Chapter 9
“E-Emma?”
The maid standing with her mouth agape was Emma, who mainly worked in the kitchen.
She was also one of Aveline’s closest confidants, often making and bringing snacks for the treat-loving Aveline.
Emma’s lips trembled as she stood frozen, unable to do anything about the broken eggs.
“Miss, when on earth…!”
“No, it’s not what you think, Emma!”
“I absolutely, absolutely won’t tell anyone. I’ll keep it a secret until you’re ready to tell people yourself, Miss!”
Despite Aveline’s frantic gestures and explanations, Emma solemnly bowed with her hands clasped together, then turned and vanished.
“Emma!”
Aveline cried out in anguish, but Emma didn’t return.
“Haa.”
This was a disaster.
Aveline turned to glare reproachfully at Theron.
“When you say things like that, people misunderstand!”
“Everything I said was based on facts.”
“Even so, without context, it’s easy for people to misunderstand.”
As Aveline added this, Theron’s lips twisted slightly.
“The fault lies with those who jump to convenient misunderstandings without considering the full context.”
“…”
How could something so correct still leave her feeling so frustrated?
Aveline resolved to find Emma as soon as Theron left and clear up the misunderstanding.
“Ahem. That aside, is there no chance there’s been some misunderstanding? It might really have been jelly, not a jewel.”
“I don’t keep things like jelly in my carriage.”
“Then maybe someone dropped it in your carriage…”
“No one rides in my carriage except me.”
To declare so proudly that he had no friends…
But realizing she wasn’t much different herself, Aveline quickly sobered.
“T-then maybe the jewel is somewhere else and you just haven’t realized yet… No, wait. If you explain in detail what kind of jewel it was, I’ll find a way to get it and send it to you! How about that?”
Why hadn’t she thought of this earlier?
If it was important enough for him to come looking like this, and it had the strange ability to be absorbed when touched, it must be quite valuable. But if she begged her father, maybe they could somehow raise the funds.
“You won’t be able to find it.”
However, with his next words, even that hope was quickly extinguished.
“Because it’s imprinted with a part of me.”
“Imprinted with part of you?”
Is it possible to imprint part of oneself on a jewel?
Whether aware of Aveline’s doubts or not, Theron continued his explanation.
“That’s why I can recognize it wherever it is. I didn’t know you’d not just taken it, but absorbed it.”
Theron looked at Aveline’s stomach with a regretful gaze.
Feeling as if he wanted to cut open her stomach and take it out, Aveline hurriedly covered her abdomen with both hands.
“Surely not, right?”
“…”
The lack of response sent chills down her spine.
“I-I’ll try to get the jewel out somehow! I don’t know how long it’ll take for something absorbed to come out… but I’ll try my best!”
Aveline grasped Theron’s hand with a determined look. Losing a bit of dignity seemed better than recklessly cutting open her stomach.
“If it were an ordinary jewel, that would be the safest and most reasonable method. But unfortunately, the jewel of mine that you absorbed is a magic stone.”
“A magic stone… you say?”
Aveline had heard of magic stones before.
It was extremely difficult to contain the fluid energy of magic in an object and have that object continuously preserve the magic.
To begin with, magic stones themselves were quite rare.
That’s why the Empire kept detailed records of all magic stone transactions.
Imperial permission was required to possess a magic stone, and even with permission, the grade of magic stone one could have also needed separate approval.
Moreover, currently the Imperial family had collected all magic stones. The reason given was to prevent accidents due to careless use of magic stones.
In such a situation, to mention a magic stone…
“Isn’t the distribution of magic stones currently prohibited in the Empire? I heard the Imperial family took them all back.”
Instead of answering, Theron smiled enigmatically.
“Could it be… the magic stone I absorbed was one of those collected by the Imperial family?”
If so, this was a big problem. The Imperial family managed magic stones quite strictly.
Currently, only nine were known to exist.
If by any chance the one Aveline had swallowed was one of those, it was only a matter of time before she was found out.
‘Then I might really have to cut open my stomach.’
On top of that, she’d have to explain in detail how she came to absorb the magic stone.
‘I’ll have to confess in front of everyone that I was so hungry I tried to eat jelly that had fallen in someone else’s carriage!’
“Ugh.”
Now that would be truly humiliating. A count’s daughter so hungry she tried to eat what she thought was jelly fallen in someone else’s carriage, but it turned out to be a jewel.
How would her father react if he heard this? He’d probably grab the back of his neck and collapse.
“It’s not from the Imperial family.”
While Aveline was lost in thought, Theron spoke softly.
“Because I made it myself.”
“What?”
Aveline had never heard of an individual creating a magic stone.
To think he could make alone what might be barely possible with all the Imperial mages working together…
“Watch closely.”
Theron raised his hand, pointing at the basket and broken eggs Emma had dropped earlier.
“Huh…?”
A faint light appeared at his fingertips, and in an instant, both the basket and eggs vanished.
“…Did you do that, Duke?”
“As you saw.”
Those with magical power are extremely rare in the Empire.
That’s why even people with very small amounts of magic power were all employed as Imperial mages and treated with utmost respect.
And to think Theron, the Emperor’s nephew, had magical power. This was a fact completely unknown to the Empire.
‘Unless he’s been hiding it secretly.’
Though she couldn’t know the reason for hiding it, if it became known that Theron, whom the Imperial family was most wary of, had magical power, it would surely cause huge waves.
“Is it… okay to just tell me this?”
Aveline’s family was clearly on the Emperor’s side.
There was nothing good for Theron in revealing his secret to her.
“Of course, it’s a secret.”
“What if I don’t keep the secret?”
“Keeping the secret is in your best interest as well.”
Theron replied nonchalantly to Aveline’s question. His attitude was surprisingly relaxed for someone who had just revealed an enormous secret.
“Why?”
“If it becomes known that I’ve created a magic stone, the Imperial family will immediately try to capture you and cut open your stomach. It will undoubtedly be an unkind surgery prioritizing my magic stone over your well-being. Of course, your survival can’t be guaranteed either.”
“…”
Everything he said was correct.
If the Imperial family found out about this, they wouldn’t just sit idle.
They had always been using all sorts of methods behind the scenes to find Theron’s weaknesses.
‘So that’s why Father told Ares to find those documents.’
For some reason, the Emperor was obsessed with Theron’s documents.
No one knew exactly what was in them, but everyone was busy trying to steal whatever documents they could, following the Emperor’s orders.
However, no one had yet brought the Emperor the documents he wanted.
Theron seemed to know that the Emperor had tried to steal his documents multiple times, but he always pretended not to notice.
As if he knew that no matter what the Emperor was after, he could never get it.
While Aveline was standing there with her mouth open, Theron gently wrapped his hand around hers.
“But I swear to prioritize your well-being above all else. Not to brag, but my skills are quite impressive.”
Though he was pretending to be polite, what he really meant was, ‘So, will you let me cut open your stomach?’
“By now, the magic stone has probably moved to your core and settled there. After that, it will gradually be absorbed into you.”
“Is there a way that doesn’t involve cutting open my stomach?”
“Another method is…”
Uncharacteristically, Theron hesitated to answer Aveline’s question. As the silence stretched on, Aveline swallowed hard to hide her nervousness.
“There isn’t one.”
“There isn’t?”
“Yes.”
It was an anticlimactic answer considering how tense she had been.
“As of now, that’s the only method available.”
“What if I refuse to have my stomach cut open?”
Aveline really wanted to avoid that at all costs. It was scary, and she had never heard of anyone in the Empire successfully opening and closing a person’s stomach.
‘If something goes wrong, I’ll be remembered as the girl who got her stomach cut open for trying to eat food fallen in someone else’s carriage.’
Her reputation was already practically non-existent, but she didn’t want to be remembered like that after death.
Theron studied Aveline’s face intently as if trying to gauge her thoughts, then spoke softly.
“The longer we wait, my magic power will affect you in some way or another. It might already be happening. Was there anything unusual last night compared to usual?”
Last night…
‘Does the dream count?’
If dreaming about becoming the protagonist of the book she had been reading before bed was unusual, then yes, it was different.
However, she wasn’t sure how Theron would react if she mentioned the dream. What if he gave her a look that said it was ridiculous?
Besides, she didn’t particularly want to reveal to Theron, whom she barely knew, that she was a romance novel enthusiast.
‘I’ll wait and see a bit more, and if something definite comes up, I’ll tell him then.’
After a moment’s deliberation, Aveline shook her head.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“I see.”
Theron nodded quietly and stood up. Then he extended his hand towards Aveline.
Contrary to her expectation that he might be weak due to his delicate appearance, Theron effortlessly pulled Aveline to her feet with just one hand.
“Then I’ll take my leave for today. After all, it’s partly my fault for not properly safeguarding such an important item.”
Aveline’s face immediately brightened at his words, mixed with a low sigh.
“However, if any problem arises, even a small one, I will retrieve it immediately.”
“Yes, yes.”
Aveline nodded hurriedly, discreetly withdrawing her hand that was still being held. She wanted to send Theron away as quickly as possible.
“I will always be watching over you.”
“What?”
What did he mean by that? Ignoring Aveline’s bewilderment, Theron steadfastly continued his speech.
“Since you’ve swallowed my jewel, you are, for the time being, my jewel.”
Aveline frantically reached out to cover his mouth, lest anyone hear.
“I told you, when you say things like that, people misunderstand!”
BANG!
“What are you two doing?!”
At that moment, with a thunderous noise, Ares was climbing through a first-floor window, breathing heavily.
