Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Luciel held the emerald and spilled her mana once.
Surprisingly, there was a response. The emerald that Luciel had created, floated slightly in the air, and then sank to the floor. On the other hand, there was no reaction from the regular emerald.
‘Amazing.’
Luciel muttered while staring at the emerald she made.
‘I hope I can get Erika on my side as soon as possible.’
Because I wanted to unravel the secret of the power hidden in the jewels. She said she had a brother. But there was no information at all about her brother.
Luciel, who was agonizing over it, thought she should go find her instead of staying like this.
I think she said she was organizing data, she would probably be in Grandpa’s study, right?
As Luciel left the room, Bessie asked.
“Little Madam! Strawberries are your favorite fruit, right?”
“Yes. Strawberries are my favorite!”
Bessie nodded her head knowingly. Rose approached and asked.
“Then what’s your favorite color?”
“…Favorite color?”
“Yes.”
“…I don’t know. All the colors are nice and pretty.”
“Actually, my Little Madam has fair skin like milk, so you will look good in any color…”
Then Bessie shuddered next to her, glanced at Rose and put a finger to her lips. Luciel received a box with Macaroons with a face that doesn’t know why the two of them were doing this.
“No matter how much I searched the city, I couldn’t find a place that sold cotton candy. Instead, I heard that these macaroons are really delicious. Rumors are spreading among the youngsters.”
Perhaps because she doesn’t have friends, when Luciel listens to what other young girls like, it’s like a story from another world.
“Really?”
When she opened the box, it was filled with colorful macaroons, and those were also filled with cream.
Just looking at it made her feel good.
“Try just one.”
“Oh, then, let’s eat together.”
“We also bought something for us. Take it and eat it.”
“Yes…thanks, Rose.”
Luciel took the box of macaroons and walked towards the parlor leading to her grandfather’s study with quick steps. She could see through the open door. Instead of her grandfather, she saw Erika and a boy younger than her.
Erica was looking at the papers and diligently jotting down something, and the boy was sitting next to her with a bored expression on his face, making a mana ball and spinning it in his hand.
He looked around the same age as Luciel, but his skills were unusual. Above all, he was wearing the same blue cloak with cloud patterns that Erica was wearing.
That means that he was a wizard belonging to the Tower.
The moment Luciel was about to knock on the door, the boy sneaked up to her and looked out. The blue-haired boy had a tear-like mole around his eye. His purple eyes widened slightly when he looked at Luciel.
“……?”
“Who are you?”
“Eres, what’s wrong? Who came? Ah……Lady Luciel?”
Erika welcomed her warmly, even though she was surprised to see her.
“Miss Erika. Hello.”
Luciel cutely smiled as she looked up to her. Her white, soft cheeks seemed to stretch out like dough.
“Hello, Lady. But, what should we do? Today, Master Gillard went to see Viscount Berga.”
“Ah.”
Luciel knew it well. Whenever they meet, Grandpa would be back only after half a day has passed.
“I didn’t come to see Grandpa today. I’m here to share this with Miss Erika.”
As Luciel held out a box of macaroons half the size of her frame, Erika quickly grabbed it and placed it on the table.
Eres looked at Luciel with curious eyes.
“Sister, who is she?”
“Eres, you can’t be rude.”
Erika quickly shut her brother’s mouth. When Luciel awkwardly rolled her eyes, Erika hurriedly explained.
“Lady Luciel. This is my little brother Eres.”
“Is the younger brother that Miss Erika spoke of at that time. Nice to meet you. I am Luciel.”
“I am Eres.”
It seemed like they were around the same age, so Luciel greeted him with a smile. Erika gave a side glance to the boy who replied with a short answer. Eres looked carefully through Luciel and suddenly asked back as if he was surprised.
“Come on, come on, wait! No way……you are!”
“Huh?”
“Eres, be respectful.”
“You are the disciple of our Tower’s Master……ma’am?!”
“Yes.”
“Wow, I can’t believe it.”
Eres had a shocked face, as if the sky had fallen.
“……Why?”
“Oh, nothing.”
His mind became complicated. He was going to become a disciple of Gillard so he could become the next Master of the Tower. He had been adamantly rejected for a long time, on the excuse that Gillard took no disciples.
Eres felt wronged to think that such a soft looking girl was called his disciple.
“……How did a little kid like you become a disciple?”
“Eres, you should call her Lady Luciel.”
“……it’s okay. We are around the same age anyway. Grandpa Gillard told me that I have strong and pure magic. Maybe, it’s because of that?”
“Are you saying that your magic is pure? What’s up with that? I also have pure magic……right, sister?”
“I don’t think so.”
Erika answered while scratching her head.
“What do you mean by that?”
“People with pure magic have eyes that shine transparently. Look at Lady Luciel’s eyes. They are like jewels.”
Eres was startled by Erika’s words and looked into Luciel’s eyes. And to his surprise, it was true. It was interesting because not just everyone has eyes that twinkle like that.
“They look like real stars. What did you do to your eyes?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
* * *
Count Gillen visited the lord with a sunburned but much better-looking face. Louivid asked back while throwing off the gloves on his hands.
“…Are things going well?”
“Of course.”
Count Gillen replied triumphantly.
“How much mithril is there?”
“……We’ll have to check with more precision, but the depth of the cave is incredible. The mining rights of the emerald mine handed over to the imperial family was about a year, right?”
“Yes.”
“This is a huge profit for us no matter how much we think about it. It’s amazing. It’s all thanks to the Little Madam!”
Count Gillen smiled and rejoiced, but The Duke thought that the Count who showed such a reaction was unreliable.
“Don’t talk about this anywhere else.”
“Yes, your Grace.”
“As long as we have made a deal with the Emperor, those who know will know.”
“We put a blackout shield near the cave, so even if they try to peek, they won’t be able to see it.”
“You’re doing well. Keep it up.”
“Yes.”
This is the first time dealing with such minerals, so it will take some time before we can use them as armor. Anyone who divulged military secrets was threatened to be expelled from the territory, but information was something that could be leaked anywhere at any time.
Thus, I opted for the method of throwing the bait first.
Bellstein was the oldest VIP customer of the giant information organization guild ‘Hawkeye’.
In particular, as soon as the Marquis of Cavill, who was behind illegal business, requested information about Bellstein, it was also reported to the Duke. In addition, Louivid was aware of the illegal loan business that the Marquis was currently trying to expand in Bellstein.
There was even a small incident in the dressing room in the capital, so the impression of Marquis Cavill could not be worse.
I don’t know exactly what he was trying to do, but when he tried to find out in detail about Bellstein’s internal secrets and dynamics while spending huge amounts of money on the members of the organization, the Marquis’ intentions could not be more shady.
If it were Marquis, it was easily expected that he would show great interest in Lake Frandel. Even the imperial family gave permission for the deliberate leak of information.
From the point of view of the imperial family, the Marquis was like a stingy fly that wandered around.
―As expected, Marquis Cavill took the bait.
Said the intelligence officer.
“All right. Let’s move with care from now on.”
The path the Marquis will take to reach out his hand has been fixed. He will do it within the Bellstein estate to facilitate movement.
The Duke turned off the communication port. He was tired of waiting.
Louivid muttered, biting into a cold laugh.
“I will finally see that dirty face.”
* * *
“What flavor do you like, Eres? Chocolate? Apple?”
“……Chocolate.”
As expected, boys like chocolate.
Luciel smiled brightly, grabbed the chocolate macaroon with her small hand and held it out to Eres. He received the macaroon from her, but looked around in doubt.
Luciel lifted the box and showed it to Erika.
“What flavor does Miss Erika like?”
It was the first time Erika had encountered such a luxurious dessert. As she worked at the tower, she was paid a good salary, but she could not afford enough to try high-quality desserts. Moreover, the two were orphans from poor families.
Erica agonized for a moment. Most of all, the appearance of Luciel recommending macaroons was also very cute.
“Huh……I’ll go with this yellow one.”
“Oh, that tastes like custard cream.”
Luciel replied and picked up the pink macaroon for herself. As expected, strawberries could not be overlooked. When she put it in her mouth, the combination of sweet and thick cream harmonized with the crunchy and chewy texture of meringue, it was the best.
Luciel and Erika chewed the macaroon and talked with a possessed look on their faces.
“It’s so delicious.”
“This is really delicious?”
“…….”
“Eres, quickly. Have a taste”
He was reluctant at first, but when he chewed the macaroon a little, he ate the rest in a bite surprised by the sweet feast in his mouth. Then he sneakily grabbed another macaroon and ate it.
Being a child of the Duke’s family, she seemed to eat these high-end desserts all the time.
Was it because of the sweet dessert? The awkward atmosphere was relieved, and a soft smile settled on Erika’s lips.
“Thanks to Lady Luciel, I really enjoyed the meal.”
“Uhn, I ate well.”
Although he was still grumpy, Eres was friendlier and less cranky. Luciel thought to herself.
‘After all, delicious food works for everyone.’
“It’s a relief that the two of you ate well.”
Having a conversation with the macaroon as an opportunity, Luciel got to know a little more about Eres and Erika.
Eres is said to be 12 this year, and Erika was 18.
While Erica works in a laboratory at the Tower, Eres is working on simple magic tasks while improving his skills. Luciel was surprised to find out that he was already a 3rd circle wizard who had manifested his attributes, contrary to what he looked like.