Chapter 211
“You lost the grand duke?”
Camille was on the verge of exploding. Her subordinates, well-trained through years of experience, knew that whenever their mistress wore that expression, lightning was about to strike. They held their breaths as much as possible.
The golden command baton in her hand bent like caramel. Grinding her teeth, Camille flung it at her subordinates and interrogated them.
“Where did you lose him!”
Tonight had been a once-in-a-lifetime chance. She believed Ulrich’s curse and the grand duke’s stupidity had combined to create luck she would never see again.
If she could just kill that man, everything would be recovered. Endless glory would return to the imperial family, and she herself would regain her family’s trust.
And yet these idiots might ruin that opportunity!
“Near the third forbidden zone, Your Highness.”
Camille’s anxious face instantly turned pale.
The third forbidden zone!
It was a term used only within Silver Moon. A deserted corridor west of the Roseberry Hall where the imperial investigation team operated. The same place where Camille had once lured that unlucky grand duchess to kill her but failed…
Everyone involved in that failure had died. That was why no one knew how the grand duchess escaped. Even the Silver Moon people rarely went near that place. Thus, it was a “forbidden zone.”
“You said the third forbidden zone?”
“Yes, Your Highness. In an instant… around the painting of the crying angel, he disappeared.”
How! Camille screamed inwardly.
The thrill she had felt ever since hearing, ‘The grand duke really came. He’s not alone, but he only brought one knight,’ vanished instantly. How did he know that place? How much did he know? That monster of a man!
Did he perhaps come willingly to the palace tonight just to reach that place?
Yes, that was possible. What kind of idiot would bring his neck to be cut off just because his wife had been hit by a curse? He wasn’t some clueless young man. He was that snake-like grand duke!
A powerful body and monstrous strength. Others considered it a blessing flowing in the imperial bloodline, but Camille knew exactly where her own strength came from. And because of that, she was certain there was definitely some kind of ability in those violet jeweled eyes.
Not only the ancient heroes themselves but also those born later with the same eyes would inherit those abilities.
Cledwyn Maindulante’s eyes were only gray, not jeweled, but even so it wouldn’t be strange if he knew something. The old speculation had become reality.
Feeling deceived, Camille gnashed her teeth. Flames burst in her eyes.
“Number 17, Number 29—only you stay. Everyone else, out.”
Their numbers had dwindled even further since the shortage last year. They were shrinking in real time. Her stomach twisted.
But if she killed the grand duke and secured the grand duchess, who would currently be helpless at his estate…
Every sacrifice would be repaid a hundredfold.
Rumble. A distant thunderous noise shook the room. Camille snapped her head upward.
A crack ran across the ceiling of the secret chamber.
‘An earthquake.’
She didn’t care. If even this sturdy chamber was cracking, the entire capital would suffer damage—but that was a problem for later.
Grinding her teeth, she ordered her two subordinates:
“Number 17, pull the golden candlestick opposite the crying angel painting in the third forbidden zone. Enter with your subordinates. Number 29, in His Majesty’s cricket garden, there’s a pile of brush. Behind it is a black gnome statue—turn it to the two-o’clock direction and the door will open. Enter. Succeed or don’t bother coming back alive.”
They already knew they wouldn’t survive either way, yet they answered loyally.
“Yes.”
“Yes!”
❖ ❖ ❖
“Was that just an earthquake?”
A calm question, coming from someone who had steadied himself against the wall the moment the ground shook. Aidan had nearly fallen but barely caught himself.
“I think so. It seems pretty big—do you think there will be aftershocks?”
“No idea.”
The entire corridor of the secret passage was bright, but the source of that light was obvious.
A door they had ignored the last time—one they hadn’t even thought to enter—was glowing as though it were burning, far brighter than anything else.
Aidan disliked this place and wanted to leave quickly, but Cledwyn narrowed his eyes and approached the door.
“Your Highness, shouldn’t you avoid that?”
“Camille must know this path too, right?”
“Well, I can’t say for certain, but the chances are high.”
It made no sense for Nerys to know a secret corridor in the palace better than Camille.
Cledwyn nodded at Aidan’s reasonable guess.
“Last time, once we entered this passage, the pursuit stopped. But some Silver Moon rats might know more. Maybe they don’t know it, but Camille does.”
“Yes.”
Why state the obvious? Aidan hated that suspiciously bright door. It had no handle to pull, and it looked far too heavy to push. Whatever was inside was important—and whatever was important was likely tied to the sinister tingling filling the air.
If Talfrin were here, he would have said something like, ‘Must I teach you basic common sense? Don’t walk into dangerous places. Am I your mother?’ and stopped him. Aidan thought so, yet he didn’t stop Cledwyn.
Talfrin’s words or Aidan’s attempts—neither had ever once stopped Cledwyn when he’d made up his mind.
Just before touching the door, Cledwyn smiled dangerously.
“A passage she keeps secret from her subordinates. And it looks suspicious. It must be something important—either alive or dead.”
“Most likely.”
“I’ll take it and use it to negotiate with Camille. Then I won’t have to destroy the entire palace.”
He planned to destroy the palace… Aidan was speechless.
Srrng. The moment Cledwyn touched it, the door split cleanly in half as though cut, opening to both sides with a chilling sound like a sword leaving its scabbard.
Pale light poured out again—strangely bright yet not blinding.
Cledwyn walked inside. Aidan followed, watching their backs.
The room was about the size of Cledwyn’s bedroom. No windows. All four walls covered in white plaster. Only one decoration existed.
A black tapestry covering half a wall, embroidered in gold thread with a wildcat.
On every white surface—walls, floor, ceiling—dozens of massive magic circles were deeply carved. Whoever carved them clearly intended them to last far longer than mere ink. Black, vicious energy seeped from every groove.
At the center of this overwhelming sight…
Two small altar-like stone pillars rose.
Simple pillars like something from an ancient painting, one empty, the other wrapped in a pillar of light compressed from all the brightness filling the corridor.
And inside that pillar of light floated a gray diamond.
The pillar—no, the diamond—shimmered faintly, almost like it was smiling.
You have… come all the way here, child…
It was the same voice they had heard when first entering the corridor.
The killing intent that filled the room melted away instantly. Even Cledwyn narrowed his eyes, trying to determine whether what he saw was real.
“What are you? Magic? Do you have intelligence?”
I do… but only faintly… worn away by time… only a very vague trace…
The pillar flickered slightly.
Ah… to think I would see you… It has been so very long…
“You know me?”
Aidan felt the crushing magic radiating from it—so strong that anyone with even basic magical sense would collapse.
What could this thing be, to waste so much mana here? If it were a talisman, it would be worth more than a small kingdom. Hiding it here made sense, but shouldn’t the entrance have been harder?
The light flickered again—this time with sadness.
– I knew someone with hair the same color as yours…
“Then it has nothing to do with me. Are you important to the imperial family? If I take you, will they be angry?”
– Haha… I’d be grateful if you took me… but you cannot… remove me…
“Why? Is it your own will?”
– No… I am sealed… Normally I cannot speak at all… but I was fortunate… It seems a child of Bistor used the power of this seal recently… I did not expect my mind to awaken…
Cledwyn thought. If the imperial family had used magic recently…
“My wife is acting strangely. Are you a magical device? Can you show illusions to someone?”
– No… no… I cannot do that. From what I feel… it is a magic that seals the mind within their own past… terribly clumsy…
Cledwyn knew Nerys had never been tortured by Abelus. But the situation matched too well to ignore.
Fine—destroy it first. He drew his sword to strike the pillar.
Boom!
The rebound force hurled him to the ground—a rare occasion he had been knocked down since childhood. A normal man would have died.
The pillar whispered:
– I see you carry a far stronger scent… Has the violet Jeweled Eyes returned? The child of Elandria survived…
Both Cledwyn and Aidan froze. Cledwyn whispered coldly:
“You know my wife?”
– Her strange state… she is the child of Elandria? The one with the violet Jeweled Eyes? Yes… so it is… Fate is mysterious indeed…
The pillar smiled. Aidan was furious. Was this really the time?
“Speak clearly so we can understand.”
– A child might find adult words mysterious… what can I do? You cannot understand certain concepts… But if you oppose the child of Bistor, I could not be happier… I shall help you.
Suddenly the killing intent returned. Cledwyn looked at the diamond. If the pillar was the seal, then that was the true entity.
The diamond was exactly the color of his eyes—what his eyes would look like if they were jeweled: deep, brilliant gray.
The ground shook again. Cledwyn steadied himself on the empty altar.
No doubt—the earthquake originated from the pillar.
Radiant light flared as the diamond whispered gently:
– I thought Bistor had erased everything… but someone still fights… Go, child. Most of the seal remains… soon I will once again become a silent tool… Hurry. She will hear your voice…
“What do you mean—”
– Hurry, hurry! Before I am sealed again. Call your wife’s name. And find ‘her’. If this happens again, only ‘she’ can help you…
A fierce wind roared. The pillar now burned like a blazing sun. A storm of mana crashed outward.
Heat that seared flesh, pressure that felt like limbs would shatter. Cledwyn and Aidan escaped the room at once. The door did not close. Only then did Cledwyn realize the entity had willingly let him enter.
Flash. Soundlessly, the world froze. The two men ran down the secret passage.
At the end of the passage—near the emperor’s garden—stood Silver Moon members holding weaponry. They were frozen in place as though shocked by what they saw, unmoving even when the two men passed.
Only after the two had already run far did the world resume its flow—the ordinary wind, voices, rustling grass, and the starlight above.