Chapter 14 Clarifying Positions

Though he looked so cold that not a drop of blood would come out if you stabbed him, Arsen was a kind person.

Lydia’s face turned bright red whenever she recalled the embarrassing behavior in his bedroom after drinking the other day.

She had boasted about her high alcohol tolerance, only to get visibly drunk, then loudly insisted on becoming friends while clinging to him.

After that, she shamelessly stole his bed to sleep. And though she hadn’t realized it at the time because she was out of it, thinking back now, she had breakfast with Arsen without even washing her face.

“Wasn’t he disgusted?”

He had carried the alcohol-reeking Lydia, placed her on a horse, and carefully escorted her back to the temple.

People don’t need to be that kind, do they?

Just thinking about that day made Lydia so embarrassed that she hadn’t gone anywhere near the Edis mansion yesterday.

She wished she could avoid seeing him for a few days until the memory faded, but that wasn’t possible.

Today was the day she had promised to go with Robert to investigate the true nature of the mine.

“Priestess, I’ll be going now.”

“Be careful, Priestess Lydia.”

Though she feared feeling embarrassed again upon seeing Arsen’s face, she couldn’t break her promise, so Lydia trudged out of the temple.

As she was walking to the Edis mansion, a familiar horse clip-clopped toward her.

“Oh, Sir Randel!”

When Lydia waved at Randel on horseback, he stopped his horse and asked,

“Are you heading to the mansion?”

“Yes. I’m supposed to go inspect the mine today. Are you also on your way to the mansion, Sir Randel?”

“I am.”

A brief silence fell between them. Randel debated whether he should dismount and walk with her or offer her a ride.

They were going to the same place, so he couldn’t just ride off on his horse and leave Lydia behind, could he?

“Um, would you like a ride?”

Though the Edis mansion wasn’t far on foot, Lydia nodded, not wanting to reject Randel’s kindness when they had only recently become friendly.

And so, Lydia entered the Edis estate practically cradled in Randel’s arms.

“……Lydia?”

Witnessing that intimate posture, Arsen was struck directly by a whirlwind of jealousy.

The mental wall that should have blocked the storm of emotions had already been crumbled into sand grains by Lydia.

* * *

Meanwhile in the capital, crowds of people flocked to the imperial palace to celebrate the young emperor’s imperial wedding.

Today’s bride, who would soon shed the “future” qualifier and proudly become empress, maintained her gentle demeanor despite the preparations that had begun in the early dawn.

In the end, due to Marquis Evansi’s opposition, Giselle would take her marriage vows as Giselle Maxwell, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Today, she would be called not Giselle Maxwell but “Saintess” Giselle.

This was all thanks to her cousin Lydia.

* * *

After creating a remedy for the White Ghost disease with the yellow mountain dandelions gathered from all around, Giselle personally distributed the medicine.

Whether it was a humble family barely maintaining their noble status or a dying patient in the slums, Giselle visited anyone afflicted with the White Ghost disease.

Many were impressed by her dedication to the Empire despite her pregnancy, and the title “Saintess” began to precede her name.

Saintess Giselle.

What a fitting empress for the Empire entering a new era.

She deliberately chose a wedding dress design reminiscent of Anastasia.

She felt bad about rejecting Richard’s gift of a dress decorated with all kinds of jewels intended to make her stand out, but she had explained thoroughly, so he should understand.

Giselle stood before the many guests and the white carpet, having completed all her preparations. Her eyes welled up at the dreamlike reality.

Giselle of the insignificant Maxwell family, a branch of the Evansi family, practically a commoner, would disappear little by little with each step toward the altar where the Archbishop stood.

And soon, only Empress Giselle of this mighty Empire would remain.

“Why didn’t she just wear priestess robes.”

Devon muttered to himself as he watched Giselle making her entrance at the imperial wedding.

All of Devon’s plans had gone awry. With Giselle becoming empress while bearing the Maxwell name, the path to becoming a family that produced an empress seemed distant.

This was largely because Marquis Evansi refused to accept Giselle as his daughter, but it was also because Devon had signed the letter of broken engagement sent by Richard.

Not only that, but as soon as Marquis Evansi returned alive, he rejected the ducal title offered by Richard.

And then he drew an invisible line between himself and Richard and Giselle, and Devon somehow felt like he was standing on that line too.

‘It’s not just Father.’

That troublesome cousin had also taken away Lydia’s chance to restore her honor.

Lydia was the one who discovered and revealed the cure for the White Ghost disease and dedicated herself to the temple, so why was Giselle the one receiving the title of Saintess?

Lydia did the work, and Giselle took the honor.

If it weren’t for Giselle, the Evansi family could have been known as the family that supported the new Emperor and produced a Saintess.

The only thing Devon believed in now was Lydia’s eye for choosing men.

‘Lydia, you must catch Lord Arsen, no matter what, whatever it takes.’

And around that time, news that would please Devon was crossing the capital’s gates.

* * *

Arriving at the mine, Lydia murmured in surprise at the unexpectedly decent scenery.

“It’s not exactly in ruins.”

“When we come out for demonic beast subjugation, we usually camp here in front. There aren’t many demonic beasts in this area.”

“Why?”

“The beasts avoid this area. Demonic beasts dislike mana stones.”

In front of the mine, Robert peered into the abandoned mine entrance with spirited eyes and chuckled meaningfully.

“Are you saying this is really a mana stone mine? Well, it was a bit strange. Just a short distance from here, there are creatures bigger than that centipede-type demonic beast swarming around, but only this place is safe.”

Kedrick seemed to have mixed feelings about discovering that the place where they had camped dozens of times was not a worthless silver mine but a mana stone mine.

Not just Kedrick, but the other knights who came as escorts also showed their curiosity by touching the mine entrance and such.

“Can you tell just by looking at it like this?”

“We need to go inside to see. But the mine seems more developed than I expected.”

The mine was dug much deeper than indicated in the report written long ago when the silver mine was being developed.

“Father had repair work done a few times so we could camp inside the mine during storms.”

Arsen explained, recalling old memories. Brahman Edis, thinking there was no need to leave a perfectly good mine idle, had construction done to prevent the entrance from collapsing and used it as a camping site.

He also expanded the interior so horses could be tied up inside.

Thanks to that, they were able to easily go inside the mine to look around.

Robert examined the mine slowly, touching the soil and scratching the walls with something like a chisel.

When Robert reached a dead end, he placed his cheek against the wall and began to breathe deeply.

“Can you feel the energy of the mana stones that way?”

Kedrick couldn’t contain his curiosity. Robert looked at him with an expression that suggested his question was absurd.

“Energy? No, I’m listening for sounds. If there’s an underground stream flowing inside, you could all drown while developing it. Fortunately, I don’t hear any water. I’ll need to dig to determine the deposit size, but it’s similar in many ways to the mine in Count Brastelma’s territory.”

Lydia had been thinking the same thing. As soon as they entered the mine, unpleasant memories flooded back, making her frown.

“Even with a small deposit, a mana stone mine is profitable to excavate.”

“Then we should develop it, right, Commander?”

“But the outside world mustn’t know it’s a mana stone mine.”

How could they hide the true nature of the mana stone mine, like in Count Brastelma’s territory?

Lydia had been pondering this since deciding to develop the mine but still hadn’t found a good answer.

Count Brastelma had illegally purchased slaves and strictly controlled the people in nearby villages. But they couldn’t use the same method here.

“We can use the same reason as in my father’s time.”

Surprisingly, the idea came from Arsen.

“Since my father’s repair work, the mine hasn’t been touched. We can say we’re making the mine a base for demonic beast subjugation.”

If they said they were renovating so they wouldn’t need to pitch tents separately, few would find it strange.

Everyone in the borderlands knew that the demonic beast subjugation team used the mine as a campsite, so it was the perfect excuse.

“We’ll select people who can keep secrets to proceed with it.”

“Sounds good.”

Lydia nodded vigorously at the excellent idea.

“Let’s head back down for today.”

Arsen decided to descend after checking the sun’s position.

“Come on, elder, ride here.”

Kedrick good-naturedly led Robert to his horse.

Next was Lydia’s turn. Earlier, when coming to the mine, she had ridden on Randel’s horse.

She had met Randel by chance on the way and rode his horse to the mansion, then proceeded directly to the mine.