Ibnel couldn’t believe what she was seeing with her own eyes. What could have happened in the meantime for her eye color to change?

“How on earth did this happen…?”

In contrast, Shuher’s tone remained calm as he looked at her.

“This is why I decided not to kill the princess.”

“Do you perhaps know something about this, Your Majesty?”

It was clear that he must know the reason, since he showed no sign of surprise even though he would have known her eye color had changed since she woke up.

“Why did it suddenly change? There doesn’t seem to be a problem with my vision.”

Since she could still see, it wasn’t due to an injury from the monster. Though even if that were the case, a change in eye color wouldn’t have occurred anyway.

At that moment, Shuher asked one question. His voice carried strong conviction.

“When you fired the final shot that took down the monster, didn’t you see something from it?”

“At that time…”

As she recalled the urgent situation, the memory of a white light flickering from the monster’s body suddenly came to mind.

“That’s right. A white light suddenly flickered, and I shot towards it. And then…”

“You ended the monster’s life. With that one shot, you accurately hit the core.”

“Is that related to why my eyes changed?”

“You should have figured it out by now. What all these changes mean.”

Ibnel fell into deep thought at his words. Suddenly, the story Aran had told her flashed through her mind.

‘Aodin was given the ability to see through the cores of monsters.’

She thought it impossible, but immediately shook her head as if it were absurd.

“That can’t be. I heard that lineage had already been cut off in Aodin. Besides, I never had that ability to begin with.”

“No, it’s certain. That white eye color proves it. It’s said that those who received that ability from Aodin throughout generations all had pure white eyes.”

That’s why Shuher could tell as soon as he saw her. That the ability called God’s blessing had manifested in her.

He didn’t know why it suddenly appeared, but that was no longer important. He wasn’t one to miss this golden opportunity of having Ibnel with the ability fall into his hands.

If a useless noble princess had gained the ability everyone so desperately wished for, the story would completely change.

“It can’t be…”

Ibnel was simply confused by this whole situation. She was originally neither a person of Aodin nor the princess of the Istella duchy. How could something like this happen?

Moreover, wasn’t this body supposed to be a character who dies early in the novel?

‘Could it be that variables like this occurred because the novel’s content changed due to me?’

Ibnel turned her head towards her reflection in the mirror, still unable to believe it easily. Upon closer inspection, the white eyes sparkled as if stardust had been sprinkled on them.

Due to the different colored eyes on each side, the atmosphere surrounding her seemed to have become mysterious.

“Could it have been a one-time coincidence?”

She suggested one possibility that had flashed through her mind.

It could have been a one-time miracle that occurred because the situation was too urgent, or because she had wished for it so desperately.

‘She still doesn’t believe it?’

Shuher could understand. Even he had found it hard to believe at first when he realized she had gained the ability.

He had planned to check once Ibnel woke up anyway. Whether it was truly just a one-time miracle as she said.

The funny thing was that his expectations had been overturned once again.

Originally, it should have been a situation where he doubted and she insisted it was true.

“Then let’s confirm it. Let’s see whose words are correct.”

“Pardon?”

“Follow me.”

As Shuher opened the door and looked at her, Ibnel followed him out for now. After all, she needed to settle this clearly to decide what to do next.

* * *

As soon as they left the palace, Demil, who seemed to have been waiting, immediately attached himself to Shuher’s side.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes. But will it really work?”

While the conversation passed between the two, Ibnel simply followed silently. She had no way of knowing where they were taking her.

Or how they were going to confirm this.

At the end of that path, she arrived at a massive building with a dome-shaped ceiling.

Apart from having no audience seats and only a ceiling, its structure wasn’t much different from the arena where she had nearly died at the hands of a monster.

If anything stood out, it was that the walls, floor, and even the ceiling were covered in inexplicable marks. They looked as if they had been dented by a strong force or scratched by something sharp.

“Where exactly is this place? Is this also an arena like the one I was in just now?”

“While that place was for the audience’s entertainment, this is where we train using monsters.”

“So that’s why there was a live monster inside the imperial palace.”

Ibnel was simply amazed that they had thought to use uncontrollable monsters in such a way. At the same time, she could feel Karies’ desperation.

It meant they wanted to find a breakthrough to defeat monsters, even if it meant doing something like this.

“To counter monsters, we conversely need to know about them. That’s why we regularly capture monsters and conduct training.”

Now that she knew about this place, it was time to hear the purpose of bringing her here.

“So why did you bring me here?”

“As I said earlier, we need to confirm properly.”

“You don’t mean…”

She hoped the ominous thought that suddenly occurred to her was wrong, but the answer she dreaded finally flowed from Shuher’s lips.

“In the same way as in the arena just now.”

“You want me to face a monster again?”

She could only feel dumbfounded. She had barely survived the monster earlier, and now they were talking about putting another monster in here. It made her wonder if they were just trying to kill her.

“I saw a monster for the first time in my life today. I don’t know anything about how to deal with them.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m here this time.”

Ibnel was momentarily at a loss for words at such a confident statement. She had heard many stories about the Emperor of Karies, but she couldn’t readily believe he was strong enough to be so self-assured.

Especially since she had directly seen and felt how threatening the existence of monsters was.

“And you don’t need to know how. You just need to aim for the core.”

“That doesn’t seem like something someone who knows it’s not as simple as it sounds should say.”

Even if the monster’s core was visible, it didn’t necessarily mean it could be killed. It was by no means easy to catch that fleeting moment of vulnerability while avoiding the monster’s attacks.

It literally meant putting one’s life on the line.

“If I’m right, I won’t let you die.”

“Doesn’t that mean you’ll let me die if you’re not right?”

“That’s right. I would have no reason to keep you alive then.”

At Shuher’s cold reply, Ibnel felt a certain stubbornness arise in her heart. She didn’t know how this novel would unfold, but she didn’t want to die by his machinations.

“At least I won’t die here.”

At that moment, Demil, who had disappeared at some point, approached.

“Your Majesty, the preparations are complete.”

“Then seal the entrance and release the monster.”

After he left, soon the sound of the door they had entered through closing was heard.

Shuher drew the sword from the scabbard at his waist. The sharp blade was threatening just to look at.

A purple snake pattern wrapped around the handle inlaid with a black jewel. She thought it looked familiar, and then realized it was the same shape as the emblem decorating the uniform Demil was wearing.

Somehow, it felt like even the weapon he used resembled him.

At that moment, Shuher took something out from the opposite side of his waist and threw it towards Ibnel.

Catching the object reflexively, Ibnel looked at him before turning her gaze to the gun resting on her two hands. The black gun barrel, which looked extraordinary at a glance, also bore the snake pattern.

As if it were a pair with the sword.

To her questioning look about why he was giving her this, Shuher replied with an indifferent face.

“You said you don’t want to die, so use that.”

“Isn’t this what Your Majesty uses?”

“That’s right.”

“Is it alright for me to use it?”

“It doesn’t matter. I prefer the sword anyway.”

Perhaps because it belonged to the Emperor, just holding it lightly in her hand felt clearly different. Just in case, she examined it carefully, and the bullets inside the revolving chamber caught her attention.

She hadn’t noticed earlier because she was focused on taking down the monster, but the bluish glow seemed different from ordinary bullets.

As Ibnel took out a bullet and looked at it closely, Shuher, seeming to have noticed her question, said:

“That’s a special bullet used when dealing with monsters. It’s made using the monster’s core, so it can penetrate even the hard body of a monster.”

That small bullet was the result of countless efforts and trials. Ordinary bullets would bounce off the monster’s body, so they had to devise another method.

The answer was found in an unexpected place. In the monster’s core.

Since the core is the source of a monster’s life, it contains a lot of energy, exerting powerful force even in very small amounts. In other words, they were using monsters to defeat monsters.

“The monster will be here soon.”

Ibnel felt tension gradually building at those words.

If she had never known about monsters at all, it might not have been this bad. But having faced one before, she absolutely couldn’t let her guard down.

If she became careless, she could really die here.

‘Did I really gain an ability? Why, why me of all people?’

Shuher’s voice woke her from her thoughts.

“Now doesn’t seem like the time to be lost in thought.”

“What?”

No sooner had those words ended than the bars on the opposite entrance opened, and a monster that leapt out at high speed soared high into the sky.

‘What is that now?’

If the previous one had the form of a wolf, this one was similar to an eagle. Of course, it was incomparably larger than that.

The beak was longer and sharper, and especially the razor-sharp talons on its two legs were extremely threatening. The monster was circling above their heads, making warning cries.

“That’s a monster called Rapiru. It’s quite tricky to deal with because it flies in the sky. Even those feathers are harder than most steel, so it’s not easy to penetrate. It’s also fast, so we’re at a disadvantage in aerial combat.”

While listening to that explanation, Ibnel stared at the monster in the air. To check if she could see the core.

But before she could, the Rapiru opened its beak threateningly and began to descend towards her.

It was moving at a speed too fast for Ibnel to even aim her gun.

‘Too late.’

At that moment, there was a hand quickly snatching her waist. Thanks to that, she had narrowly avoided the monster’s attack.

Belatedly coming to her senses and opening her eyes, she found herself in Shuher’s arms. She stared blankly at him before hurriedly pushing him away and escaping from his embrace.

Meanwhile, the Rapiru was circling in the air again.

“Shouldn’t a thank you come first?”

“I’d like to make this clear to you as well. It was Your Majesty who brought me here and created this situation.”

“This doesn’t seem like the time to argue about that. So, can you see anything?”

Indeed, now was not the time to argue with Shuher. Ibnel focused again on the Rapiru flying in the air.

‘I can see it.’

A clear white light was flickering from its dark red body.

“Inside the beak.”

“This confirms it then. That I was right.”

“It seems a bit early to celebrate, don’t you think?”

She had been constantly watching the monster looking for an opportunity to attack, so she had no leisure to think about such things.

If there was anything fortunate, it was that Shuher now had a reason to help her.

‘But the opponent is flying in the sky.’

No matter how skilled he was, it was unreasonable to attack an object moving in the air. Her accuracy would also significantly decrease if she tried to shoot at a target moving quickly in the sky.

In the meantime, the monster would surely look for an opening to attack again.

It was only one experience, but what happened in the arena was a great help for her in dealing with monsters.

‘As expected, there’s only one option left.’

Having quickly finished her thoughts, Ibnel skillfully loaded the gun and said to Shuher.

“It seems we’ll need to cooperate after all.”

Shuher felt Ibnel’s demeanor change in an instant. As expected, a gun was in her hand this time as well.