Veltia was five years old.

People grew up. Before she turned three, she was always getting sick. At three, she’d shouted that she didn’t want a family. And after turning three, she’d immediately become a well-behaved child. Life really was full of twists and turns. Veltia’s health had improved a lot, and she could finally go outside, though her roaming was still limited to the imperial palace. And now, in the year she turned five, the day of her awakening had arrived. Magic was something special in the Empire. Not everyone could wield it, and those who could were worth cultivating.

For members of the royal family, magic awakened when they turned five. On that day, the temple had to examine them in person, and the power they awakened was usually inherited from one of their parents. Awakening was also a privilege reserved for the royal family. Ordinary people had to learn to control magic, while members of the royal family were born with the ability to awaken it. This was commonplace in the Empire—a tradition. So the powers awakened by royalty came to be known as the royal family’s unique abilities: Imperial Authority.

Veltia was no exception. She thought she was perfectly ordinary, but royal blood ran through her veins. As the Empire’s youngest royal child, she went to the temple that day. Under the priests’ supervision, she stood in a white dress, gazing ahead. The vast temple was filled with priests standing in solemn rows. The acolytes had laid out a path for her, and above them stood an altar with a small pool in its center. She slowly climbed the steps, took off her shoes, lifted her dress, and stepped into the pool. The water was shallow, barely reaching her ankles. Then the priests began reciting their prayers, and a mysterious light shimmered over her.

The royal blood within her stirred. She hadn’t felt it before, but she knew the power in her blood couldn’t lie. In this life, there was no doubt she was of royal blood—the blood of House Capedia, the most noble bloodline in the Empire. After the light faded, she felt something inside her body. A blue-white substance slowly appeared in her palm. When she opened her hand, she saw it covered in frost. It looked cold, but all she felt was a slight chill. Nothing more.

“Congratulations, Her Imperial Highness, Princess Viltia Goresh Capedia. The Imperial Authority you have awakened is Ice Manipulation. May the great god bless Kasleno, and may the god continue to protect Kasleno.”

The priests bowed to her one by one, their faces full of reverence.

Royal Imperial Authority: Ice Manipulation. No matter how much someone who learned magic studied, they could never learn this ability. Those who studied magic might master all kinds of abilities or learn to control other forces, but Ice Manipulation belonged exclusively to the royal family. The royal family had more than one Imperial Authority, but Ice Manipulation was a genuine power of the royals, recorded in the history of the Empire.

Her older brother, Karen, and her older sister, Leona, had awakened the same Imperial Authority as her: Ice Manipulation.

She thought her ability was a little ordinary, but compared to what other nobles had, it was still much better. She remembered that her father’s Imperial Authority was Solar Power. She didn’t know why none of his children had inherited it, but this was pretty good too. She’d read in the history books that one of the emperors from several generations ago had made Ice Manipulation famous. According to the records, he’d used it to create blizzards and fog, walls as strong as ramparts, and castles of ice. He’d slaughtered his way across the battlefield until the whole field was covered in ice and stained red. When the ice melted, it mingled with the blood, forming a graveyard of ice and blood.

After this day, people would surely start talking about the Third Princess’s Imperial Authority. The newspapers would report on it at length. After all, she was a member of the royal family, and people would have expectations of her. Some might even speculate about whether she would enter the struggle for the throne.

But Veltia only wanted to laze around. She had no interest in becoming an empress. Being a comfortable little princess was more than enough for her.

When the ceremony ended, Veltia put on her shoes. Her parents were already waiting for her. The Empress was dressed in all her finery today, a smile in her eyes, and the Emperor was there too. Veltia studied the father of this life. He had golden hair, a muscular build, and a handsome face that drew the eye even when he wasn’t smiling. He was the spitting image of a handsome middle-aged man.

“Father, Mother.”

She lifted her dress and curtsied elegantly. At least those etiquette lessons over the past two years hadn’t gone to waste. She’d finally learned how to do it properly.

Whatever else you could say about it, noble etiquette was such a pain. There were rules for this and rules for that—it was exhausting! She’d resisted learning it at first, but Sister Leona kept making her study. In private, she’d even summon Veltia to her own palace to slowly torture her. It was hard not to learn under those circumstances.

The Emperor nodded. He seemed to want to say something, but didn’t know how to begin. In the end, he crouched down and picked her up.

Sigh. Her freebie dad just loved carrying her around.

The Empress only smiled without saying a word, gently ruffling her daughter’s hair.

“Your Majesty, if you don’t say anything, your daughter’s going to hate you.”

“Ahem… Vivi, you’ve worked hard. You’re not feeling uncomfortable, are you?”

“No. Brother Karen and Sister Leona helped me practice beforehand, so it wasn’t hard at all. Father, aren’t you busy today? You came all this way just to see me.”

“Not at all. How could I miss my precious daughter’s awakening?”

The Emperor smiled warmly as he held his five-year-old daughter, feeling especially happy. He was always so busy that he could never spend time with his children, but no matter what, he was going to be here today. His wife had told him that work could wait, but a day this important in their daughter’s life would come only once.

When this little daughter was born, she was sick every other day, and it had worried him to no end. If the imperial physician hadn’t repeatedly assured him that her health would gradually improve as she grew, he would’ve wanted to have the man beheaded. Now his youngest daughter was perfectly healthy and no longer got sick. She’d also awakened her power, just like his first two children.

It didn’t matter what outsiders thought of his daughter. She only needed to stay in the palace and be a cherished little princess. As for the throne and all that, he could leave it to that kid Karen to worry about.

“Vivi, your father turned down all his work just to come see you. Make sure you spend some time with him.”

“Really, Father? You’re so busy, and you still came to see me. I’m so happy!”

She snuggled against the Emperor, leaning on him like a spoiled little girl. She’d never known her parents’ love in her previous life, so in this one, she was going to be as affectionate as she wanted and enjoy every bit of it.

When she’d first arrived here, she’d resisted everything and refused to accept it. Now things were different. She’d come to think of this place as home. She had a family she loved, and she wanted to grow closer to them. They were all important to her.

The Emperor and Empress were both delighted as they looked at their youngest daughter. Of their three children, the Third Princess had caused them the most worry. Before she turned three, she was always causing trouble and had a terrible temper. She’d broken plenty of things. Once she could go outside, she climbed trees and even jumped into the river to catch fish. She’d frightened the two of them more times than they could count. Thankfully, she’d eventually started to behave. She stopped making trouble and breaking things, and began acting like a good child. She was much gentler now, even if she was still a little girl in other ways.

Veltia had started accepting her life here, and the way things were. She’d been born into the royal family in this life, and there was nothing she could do to change that. So she wanted to start thinking about her future. If a member of the royal family had no value, the only path ahead was a political marriage. She didn’t want to marry a prince from another country or marry down to some noble. If she wanted to change her fate, she had to study hard and make herself exceptional. If she became good enough, the Emperor wouldn’t be willing to marry her off just anywhere. And if she could be useful to the country, maybe she could stay in the palace, earn a title, and never marry at all.

And so Veltia had a goal: study hard and grow stronger. Once her brother or sister inherited the throne, she’d ask them to grant her a title. Then she could live as an idle royal, coasting through life until the end.

“Vivi, is the ceremony over? Let’s go play somewhere.”

Karen came over, took her hand, and wanted to play with her again. Her brother was growing into his looks, and if some noble girl saw that handsome face, she’d probably scream and faint. But he was a total siscon and always wanted to cling to her. Still, as Karen got older, he’d stopped pestering her like a little kid and had become much gentler.

“Brother Karen, we should head back to the palace. And, Brother, I told you not to send dresses and gems to my palace anymore. It’s such a waste.”

“Vivi, just accept the gifts your big brother gives you. Whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you. That’s my duty as your brother.”

“Then hurry up and get engaged, Brother. You’re old enough.”

“I don’t want to get engaged so soon. Besides, Vivi, you’re a little kid too, but you talk like an adult.”

“Of course I do. Unlike you, I’m not an immature little kid.”

“I’m not immature!”

The way the siblings bickered was quite entertaining. The Empress almost wanted to sit off to the side with some tea and watch.

Leona had watched them for a little while from the side. Veltia went over to greet her.

“Sister, have you been waiting long?”

“No, just a little while. Is there anything you’d like for your birthday? I’ll have someone bring it to you.”

“There’s nothing in particular I want. The dress you gave me last year was nice, but I don’t really want another dress.”

“You don’t want any gems either?”

“No. Speaking of which, Sister, when are you getting engaged?”

“Why are you always worrying about that? Don’t worry, your sister doesn’t want a partner that soon.”

Leona couldn’t help feeling helpless. Her little sister was always worrying about her and Brother Karen getting engaged. She was only a child, yet she seemed so interested in that sort of thing. But whenever Leona asked if she wanted to get engaged too, she resisted like crazy.

Still, her little sister really was outstanding at her studies. She was only five, but her schedule was already packed with lessons. She was studying all sorts of subjects and doing very well in them. Her teachers all said she was clever, and apparently she was already preparing to study magic. Leona hadn’t started learning magic until she was seven. This little one was incredibly quick.

It was only etiquette that she was just now getting up to standard in. Leona had often thought how lucky it was that her little sister had started etiquette lessons early and been corrected early. Otherwise, she’d still be a wild little girl by now.