Unlike Sophie Wexler’s dreamless night, this was destined to be a sleepless one for the Empire.
The various factions were all speculating about who had matched with the 3S Healer-class, each with their own agenda.
Even His Majesty was curious.
He summoned Cillian Forrest early the next morning.
"Cillian, who did that Healer-class match with last night?" His Majesty asked, looking down at Cillian Forrest from his throne.
Ever since the previous day, he had been inundated with messages. At first, they were requests to give their children more opportunities, to let them spend more time with the Healer. But soon, everyone was scrambling to ask the same question: who did the Healer actually match with?
Many of them were the very candidates he had previously instructed Cillian Forrest to select.
And now, they were all coming to him with the same question.
He was beginning to get confused. ’Were none of the candidates chosen?’
’Then who did the Healer choose?’
So he had someone pull the data to check, not expecting the result to be so surprising.
At these words, Cillian Forrest looked up at the elder on the throne, whose eyes held a hint of a smile. "You already know, don’t you?"
"I want to hear you say it," His Majesty replied.
Cillian Forrest didn’t beat around the bush. He knew that for His Majesty to ask him like this, he must already have the answer.
Completed Healer-class matches aren’t publicly announced. This is because during the subsequent trial period, a couple might find they are unsatisfied with the arrangement. As long as they haven’t formally signed a marriage agreement, they can go to the Healer-class platform to have the match rescinded.
The arrangement can still change during this time. Although the chances are slim, to be on the safe side, the match list remains confidential until then. Whether to publicize it afterward is entirely up to the wishes of the people involved.
Furthermore, the matching system is encrypted and managed exclusively by The Healer-class Association.
The Healer-class Association reports directly to The Royal Family. No one outside of it, no matter how powerful, could possibly access the data.
But that did not include His Majesty.
So, after being pestered by those people one too many times, he had demanded the list directly from the Association.
He was determined to see for himself just who the matched party was!
But the moment he saw the names, he froze.
In disbelief, he checked it repeatedly, confirming that the names on the list were indeed ones he knew all too well.
Matched Parties: Sophie Wexler, Cillian Forrest
Match Status: Success
"You rascal. I asked you before if you wanted to be matched, but you didn’t say a word. I thought you weren’t interested, but you ended up giving me quite a surprise."
From the very beginning, he had thought about it. A Healer-class of such a high Level couldn’t be partnered with someone from a lower tier. The best choice was Cillian Forrest.
That was why he had asked Cillian, but from Cillian’s demeanor at the time, he hadn’t seemed the least bit interested.
That’s why he’d had Cillian Forrest compile a list of candidates instead.
He had hoped the final match would come from that list.
But he never imagined that the one to succeed would be Cillian Forrest, the very person who had shown no interest at all in the beginning.
"Don’t you think you owe me an explanation, hmm?" His Majesty said, leaning back in his chair and looking at his most trusted right-hand man.
Cillian Forrest pressed his lips together.
When His Majesty had first inquired, he hadn’t said anything, but his attitude had clearly been one of refusal.
"But that was only because," Cillian Forrest began, "at the start, the Light Brain hadn’t recommended any Healers to me."
Even though Sophie Wexler’s Level test had already reached 3S, and even though her secondary growth period wasn’t over.
Even so, the Light Brain hadn’t recommended her.
The Light Brain’s calculations are incredibly precise, with a minuscule margin of error. Its candidate recommendations don’t rely solely on Level.
They include the strength of one’s spiritual power, the breadth of their Spiritual Sea, their awakened talents, the maximum potential achievable after secondary growth, and the compatibility of two individuals’ spiritual power, among other factors.
It performs multiple, rigorous, and detailed calculations on all these aspects to arrive at an optimal solution.
The Light Brain’s delay in producing a result meant it was highly likely that Sophie Wexler’s spiritual power, even after her growth period ended, would not be sufficient to heal him.
That was why he had chosen to refuse.
"And then?" His Majesty asked, looking at Cillian Forrest.
It was less a question and more a prompt; he already knew the answer.
"Later, at the matching banquet, the Light Brain made the recommendation."
Just as he was about to give up and was preparing to take her away.
His matching bracelet notified him of the optimal match.
Even now, he still couldn’t find the words to describe how he felt in that moment.
Joy, excitement, relief.
Perhaps it was all of them.
He later inquired with The Healer-class Association as to why the recommendation had been so delayed.
Their explanation was that because Sophie Wexler was in her secondary growth period, her future development was unclear and full of unknown variables. This complicated the Light Brain’s calculations. Thus, in order to ensure a more accurate result, the process naturally took longer than for a typical case.
This was also why his recommendation came later than everyone else’s.
Hearing this, the man on the throne was inwardly stunned. Although he had guessed as much while Cillian was speaking, hearing him confirm it aloud was still a profound shock.
A 3S Healer-class!
The fact that she was recommended to Cillian meant it was highly probable she would eventually attain a spiritual power strength equal to his own.
This meant that the Disorder Period afflicting High Rank individuals would no longer be an unsolvable problem.
"Your Majesty, there is one more matter I need to report," Cillian Forrest said.
The man on the throne said, "Speak."
—
Their conversation lasted for a long time. No one knew what they discussed.
But in secret, the personnel protecting Sophie Wexler were reinforced. In addition to members of the First Legion, troops under the direct command of The Royal Family were also deployed.
In addition, Shane Thorne and his entire faction were severely punished.
It was common knowledge that tracking a Healer-class’s location during the matching banquet was forbidden.
Not only had they tracked her, but they had even hacked into the Empire’s location system to do it.
This was a flagrant disregard for the laws of The Empire. How could His Majesty not be enraged?
When Shane Thorne received the notice of his punishment, his face turned a sickly green.
After all that effort, not only had the match failed, but he had also lost the team he’d sent to intercept her, and now he was being punished for it.
Many potential allies who had been on the fence, who might have supported them, were now keeping their distance, afraid of being implicated.
It was a catastrophic double loss.
Shane Thorne was so furious he could have spat blood.
Meanwhile, Evan Adler and the other unsuccessful candidates sat together, staring in silence at a large pile of items before them.
The silence was absolute.
They had never imagined that the gifts they’d sent out would be returned to them.
What was even more unexpected was the person who delivered them.
After a long silence, Evan Adler finally found his voice. "Who did you say sent these back?"