Chapter 18

Biona, who had been crying in deep regret for a long time, made a humming sound and lifted her head. It seemed like an effort to stop her tears from falling. 

“The Lion’s Stone appeared. It was a man who lived on the border of the Kingdom of Mazarna, with whom we had a poor relationship.” 

“How could that be? I mean, how can you know for sure?” 

“Estelle Fleur… she said she had a dream. That’s the kind of person she was. A child who could even read divine revelations in her dreams. A Fleur who might appear once in a thousand years. Everyone used to call her that.” 

“……” 

“We crossed the border, just as Estelle said, to capture the man who had manifested as the Lion’s Stone. At that time, there were still about a hundred women who were called Stone Killers.” 

“……” 

“When we stood before him, we were useless. He couldn’t even be compared to the wild beasts enchanted by mystical artifacts or the one woman with the Red Stone I had seen once in my life. That presence… it was like standing before the sun itself. A sun that no one could approach! I finally understood why Stone Killers were so terrified of the Lion’s Stone manifesting as a person.” 

The Lion’s Stone was still a person, wasn’t it? A sun, really? 

Jenna, captivated by the fascinating story, forgot her manners and let her mouth hang open. 

“Of the hundred who went with us, half were blinded by the light emitted when the Lion’s Stone manifested and lost their lives on the spot. I thought I was dead too and fainted. When I woke up, it was all over.” 

“……” 

“The Priestess of the Lion had already ascended to the land of the gods, and the only person left unharmed was Lady Evelyn! Oh, the way she stood there, triumphantly clutching the Lion’s Stone in her hand for everyone to see!” 

Biona gritted her teeth in frustration. 

“The only Stone Killer who could shoot a crossbow at the Lion’s Stone and actually harm him was Lady Estelle. It must have been thanks to Estelle that the Lion was killed. But Evelyn’s words were simply outrageous. She claimed that Estelle killed the Lion, took the Lion’s Stone from his heart, and intended to present it to the King of Lucus. Do you think we believed her?” 

“……” 

“But none of the surviving Stone Killers had witnessed the situation, and Estelle disappeared without a trace afterward. Evelyn brought the Lion’s Stone straight to the aging Emperor in the capital and convinced him that Estelle had planned to give the Lion’s Stone to Lucus.” 

Jenna could imagine Evelyn’s sly expression as she whispered into the Emperor’s ear. 

“You know the legend, don’t you? That the one who possesses both the Lion’s Stone and the Red Stone will unify the continent? The Emperor Joseph, who was already jealous of the King of Lucus for possessing the Red Stone, believed Evelyn’s words without question. Estelle, who had disappeared, became a traitor whose name couldn’t even be mentioned.” 

“……” 

“But to this day, none of us truly believe that what Lady Evelyn said back then was the truth.” 

“Does that mean my aunt might still be alive somewhere, Lady Biona?” 

Biona’s lips twitched as if she wanted to say something more, but then she firmly closed them. It seemed she had no intention of saying anything further about Estelle. Knowing that pressing the matter wouldn’t help, Jenna quickly changed the subject. 

“By the way, Lady Biona, when did the Stone Killer first start speaking to you?”  

Everyone thought they were conversing with their Stone Killer. However, that was a very clear misconception. Lady Biona, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, suddenly shouted with an utterly baffled expression.

“What? Lady Jenna. A Stone Killer speaking to you is called Soul Link. That’s… that’s just a legend passed down. No one has ever reached that level. It seems you’ve been reading strange books instead of trying to create weapons. Tsk tsk, even Estelle couldn’t do that. What kind of books have you been reading?”

Did I ask something wrong? This is shocking. I can’t even create a dagger—no, not even a toothpick as the Stone Killer keeps mocking me—and now Soul Link?! Is it really that extraordinary?!

[Hmm, no. You’re probably thinking you’re some kind of genius right now, aren’t you?]

As expected, the cold voice of reprimand echoed in her mind.

[Hmm. That’s not it. It’s just a trait of your family, your bloodline. Soul Link isn’t as great as you think. That woman doesn’t know, does she? Maybe Estelle was doing Soul Link too? It’s something only the person involved would know. So, don’t believe half-baked words and keep striving. Please, please, at least try to create a toothpick by the end of the year, Lady Jenna. Hmm?]

The mystical artifact known as the Stone Killer must exist to pour cold water on one’s self-esteem. The reprimands came like a storm.

[What are you going to do if you really encounter a bear enchanted by a mystical artifact? You’re too plump to run fast, so will you climb a tree? Do you know how fast bears are? They climb trees better than you do. And those enchanted by mystical artifacts are even faster. What will you do then? Are you planning to die and shut me up for the next 100 years?]

That would indeed bring some peace. How bored would the Stone Killer be without its usual back-and-forth arguments? Just imagining it was amusing.

[Hey! Have some conscience. After I even predicted that whirlwind event down to the exact date, shouldn’t you at least pretend to make something or act like you value your life?]

Lady Jenna was not someone who would take baseless scolding lying down.

[Hey, Stone Killer! You’re really such a coward for a mystical artifact. What do you mean, what will I do if a bear appears? Do you think I travel alone? I always have Cloud and at least ten senior knights with me. There’s no way that kind of situation will ever happen, so stop worrying.”]

[……That’s not it. Are you saying you have no attachment to life? Or are you thinking that since Graham is gone, it’s fine if you disappear into the flames too?]

[……. ……]

It’s not easy to deceive the Stone Killer, a mystical artifact. It was right. It hadn’t even been a month since Graham left, yet people were already starting to forget him, acting as if he had never existed in the first place.

Seeing Graham’s seat gone at the dining table or his horse tied up in the stables without an owner felt like living in hell. At least when Jenna was strategizing for her wager with the Emperor, she could focus on that and momentarily forget about Graham.

Jenna fiddled with her scented pouch again.

My love, my other half, you’re not truly gone.

“By the way, you still haven’t mentioned the reason you invited me to the Red Hall, Lady Jenna.”

Biona smiled faintly and scooted closer to Jenna.

“Of course! Lady Biona. An afternoon invitation without dinner would be improper.”

For reasons she didn’t fully understand, her plan to coax Lady Evelyn into becoming Adrian Henrique’s shield had fallen through. In that case, she thought she might as well capture the Red Stone she had boldly promised the Emperor.

However, Lady Biona was faster than Jenna. The elderly woman’s deep eyes gleamed with curiosity.

“I heard you promised the Emperor to capture the Red Stone for him.”

It had only been three hours since she left the Emperor’s presence. The time it would take to flip the smallest hourglass three times. Yet, Lady Biona had already heard about Jenna’s statement. The Imperial Palace was truly a terrifying place.

There was no way the Emperor himself would have spoken about it. Cloud? He couldn’t speak. Me? Have I finally gone mad? In that case… the chamberlain! The Emperor’s chamberlain! That old man. 

Jenna quickly identified the rat in the Imperial Palace in her mind.

“Hmm! Hmm! Lady Biona, it’s a misunderstanding. There’s no way I would make such an unreasonable promise to the Emperor, hmm.”

She tried to deflect the topic with a composed demeanor, but Biona burst into laughter. Soon after, she began to speak in a calm and sorrowful tone, recounting the past.

“This happened about thirty years ago. There was a rumor that the Red Stone had appeared in the impoverished Kingdom of Fargone. At the time, the Ingénes Empire was causing chaos, releasing Stone Killers to search for the Lion’s Stone, and even back then, the current Emperor was full of greed.”

“…….”

“He sent young Stone Killers, who couldn’t even properly craft weapons, to Fargone to capture the Red Stone alive. Joseph Henrique was overflowing with ambition even in his youth. So, thirty soldiers and twenty Stone Killers rushed to Fargone, which was nearly a ten-day journey by carriage or horseback.”

“Twenty of them?”

Biona closed her eyes gently, reminiscing about that time.

“She was beautiful. The Red Stone woman I saw had skin as white as jade and deep golden hair. Of course, when she manipulated the thirty soldiers at her whim, I was paralyzed with fear. Female Red Stones can seduce men and control them as they please.”

Control them? 

Jenna’s round eyes widened even further as she listened.