Chapter 662 — Off the Leash
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"Miss Rebecca," Cohen bowed in salute like the others, a smile on his face, "everything is prepared. We can begin at any time."
"Good, good~~" Rebecca kept her jubilant smile and walked straight toward the large platform at the center of the laboratory. Around the platform were arranged a great many magical devices of every description, and upon the platform sat a metal ring-shaped apparatus about two meters in diameter and a palm's width thick, its surface inlaid with numerous runes and crystalline components.
The team members gathered around, each taking their workstation. The tall, slightly balding man adjusted the energy supply to the experimental platform as he asked, "Miss Rebecca, have you seen today's newspaper... ah, surely you already knew the news before the papers did?"
The moment he finished speaking, the arcanotechnical engineers around them paused their work one after another, all wearing expressions of considerable interest, leaning in slightly and pricking up their ears. But Rebecca, at the center of it all, was taken aback. "Huh? I haven't read it... Mr. Marin, what news?"
Cohen wore an "I knew it" expression and pressed a hand to his forehead with a hint of resignation, prompting from the side: "About the Cecil Empire... you should know, Ansu's royal authority has ended."
"...Oh!" Rebecca took another two seconds to suddenly react, clapping her hands together. "Right! I heard Aunt Hetty mention it at dinner last night... What else did she say... But at the time my head was full of formulas, so I didn't take it down..."
"You..." Marin, the slightly balding arcanotechnical engineer, opened his mouth but suddenly found he didn't know what to say. This should have been a fine topic for a work break, yet the person concerned had reacted so unexpectedly that the topic turned awkward. He could only hint obliquely: "We may soon be addressing you as Her Highness the Princess..."
Rebecca thought about it, and took another two seconds to react.
"Ah, seems so..." She finally came to her senses, and finally recalled that what Aunt Hetty had told her earlier was a whole pile of things about relearning etiquette lessons, relearning grammar, history, and the like. Her expression gradually became a sight to behold.
"N-no one says a princess has to retake etiquette lessons, right?" Rebecca's eyes widened like a frightened rabbit as she said nervously to Marin, "You're Viscount Leslie's nephew. You understand, don't you?"
"Th-this... even if you ask me, I don't know..." Marin wore a look of mixed amusement and exasperation. He was indeed the only person in this laboratory besides Rebecca Cecil with any connection to noble blood, yet that connection was merely having an uncle who was a viscount. How could he possibly answer the questions of someone about to become "Her Highness the Princess"? Then again, on second thought, considering the various rumors about this Cecil heir from the beginning, considering her reputation in the southern noble circles as almost a laughingstock, it seemed not entirely incomprehensible that she would seek his advice. "Probably no need to retake them... After all, the noble system has been thoroughly reformed, and the 'Empire's' various institutions will surely all be new. The old noble etiquette is presumably no longer so important."
Rebecca immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "Then that's fine..."
Marin thought for a moment, then added: "But what's old needn't be retaken—what's new will certainly have to be learned from scratch..."
Rebecca: "..."
To be honest, in that moment she nearly scared up a great fireball. It was the exorbitant cost of the laboratory's many precision instruments and the memory of her aunt's iron hammer that calmed her down.
"Let's... not discuss this anymore..." The future Imperial Princess forcibly cut off the topic, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. "Let's begin... begin the experiment."