Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Xion continued.

"Leaving everything else aside, the Wondrous Royal Castle—as described in this book—is a Grade Two fragment relic. From what I have understood, its function allows the master of the castle to have complete control over it. They can make any of the doors or windows of the castle open or close with but a thought. There are other things too, but that’s basically it. The castle has no function that can harm us in any way."

Saria frowned.

"How can you be so sure? Maybe the royal family didn’t disclose all the functions of the castle."

"You could be right, Miss Saria." Xion nodded. "But from what is mentioned, it seems pretty clear that isn’t the case. From what I was able to gather, this kingdom was quite peaceful. Since it existed on an island, they didn’t have to worry about wars with neighboring kingdoms. I don’t think they had any reason to keep some kind of trump card."

Saria still looked unconvinced, though.

Well, Adrian could somewhat understand what she was thinking. To nobles, the neighboring territories weren’t the only threats. The citizens of their territory were also a threat since there was always a possibility of a rebellion.

More than that, Nobles rarely interacted directly with the commoners. And since this world didn’t have something like the internet, the distance between the people and the ruler was quite significant.

Evangeline probably hadn’t received it yet, but Adrian had been educated in managing a territory when he was only nine. And the lessons were less about ruling the citizens as people and more about managing them like cattle.

’But maybe I’m thinking too much.’

It could’ve indeed been a peaceful kingdom where the distance between the citizens and the crown was not that large.

Adrian turned to Evangeline.

"What are your thoughts?"

Evangeline glanced at the pure white castle in the distance with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Hmm... I don’t know. Saria might not be wrong, and there might really be some kind of trap in that castle. But in the end, we don’t know for sure. Though since that’s the royal castle, entering it will probably give us the most information about this kingdom. I would say it’s all about whether the rewards are worth the risk."

Adrian paused.

’That’s... surprisingly thoughtful...’

Xion and Saria also seemed somewhat taken aback.

Evangeline turned to them and blinked.

"What’s up with that look?"

Xion replied in a polite tone.

"It’s just that... it was unexpected to hear those thoughtful words coming from you."

"What does that mean?" She pouted. "Are you calling me stupid?"

The commoner boy hurriedly shook his head.

"No, please don’t misunderstand me. I wasn’t implying anything of the sort. It’s just that you are usually carefree and don’t put much thought before you speak. You definitely aren’t stupid."

Adrian was inclined to agree.

Having spent so much time with her, Adrian had come to understand that Evangeline wasn’t stupid, even though she seemed that way. But even though she had changed a lot compared to how she was at ten years of age, the childish parts of her had still persisted to this day.

At this point, it felt almost like a part of her personality.

Adrian sighed.

"She has a point. It’s all about whether the rewards are worth the risk. We have a general idea of what to expect, but there could be unknown dangers inside. Still, I would say that exploring the castle is worth it despite the risks."

Xion nodded.

"Exactly."

Evangeline also nodded lightly.

The three of them turned to Saria. She nodded reluctantly.

"Well, you do have a point. Fine, I agree."

With that decided, they began walking towards the castle. After a while, they arrived in front of a tall wall forming a boundary around the castle.

Connecting it was a large metal gate that didn’t seem to be in good condition, likely due to the passage of time. But despite that, the gate looked very sturdy.

Adrian briefly contemplated whether he should cut it down with the third level of his infusion art but decided against it in the end.

The four of them jumped over the wall and entered the boundary.

Evangeline ignited a wisp of flame above her palm, illuminating the now-dark surroundings because of the dark sky that stretched above.

And it was only now that Adrian was able to get a good look at the castle. It was far larger than it appeared from a distance. Maybe that was partly because of the tall boundary walls. The building itself looked to be in pristine condition, with not a single crack in sight.

The white stone walls were spotless despite likely being subjected to the harshness of time, like all the other buildings they had seen on the way.

They walked closer and soon stood in front of the tall castle gates.

But just as Xion reached out his hand to push it open, the door suddenly opened itself wide on its own before the commoner boy’s hand could even touch it.

"Ah?!"

Startled, they all raised their guard, as if expecting an attack any moment. But even after several minutes, nothing happened.

Xion smiled and said in a reassuring tone.

"Calm down, everyone; it’s the same function that I told you about. Though the door seemed to have opened on its own, we likely aren’t going to get attacked."

They nodded.

And so, they slowly stepped inside the castle. But the moment all four of them entered, the door suddenly closed itself in the same manner it had opened.

"Huh?!"

Evangeline let out a startled yelp. She looked extremely scared as she whispered tensely.

"Did the castle just... lock us inside it?"

Adrian let out a sigh.

"Why are you so scared? Worst-case scenario, we can just break the door. Moreover..."

He walked back toward the door. As he approached closer, the closed door opened on its own once again.

"As expected..."

He turned to his teammates.

"It looks like this door opens whenever someone approaches it and closes when no one is nearby. This is probably the same for all the doors in the castle."

Evangeline gulped as she stared at the now-open gate.

"Yeah... guess you’re right."

And so, they continued walking. Evangeline channeled more mana into the golden bracelet in her hand, and the flame above her palm grew bigger, illuminating the castle’s interior.

They stood in what appeared to be a massive lobby. The walls were decorated with ornaments that looked rather valuable even in the current era.

The ceiling stretched quite high. Up ahead, two stairs stretched above, each on one side of the lobby. Below those stairs stood a heavy golden door.

An image was carved onto the door’s surface, depicting a fairy-like creature putting a beautiful crown above a man’s head.

It didn’t take him much time to guess where the golden door led to.

"The throne room..."

Indeed, the position of the door, combined with the image carved onto its surface, made it pretty obvious.

He turned to his teammates.

"What do you all think? We can explore the lobby, go and check the upper floors through the stairs, or... explore the throne room right ahead of us."

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