Chapter 137

There were several dining halls in the castle, but the Fleur Hall, with a panoramic view of the garden through the window, boasted the most wonderful view.

Entering the hall, the two found the Duke and Soliaphe. Luciel grabbed Kizef’s sleeve and whispered.

“The two of them are on a date, so let’s go somewhere else.”

“……Yes.”

It was nice to see them often together these days.

‘Since the last monster subjugation, they have become more affectionate.’

“……Where are you going?”

Then the Duke’s hawk-like eyes caught the fleeing children. In the end, the four of them sat down at the round table and started eating.

Grilled salmon and asparagus, lettuce salad with mango and tomato, steamed scallops topped with cheese, and a savory tenderloin steak.

The couple exchanged happy glances as they watched Kizef wipe Luciel’s mouth with a napkin as she emptied her third plate.

The Duke and Soliaphe said.

“You’re really not that big compared to the amount you eat.”

“Luciel is small, so you can eat as much as you want.”

“…I’m growing.”

“Oh, by the way, it would be nice to attend the Imperial Palace Summer night salon next week, with Soliaphe, the four of us.”

“……Oh, really?”

“In the past, I used to go alone. It’s different now. Our new baby is here, and there are things to prepare.”

Soliaphe also nodded her head.

“Yes, we’ll go and cheer for you. Luciel.”

“……Thank you.”

“Luciel, I am looking forward to your writing and crafts.”

“Ugh, the crafts are supposed to be beautiful, but please don’t expect too much from my writing.”

“I’m looking forward to it, you’re good at writing, aren’t you? You have a knack for it.”

Kizef held his chin and recalled the letter she used to send him, Soliaphe also agreed.

“I’m afraid that everyone will be surprised by your writing skills, right?”

“……Please stop it, Dad.”

When the Duke heard the title from Luciel’s mouth, his eyes widened.

“I want to hear it again.”

“oh……Dad.”

“I can’t. Luciel, why don’t you just become this Dad’s Daughter?”

I didn’t know that the Duke’s mouth, which was already mushy, would become even looser.

Right at that time, the Duke’s communication port lit up, he left for a while, then came back and spoke to Luciel.

“……I’ve got an important call, so I think I’ll have to go for a while. Luciel, if you’re not busy, let’s go together.”

“Oh, me too?”

“Yes, there is something you need to confirm.”

She didn’t know what was going on, but Luciel got up from her seat and nervously followed the Duke.

As they approached the Duke’s office, the voices of Ellington and an unfamiliar man could be heard intermittently as if other guests had arrived. After leaving Luciel to his aides for a while, the Duke said.

“Luciel, wait here with the aide for a bit. The list of magic swords owned by the Hendricks family has arrived.”

“Yes.”

After a few minutes, the office door opened. The main character of the unknown voice was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah……I thought you had a guest.”

“An intelligence agent from Hawkeye visited us. He usually uses the window. I told him to wait outside for a while because there was no need for him to reveal himself.”

The Duke said while stroking Luciel’s hair, it was his own consideration.

“Welcome, Little Madam. I see you often.”

Ellington greeted Luciel and immediately unlocked the magic scroll.

It contained a lot of content. The name and photograph of the magic swords owned by the Hendricks family and information on what power they had and where they were discovered were recorded.

Luciel looked closely at the materials one by one and looked for the magic sword that the prince had in the past.

“Isn’t it this?”

“No, it’s not that one.”

Luciel bit her lip and shook her head. Her eyes hurt after looking at a vast amount of data for over an hour.

After a long search, a familiar figure appeared in Luciel’s eyes. It was a sword with a long blue blade and a sharp-looking edge. However, it was not grooved as Luciel saw in the past.

“Ah, I think it’s this sword.”

As Luciel pointed a drawing, the Duke’s eyes also narrowed as he put its name in his mouth.

“Blue Execution. It’s an execution sword.”

“Wait a minute, sir. It is said that Blue Execution was owned and lost in the Imperial Palace.”

“……Lost it…Damn it, then why did you put it on the possession list?”

“It must have been very difficult to grasp with accuracy because it was a top secret.”

“What year and how did they lose it?”

Ellington rummaged through the data but shook his head.

“Does not exist.”

“Then it is not known whether the prince owns it or not.”

The Duke licked his lips with his tongue and spoke.

“Are there any news from the Scavenger side?”

An eagle was sent as a gift to the prince instead of the dead crow, along with the false information of the Black Shield. It was sent under Viscount Theo’s name, so it seems that he didn’t notice it at all.

It was an eagle sent to watch over the prince because it could communicate with a Druid Wizard from afar.

“We have found information that the prince has a secret agent he uses separately. He is moving independently of Palos. Since our side is an eagle, there are limits to understanding the details.”

“Yes. Find out spies worth planting in moderation. Or maybe an imperial person to attract to our side.”

“Yes.”

Luciel, who was listening to the two of them, thought to herself.

‘When Raven comes, I’ll have to ask if the Prince has that magic sword.’

* * *

“Come here, Little Madam. How about getting a massage and skincare before going to bed?”

It was quite late at night, and the yellow light of a magic lantern was illuminating the room. Luciel was laying on her desk and lifted her head at Bessie’s call.

“Oh, I think I’ll take it later. Tomorrow morning…”

“No, my dear. The appearance and fashion of the nobles participating in the salon are constantly talked about. Everyone must be working hard to manage it.”

Even Luciel knew that. Luckily, she was young and wasn’t even making a formal debut in the social world, so this level of beauty care was still okay.

“But…….No matter how pretty I dress up, it’s useless.”

“Do you have any concerns?”

“……That’s right, I can’t think of anything to present at the literary salon.”

Luciel took the paper and quill and pondered it, but couldn’t think of a single sentence. Bessie didn’t know much about writing, but she seemed to know one thing.

“……How about writing little things that can touch your heart rather than a big one?”

“That’s difficult.”

“But, since Little Madam is a good writer, it would be better to write it with a comfortable mind as if it were a daily letter. Well, I gave you a hint, so come here. You’d better cool off for a while.”

“Yes. Okay.”

Bessie smiled and gestured to Rose. The two changed Luciel’s clothes into comfortable robes, brought her to the sofa, and gently relaxed her arms, legs, and shoulder muscles.

While applying a cool pack of fresh herbs to her face, Luciel closed her eyes for a moment and dozed off. By the time they finished the pack of herbs and applied a fresh orange-scented cream to her face and skin, Luciel woke up.

“Oh my gosh, Little Madam. Your skin so moist and soft.”

Maybe it’s because I took a break? I felt much less tired and my head is cleared.

Luciel thought about the daily letter advice Bessie had given earlier.

She was always happy to write letters to others. Because she likes to tell that person about her day. However, she thought that the person who would listen to her story more than anyone else was none other than herself.

‘I should write me a letter. About the flowers I liked.’

“Thank you, Bessie. Something finally came to mind.”

“That’s good. Now we’ll go. Good night, sweetheart.”

“Yes. Good night. Have nice dreams.”

Bessie and Rose kissed Luciel’s cheek and left.

Luciel wrote down the words that had been cluttering her head one by one.

* * *

The next morning, as soon as Luciel woke up, she looked through the catalog to choose a dress to wear to the salon with Soliaphe.

As the salon got closer, her mind seemed to be getting busier.

In the meantime, when she made a request to her grandfather to contact Erika in her instead, the mage immediately came to Luciel.

“Sister Erika! I discovered the power of spinel. It was a blessing.”

“A blessing?”

“Yes. It activates when you pray something with all your heart. That’s why the experiment did not show any effect with the naked eye.”

“Oh… I see. I also have one thing that I have discovered.”

“What?”

“Come on, look.”

Erika used tweezers to place the spinel on the magic meter. Then it pointed to a scale of just 200.

“Is it 200 now, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It is the lowest number among jewels.”

“No, ma’am.”

Erika held the spinel in her hand, then released it again, and repeated the measuring. This time the pointer turned one whole lap. She then held it for a longer time and then measured the spinel again, and it continued to rise to higher levels.

“It seems to respond to the temperature of living beings, and the magical power it contains grows exponentially.”

“Really?”

As Erika said, when she and Erika touched the spinel at the same time, the scales twitched.

“……Isn’t this broken?”

Luciel rolled her eyes with anxiety.

“It’s normal. But the maximum number of the spinel seems to be around 1000.”

“I see. Sister Erika who found this is amazing.”

“I usually use tweezers to do research, but I was in a hurry, so I touched the jewelry with my hands several times, and I was more confused because the figures changed. A cat often visits my office in the tower, and that child licked this jewel once……and I found out because of him.”

“That’s cute. I’m grateful for your cat friend.”

The magical powers of Obsidian and Spinel were much higher than the previous jewels.

In that aspect, Luciel was also vaguely aware.

‘…… Are my jewels getting stronger?’