Chapter 42

Chapter 42

“Celine…”

Leonhard murmured softly, stroking her golden hair with his fingertips.

A woman who felt like she was going to crumble if he gave in a little more strength. She was actually a woman who easily lost her life… However, a woman stronger than anyone else in the world was sleeping peacefully next to him.

He had been thinking about the embarrassment that surged up for a while.

More than anything else in the world, protecting Celine became his number one goal. It was clearly wrong, and it was the kind of emotion that had to be cut out. Leonhard said that if the moment came when he had to cut anyone, he would cut whomever it was — even if it was family…

But, he felt as if he couldn’t if it was Celine.

‘Why am I…’

Even though he pondered until the sleepiness attacked him, he still couldn’t find a clue.

* * *

Count Sharp came to Celine and Leonhardt as soon as he heard the report from Baron Veron.

“Show me.”

As Celine carefully pulled the tiara out of her arms, Count Sharp looked closely, taking care not to let the tiara fall out of her hand.

“That is the right tiara.”

“How are you sure?”

Count Sharp smirked.

“The Baron was quite frightened, but it’s not really a big secret. It’s a tiara that all the older estate civilians remember. It was originally a treasure handed down from generation to generation.”

“Didn’t the wizard make it himself?”

“Where can a single wizard get such fine jewels?”

Count Sharp’s long, white fingers pointed to the jewels one by one.

“These diamonds are the twin gems of the crown of the Empress. This sapphire was even nicknamed the tears of the sea. The emerald is…”

Leonhard couldn’t take it any longer and cut him off, “Well, how did such a treasure become a magic tool?”

“Because of this magic stone.”

Count Sharp pressed the dark red magic stone in the middle of the tiara.

“Originally, this spot was a gem that was going to be mined someday. But the wizard forced the magic stone into it.”

Hearing that, Leonhard nodded his head.

If it was Count Sharp’s finances, he would have mobilized so-called wizards, but now, he understood that no one had been able to unlock the seal. The wizard had hidden the entire seal of the mine by driving it into this magic stone.

“Was it a warlock?”

“I don’t think it was.”

He was relieved. It was because if the magic contained in this magic stone was black magic, he may have to destroy the entire tiara himself. Then, the mine would be closed forever.

“I’ll give you back the tiara. Though can we take the magic stone and take it with us?”

Count Sharp’s eyes widened.

“Of course, I was going to give out the entire tiara. However, if you take out the magic stone and insert the jewel to complete the tiara, it won’t be the same. I’m thankful for the offer.”

Leonhard immediately paused for a moment to pull out the magic stone. There was a high probability that the entire tiara would be destroyed if he took out the magic stone with Rashir.

Thinking that, he glanced at Celine.

“Is it possible with Ringzor…?”

She was fiddling with Ringzor with her left hand.

The slight vibration of the magical power was felt with her fingertips. Celine felt that she had improved her skills by leaps and bounds over the past few days. Nonetheless, she felt a lot of pressure to deal with the treasures passed down from generation to generation.

“I think it will be difficult.”

Count Sharp must have regretted it, but he did not express it.

“It’s okay. As long as you open the mines, the tiara is the rightful possession of the Lord and Lute.”

They exited the meeting room and passed through a large banquet hall crowded with refugees. The next moment, an old woman they saw for the first time blocked their way. She was an old woman with scattered white hair and wrinkles all over her face.

The old woman raised her trembling hand and pointed at them.

“Cursed!”

While Celine was just stunned, Count Sharp’s face immediately contorted. Meanwhile, Leonhard stared at the old woman who stood in front of them with an unreasonable look.

“Ominous! Don’t take a single step out of this place. The sky will fall!”

“Grandmother…!”

A young man with a bluish face jumped out from among the refugees and hugged the old woman, “Lord, strike me on the head instead!”

Count Sharp seemed to recognize the young man.

“Calik. How did this happen?”

“She’s the one who raised me. She has been out of her mind for a long time, so please forgive her…!”

“I won’t. It’s a common occurrence.”

Leonhard waved his hand and hurried out of the banquet hall. Count Sharp caught up with him and hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Lord, on behalf of the whole county, I apologize.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Still…”

“Why would I care about a lunatic’s words?”

“…Thank you for your understanding.”

Count Sharp swept his chest in surprise.

It was a famous fact that Grand Duke Bernoulli had expelled all the prophets who were the prophets of the north. However, Leonhard seemed more understanding than his father.

He sent them off, hoping that there would be no other mad prophets who would go against Leonhard’s heart.

After a few hours.

They arrived at the sealed mine.

As Celine rode her horse, her mind was bubbling to ask what the word “common” meant. Regardless, Leonhard looked unhappy so she did not take it out of her mouth, and they reached the entrance only having a casual conversation. The entrance to the mine was blocked by a huge rock.

Glancing around the rocks, she then took out the tiara.

“I think it can be easily destroyed with Rashir.”

“It’s not that easy to see. I have the key, so let’s go safely.”

Celine nodded her head and pulled the tiara out of her arms. However, as she was about to bring the tiara to the rock, the scream she had heard a few hours earlier echoed in her ears.

“Cursed!”

At that, she turned back.

The old woman who had cursed and pointed at them was approaching them, gasping for breath.

Celine noticed something odd about her. Apparently, in the banquet hall, they thought that the old woman said Leonhard was cursed. It was the same with Count Sharp and the young man named Calik. Although the old woman pointed straight at her.

‘…It’s not me.’

In an instant, Celine realized.

It was neither she nor Leonhard whom the old woman said cursed… It was the tiara in Celine’s hand.

“Ominous! If you use it, heaven and earth will get angry and bury you guys!”

When the impatient Leonhard was about to step out, Celine took one step closer to the old woman.

“You mean this, grandmother?”

As she carefully lifted the tiara, the old woman trembled.

“Bury, you have to bury it in the ground…throw it away…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just ignore it?”

“Wait.”

This was in the game.

There was always a reason for a character who kept appearing in front of the player while saying strange words. Of course, she had never seen such an old woman in the game. Though it could be a character that only appeared in the true ending route.

“I have to break that seal.”

“No…!”

Suddenly, the old woman rushed towards her with a terrifying force. Leonhard immediately pulled Celine behind his back.

“Get out of the way!”

The old woman screamed while she fell to the floor.

“Crazy people! Do you not know what that is?”

“It’s a mine?”

“That’s the devil’s lair. There’s a monster that will kill you and your family!”

“….!”

Celine’s eyes widened at her words.

If there was another stage here, the old woman was telling the truth.

“Grandmother, how do you know that?”

“…I saw it with my own eyes, with these eyes.”

“Yes?”

Instead of answering, the old woman ran towards Celine again but was hit by Leonhard.

‘What should I do…’

Celine bit her lip.

In the game, the characters acted on their own and gave the player direction. But, as she turned the game into a reality, she must think and act for herself.

“Grandma, I will unseal the seal.”

“….!”

The old woman now began to yell with a hoarse throat.

“So, please tell me. What should I do to avoid being killed by the monster?”

“None. There is no other way!”

“It will be. Don’t you know?”

The old woman’s eyes blazed with anger, “You don’t have to open that!”

“Celine, wouldn’t it be better to ignore her and unlock the seal?”

Leonhard’s tired voice was heard.

“….”

She thought for a moment. Celine learned quite a bit just by confirming that there was something the old woman called ‘the devil’ in this mine.

‘I was wondering if I could get a hint…’

Nevertheless, when she looked at the old woman’s condition, it seemed unreasonable for her to obtain any further information. Above all, she was afraid that the overagitated old woman might be hurt.

“We should.”

Celine put the tiara on the crevice of the rock that had closed the entrance to the mine while Leonhard stopped the old woman.

‘….!’

The dark-red magic stone embedded in the middle of the tiara spurted and shook with brilliance. Celine grabbed the tiara tightly. She could feel the magic swirling around.

‘It’s like Ringzor!’

The magic in the tiara resembled a beast with reins. Without a trainer holding on to the reins, it would run in a completely unexpected direction.

“Stop…!”

Even though she heard the old woman screaming, Celine didn’t care and focused only on the tiara. It wasn’t easy for her to control the strange magic that ran rampant.

‘…This is Ringzor. Think of it as Ringzor.’

Finally, the rock split into exactly two pieces and crashed to the ground with a heavy sound.

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s okay.”

Leonhard, with an uneasy expression, seemed to have taken the old woman far away.

“Is the grandmother going to come after us?”

“The moment it split, she ran away.”

Hearing so, she looked at him with puzzled eyes. Naturally, she thought he had chased out the grandmother. Leonhard shrugged his shoulders.

“You know. I don’t like lies.”

It was right. In the end, Celine nodded her head.

“She must have gone because she was afraid that the devil might come out, huh?”

They set foot inside a mine that had been sealed for decades. There were traces of what was once a fairly large mine. Then, she noticed something strange.

‘…It’s not like a stage.’

Like other stages, the atmosphere itself was not eerie and the presence of enemies threatening their lives was not felt.

‘I was told that a monster certainly lives…’

It was just an ordinary mine abandoned long ago.

How far did they walk?

Eventually, they reached a dead-end tunnel.

“…What?”

There were a lot of faint things scattered around the wall. As soon as Celine uttered the question, she recognized its identity.

‘Bones…’

It was a human skeleton.