"Sulfur, salt, mercury."
In the evening, Sherlock Holmes was in his room, confirming the materials needed for tonight's advancement ritual.
He wore a monocle, trying hard to make out the scribbled words on the labels of the bottles and jars.
Sherlock muttered under his breath, his fingers sweeping over the bottles and jars on the shelf: "Sanctified silver powder, blessed holy water. A bunch of dried black sage, unused white crystal, six new red candles…"
Meanwhile, in the Silver and Tin Palace.
Princess Isabel was also pacing nervously in her room.
She kept muttering and reciting the names of the materials required for the promotion ritual, visibly restless.
"And clove essential oil, cinnamon essential oil, cypress essential oil, benzoin essential oil… and immortelle essential oil, chamomile essential oil… and… and…"
Agnes, the Artist elf, who was sitting nearby humming a song and composing music, put down her pen with a hint of helplessness.
"—And ginger, sweet dill, white bread. I say… Little Isha, what are you so nervous about? You should trust your Court Ritualist; they are much more reliable in arranging rituals than you preparing them yourself."
"Yes, I know…"
Isabelle murmured, no longer emphasizing "Call me Isabelle, not Little Isha."
She felt a little short of breath, gently clutching the collar of her white gauze dress, as if wanting to lift it to fan some air in and ease her tension—but mindful of the Royal Family's image and dignity, she dared not make such a crude gesture in front of others.
"The first advancement is very simple, don't be nervous."
Agnes coaxed, "You have to believe in yourself; you are very strong, and your foundation is more solid than most people's. For the first advancement, and it's a full moon advancement… probably six or seven people will be able to advance, so what are you afraid of?"
"…That's what I'm afraid of."
Isabelle looked worried: "If out of nine people, six can advance, and I can't—if that gets out, it will be a loss of face for the Royal Family.
"Moreover, people will gossip about you, teacher, and speak ill of you. They will spread terrible rumors…"
She was able to embark on the Path of Beauty purely because of Queen Sophia's doting on her. This was because the Avalon Royal Family, the Du Lac family, would normally only choose the Authority Path.
But among the Queen's six grandchildren, the one Her Majesty favored most was Isabelle, the second youngest.
Younger than Isabelle was only her two-year-old brother.
And Isabelle had displayed her exceptional artistic talent at a very young age.
When she was only four years old, she accompanied the Queen to listen to the opera "lulus magic flute" once. Without understanding Stibium language, she was able to hum the arias after only one listen.
Queen Sophia was very pleased. Because before she became Queen, she had dreamt of becoming an opera master. She even wrote a few operas herself in her free time after inheriting the throne, but she never published them due to her status.
Among her many children, only Isabelle inherited her opera talent.
Because of this, she defied all objections.
She directly set a precedent for Isabelle, allowing her to step onto the Path of Beauty and formally study "Art."
The Path of Beauty is the Path of harmony and art, flow and eternity.
And the key skill of the Path of Beauty is "Art."
This includes opera, music, painting, sculpture, drama, dance, and poetry, all of which belong to the mysterious skills of the Path of Beauty.
Art itself possesses mystery. Great art masters, without exception, are all pioneers of the Path of Beauty.
Just as the key skill of the Authority Path is "Leadership"—the monarch's art of managing subordinates, the skill of directing others to obey oneself, also possesses mystery.
If one wants to deepen their Path, specializing in one skill is certainly not enough.
Perhaps due to a quarter of her elf blood, Isabelle's talent lay in singing and dancing.
And since she was to embark on a Path, she had to steadfastly follow it.
Once Transcendents step onto a Path, they become tormented by the desire to ascend higher—they become obsessed with delving deeper and rising higher. The longer they remain in place, the more likely they are to become insane.
It's like an excellent young person in a certain industry, with some talent but not quite a genius. They often feel despair at true talent—a breathtaking chasm that people outside the industry cannot perceive, only understood after delving deep into the industry itself.
This feeling of powerlessness and awe, if it occurs on an Transcendents Path, can drive a person insane.
And the Path of Beauty emphasizes perceiving the beauty of the world, comprehending harmony and eternity… making it even easier to go mad.
Those art masters who specialize in one Path are almost without exception insane.
So the Queen specifically invited Master Agnes for Isabelle, to teach her the skills of painting, sculpture, and composition.
Because this was the safest Path to promotion.
Anyway, the succession would not fall to Isabelle. Since the Queen was happy, let the child play.
That's what others thought at the time.
However, good times did not last.
Starting over a decade ago, the Avalon Royal Family suddenly began to fall ill one after another.
At first, it was suspected that someone had poisoned them, but later it was confirmed that someone was performing a powerful Curse of succession—a continuous and potent Curse that even the Church's Illumination could not fully dispel, and the holy relics of past sages could not protect against.
If a nation's power cannot dispel and resist it, then it can only be a Curse issued by another nation.
Who else could it be?
It could only be the Stibium Kingdom.
Although Avalon had no evidence, common sense dictated that… only a Ritualist of such intensity could exist in the Stibium Kingdom.
Therefore, starting a few years ago—as the first Royal Family member was dragged to death by an incurable Curse, Avalon and Stibium officially entered a state of hostility.
As of today, among Isabelle's father's generation, only her father remains alive.
And in her generation, half have already died from illness.
Only Isabelle's eldest brother, Isabelle, and her two-year-old brother remain.
She did nothing, yet inexplicably became the third in line to the throne of the Avalon Kingdom.
—If she truly inherited the throne, a major problem would arise.
Avalon, a nation that reveres the Authority Path, would have a new Queen with absolutely no affinity for The Path of Authority.
Currently, she is the third in line, but no one knows if she might suddenly become the first. Because "third" is already a very dangerous position.
Isabelle had done nothing wrong, and Master Agnes even less so. However, due to the changing circumstances, there were even rumors among the kingdom's high-ranking officials that the Stibium Kingdom's goal was to have Isabelle ascend to the throne—this way, Avalon could be thrown into chaos from within.
The entire kingdom's privileged class, all Transcendents in government departments, and even most soldiers, came from the Authority Path. How could a Queen of the Path of Beauty possibly gain their hundred percent loyalty?
So Isabelle was under immense pressure.
Any mistake she made would be constantly magnified, then criticized and blamed.
But she didn't want to blame them either.
Because she could sense that they were also under great pressure and worried about such a future.
She also understood that their worries were correct—if she truly became Queen in the future, Avalon would likely fall into prolonged chaos. But she truly lacked Adaptation to The Path of Authority… she had tried many times, but she genuinely couldn't learn it.
All she could pray for was that her brothers would no longer die.
But she couldn't do anything. This was not something she had control over.
She could only do everything according to the rules, silently doing her best—so as not to give others a chance to find fault.
Because of this, she did not use her privilege. Instead, she entered the university and lived with other students.
She became an Transcendents through official channels only after passing the comprehensive assessment of her first three semesters in university. Before that, she strictly limited her scope of study, only learning the more peripheral parts of "Art" skills that ordinary people could access… and then constantly honed her basic skills, but never engaged in any study involving Transcendents power.
She patiently practiced basic skills for thirteen years.
It was boring and meaningless, so painful it made her want to vomit. But she still persevered.
Because she wanted to show that she would not casually use Royal Family privileges.
She hoped this would make the voices of dissatisfaction disappear.
She tried to downplay her image as a "Princess," hoping people would see her only as an ordinary person, not the third in line to the throne.
Only now did she suddenly realize—
Perhaps she had never truly become an "ordinary person."
She was still being served, pampered, and helped by others.
While other Transcendents prepared their rituals themselves, she could only sit by and drink tea. The Royal Family Ritualist would take care of everything for her; she didn't have to do anything—no need to worry about drawing the ritual array incorrectly, nor fear buying inferior or fake materials that would cause the ritual to fail.
"…I'll just do it myself."
Isabelle made up her mind.
She bowed deeply to the Ritualist: "Master Oswald, I am very sorry… I do not distrust you. I just think… perhaps my watching from the side… would not be good."
Isabelle didn't know how to describe the tension and anxiety in her heart.
But watching the white-haired Ritualist prepare the ritual for her always made her feel restless.
It was as if her mistake was being taken by someone else and they were taking the blame.
Her older brothers and sisters used to dote on her very much. Whenever she accidentally broke something, they would rush to take the blame.
At that time, although Isabelle was not scolded, she always felt restless.
—Just like now.
It was as if something was tormenting her heart.
"Please let me prepare the promotion ritual myself."
Princess Isabel repeated.
Her voice became clearer, less timid than before: "You can assist me from the side, Master Oswald."
The white-haired Ritualist beside her stroked his beard cheerfully, smiling and nodding.
"Alright, my little Princess. Indeed, for this kind of thing… it really needs to be done by oneself to have a sense of ritual.
"Remember this feeling well, Your Royal Highness. The first time entering the Dream Realm, the first time encountering the other eight Paths. Truly shedding the 'apprentice' status and becoming a true Transcendents—"
On the other side.
Aiwass, who had gotten out of bed in Moriarty Manor, clutching his forehead.
He hadn't actually slept enough.
But his spiritual intuition told him that if he didn't wake up soon, he would delay things—so he forced himself awake.
The evening sun was setting outside.
Aiwass lit a match with trembling hands, striking it several times before it caught fire.
He shakily lit the white candle placed on his bedside—this was clearly the "healing medicine" prepared by Oswald.
Aiwass gripped the flame, feeling the vitality continuously flow into his body from the candlelight, and then slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately… because Aiwass was interested in mysticism, his room was stocked with all sorts of materials. It wouldn't delay things.
The saying "a poor student has many stationery items" applied.
Although he didn't know how to use them, he bought everything he could get his hands on.
…It's just that he hadn't eaten all day. He was so hungry his heart was pounding.
First, figure out how to fill his stomach, then come back and quickly prepare for the promotion ritual.