74. What He Gave Me

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s imbued with some of the most advanced magic in the empire. It has location tracking, communication capabilities, and even a teleportation function that activates if you’re in danger, transporting you far away, even to another country. It’s incredibly sophisticated to embed all three functions into a single small gem. This is high-level magic technology.”

He explained the functions of the necklace in great detail. His face lit up as he introduced this rare item, claiming there were only a few like it in the empire. As he excitedly continued, my expression grew darker, and he eventually fell silent.

Although he stopped talking, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his lips. Realizing my bewildered expression, he quickly added.

“It’s a very rare jewel.”

As the silence dragged on, he hesitated and hastily tried to smooth things over.

“It seems the prince wanted to ensure your safety. All the magic embedded in it is for protection.”

No, it wasn’t. He tried to package it nicely, but he failed.

I had already grown tired of the magic sigil on the back of my hand.

All he did was remove the protective magic from my hand, replacing it with a new shackle in the capital.

I had thought he had given it to me as a gift. The necklace was nothing more than a beautiful, elaborate shackle.

“I apologize. I shouldn’t have spoken about it. There must be a reason why the prince didn’t mention it to you. I’ll make sure not to tell him I informed you about the necklace…”

“Yes. Please don’t. Don’t worry,” I reassured him.

He sighed in relief.

Even the one gift I thought was a token of superstition had an ulterior motive. I had once again fallen for his fabricated kindness.

I rubbed my forehead as a headache began to throb.

The reason he sent me to the separate residence without any guards was clear now.

I wasn’t given freedom. There was just another layer of surveillance through magic.

I had no intention of running away, but even if I had, I wouldn’t have been able to escape. If I had tried, like the time I triggered the barrier in the north, I would have been caught again.

“I’ll visit again soon.”

The magician said as he bowed and hastily gathered his belongings before leaving. I remained in the chair, too dazed to see him off.

Suddenly, I felt suffocated. The necklace chain, though long enough to hang below my collarbone, felt stifling.

I yanked it off roughly. The clasp snapped open with a sharp tug.

I exhaled a shallow breath. Yet, the feeling of my throat being constricted didn’t disappear.

Nausea welled up inside me.

* * *

I circled the lake, selecting a pointed stone. I found a sharp one at the edge and brought it back.

I placed the necklace on a rock by the lake and took a deep breath.

Then, I raised my arm and brought the stone down hard on the necklace. It was more like pounding and pressing than striking. The gem remained unscathed.

I struck it with all my might until my hands were sore. The gem didn’t crack. Only black marks from the stone skidding across the chain were left.

No matter how many times I hit it, only the stone shattered. The gem stayed pristine, without a single scratch.

Finally, the last stone I held broke cleanly in half.

I looked at the broken pieces in despair. My hand, which had gripped the stone tightly, began to throb.

It was a thing I didn’t need to treat carefully. Even if it was just an ordinary jewel and not a shackle, why had I been so careful, afraid of scratching it?

I had even taken it off while bathing, afraid that soapy water might get inside, and cleaned it with a special cloth every day.

How foolish I was to fall for his shallow pretense.

But I couldn’t give up. I retrieved a rake from the storage and took another deep breath.

I hammered the necklace again with the rake. The gem was so tough that each strike sent vibrations through my arms.

The sharp ends of the rake gradually dulled. Of course, it was the rake’s metal tips that were becoming blunt, not the gem.

It seemed even reinforced.

It must have been crafted with great care and precision. It was a shackle designed to ensure that someone like me could never think of escaping. The mines he paid the barony for me would have been a much higher price, yet he would have gladly paid it.

When he first put the necklace on me in the north, I felt it was a shackle, but I never imagined it would literally be one.

I looked out at the lake. The surface was calm and still glittering beautifully.

If this neglected water looked this good, I wondered how splendid the lakes of the imperial palace would be. Like a scattering of crystals, radiant and sparkling. If I had such a lake, I wouldn’t mind tarnishing it with one useless item.

I took a final look at the necklace, then flung it into the lake with all my might. The gem sank, vanishing into the depths of the clear water.

Even if it didn’t break, at least it was gone from me now.

The depths of the lake would even cradle trash tenderly. I lifted the necklace from the rock.

After a moment of hesitation, I threw the necklace into the water. The gem floated briefly on the surface before succumbing to its weight and sinking slowly.

Just as I thought, the lake swallowed the gem cleanly.

The surface was calm, as if nothing had happened. The ripples settled, and the water shimmered again from various angles.

But the calmer the surface, the more inexplicable anxiety I felt.

Would it be alright to leave it off my neck? Although it was a shackle he had placed on me…

I paced around, then cleaned up the stones and returned the rake to its original place.

Yet, the still surface of the lake bothered me. More precisely, it was the whereabouts of the necklace lying beneath the calm surface.

I couldn’t find peace. In the end, I decided to retrieve the necklace.

I dipped my feet into the lake. The coldness was biting. The water was so clear that it was hard to gauge its depth.

I waded in, testing the water with my toes, and then plunged in.

My dress billowed around me, obstructing my view. I struggled with the fabric, pushing it aside, and searched through the water for the necklace.

The water was so clear that I could see right through to the bottom. Finding the lost necklace wasn’t difficult.

The necklace was snagged on a rock below.

Luckily, the still water had kept the necklace from drifting far from where I had thrown it. I grasped the water plants with both hands, cutting through them, and retrieved the necklace. My eyes stung from keeping them open underwater.

I surfaced, gasping for air.

Squeezing the water out of my hair, I found my meticulously combed hair now disheveled.

My clothes clung to my skin, revealing my slender figure.

The soaked dress was heavy, making each step a struggle. It felt like someone was pulling me down to the ground.

Water dripped from my hair onto the hand clutching the necklace. The gem was pelted with droplets.

Even though I knew the gem was strong enough to withstand a rake, I still held it tightly, afraid it might get damaged.

I walked slowly back to the mansion. Though I wanted to enter my room directly through the window, the rug on the floor made me hesitate, fearing the saltwater would ruin it.

I knocked on the mansion door, and Suren answered.

“I told you to carry a key.”

Not recognizing me at first, she opened the door nonchalantly, then her eyes widened in shock.

“My lady! Why are you… Did you go swimming?”

“I fell in.”

“In the water? You just fell in?”

“I don’t know… It felt like I was pushed.”

At my cryptic words, she tilted her head in confusion.

Even after entering the mansion, Suren followed me, persistently asking questions.

“Did you fall, or were you pushed?”

I shook off the water without answering. When I took off my shoes, water that hadn’t been absorbed flowed out in a stream.

“You’ll catch a cold. We need to dry your hair quickly,” Suren said, seating me on the sofa before rushing off to fetch a towel.

Worried about dirtying the sofa, I shifted to its edge.

It’s the only sofa we have left. Without it, there would be nowhere to seat guests. Water was still dripping from my hair.

Suren returned with a towel in hand.

“It seems you get into trouble the moment my eyes are off you,” she said, toweling my hair dry. Her tone was like that of a mother scolding a child.

“No manual can prepare me for this. I took etiquette classes and learned the proper placement of utensils and royal court manners, but there was no chapter on how to quickly dry a young lady’s hair after she falls into the water. Noblewomen don’t swim late at night.”

She diligently dried my hair, pressing the towel to soak up the remaining moisture.

“Change into a dry dress. Thankfully, we have a spare.”

I nodded.

As Suren continued to dry my hair, she suddenly paused. She set the towel down and parted my hair, inspecting my scalp. Her sudden action made me shake my head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hold still.”

Suren continued rummaging through my hair until she found something.

“Did you do anything besides swimming? There’s a small stone tangled in your hair.”

It must have been a piece of stone that flew off when I smashed the necklace. With my curly hair, it likely got caught when it bounced.

“Oh, that…”

I opened my mouth, unsure how to explain, then closed it again. Suren narrowed her eyes.

Avoiding her gaze nervously, I finally heard her sigh.

“The stones around the lake must be slippery. You must have stepped on one and fallen. I’ll have the servants clean the area.”

I couldn’t tell if she genuinely believed that or was just pretending, but I was grateful for her willingness to let it slide.

I opened my tightly clenched fist. The necklace I had retrieved from the lake was still there.

Resolving never to lose it again, I placed it in my palm and clenched my fist tightly around it. The pressure left my palm marked with deep indentations from my nails.