One side of the king’s lips twitched upward.
Ilona knew he was on the brink of getting angry but she didn’t hesitate.
She was aware that he would never get angry with her.
“What did I do?”
“I heard that an assassin entered the Arpad’s townhouse, Your Majesty.”
“I heard. It’s truly regrettable.”
Ilona had to put in great effort to not show contempt when looking at her husband.
“If such an unfortunate thing happened to the princess again, my heart will ache so much that I might be bedridden for three days.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Then it won’t happen.”
He lowered the corner of his mouth that had been slightly raised.
“It will be as you wish, my dear.”
Sebastian continued to smile sweetly, unaware of the distance growing between him and the queen.
Ilona’s lips never twitched upward even once.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
The day before the coronation ceremony ended, the knights sent to Etron returned.
“Is this all of them?”
Agnes carefully examined the artifacts they brought with a scrutinizing eye.
“Yes, Madam.”
There were various shapes and sizes. Some were severely worn, ready to crumble at a touch, while others were in pristine condition.
She wrote letters to the wizards in the capital.
Two wizards visited her mansion when they heard about the excavated artifacts from the golden age. She had asked them to come and confirm their value.
“Is this an inscription of a ritual I’ve never seen before?”
“Hey, Theo. Look here. The craftsmanship on this seam is amazing.”
The two wizards leaned in, examining each artifact with awe in their eyes.
“Do they have any magical properties?”
Agnes approached and asked casually.
A young man with brown hair named Theo replied,
“It’s truly astonishing, Duchess. Each item is exceptionally rare.”
“Do you know what these items are used for?”
“Oh, I know a few. For example, this pair of bird sculptures here.”
Theo held up a pair of bird sculptures to demonstrate.
“If you hold one and recite a spell, the other bird will see what the first one sees.”
“Oh? Is there a limit to the distance?”
“As far as I know, there’s no such thing. However, you would need a magic stone to activate it.”
“I see.”
Intrigued, Agnes examined the bird sculpture handed to her. Theo kindly explained in detail how to use it.
“What about others?”
As she pressed for more information, Theo scratched the back of his head.
“It’s hard to say right now, but with enough time, we could figure it out.”
“Enough time? How much?”
“Well, half a year would be enough for each artifact.”
“What? Half a year?”
There were more than twenty artifacts brought by the knights. If each one took six months to study thoroughly, it would take ten years to go through them all.
“Can’t you go faster?”
“Hmm.”
Theo shook his head with a troubled expression.
“Well, even if we add a few more researchers, it will still take several months per artifact.”
Agnes discreetly bit her lip. Now, it would be a waste to give up.
With gold sprouting from the ground as they dug, how could they just pass by it?
Currently, the existing magic stones were naturally mined in very limited quantities, making them quite valuable.
If they could artificially produce magic stones, the possibilities would be endless.
Setting aside her conflicting emotions, Agnes dismissed the wizards.
As the night grew late, sleep eluded her.
Agnes tossed and turned in bed, unable to rest.
‘Should I call him? No, getting involved with him further could lead to unforeseen consequences.’
As the moon continued its descent, her inner conflict sharpened until it finally tipped in one direction.
“Yes. It’s just a question after all. What could go wrong?”
She got up from bed abruptly, checked outside the door for any presence, found her robe, and put it on.
Standing in the center of the bedroom, she spoke in a soft voice.
“Eugene”
She closed her eyes and opened them again.
Holding a candle, she glanced around briefly, but nothing had changed. She cleared her throat.
“Eugene”
This time she spoke a bit louder than before. After closing her eyes for a longer moment, she opened them again.
She is still alone in the spacious bedroom.
Could what he said back then have been a lie?
She pretended to be deceived and opened her mouth once more.
“Eugene.”
“Just calling me once is enough.”
“Gah!”
Startled, she almost fell backward.
Eugene had approached so quietly that Agnes hadn’t noticed when he appeared, and grabbed her waist.
“Calling me to your bedroom in the middle of the night. Bold move, isn’t it?”
Eugene teased as he tightened his grip on her waist.
Agnes squirmed and managed to break free from his hold.
“I called you because I had something to ask.”
“What are you curious about? My taste in women?”
If she could, Agnes wanted to smack him on the head.
“I can just tell you that. Someone as tall as you also with like black hair and blue eyes.”
He said with a warm smile.
The more he spoke, the more Agnes’ face crumpled. But she has no choice but to be patient because of her pitiful situation.
“I found some artifacts a while ago.”
Ignoring his words, Agnes brought over the artifacts she had placed on one side of the bedroom and showed them to him.
“Can you tell if any of these is what I’m looking for?”
“What are you looking for?”
“Gathering magical energy from the air to imbue ordinary objects with magic.”
“Hmm”.
Eugene peeked into the box. Agnes looked at him with a nervous expression.
“If I tell you?”
“What?”
“What are you going to give me in return if I tell you?”
“You’re demanding more from me even after taking my soul? Shameless.”
“I still have a lot of things I want from you”
He smirked. Agnes spoke with an irritated expression.
“What do you want?”
“A kiss?”
“Just cut out my tongue and chew on it together.”
Agnes retorted sharply. Eugene chuckled, holding his stomach as he laughed.
“I’m glad you woke me up. Agnes.”
“Don’t say useless things, and say something worth listening to.”
“Hmm. How about this?”
Agnes stood with her arms crossed, looking skeptical.
“I hope it’s something relatively normal.”
“Sing me a lullaby.”
“Lullaby? A song that a nanny sings to put a baby to sleep?”
Agnes frowned as if she had heard something weird.
“Yeah. I’ve been in the darkness for so long that I missed it.”
“I can’t sing.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
It’s a hundred times better than kissing. Agnes nodded.
“Alright then. But show me the item first.”
Without hesitation, Eugene pulled out a round plate from a box containing various artifacts.
“Show me a demonstration.”
Agnes’ eyes sparkled.
Eugene laughed and tore off the jewel at the top of her gown.
Placing the jewel on the plate, Eugene lightly flicked it with his finger, causing light to emanate from the circumference of the circle. Various unknown patterns moved around.
In an instant, the light disappeared. Unable to contain her excitement, Agnes lifted the jewel.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed very small inscriptions engraved on the outer edges. It shone faintly even in the dark.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
A laughter leaked out from her mouth. She trembled as if feeling a sharp chill.
Agnes held back the urge to scream at the moment.
“Please sing a lullaby now.”
Eugene waved his arms
Recalling the song her nursemaid used to sing, Agnes began softly:
“Now sleep tight, my dear. The birds and flowers have all fallen asleep.”
Her gentle and quiet voice cut through the dark night.
“The moon will guide you into sweet dreams.
The stars will shine for you.
Sleep well, my dear,
Until the sun rises and wakes you up again.
Until dawn breaks and you open your eyes.
You are my happiness, the reason I live.
I will banish all your dark nightmares, so sleep soundly now.
Until the sun wakes you and the first rooster crows at dawn.”
Agnes blinked. Eugene stood still without moving an inch.
Then, as she opened her eyes again, there was nothing in front of her.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Despite barely sleeping for four hours because of Eugene, instead of feeling sleepy, she felt energized throughout her body.
Agnes called the servant as soon as she washed her face with water.
“Deliver this letter to the wizard from Arahan.”
She handed the letter she wrote last night to the servant.
As expected, Theo, upon receiving the letter, knocked on the door of the townhouse before noon.
“I-Is it true? What you wrote in the letter?”
He was so excited that he could hardly speak properly.
Agnes smiled leisurely and handed over what she made yesterday.
“Check it out.”
Theo swallowed nervously and carefully took the gem, or rather the magic stone.
“Wow!”
His mouth hung open in astonishment. Theo looked meticulously into the mana.
“What do you think?”
“I-it’s t-true. Indeed. Duchess. How can this happen? How can this be, no, this… Ha. This is the discovery of the century! If we present this to society, the whole world might buzz with excitement!”
The lullaby is so sweet!❤️🔥