder a supportive pat. At that moment—
“Ugh.”
“Cardin?”
Lucius flinched as Cardin suddenly groaned and clutched his shoulder.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Did you get injured during the subjugation?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’? You’re clearly in pain!”
Even Alkan royals, aside from their powers, had exceptional physical strength and recovery. Lucius, who had awakened late, was no exception.
As he worried, remembering Cardin’s extraordinary recovery abilities, a realization suddenly hit Lucius.
“Don’t tell me I… misjudged my strength just now—”
“It’s not that. You didn’t do anything.”
Cardin quickly confessed—he didn’t want Lucius, who had finally calmed down after pacing the garden all night, to start spiraling again.
“Our princess is just… stronger than I expected.”
“Princess…? You don’t mean—Annette?”
“Yup.”
Lucius gave him a skeptical look, but Cardin nodded confidently.
When they were leaving the garden earlier, he’d teased Annette by pretending not to hear her request to be put down. In the end, her tiny but surprisingly strong fist had slammed into his shoulder.
Thinking back to Annette trembling with embarrassment after that, Cardin couldn’t help but laugh.
“She must really hate being treated like a kid. But it’s so cute.”
“…Could it be that she couldn’t control her strength because she’s now a child?”
“Nah, she’s just naturally strong. Our princess can tear beasts apart with her bare hands.”
“I’ve heard the rumors… but they were true?”
Lucius had assumed it was just an exaggeration.
Sure, he knew she was a famed knight across the continent, but knights didn’t usually fight monsters barehanded. And the Annette he had met—petite and frail-looking—seemed incapable of hiding such monstrous strength.
“Why are you so surprised? You already knew our princess was special.”
“Well, yeah, but still…”
Cardin, amused at Lucius’s shock, raised an eyebrow, and Lucius nodded in resignation—then grimaced.
“She should’ve been more careful.”
Not long ago, he had thought of Annette as a savior and resolved to use even his life force for her if necessary.
But that didn’t mean he was fine with her hurting Cardin.
Lucius’s comment made Cardin shrug.
“She’s never had anyone to bicker with before, so when I said it hurt, she got all wide-eyed in shock. She was so cute… Wait, are you criticizing our princess right now?”
As Cardin suddenly glared, Lucius gave him a look of disbelief.
Judging by Cardin’s cheeky expression, Lucius couldn’t help but think: What on earth did you do on your first day meeting her to make that quiet princess punch you?
Lucius grabbed Cardin’s shoulder tightly and gave it a squeeze.
“Ow! Hey!”
“Don’t be dramatic. You totally deserved it.”