Chapter 54
#054. The Stolen Relic, Lowell's Treasure
Olivia smiled, absently smoothing the edge of the document.
She had always only received from Edwin.
The first dance, the first vow, a place for her to return to, and a sword. And even people she could trust and love.
If she counted the dresses and jewels, she had received countless things.
The longer she stayed in the Ducal Palace, the stronger her desire to give Edwin a gift grew.
This period, when she was busy meeting people for the Yeniv Street renovations and couldn't even see Edwin's face properly, seemed like the perfect time to give him a surprise gift.
With the help of the finance vassal, she had registered her White Crystal Mine as joint property and wanted to surprise him by telling him the moment the Yeniv Street renovation preparations were complete.
After that much time had passed, she felt like she could say it.
That she loved Edwin very, very much...
As she thought of the words she was still too shy to say out loud, the corners of her lips gently lifted.
It was then. Suddenly, she felt a slight heat rising around her neck. Olivia unconsciously fiddled with the Magic Stone on her necklace.
The Magic Stone, which always kept her warm, was suddenly generating heat like this. Feeling strange, she looked at the Magic Stone, and the transparent, White Crystal-like stone momentarily flashed green.
It was the same situation as last time. Olivia tilted her head and was about to ask Bethany about the Magic Stone when...
"Bethany!"
Olivia was startled and called out to Bethany.
Bethany's face, which had been playfully smiling with her just a moment ago, was now pale. Her light blue eyes, which always looked at her warmly, had widened pupils as if she had seen something shocking.
Olivia, startled by Bethany's silence as if she had stopped breathing, rushed to Bethany's side.
"Bethany! What's wrong? Breathe!"
Holding Bethany's trembling hands, Olivia patted Bethany's back. This side of Bethany, who was always calm and kind, was shocking to Olivia as well.
"Is there anyone outside?"
In her urgency, Olivia shouted outside. She hoped someone would come quickly and call a doctor.
But unless she pulled the servant cord, there was no way the sound would reach outside the soundproofed door.
What if Bethany collapsed like this?
Bethany was already an irreplaceable and precious person to her. Her heart sank. Olivia tried to act calm and said,
"J-Just a moment, Bethany. I'll call a doctor. Just wait a little. I'll be back really quickly."
She was so flustered that she couldn't even properly distinguish the meaning of her own words. Her legs felt weak, but Olivia hurriedly tried to head outside.
"Lady."
At that moment, Bethany called out to Olivia with labored breathing. Olivia was about to hug Bethany with a rush of relief.
"You must tell him right away. Master Edwin, he really... really..."
"..."
"He really, has been waiting. For this day."
No sooner had the words, which had been struggling to continue, ended than tears welled up in Bethany's eyes.
Master Edwin, she must be talking about Edwin.
Bethany's reaction, acting so strangely after seeing the White Crystal Mine document, was difficult to understand.
What was this White Crystal Mine to Edwin?
But.
Looking at the heavy emotions contained in Bethany's silent tears, Olivia was not foolish enough to waste any more time.
Olivia urgently pulled the servant cord.
Soon, there was a knock on the door from outside. As soon as Olivia gave her permission, the maid who entered bowed politely and raised her head.
Olivia, noticing the maid's momentary look of confusion upon seeing Bethany, gave a short and concise order.
"Tell Edwin to come to my room. Right now."
* * *
Late at night, Edwin, who had been summoned, headed to Olivia's room.
The servants, who bowed their heads to the Grand Duke walking from afar, retreated to the walls as if accustomed to the heavy, oppressive aura.
Howard, who was following behind, kept calling out to Edwin, but even that did not reach Edwin's ears.
His deeply sunken red eyes shone fiercely.
"The Lady is urgently seeking the Grand Duke."
The moment Edwin heard the words of the maid who had knocked on his office door a little while ago, he couldn't help but try to suppress the rising corners of his lips.
"At this late hour? Did you say my Lady is looking for me?"
"Be careful, Grand Duke. What will you do if you smile so much that your lips tear?"
Even Howard's expressionless joke was barely audible.
Could it be that she was slightly showing her disappointment that they hadn't been able to see each other much lately because of Yeniv Street? Or had Olivia really decided to like him?
It didn't matter which it was. Just the fact that he would see her face at this late hour made his heart beat pleasantly.
It was then.
"But, Bethany seemed to be crying."
I thought I should tell you, the maid said anxiously, and the floating mood instantly plummeted to the ground.
"No, why would Bethany..."
Howard's question faded away. The maid said something in response, but it didn't reach Edwin's ears.
The last time he had seen Bethany's tears was when he was ten years old, the night before his mother was taken to the Imperial Palace along with the notification that his father had passed away.
Bethany's appearance, biting her lip and crying without even making a sound for him, awakened the helplessly powerless ten-year-old him.
"Your Highness must only shed tears of joy. I will assist you so that you can do so."
From the day his mother was taken to the Imperial Palace, Bethany served him as the Grand Duke, even though he had not properly completed the succession ceremony. Bethany, who had been his mother's maid, replaced the absence of the butler.
Bethany, who could have gone to a better place with just the reputation of a northern magician, served him and Vikander with all her heart.
And Bethany kept her own words first. Because Bethany had not cried since that night.
Even when the honor of Vikander fell to the ground, even when the perception of green eyes became irreversibly bad, even when the news of his mother's death was delivered as a notification.
Soon, as Edwin approached Olivia's room, the door was slightly open.
Unlike a little while ago when his vision had turned white, Edwin was gradually regaining his composure.
He had to act as usual. He had to knock on the door and enter, he thought, just as...
Olivia's voice was heard through the slightly open door.
"Why are you doing this, Bethany!"
At the voice of panic and helplessness, Edwin pushed the open door open without even thinking.
And at that moment, Edwin doubted his eyes.
Bethany, who had never knelt before anyone except his mother, not even him, was kneeling in front of Olivia, her forehead on the floor, prostrating herself.
"Edwin, please help me. Bethany, get up. Please."
Olivia, in front of her, was at a loss, struggling to grab Bethany's arm and lift her up.
.
.
.
"Edwin, please help me. Bethany, get up. Please."
Edwin was standing where she turned to at the feeling of a presence. Olivia urgently asked for help. No matter how much she groaned and tried to lift Bethany's body, Bethany didn't even show any signs of getting up.
Bethany, who had been shedding tears so profusely that she was about to faint, suddenly knelt down and put her forehead on the floor towards her, as if she had gained strength from somewhere.
Olivia, who was blankly watching the scene she had never seen before, quickly tried to stop Bethany, but it was useless.
"Thank you, really, thank you."
Only the faint, tearful words were a means of letting her know that Bethany had not fainted.
"Olivia, what is all this?"
Oops. Edwin must be even more flustered than she was. Olivia hurriedly looked around the room for the document.
She seemed to have put it somewhere the moment she saw Bethany's face turn white.
Fortunately, she didn't have to look around in many places. Handing over the document that was properly placed on the desk, Olivia said cautiously.
"Bethany said that she had to show this to Edwin right now."
Edwin, who had been looking at Bethany, turned his head and looked at the document that Olivia was handing over. And the moment he read the top of the document, Edwin's mind went completely blank.
Even after restoring the family's honor that had fallen to the ground, he had imagined it hundreds of times.
What would it feel like to find the White Crystal Mine that was tied to the Emperor? Would he be as happy as he was now that he had rebuilt his family, or would he be even happier?
Whenever Edwin felt an unfulfilled emptiness while wandering the battlefields, he always thought of the White Crystal Mine.
"It will be taken away by the Emperor now, but Edwin Lowell Vikander. Remember. You must find it. This is yours. It belongs to Vikander and Lowell!"
The night before she was taken to the Imperial Palace, his mother said to him with dignity amidst everyone's weeping.
It was when news arrived that his father, the supreme commander of the war, had been killed in action. Instead of offering condolences, the Emperor held him responsible for the defeat. Everyone argued that it was a battle that was destined to be lost anyway, but it was no use.
The Emperor demanded the most abundant gem mines in the Territory of Vikander, the Treasured Sword Airaruten of the Lowell Kingdom, and the White Crystal Mine.
Everyone knew that his true intention was a sinister desire to devour the Grand Duchess, and the entire Vikander Ducal Family.
And everyone thought it would go as the Emperor wished. His mother, the Grand Duchess, was more beautiful than anyone, but fragile. Like the ruined Lowell, Vikander, too, would be relegated to the back pages of history.
But his mother, the Grand Duchess, did not shed a single tear. At the same time as the news of his father's death, his mother became stronger than anyone else.
The last Princess of Lowell.
His mother was strong enough to bear the responsibility that came with that honor. After negotiating with the Emperor and protecting the people of the Territory of Vikander, his mother chose to be taken to the Imperial Palace herself.
Whenever Edwin recalled the words spoken by her resolute face, which did not shed a single tear, he always reflected on the meaning of his name.
Edwin Lowell Vikander.
A name that simultaneously encompassed the collapsed Ducal Family and the vanished Kingdom.
The head of Vikander and the last of the Lowell Kingdom's bloodline, which had disappeared into history.
Looking at his own somewhat empty self, Edwin always thought it was because he lacked 'Lowell.'
The White Crystal Mine, which, like the Treasured Sword Airaruten, was a treasure of Lowell.
If he could possess that mine, which was his mother's last memento, wouldn't he be able to fill this unfillable void?
But the reality was that he was just trembling like a fool.
"H, how could this be..."
Edwin couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. And he pressed hard on his eyes. Beyond his elegant, long fingers, his vision blurred.
Amidst the sounds spreading like being submerged in water, Olivia's clear voice pulled Edwin back to reality.
"It's my wedding dowry from Her Highness the Princess. I received it the day we went to the Imperial Palace together."
What Olivia had brought back after meeting the Princess.
The expectations he had recklessly harbored at the Pink Diamond Mine had become a reality.
He felt the floor beneath his feet. The texture of the document in his hand was vivid. Edwin gritted his teeth at the vividness of the reality rushing towards him.
Olivia asked cautiously.
"...Is this, perhaps, important to Edwin?"
"Olivia, do you not know what you've done?"
"......No."
"Olivia, you've done something I couldn't do even after rolling around on the battlefield for over a decade."
"What does that..."
"My mother's memento, the treasure of Lowell that was taken away. You found it for me."
A memento and a treasure. She had no idea it was such a big deal...
Olivia blinked, unsure how to react.
In the meantime, Edwin walked towards Olivia, clutching the document tightly. And he buried his face in her small shoulder.
"Thank you, really, thank you, Olivia."
The sound of Edwin's heart beating close by was vivid. Olivia, who had been frozen for a moment, slowly raised her hand and patted Edwin on the back.
Although hot breath touched the back of her neck with the gentle touch, Olivia said nothing. The tears falling on her shoulder were hot.
* * *
On a night when the moon was high in the sky, a carriage left the sturdy Ducal Palace. The destination was the White Crystal Mine.
