Elder Truze finally found his voice, though it shook with the weight of what he was about to say.
"Princess Zaiveil, you have a Celestial Charm." he said slowly, disbelief and wonder tangled inseparably in his tone.
The chamber fell utterly silent.
"The Celestial Charm, It's one of the rarest charms this world has ever known. It was believed to be a long lost legend itself." Elder Prio repeated, his voice barely above a whisper, as though speaking too loudly might somehow make the impossible truth disappear.
Zaiveil stood frozen at the center of the platform, the weight of those words settling over her like the golden light still fading from the chamber walls, and for the first time since crossing the cosmos, she genuinely didn't know what to say at all.
For a long moment, no one in the chamber moved.
"What?! The Celestial Charm?! As in the one from the old legends, the one they say that hasn't awakened in any charmer since hundred thousands of years?" Then Zyver broke the silence entirely.
"That would be the one," Elder Truze confirmed, still visibly shaken, though a slow, disbelieving smile was beginning to spread across his usually composed face.
"I'm right! I told you all that her soul carried something extraordinary. I simply never imagined, even after everything that we've went through, that it would be like this." Elder Cryzton said, his voice thick with emotion as he pressed a trembling hand to his chest.
Empress Hernia had both hands pressed over her mouth, tears streaming freely down her cheeks, while Emperor Zyron stood beside her, his usual regal composure was entirely abandoned as he stared at his daughter with an awe.
"Someone please explain, what exactly is Celestial Charm. I think I'm the only person in this room who doesn't know a single thing about my own charm." Zaiveil said, still standing at the center of the platform, the lingering warmth of the rite fading slowly from her chest,
Elder Nixie stepped forward first, her gentle voice carrying a reverence Zaiveil hadn't heard from her before. "The Celestial Charm is said to be one of the original charms, Princess, tied not to a single element or discipline the way most charms are, but to the cosmos itself. The star, space, light, gravity, all woven together into a single affinity."
"It's not only a charm, some also said that it was an inheritance." Elder Truze said
"Based on hstorical records, it was mention that only a handful of charmers had carried Celestial Charm, and every single one of them became a defining figure of their era. Kings. Conquerors. According to the oldest texts, there's was even a Goddess who owned such Charm, though most scholars dismiss that as a myth." Elder Truze added.
Zaiveil's breath caught slightly at the word goddess, an uncomfortable prickle crawling up her spine though she couldn't quite place why.
"So what does that mean? What is her ranking then?" Heriot asked, stepping closer, his earlier worry shifting into something more protective and alert.
"If it's that rare, how do the elders even measure her starting point?" Herox added
"That is where things become complicated. The standard rank system, from F to Godly, simply wasn't built with the Celestial Charm in mind. Given the intensity of both the Trial Stone's initial reaction and tonight's rite, my preliminary estimate places her starting affinity considerably above the standard entry rank most new charmers receive." Elder Truze admitted
"How considerably?" Zyrcus asked quietly, though the steady calm in his voice couldn't quite mask his own curiosity.
Elder Truze hesitated, exchanging a glance with Elder Cryzton before answering. "Based on the resonance readings alone, I'd estimate she began somewhere in the B to A rank range. Which, for context, most charmers take years of dedicated training to reach."
The chamber erupted into a fresh wave of stunned murmuring.
"That's, that's insane," Zyver said, practically vibrating with excitement now that the initial shock had worn off.
"Little sis, do you understand what this means? You skipped literal years of training before you even properly started!" Zyver continued, looking at Zaiveil with an admiring look in his eyes.
"It also means more attention. Word of a Celestial Charm awakening after hundred thousands of years won't surely stay contained within our Kingdom's borders for long. Every kingdom, every sect, will want to know more. Some may have good intentions, but the others? I doubt so." Emperor Zyron said, his tone sobering the celebratory mood instantly.
"We'll handle that when it comes, Father. For now, I'd like to actually celebrate the fact that my sister just awakened one of the rarest charms in the recorded history, rather than immediately worrying about who might try to exploit it." Herox said firmly, moving to stand protectively at his sister's side.
"Spoken like a true eldest brother. Very well, lets tonight be a celebration for Princess Zai real awakening." A tired but genuine laugh escaped Elder Cryzton at that, the tension in the chamber finally beginning to ease.
Later, once the ritual chamber had emptied and the family made their way back up toward the palace's upper halls, Zaiveil found herself walking slightly apart from the others, her thoughts still tangled around everything she'd just learned.
'Celestial Charm?'
'A charm tied to the cosmos itself.'
She thought of the fragmented vision she'd experienced during the rite, those starlights and a voice calling her by a name that wasn't quite hers.
She hadn't mentioned it to the elders, because she's uncertain of what it meant, or whether it even mattered.
"Zai, you're too quiet." Zyrcus observed her, falling into step beside her as the rest of the family trailed ahead, still buzzing with excited conversation.
"I still can't get over it. An hour ago I'm still looking for the right answers. Now that the answer was in front of me, I still don't fully understand lots of it." she admitted.
"Don't think too much about it, whatever the Celestial Charm means to you, none of that changes who you are to us." Zyrcus said, considering her words seriously rather than brushing them aside.
"You're our princess, our treasure." Zyrcus added.
Zaiveil glanced at him, something warm settling in her chest despite the whirlwind of the evening. "Thank you, Fourth Brother."
"Don't thank me yet, It's my duty as your brother to care about you, seeing you doing alright is enough for me, to feel at ease." he said, a small smile tugging at his mouth.
Zaiveil found herself smiling softly, and it steadily became more natural each time it happened to her.