Chapter 69
The Revealed Secret (1)
“Didn’t you push yourself too hard yesterday? You don’t look so great.”
“We’ll see about that. You might suddenly start feeling bad yourself.”
“No way. I feel better than ever right now.”
After several bouts with Harold, Heint let out a fierce shout and charged again. It seemed his arm was still sore after breaking five wooden swords in solo practice the day before.
Taking advantage of Harold’s weakened side, Heint attacked relentlessly. Seeing that Harold was clearly exhausted, he closed in to finish the match. Time to end it. He threw his full weight into his sword and pushed Harold back.
But even as his foot slipped on the dusty ground, Harold didn’t lose his composure. Instead, he kept glancing toward the VIP seats, as if distracted by something outside the duel.
When he spotted Norden leaning a little too close toward Letina, Harold’s legs tensed and he stopped retreating. Too close. Far too close. The one making him nervous wasn’t his opponent Heint pressing the attack—it was Norden sitting beside Letina.
‘I have to end this quickly.’
A vein bulged on Harold’s forearm. His eyes changed, as if he had suddenly remembered a surefire way to bring Heint down in one move.
“I like your sister.”
Harold spoke quietly from his position at the edge of the white ring. Their faces were close enough that even the smallest whisper carried.
“What?”
In that instant of confusion, Harold twisted Heint’s off-balance strength aside and counterattacked. Heint barely avoided being knocked out of bounds, but Harold’s blade caught him in the side, forcing him back with a hand clutching his ribs.
“You shouldn’t leave yourself open in a match.”
Harold casually adjusted his grip and strolled back to the center, following the marks he had left on the ground.
“You—! That was a lie, wasn’t it? How could you say something so low just to win?”
“It wasn’t a lie. I meant it.”
“That’s impossible!”
Still reeling from Harold’s words, Heint shouted with a dazed look. He clearly didn’t want to believe it. Raising his sword again, he denied what he’d just heard.
“You asked me why I’m so obsessed with winning. I plan to ask His Majesty for permission to marry Letina.”
That was why Harold had been willing to risk everything in this tournament. In Ludenheim, a royal endorsement was required for any official marriage. Even if two people loved each other, they could only become a legitimate couple with the Emperor’s sanction.
“Y-you’re serious?”
Heint’s sword slipped from his hands. The fact that Harold liked Letina mattered far more to him than the duel itself. Though he quickly picked the sword back up, he was too distracted to focus on the fight.
“Why does everyone keep trying to take our Leti away?!”
Heint began swinging his large sword wildly. His attacks were still powerful and fast—but his defense was full of holes.
Harold didn’t miss the chance and pressed forward, driving Heint back. The one who had held the advantage was now steadily losing ground.
“I suppose it’s because once you fall for Letina, there’s no getting out again.”
“Argh! Die!”
And in the end, Harold emerged victorious.
After returning from Pabilion, Letina went straight to her room. She didn’t even answer Rina’s questions about how things went—she immediately opened her jewelry box and searched for a pendant.
“Rina, I’m going out for a bit.”
“But you just got back, my lady. Please take a moment to rest.”
“No, it’s urgent.”
“Then shall I accompany you?”
“No, I’ll go alone. If my brothers look for me, tell them I just had an errand to run!”
“My lady!”
Clutching the pendant tightly so she wouldn’t lose it, Letina hurried down the stairs two steps at a time. She wanted to reach Norden, who was waiting for her at the café, as quickly as possible.
The reason for her haste lay in their previous conversation.
‘You’re wearing the bracelet, I see. Do you like it?’
‘It’s a silver chain, so it goes with any dress. And it’s not just a pretty trinket—it’s something I earned through my own efforts, so it feels meaningful. Oh, but… by any chance, do you know of any other crest that looks like the one engraved on this bracelet?’
Letina had asked the question quietly when everyone’s attention was on the tournament. She had been waiting for an opportunity to speak with Norden alone.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘I have another item with a similar symbol. I checked the Imperial archives, but found nothing. I just wondered if you might know.’
‘Is that so? There aren’t many crests resembling the royal one. Only houses descended from the royal line are permitted to use it. To think such a thing might exist in Ludenheim… I was under the impression the Empire had burned all remnants of Raglas.’
Norden had stroked his chin thoughtfully. After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his hand, seemingly having made a decision.
Since ancient times, the blue diamond had been the symbol of House Raglas. When crafting blue diamond jewelry, it was customary to engrave the family crest as part of the design. The higher one’s status, the larger and more intricate the piece, signifying one’s noble lineage without a word. Not only bracelets, but pendants and tiaras too bore these marks.
Among these, the largest and most ornate items were kept as heirlooms, their gemstone size reflecting the family’s prestige. As a result, countless crystal imitations had spread across the continent.
‘May I see it for myself?’
Norden had asked to examine the jewelry directly. He had been searching for one of those legendary ornaments and didn’t want to miss even the smallest clue. Letina’s pendant might well be a fake—but he needed to confirm it.
“Please hurry, my friend’s waiting,” Letina told the coachman, giving him the name of the café Norden had mentioned.
With a sharp “Hyah!” from the coachman, the two horses sprang forward, galloping swiftly down the well-paved road.
Inside the speeding carriage, Letina rubbed her thumb over the pendant’s engraved pattern. Could this finally answer the mystery that had haunted her for so long? Could this be the key to proving that silver hair in Ludenheim wasn’t a curse…?
Steeling her nerves, she ascended to the top floor of the building. The atmosphere felt different—this entire floor had been cleared out. Norden was already seated when she arrived.
“You came sooner than I expected.”
“Yes, I thought you might be waiting, so I came straight from the mansion with the jewelry.”
“You didn’t have to rush so much.”
When Letina sat down on the sofa placed in the center of the room, a tea set was brought out before her. Once things had settled, she clutched the velvet pouch holding the pendant before speaking.
“Before I show you, I’d like you to dismiss everyone here.”
“Surely I need at least some guards.”
“No. Please, everyone must leave.”
Letina asked that everyone besides Norden be sent away—including any hidden escorts. Vincent, one of the attendants, tried to protest, but her tone left no room for argument.
“It’s fine. Everyone, step outside for a while.”
Sensing the seriousness in Letina’s insistence, Norden complied. He ordered all attendants and guards on that floor to leave and personally locked the doors to ensure no sound could escape. Only then did he return to his seat.
“There’s no one else here now. What is it you wanted to tell me?”
Letina lowered her voice and handed him the velvet pouch. Norden took it solemnly, opened it, and drew out the pendant. Clink—chirr. The heavy pendant and its chain slid into his palm.
Letina watched his every movement closely as he examined it. When his eyes landed on the blue diamond in the center and the pattern engraved around it, they widened in shock.
“This is…”
Norden’s voice trembled faintly as he traced the crest. His suspicions had been right. Disbelief filled his gaze as he turned to her.
“How did you come by this…?”
“Do you recognize the emblem, Your Highness?”
Of course he did. Norden’s eyes returned to the pendant. He hadn’t seen it in person before—but he had grown up seeing depictions of it so often that he could never forget.
The item before him was the lost emblem of the House of Ignis—a house that had vanished in the war—and the very symbol of the Goddess’s Tear.
“There’s no mistaking it. This sword and shield motif, so similar to the royal crest, belongs solely to the Grand Duchy of Ignis—the family that served alongside the royal line since the beginning.”
He had believed it was gone forever, scoured from every corner of the north and left only as legend. The King of Raglas had once ensured that a picture of the pendant be recorded in the history books, in hope that someday a descendant would rediscover the Goddess’s Tear.
Now, Norden could not tear his eyes away from the very jewel he had only ever seen in those old illustrations.
