CH 30

Desian stood with an unflinching face and Citrina followed him. Next to her was Gemma, who slouched down to appear smaller.

Citrina.

When you came back to me,

I said I wouldn’t lose you.

She didn’t seem to remember. That was a special memory for him, but it wasn’t unreasonable to think that Citrina didn’t treasure it.

Nevertheless, he was confident he could win her heart. The constant pulsing of his heart seemed to ring in his ears.

‘Anyway…that spirit is annoying.’

He had seen it trembling.

As soon as their eyes had met, he kept his mouth shut so he didn’t say anything he would regret. That way, Citrina would not doubt his kindness.

‘It would have been convenient to kill it, but I couldn’t.’

The spirit could not be destroyed because it was dear to Citrina.

Therefore he hoped his magic would serve as a proper warning for the spirit.

It was difficult to personally touch the things Citrina loved. He was slowly, gently going to draw her to him, so that she couldn’t run away.

Next morning, Desian came to her townhouse. It was right after Citrina finished eating breakfast and dressing.

Citrina wore a light muslin dress and a hat that could be put on without the help of a maid. She asked Desian lightly.

“If we leave now, we’ll arrive around evening, right?”

It was more than half a day by carriage to the Despanic mine owned by the Count Hailey family.

“No, we’ll get there soon.”

She tilted her head to the side. But the question was easily answered. Desian slowly reached out to her.

As soon as she realized she was holding his hand, she somehow felt itchy.

‘We once held hands at the duke’s mansion, but in some way…is this a bit different?’

Having grown up a bit more and become a young man, he somehow more unfamiliar and dangerous than before.

Citrina bit her lip. Desian did not shy away from her.

“What are you thinking?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

She replied and glanced at Desian. She couldn’t read his expression. Her vision went black right away, but only for a moment.

Immediately, Citrina and Desian arrived in front of the Despanic Mine.

Standing at the entrance to Despanic Mine, Citrina looked around with unfamiliar eyes.

The entrance to the mine felt like the opening of a deep cave. Standing in front of such a powerful piece of nature, everything felt small.

“It’s going to be hard to breathe.”

“Ah, because it’s a mine……”

“Right, because you are a normal person.”

“Then how can I do it? I didn’t prepare anything special.”

It was a bit awkward. Come to think of it, you also used a special magical tool when mining gemstones.

Seeing her troubled expression, Desian spoke slowly.

“You have me.”

Citrina raised her eyes.

‘Ah, now that I think about it, Desian knows how to use magic.’

However, she didn’t expect his hand to touch her ear lightly.

“I cast a small spell. You’ll feel comfortable breathing.”.

“Is this healing magic?”

-Gemma, are you listening?

-Yeah.

Gemma’s voice was trembling. Citrina didn’t notice the quiver in her voice.

And yet.

She opened her mouth.

-There are so many Silmaril gemstones.

-Well I don’t care about anything. Let’s take any of these and get out of here quick.

-Why? This is where you really wanted to come.

-N, no. I’m not scared…I think they are all good.

-Are you afraid of mines?

Gemma, however, didn’t answer.

Citrina and Gemma were under a spirit contract. Therefore Desian shouldn’t be able to see Gemma, nor hear her voice.

But Desian’s gaze slowly but subtly moved over to Gemma.

When Gemma met Desian’s gaze, she hurriedly hid in Citrina’s pendant necklace.

‘I’m worried.’

There was no way for Citrina to know about the subtle confrontation going on between Gemma and Desian. Gemma also thought she would feel better if she could get her hands on a higher-level mana Silmaril gemstone.

Citrina began to carefully look around inside the mine.

“It’s…unexpectedly, it’s more beautiful than I imagined.”

“What were you imagining?”

“Well…”

“I only thought it would be very dark.”

Citrina had never been to the deepest part of such a huge mine.

“Ah, is there a superior Silmaril among the gemstones here?”

“I’ve already collected the most beautiful samples outside.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. It’s in the barracks outside.”

He could see Citrina’s eyes twinkling.

There was innocent curiosity there for the first time.

What on earth was a gem to her? It was a worthless rock to him.

“Thanks! I want to touch it myself.”

“It’s in the village down from the mine, Rina.”

“Then let’s go over there!”

Walking slowly out of the mine, Citrina thought of the beauty of nature.

The world no longer felt like a novel to Citrina. It was more like she was in the battlefield of her life.

“Del, how much longer do we have to walk?”

“Just a bit more.”

After Desian answered, the mine became quiet. As they explored inside the mine step-by-step, Desian asked in a quiet voice.

“There’s something I’m a bit curious about.”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering why you like jewels.”

“…the reason I like jewels?”

“Right, I was wondering about the reason you like jewels.”

She had never thought about it deeply in this life or in her previous life. The reason she liked jewels is because she enjoyed the process of refining rough gemstones into polished jewels step-by-step.

‘Isn’t the process of transforming a rough gemstone into a jewel fascinating? But it isn’t just a passing interest for me….’

When Citrina didn’t answer, Desian’s expressionless face clouded for a moment.

Citrina didn’t see his expression as they stood next to each other.

“It’s just, I like the fact that the shiny jewels weren’t sparkling to begin with.”

Citrina thought. In her previous life and in her present life, she was not the main character.  Therefore, she couldn’t shine brilliantly from the start.

-drip, drip-

Water was flowing slowly from somewhere out of sight.

“I’ve been thinking for four years. . I like that.”

“It has to withstand the ordeal.”

“Yeah, after spending a long time underground, the gemstone is reborn.”

It was a rambling comment. But they were also the most sincere words she could think of.

Like a rough gemstone slowly changed bit by bit, she too…wanted to achieve something.

She didn’t want to live a common life.

Citrina’s eyes were filled with determination. Desian was looking at her with an unfamiliar gaze. He looked pleased, but also a little bit flustered.

“… Rina.”

“…Yeah?”

“It makes me curious about you.”

There was a moment of silence. Citrina spoke with a wishful smile.

“I’ve never thought about it very deeply before. Still, it would be nice to have a jewel named after me. That’s what I’ve been thinking.”

“A jewel named after you…”

“In a way… you organized my thoughts.”

The deep mine echoes quietly. It was like you had to tell the truth in such a heavy atmosphere.

Citrina laughed jokingly because she hated the oppressive atmosphere. Desian was silent for a long time.

At last, Desian laughed quietly, as if he had finally accepted all of her words.

“I can see a light, so are we almost there?”

“Yeah, we’re almost there.”

Citrina took a short deep breath.

She remembered the type of Silmaril gemstone that Gemma wanted. It would be flawless. Not too big or too small, and it would have nice lines when it was polished….

Then where was it?