The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

While the fallout was definite, the cracks had actually begun the moment certain opportunists caught wind of the Elven Prince’s condition.

For the elves, that period was absolute chaos. Their king had passed away, their princess was gone, and the legitimate heir was rumored to be in a strange, possibly tragic state.

But the orcs were not far behind in their concern. They had learned something even more scandalous. The royal couple was no longer mated in the traditional sense.

Sure, they weren’t pitching forks, but orcs weren’t really creatures of subtlety. So when the ambitious ones caught wind of this, they marched right up and asked if they could take a shot at the Orcish Prince.

Naturally, those requests fell on deaf ears. Not only was the royal couple still deeply entangled with each other, but there was also the small matter of a literal life bond connecting them.

At that point, no one really understood what that meant. Life bond. It sounded poetic. Exotic. Something vague that scholars would argue about for several generations.

But as years passed and people slowly learned the truth, everything suddenly made sense.

The Orcish Prince was not just crazy or stubborn when he left with his beloved. He was literally and rightfully bound to his wife, and it was then that his devotion began to make sense to those who had initially struggled to grapple with his decisions.

And honestly, the gesture and the commitment were romantic. Painfully romantic. It was the kind of romance that bards or little dungeon systems cried over.

But more than that, it also allowed them to vanish quietly and peacefully without sparking a bloody mess among the remaining orc siblings, who would otherwise tear each other apart for the position of heir.

And disappear they did.

They vanished so thoroughly that decades passed without a single confirmed sighting, until Prince Silarion’s aide finally emerged to unveil their legacy according to their will.

Princess Kira exhaled softly. ”Who knows if they had died way before or just sometime before the unveiling, but I would like to think they lived many good years together because his legacy was quite literally love personified.”

She paused. Then her expression brightened as she turned toward Luca with the sudden excitement of someone about to blow someone’s mind. ”Oh, and look at that, I am pretty sure you are wearing a part of it.”

Luca froze. ”Huh?”

Xavier finally stepped in, voice calm and reassuring. ”She is talking about the material used to make our rings.”

The surprised wife, however, choked. ”What?!”

Princess Kira nodded rapidly. ”Hehe. Yes. The first time I saw the matching rings, I genuinely thought you were simply married. After all, I learned that humans have wedding rings as part of their customs.”

”Then I got to know you both and realized your spiritual energies were entangled. So I guessed you formed a spiritual bond really early.”

”But just when I thought that was it, we got to learn about the Prince’s identity, and I figured that if anyone in this universe had a piece of that legacy, it would be someone from House Solaris. And sure enough, I was right!” She shrugged proudly, a bit happier than she was just moments ago.

Luca blinked, horrified and fascinated at once. ”Huh? Then their legacy... did they leave behind materials for life-binding rings?”

Well, he had to know, because had he seriously been walking about with something so priceless all this time?! Every cell in Luca’s thrifty body activated, focusing on how he could safeguard the ring from harm.

But his thoughts were popped when Princess Kira burst out laughing. ”Not exactly for rings. Because rings were not really a thing back then. For orcs, it could be exchanging weapons or anything meaningful. What they actually left behind were slabs of materials imbued with improved life contract runes.”

Golden eyes widened as they slowly drifted toward Xavier.

He remembered the glyphs.

He remembered the array that had shot straight through his heart and was amazed by how such a thing had been a remnant of such a lovely couple.

”From what I know, they were auctioned out because the couple, even after so many years, wanted to raise funds to rebuild the places destroyed during the war between the elves and the orcs.”

Everyone fell silent.

Because one could only imagine the sheer chaos when that announcement dropped.

During the couple’s disappearance, the elves and orcs had been clashing for the most nonsensical reasons. Breathing too loudly. Standing too confidently. Or really, just plain existing. Both sides blamed the other for every misfortune under the sun.

Then the unveiling happened.

At first, people scoffed. Of course they did. Why care about slabs of mysterious materials? They looked like old pieces of junk. Possibly cursed ones. The kind that people who have had such tragic lives leave when they ultimately go.

But the moment scholars confirmed the claims of Prince Silarion’s aide, everyone realized those were not ordinary junk; the entire political landscape flipped on its head.

Because, unlike a lifelong spiritual binding, a life contract born from those materials actually came with special benefits. The kind of benefits that overprotective families, suspicious nobles, paranoid clan heads, and romance-phobic individuals would fight over.

”There are benefits?” Luca blurted out. As someone who got one before understanding what it was, he sure wanted to know about those benefits.

”Yes,” Princess Kira said brightly. ”But maybe for you, the benefits won’t matter much because you are a naturally good person.”

”???”

Luca tilted his head.

Kira continued as if she did not hear him.

”See, a spiritual bond or contract ties a couple for life. That is all. They get boosts in spiritual power but only if the bond is stable.”

She lifted a finger meaningfully. ”If there is an issue in the relationship, the sea of consciousness becomes affected. And that can be disastrous.”

Everyone shuddered.

After hearing Cece’s relationship horror stories, it would be impossible to ignore how there were times when spiritual bonding could end up harming people.

”But that isn’t the case for a life bond contract,” Princess Kira said with growing enthusiasm.

”It adds clauses for loyalty, responsibility, and faithfulness, while also forming a sea of consciousness connection even between people whose spiritual ranks are too far apart for a normal bond.”

”Wow!” Ollie gasped, already in awe. He was the most terrified of accidental spiritual binding and, therefore, the most impressed by safety clauses.

”Really beneficial, right?” Princess Kira grinned.

The group nodded like eager students. Their eyes sparkled. Their posture leaned forward.

And seeing how captivated her audience was, the princess eagerly continued, explaining how difficult it had been to acquire those pieces and how they had ended up shaping interactions among the different races.