“Is it collapsing…!”
Instinctively, I pulled Valerie into my arms tightly and curled up. The memory of the cabin in Urentum collapsing came back to me.
Back then, the protective magic had activated, keeping us safe, but not now. There were no knights to trigger the protective spell, nor was there Karl to hold us close.
Please, let Valerie be safe. I curled up as much as I could, cradling Valerie.
Whether it was the suffocating embrace or the overwhelming sound, Valerie burst into loud, wailing cries.
I braced myself for the terrible pain that was about to engulf me and held my breath. But even after the thunderous noise stopped, I felt nothing for a long time.
The mound of dirt didn’t collapse, creating dust, nor did stones clatter against the ground. Something felt odd, so I slowly opened my eyes and lifted my head.
“Uh…?”
The surroundings were silent. There was no thick dust cloud. I looked around, now a bit brighter than before.
“Waaah, Mommy.”
“Shh, it’s okay, Valerie.”
I patted the startled child’s back and lifted myself. Aside from the dirt on my skirt from crouching down, I was remarkably clean.
However, the atmosphere was completely different from before. Could that sound just moments ago have been the barrier of the Louisette family vanishing?
“… There was no sound when we entered.”
It was filled with inexplicable things, but I decided to give up fully understanding it for now and stood up.
In a world where magic and science coexist, there were many things that were hard to grasp.
After facing such bewildering incidents, I had come to understand well over the past year since becoming Celest that worrying and overthinking wouldn’t help.
Valerie stopped crying and took deep breaths to calm down.
As I patted the child’s back, I began to examine the dig beyond the barrier that I hadn’t noticed last time. Could this be a passage connected to Duke Toskur? That thought naturally sparked my caution.
The underground cavern seemed to have been carefully crafted over time. Considering how much darker and damp the area with the Louisette family’s barrier had been, this space felt quite different.
“There’s nothing here.”
It was neatly arranged but an empty open space with not a single item. There were three other holes that seemed to lead somewhere, and in the middle was an old door.
“Should we go in there… or should we go back?”
The concern began. If this place is indeed the cavern connected to the Duke, it means one of those holes leads directly to him.
However, it was said that the path starting from the Duke’s side collapsed halfway, making it impossible for anyone to enter. The path from the Count’s side couldn’t be accessed by anyone besides me and Valerie due to the barrier.
In other words, the only way to confirm if there’s a tunnel leading to the Duke is for me to go check it myself.
I found myself contemplating whether to choose one of the holes and continue walking or to turn back and inform the royal investigation squad’s knights about this.
“……If the path to the Duke is blocked, that means there’s no one else here but me, right?”
Upon reflection, that made sense.
If one entrance is blocked and only I can pass through the other, it implies that there’s no one in the passage between both entrances. If there’s no one, then I concluded that there couldn’t be any threat.
“Valerie, shall we go in?”
“Abooboo.”
Having stopped crying, Valerie, who had been fidgeting in my arms, seemed to understand me, as her eyes sparkled and her feet wiggled.
With courage, I stepped forward, not knowing what awaited me beyond the hole.
***
“I can’t believe there were so many magical stones.”
Franz’s overwhelming emotion continued for quite some time. He was lost in tears and ecstasy, unsure of what to do, but soon gathered his thoughts and examined the underground space thoroughly.
Inside, after opening an old iron door, he discovered an enormous amount of magical stones.
Although there were substantial quantities stored in his mansion and Marina’s hideout, the amount here seemed greater than all of those combined.
“Thank you, oh God.”
Franz’s voice trembled. Overjoyed and shivering with excitement, he gazed at the sea of magical stones before him with a longing expression.
If only he could swim in those stones. With his tears dried, Franz burst into laughter and shouted.
“With this much, I could move outside the Empire and still have plenty left.”
While he was reveling in joy, Celeste suddenly flashed through his mind momentarily.
The magical stones that came into his grasp were enough to easily move to another country. If so, couldn’t he use the excess for whatever he wanted, excluding what he needed?
“Anyway, it will take a bit longer for Stilikov to return.”
Shouldn’t he take a trip to the capital using the magical stones while he waited? A dangerous thought crossed his mind. It was a dangerously foolish idea, but Franz was oblivious to it.
If he wanted to do something, he should. If he wanted to have something, he should take it. This had been his belief or principle since he entered the imperial family.
It displeased him that Karl and Celeste would live happily while he ran away.
If I am unhappy, then you must be unhappy too. Even if I am happy, you must be unhappy.
Franz’s ugly jealousy flared up, determined to drag his lifelong rival into the abyss of misfortune, even at the expense of his own happiness.
“Right. If I can’t have it, it’s better to destroy it.”
He could achieve his goal and quickly teleport back here, then escape to another country with Stilikov. They would find no evidence.
Even if they searched for evidence that he visited Celeste, he didn’t care.
By the time they started to look for his traces, he would already be outside the Empire. A sinister smile filled Franz’s face.
“If I’m unhappy, then you must be unhappy too, Celeste.”
The murmured words felt like a dying gasp in the face of death. Concluding as he pleased, Franz began to gather the magical stones without hesitation.
After gathering as many magic stones as needed, they recited the same incantation that Stilikov had repeated several times to come to Urentum. The capital, LaHart. They were going there. Franz’s face was solemn.
***
“What is all this?”
She was confused. Entering the cave to find the path leading to the Grand Duke, she unexpectedly faced a shocking sight.
“Could this all be magic stones?”
Glistening purple ores were piled high like a mountain. It felt like her head was going blank. It seemed like there was a similar amount of magic stones as she had seen in Marina’s hideout. No, perhaps even more.
Why are these here? Did Franz diligently stash them away? Or was it Marina? Just how many magic stones have those people smuggled?
“It would take a year or two to hide this.”
If the concealment of magic stones began when Marina had the Emperor’s favor, could this amount have been hidden?
As she recalled the magic stones she saw in Marina’s hideout, a sigh escaped her lips.
Although she hadn’t seen it directly, she had heard that a massive amount of magic stones was hidden in the basement warehouse of Franz’s mansion.
Realization struck her hard: these two had squandered and smuggled away a nation’s treasury like this.
“Bobbya, Buppapa!”
Valerie, who loved shiny things, was thrilled. It made sense with jewels piled up like mountains before her.
“What do we do with this?”
She thought it would be best to go out and inform the royal investigation team members.
However, she hesitated whether to leave the magic stones behind and explore further inside. Each decision brought about new dilemmas.
“Well, I’ve made it this far.”
If not now, when would she examine it all? She resolved to venture deeper inside.
“Do you want to touch it?”
Valerie kept reaching out her arms toward the magic stones, eager to touch the sparkling treasures.
“This much should be fine, right?”
Surely it would be okay as long as she didn’t chant a spell? She thought nothing would happen just by touching them.
“Come on, touch it.”
I approached the pile of magic stones stacked in a relatively gentle shape. Valerie’s fingertips touched the glowing purple stones.
“Yay, yay!” Valerie’s excited cheers continued. Her adorable demeanor made me smile contentedly, causing me to overlook a shadowy figure moving in the background.
