The Rebirth of Evelyn Knox

It didn't take long for Evelyn to regain consciousness, and Bree finally breathed a sigh of relief once she saw niece's pink lashes flutter as she woke up.

"Thank goodness, you scared me!"

Evelyn tried to look around to see what was going on. The last thing she remembered was standing in the middle of an array, and then there was a blaring noise in her mind before everything went blank.

"U-Uh, what happened?"

The blonde haired lady smiled gently. "Don't worry, you passed."

Evelyn breathed a sigh of relief, but was still wondering what exactly happened for her to lose consciousness like that.

Moreover, she vaguely recalled getting multiple warnings in her system, but she fainted before she could realize what was going on.

"It looks like you may have a shielding skill, which prevented the probing array from working."

Of course, Bree never expected Evelyn to already know about it. How could she, when no one else did? It's not like anyone had ever tried using a probing array on her before.

"The way the shielding skill works normally is that the spirit power stored in an object is exhausted to resist the probe, and once it has run out, the shield will collapse and lose its function, exposing whatever it was inside that was being protected from the probe."

She smiled softly as she caressed the little girl's luxurious pink hair.

"Since this is the first time I have heard of this skill being innate to a person, you should be careful not to let any powerful probing arrays be used on you."

Evelyn nodded.

"A shielding object breaks once it runs out of power, and it is safe to say that the consequences of running out spirit power while resisting a probe won't be pleasant. We were lucky that the elders quickly shut the array down when they noticed your abnormality. So you have to be careful in the future, okay?"

"Un… I understand."

It's a pity that she was unaware of this side effect when she had acquired the shielding skill. But even if she knew, she would probably still get it.

After all, it was better for her to be able to resist probes.

And if someone was strong enough to force her into an array and grind her spirit power to nothing using just a probe, they could probably easily crush her anyway.

As she finished gathering her thoughts, it was only then that she realized she was still in the middle of the arena, being stared at by thousands of people.

The little girl got out of her aunt's embrace with embarrassment, causing both Bree and the surrounding elders to chuckle.

Although there were some mishaps, overall they were all quite happy with the outcome.

One more child with great talent meant one more pillar who could carry on their legacy once everything was over.

Once the war between the great nations began, the ancient families weren't stupid enough to fight for an empire when their royal family only thought of them as an eyesore.

At that time, their only goal would be to safely escort these children away from the flames of war.

Once the elders confirmed there was nothing wrong, her grandfather handed her a small copper medallion inlaid with a purple gem.

"This is your reward for passing the assessment."

The gem was surrounded by ten different symbols engraved in silver, each representing one of the ancient families. Although some of them had ceased to exist.

As Evelyn looked at the medallion in her palm curiously, the old man continued explaining the medallion's function and importance.

"As an ancient family's princess, you are entitled to enter the 'Timaeus Vault' once."

The old man told her that he couldn't take her there now, but he would once 'things settled down'. In the meantime, the safekeeping of the medallion would remain her own responsibility.

"Only you can enter using this badge, and you can pick one treasure, if you manage to find a suitable one inside. Keep it safe."

Well, even if she couldn't obtain it right now, a vault containing treasures from all of the ancient families since time unknown definitely had to contain something good, right?

Just thinking about it made her feel giddy. Like it was definitely worth it going through all those excruciating level ups.

"U-Un, thank you, I will treasure it, grandpa."

Her excitement at obtaining a ticket to new treasure was interrupted, however. The white dressed man landed in front of them with a boom, sending dust flying everywhere from the impact.

It was the same bastard who had been chasing after Bree before the ceremony, and had introduced himself as a 'Royal Guardian'.

The man ignored the elders in the arena, and directly aimed a condescending finger at Evelyn.

"Little girl, rejoice, for the second Prince of our great Lavinian Empire has invited you over for a talk. Since the prince was even gracious enough to allow your ceremony to finish first, I trust you wouldn't dare to waste his highness's precious time anymore?"

Evelyn was gritting her teeth, and she could feel that none of the surrounding elders were happy either.

If each of them was on the same level as Bree, or even slightly lower, it should still be possible to effortlessly crush this arrogant man in front of them.

However, they did not dare do so, because he represented the royal family, and attacking him in public was the same as seeking death. Not just for themselves, but also their entire families.

Even if she was angry, Evelyn couldn't say anything. She didn't even know whether it would be better to agree to go with him or refuse in this situation.

It was Bree who held her hand and walked forward.

"Let's go meet the 'mighty' and 'illustrious' prince."

----------

The two royalties had already left the arena at some point, as if her ceremony wasn't really worth watching for them, and the 'royal guardian' led them to the ornate carriage standing outside the colosseum instead.

Most of the guests were also leaving the arena, and many directed curious looks at them as they watched the ceremony girl being led towards the royal carriage.

"Wasn't the royal family said to be on bad terms with the ancient families?"

"Idiot, if it was like that, would they come attend one of their ceremonies?"

"Oh, makes sense."

"You can't just blindly trust the rumors."

"Anyway, let's just hurry up and get to the party first. I'm famished."

"It won't start if the girl is not there, you know?"

"Won't they still serve the guests?"

"I guess, but are you here just to eat?"

The 'Royal Guardian' ignored the whispering crowd and opened the carriage gate. As he motioned them to enter, Bree could only reluctantly carry her niece in, no matter how uneasy she felt.

The insides of the carriage were far more spacious than its appearance on the outside suggested.

It was almost large enough to be considered a decent sized room, with two long luxurious sofas on both sides. There was a grand ornate coffee table in the center, with plenty of leg room between the table and the sofa.

Both of the royalties were sitting on one side, and Bree placed Evelyn on the empty sofa before taking a seat by her side.

The prince chuckled, with mockery as blatant as could be in his tone. "As expected of commoners. Uncultured."

Bree didn't respond at all, only gritting her teeth in anger.

"Don't waste your time talking to trash, brother. Hey, fake!"

Evelyn would have to be an idiot to not realize who this princess was referring to. But she only glared at her in response.

The princess didn't seem to care if she responded or not.

"You got that medallion for entry to the Timaeus Vault, right? Oh don't look at me like that, everyone knows about it. Anyway, hand it over."

"Hand it over?"

Evelyn's hands were shaking as she thought of all the suffering she had gone through, forcing herself to level twenty just to make sure she could pass the test, only for the rewards to be snatched away like this.

Moreover, she had just made a promise to keep it safe, and now this princess told her to just hand it over?

This so called princess didn't even seem to really care about it, like she was snatching it just because it caught her eye.

As she recalled all the concessions that the ancient family elders had made, how cautious they had been, Evelyn knew there must be a reason they didn't dare rebel.

Perhaps the royal family was just too strong.

Since even Bree did not dare openly go against them, what other choice did she have?

The pink haired girl could only bury the grievances deep in her heart, and make sure to avenge this transgression once she was strong enough.

Just as she was about to put the medallion on the table, however, Bree reached out and held her hand with a smile.

"And what if we don't?"