Hearing the lieutenant’s question, I suddenly remembered the things I had wanted to talk to him about. In the excitement of the new weapons, I had almost forgotten about the mission and everything else.

  "Yes, sir, but there was something else I wanted to talk to you about, and I think it is related to how much authority and influence noble houses have in the Royal Army,” I said. Instead of directly jumping into the history of the Royal Army, I wanted to discuss Leif’s condition and House Petrae.

  He nodded, signaling me to continue.

  “Sir, you know about my friend Leif, right?” I said. “I heard that he will require treatment in the capital, and with the increase in his affinity, he might be able to join the Knight Academy. But instead of the army paying, House Petrae is paying for him. I am not sure why. And while I am grateful, are there things I should tell Leif before he leaves? Is House Petrae becoming aware of Leif’s existence going to get him into trouble?”

  I was careful while talking about House Petrae. The lieutenant had drilled it into me never to voice opinions about a noble house unless I was sure of the other person’s allegiance.

  And I had no idea what the lieutenant’s allegiances were.

  “Hmmm, yes, you can share as many details as you want from this conversation,” he said. “But I will start by correcting you on one thing. Leif is not the only one who has been noticed by House Petrae. You have been noticed as well.”

  I frowned in confusion. Why would House Petrae notice me?

  “This brings us to the history of the Royal Army, and a little history of the royal family and the kingdom,” he continued. “Especially about one person who, even after being dead for more than five hundred years, is considered the most important figure in this kingdom’s history.”

  “Crown Princess Aurora Lux Valeriana of House Valerianus. The only known light-affinity wielder, and one with perfect affinity. She named the kingdom and its capital, established the Royal Army and its rules, and created the kingdom’s education system. The list goes on. She was not just the most doted daughter of His Majesty the King, but the reason the kingdom is one of the strongest in the world today.”

  I was shocked by the number of achievements the lieutenant listed. I had read her name in some texts before, but other than being a former crown princess, I did not know these details. What I did not understand was how someone so important had anything to do with Leif and me. Neither of us had perfect affinity or even light affinity.

  Without addressing my concern, the lieutenant continued.

  “The death of the princess is the reason the rules of the Royal Army are followed so strictly. Even high nobles do not dare break them,” he said, taking a deep breath. Every time he mentioned the princess, I could hear reverence in his voice.

  “She was the Master of Defense of the kingdom before her death. Her death almost led to a civil war. The only reason it did not happen was because no new Master of Defense was appointed. Instead of replacing her, the King appointed a council of generals. Seven generals, all appointed by the princess herself. The King made sure their authority was never questioned, and the army runs as the princess intended.”

  "All seven generals vowed to keep the rules of the army intact and treat the Royal Army as the princess’s legacy. The King supported this decision, and even the new crown prince does not have the authority to make changes without the council’s approval".

  “Sir, how did such an important person even die?” I asked, now completely interested. If she was so beloved, how had this happened? If the king was still alive, the chances of her dying of old age were very low. Was she killed? Was that why the kingdom nearly fell into civil war?

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  Disappointment appeared on the lieutenant’s face.

  “We do not know,” he shook his head. “Some believe she was trying to progress to Tier Eight, but there are no records of any Tier Eight humans or of her research into progressing to that level.”

  “Oh.”

  Even I felt sad that someone like her had died, and no one even knew how.

  “A lot of people say that if she were still alive, every person in the kingdom would have a method to form a core,” he said. I looked at the lieutenant in surprise.

  “Yes, she dedicated her whole life to making this kingdom stronger and the lives of its people safer. Her last successful research focused on increasing affinity, and as a result, we now know how to increase affinity from sixty-five percent to eighty percent, enough to form a core,” he said.

  I could feel that the lieutenant wished she were still alive, and that her death still affected him. I could understand why. Just living in a time when such a great person was gone was a heavy loss. Knowing that if she were still alive, people like the lieutenant and I might have had a way to progress only made that loss more significant.

  He took a deep breath, then continued.

  “Coming back to the topic we were discussing, and to answer your question about House Petrae and why they are sponsoring Leif, it is because Count Petrae is part of that council.”

  As soon as he said that, all my worries faded. If Count Petrae had been chosen by someone like the princess, he had to be a good man, and his house would not create trouble for Leif.

  Seeing my relief, the lieutenant raised a finger.

  “Do not trust House Petrae blindly. Even though they are a military house, they are still nobles. Not all members are military-focused. All I will tell you and Leif is to make your own judgments. Noble houses still make decisions that are not always in the best interest of individual soldiers.”

  “But one thing I can say for certain is that the Count would never allow his family to directly harm the Royal Army or any of its members. That would go against his principles and the council. He could even lose his position if his house harmed a soldier without proper justification.”

  “Umm, sir, I understand why nobles would not break the rules of the army, but what does this have to do with me and Leif being noticed by House Petrae?” I asked.

  “Ah, Yes, you see, the things that made you and Leif noticeable are rare. And make no mistake, all old noble houses would notice as well if they learned about it.”

  “You see, the princess’s light affinity increased from ninety percent to one hundred percent when she was Tier One, just like Leif. We know many resources and elemental treasures can increase affinity, but Leif is only the fifth recorded case of someone whose affinity increased after battle. That makes him of interest to almost all nobles.”

  “Sir,” I asked quickly, “this would not cause Leif to be experimented on, right?”

  He smiled. “This is where the rules of the army protect him. But if some nobles wanted someone to experiment on, it would not be Leif. It would be you.”

  I was confused. He kept mentioning me in the same tone as Leif without explaining why. As if teasing me, he continued with the same smile.

  “While Leif’s situation shares only a small similarity with the princess, you have something in common with her that no one else in the kingdom has. Maybe even in the whole world.”

  He paused.

  “You are both threshold breakers,” he said. “Regrettably, you lack elemental affinity. Otherwise, the royal family itself would have adopted you—”

  The lieutenant kept speaking, but I stopped listening the moment I heard the words threshold breaker. They struck my ears like thunder. My eyes widened. I had thought no one knew.

  No one had asked about it. No one had mentioned it during placement. But it seemed it was not as much of a secret as I had believed.

  While some aspects of Leif’s condition were similar to the princess’s, and his increased affinity would surely draw the attention of nobles, my fear was different. If people ever learned that the reason I had become a threshold breaker was my memories from Earth, I would end up in some noble’s chamber while they experimented on me, trying to extract every piece of information I possessed.

  That line of thought sparked another, far more unsettling question. What if something similar had happened to the princess?

  That would explain why the kingdom was named Avalon. Why the army’s rules were designed to protect commoners. Why the royal academies functioned the way they did.

  Most importantly, if she had been a researcher or scientist from Earth, she could have used Earth’s scientific knowledge to develop light affinity even before awakening. After all, the royal family is known for fire affinity, not light affinity but someone familiar with advanced physics could easily experiment with affinities and possibly alter their own.

  After a few minutes, I took a deep breath.

  Earth memories or not, I knew the princess was someone truly great, and maybe comparing myself to her was not the right path.