After splitting up with Sachis and Estelle, Arcrayne first got in touch with the employees of the Libra Palace. He borrowed a mana communicator from a member of the Sovereign’s Guard.
“Your Highness! You are safe!” Coming in through the device was the voice of his chief officer, Haoran.
“My father and Estelle rescued me. How are things on your end?”
“We are all safe too. Though it was frightening when the Sovereign’s Guard came all of a sudden and took control of the Libra Palace...”
Apparently, after arresting Estelle in order to deceive the queen, the Sovereign’s Guard had explained the situation to Haoran and other employees. At present, they all pretended to be under control and were watching the events unfold.
“We shall make our way to you at once. Where may we find you?”
Arcrayne gave concise directions and cut the call. Then, the leader of the Sovereign’s Guard unit spoke up to him. The prince seemed to remember the man introducing himself as Pascar. He’d etched himself in Arcrayne’s memory thanks to his muscular build and his face, which was scarier than those of the others.
“It must be hard to walk in that. My apologies that the best we can offer you is one of our spares, but please put these on.” Pascar held out a royal blue military uniform, its color invigorating to Arcrayne’s eyes.
He wasn’t wrong, so the prince did as told. Once he was done, they all headed to the Leo Palace, where the queen and the duke would be. The lights of the underground passage went out all of a sudden as they walked. Immediately after everything was shrouded in darkness, Arcrayne felt like a thin membrane had enveloped him whole. Sachis must’ve restricted the use of mana across the palace.
The prince concentrated to see if he could use telekinesis, but the membrane prevented the release of his mana.
“It appears His Majesty has reached the underground Shrine,” said Pascar.
“Indeed. I can’t use my power anymore,” replied Arcrayne, grimacing.
Why did this feel so suffocating? Was it anxiety stemming from being unable to use the power he’d grown so accustomed to since childhood? He couldn’t tell if the mana barrier that had always enveloped him was functioning either.
I better be careful not to get hurt... he noted.
As he recalled the time he’d gotten badly injured at Olivia’s mansion, Estelle’s face from when he’d woken up appeared at the back of his head. He’d seemed to have caused her a great deal of worry, and she’d looked thoroughly haggard. He wanted to make sure she’d never make a face like that again.
From this point on, he wouldn’t be able to use any mana objects at all, including mana communicators. A commotion was no doubt spreading through the palace at the moment over the fact that all mana objects had stopped working.
Arcrayne and the Sovereign’s Guard unit with him had prepared for the situation, bringing oil lamps and guns operating on gunpowder.
Also, since apparently Sachis’s aides were only pretending to have sided with the queen, the way her rebellion would end was clear as day.
Arcrayne pulled out Caledfwlch, which the king had given him, to check if it still worked. He could feel mana flowing into the handle, and the blade glowed silver.
“Looks like it still works as a mana blade, as His Majesty said. A holy sword indeed,” said Pascar.
“Right.” With that short reply, Arcrayne began issuing orders. “Arrest the rebels! Kill whoever stands in our way if necessary, but leave the masterminds alive and spare those who surrender!”