Chapter 39 – Churn, churn, churning (2)

“Wow……”
“It’s so pretty, isn’t it?”

The only thing coming out of my mouth was gasps of admiration. Christelle smiled brightly and turned toward me.

I blankly nodded my head at her question.

This basement room, that didn’t have a single ray of sun coming into it, was shining brightly.

It looked as if the walls were chiseled down to create this place.

“Is it white gold? It doesn’t seem like it……”

I mumbled and slowly walked around the room.

The floor, walls, and ceiling of the round room were all made of the same metal.

White and blue lights were coming off of the now spotless room and reflecting on the other side.

I could faintly see the reflections of Imperial Prince Cédric, Christelle, and I on the ground.

It also seemed like the background of a sci-fi movie.

“Oh no, I’m getting dizzy.”

Christelle finally stumbled. I quickly walked up and grabbed her arm to support her.

She had created a lot of water in many different shapes and forms, so she should have used a lot more ether than when she sparred against the Imperial Prince or took down those Toxin Bulls.

“Please stay inside my circle.”
“Thank you very much.”

Christelle smiled at me. I let go of her arm and calmly released my Holy Domain.

The circular golden light that surrounded the three of us mixed together with the white and blue lights of the area and gave off a mysterious glow like never seen before.

Color started to return to Christelle’s pale face as I released my ether into the circle.

The Imperial Prince just silently watched.

“This must be the portal.”

Christelle quietly absorbed ether for a bit before pointing toward the center of the floor.

I turned my head to look at where she was pointing.

There seemed to be something like a large circle at the center of the room. However, the shape was not the same as an ether circle.

It looked like two squares overlapping each other at an angle. I went up to take a closer look and I was able to see that someone had meticulously dug the shape out of the ground itself.

“It’s extremely elegant.”
“I heard that ether circles and magic formations are completely different. I guess it is true.”

Christelle and I took turns admiring the complicated formation.

The symbols of my Holy Domain looked like a four year old’s chicken scratches compared to this.

However, the magic formation was not complete.

There was a giant slash down the middle, as if someone had struck down with a spear or axe.

“This must be why they say that the portal is closed.”

The Imperial Prince nodded his head once at my comment.

The portal had become unusable after a portion of the magic formation was destroyed a long time ago.

99% of the portal was made up of text and images that I could not decipher, but there was a part that did catch my eye.

“……’For my beloved Juliette.’”

I read it out loud.

“Juliette? Isn’t that the name of the palace you reside in, your highness?”

Christelle commented. I nodded my head.

I thought about a story that Benjamin told me at tea time about a month ago.

It was written about multiple times in the history books as well.

The current Empress Frédérique’s grandfather, the late Emperor Romero, was engaged to be wed to a woman named ‘Julite.’

She was a noble priestess from the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom as marriage between the two nations was possible as there were no issues between Riester and Venetiaan at that time.

Julite quite enjoyed her name pronounced in the Riester style, Juliette, and the late Emperor Romero had two buildings built in the Imperial Palace for his beloved.

Those buildings were the Romero Palace and Juliette Palace.

The reason Romero Palace was located in front of Juliette Palace was supposedly the late Emperor showing his will to be her shield forever.

However…

“Juliette is someone who betrayed his Majesty, the late Emperor Romero. That is the reason Juliette Palace is often called the cold palace.”

I explained it to Christelle. Christelle slightly tilted her head and started speaking.

“I’m going to have to nag my private tutor for information when I go home. I lost a lot of my memories after being ill for so long.”

I chuckled and nodded my head.

Christelle probably had no time to study history as she had enough issues adjusting to this life after transmigrating into her new body.

I had a ton of time, since I was a diplomatic hostage who was left alone and felt pressured to gather information by the time constraint of my eventual death as the second male lead, but it was different for her.

Anyways, it was understandable that the portal was in the Empress Palace if it was made for none other than Juliette.

Late Emperor Romero probably wanted it so that she could easily come to him whenever she wanted.

Of course, he ended up facing the Holy Kingdom’s Holy Knights on the other side of the portal.

It might even have been Romero himself who destroyed the magic formation like this.

“Then will nothing happen even if we channel mana into this?”

I turned toward the Imperial Prince and asked. He answered yes as if it was obvious.

‘Mm……’

“I do want to see it once.”

Christelle, who seemed to have the same thought as me, commented out loud.

I slowly peeked toward the Imperial Prince. Christelle was openly looking towards him.

The young man’s orange eyes scowled.

“What is it?”
“I’m curious to see how it looks when it is lit up.”
“It doesn’t work so it won’t matter, right?”

I commented and Christelle quickly followed up with an excuse as well.

Unlike the two of us, he was a mage and a swordsman.

He could easily infuse mana into the broken magic formation if he wanted to do so.

It was safe since the portal had no chance of taking us anywhere, and this was our chance to properly witness a historical site that was developed during the Warring Era.

It was normal that we would be curious.

“Haaaa.”
“I cleaned up on my own so this much is just service, don’t you think so, your Royal Highness?”

Christelle asked in her uniquely sharp tone.

Her voice felt the same way it did when she asked me for an ‘ether sample’ last time.

The Imperial Prince was silent for a moment before he let out a deep breath through his nose.

He then stretched his left hand out toward the magic formation.

I quickly deactivated my Holy Domain since Christelle’s condition seemed to have stabilized.

I wanted to see the full magic formation when it is not covered by my circle.

“……”

Red aura started flowing out of the tip of the Imperial Prince’s black glove. This was mana, the source of magic.

I had seen him use magic to control metal, but this was my first time seeing him channel pure mana.

The mana gently descended to the ground like spreading paint before it spread out like fog and enveloped the magic formation.

Christelle and I watched without making any noise.

– Ooooooong……

An odd noise came out of the magic formation. It truly resembled the type of noise that would come from a sci-fi movie.

The foggy red mana quickly turned into liquid before it pushed forward through the elaborately sculpted magic formation.

The empty grooves were rapidly filling with red ink.

Once the portal was full without any empty areas…

– Wiiiiiiiiiiing!

The ground shook as it released a blood red light. The sharp light of metal looked scary.

“Ho…….”
“This is crazy……”

My jaws dropped on their own. Christelle showed an intense response as well.

I agreed with her statement as I looked down at my feet.

The magic formation was splendid and detailed.

The portal did not move at all because of the large slash in the middle, but my stomach was churning. It was as if I got in a car with an extremely strong air freshener……

“Ugh.”

I gagged. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand.

‘What is going on?’

“Are you okay, your highness?

A shocked Christelle was inspecting my face.

The Imperial Prince seemed to be shocked as well, as he stopped the mana flowing out of his hand.

I felt the color leaving my face as I stumbled.

“I just don’t feel very……”

My legs gave out. I felt my forehead go cold while my body was covered in cold sweat.

I then fell ov…

“Ugh!”

The damn Imperial Prince grabbed me by the collar.

‘Hey you crazy bastard, I can’t breathe!’

“Looks like you’re still out of it.”
“Please let go of him, your Royal Highness!”

Christelle raised her voice.

I quickly stood up straight and took a deep breath as soon as the Imperial Prince released me.

“Huff.”

My eyes focused again but my stomach was still churning.

It was a completely different feeling to ether depletion.

‘No, this really feels like……’

“I feel naus, ugh……”

I did my best to stop myself from throwing up and groaned. I frowned as my mouth started tasting sour.

The red light on the ground instantly disappeared.

The room returned to its refined blue and white color as if nothing had ever happened.

I don’t know whether it was the red color making me anxious or what, but my heart seemed to calm down a bit once the magic formation was turned off.

I slowly raised my head. I could see orange eyes looking down at me.

The Imperial Prince must have stopped his mana.

“Do you have Portal Nausea?”
“Excuse me?”

His low voice echoed in my ear. I was confused despite hearing him properly.

‘Portal what?’

“It’s an issue of mana sensitivity. Go see the Imperial doctor.”
“Wait a minute, what kind of nausea is that……”

I barely gulped down the saliva under my tongue as I asked.

My insides were feeling much better but I was still a bit dizzy, similar to the sequelae from being carsick.

Christelle supported me as I staggered.

The Imperial Prince bastard used his long legs and was already exiting the room.

“Wait, who gets motion sickness from using a port……”

Furthermore, the magic formation had not even activated. Christelle quietly answered as I mumbled to myself.

“You, your highness.”
“……”

*

“It is Portal Nausea.”

‘Ha……’

“It is something that happens to people with extremely low mana sensitivity. Their bodies cannot handle the mana inside the portal’s magic formation.”

The Imperial doctor calmly explained to me.

I leaned against the headrest of the bed with Demy on my tummy as I listened.

Benjamin and Ganael were standing next to me looking extremely concerned.

Cardinal Boutier and someone I had never met before were standing next to the Imperial doctor.

As for the full course lunch? I didn’t get to have it.

That damn Imperial Prince snitched to the Cardinal that I got motion sickness at the underground portal and I was forced to settle for two bowls of consomme.

Eunse was right.

‘It’s all that bastard’s fault no matter what……’

“Everybody is born with some level of mana sensitivity even if they are not mages. They are able to at least tell whether or not the animals around them are regular animals or demonic beasts. However, there are people every so often who can only tell that the animal is a demonic beast once they come close and use their mana.”

The doctor stabbed some more figurative daggers into my chest.

I recalled that I only knew that the Toxin Bulls in the rear mountain behind Juliette Palace were demonic beasts after confirming their abilities.

I was that person who would need a taste in order to tell shit from soybean paste.

‘Damn it……’

“People who were born with such low mana sensitivity are unable to use portals through normal means.”

The Imperial doctor made a heavy statement. I quietly sighed.

I thought that I got lucky having a lot of ether when I transmigrated into this body, but I guess I had no talent whatsoever in regards to magic.

My stats were all in toward a priest.

“I am concerned that you will have to use a carriage to go to the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts if you are not able to use portals. I heard that the road there is rough……”

Cardinal Boutier listened seriously before commenting.

Her beige eyes were full of concern. I was concerned about that as well.

Usually, a diplomatic hostage would not need to use a portal outside of the Imperial Palace, but I needed to head toward the Duhem March next month.

“It is probably best to take carriages and rest at different places as we slowly travel.”

I gave my suggestion.

Using carriages would make our trip longer and cost more, but I did not have the courage to try using a portal again.

Just thinking about that red light makes my stomach churn and gives me an ominous feeling.

It would be a hundred times better to slowly take in the scenery of the Empire as we traveled.

“Not at all. Please leave it to me, Prince Jesse.”

The unfamiliar man who had been quiet until now spoke for the first time.

I looked at the feeble person standing to the Cardinal’s right.

His black skin and light pink eyes made him look memorable and handsome. He gave off a completely different vibe from his younger brother, Captain Duhem.

“Do you have a better idea, Marquis Duhem?”

I asked and he smiled before opening his bag.

I could hear the Cardinal sighing.

Marquis François Duhem was a mage who specialized in teleportation.I heard that he was investing a lot of money to research portals and create inventions based on his specialty.

The Cardinal had called over the Marquis, who happened to be in the Imperial Capital, after hearing that I was diagnosed with Portal Nausea.

Of course, she looked as if she was regretting that decision a bit right now……

“It is this right here!”

The Marquis made some dramatic movements as he raised his arm in the air.

There were flat, round and mysterious apricot colored pieces of cloth in his hand.

“Your Portal Nausea will disappear like magic if you put it under your ear!”

‘Hey dude, that’s trademark infringement!’

—