“We have arrived.”
It felt like they had just departed, yet they had already arrived.
Estevan got out first and held out his hand to Liliana to escort her.
She took his hand and stepped down from the carriage.
As the two got off, Marchioness Travia personally came out to greet them.
“Welcome, Your Highnesses. It is an honor that you have accepted my invitation.”
Liliana smiled softly.
“No, the honor is mine.”
Under the Marchioness attentive guidance, Liliana entered the mansion with Estevan.
Then she handed over the auction item she had brought to Marchioness Travia.
“To offer something so precious, I will make sure it is put to good use.”
Liliana and Estevan quickly became the center of attention.
It was obvious that everyone was trying, one way or another, to build connections.
If it hadn’t been for the Marchioness’ proper handling, the two might have been exhausted and forced to leave before the auction even began.
“Then, we will now begin the charity auction.”
As the event began, Liliana signaled to Jennifer and Daisy, who were standing behind her, with her eyes.
The two nodded and left first.
Liliana leaned closer and whispered softly into Estevan’s ear.
“Your Highness, may I step away for a moment?”
“What?”
“I have something urgent I need to take care of. Please handle the auction well in my place.”
Estevan grabbed Liliana’s wrist as she was about to leave.
“You are leaving me here alone?”
“Your Highness needs to stay here. We cannot both leave our seats.”
“Where exactly are you planning to go?”
“I will tell you when I return. Please.”
Estevan furrowed his brow and let out a sigh.
“When will you be back?”
“I will return before the charity auction ends.”
“Understood.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
After asking Estevan for permission, Liliana cast a spell to erase her presence and was able to leave the mansion safely.
Once outside, under the western wall surrounding the Travia estate, Jennifer and Daisy were already waiting with preparations made.
The two had already changed their clothes.
“Please change into this.”
“Thank you.”
With Jennifer and Daisy’s help, Liliana took off her dress, changed into more comfortable clothes, and even put on a mask.
The clothes she had removed were stored by Jennifer in a spatial artifact.
“Then I will go up first. It is Your Highness’s first time doing something like this, after all.”
At Jennifer’s words, Liliana smiled.
“There’s no need. I can do it on my own.”
As if to prove it, Liliana kicked off the ground and lightly leaped over the wall.
Jennifer and Daisy looked surprised, then quickly followed over the wall.
“Your movements are better than expected.”
At Jennifer’s praise, Liliana shrugged.
“Let’s hurry.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
Together with the two of them, Liliana headed toward the abandoned mine.
The abandoned mine was located to the west of the Travia estate. It was a bit of a distance, but close enough to walk.
When they arrived at the abandoned mine, a member of Black Cat was there to greet them. His face wasn’t visible due to a mask.
Recognizing him, Jennifer made the introduction.
“He will guard the entrance.”
“Thank you.”
He bowed his head in greeting.
“Then, let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Entering the abandoned mine quickly, Liliana cast a light spell and moved forward.
The inside of the abandoned mine was wider than expected.
It seemed a large amount of diamonds had been mined, as the walls were in a mess.
“It is surprising that magic stones are buried here.”
At Jennifer’s words, Daisy agreed as well.
“That is true.”
“Same for me. I thought it was a place where only diamonds were buried, but no one knew there would be magic stones here. Now then, shall we go look for the magic stones?”
Liliana went deeper into the abandoned mine.
***
“It looks like this is the end.”
After going in for quite a while, they reached a dead end.
“We have to break this wall. You two step back.”
As the two nodded and stepped back, Liliana placed her palm against the wall and released her mana.
With a loud crash, the wall broke.
“There is another wall.”
After breaking the wall, there was yet another wall.
“Seems so.”
Liliana once again broke the wall with her mana. Eventually, the wall collapsed completely.
“It is a cliff.”
After breaking the wall, this time a cliff appeared.
“Both of you, hold my hands tightly.”
The two tilted their heads but each grabbed one of Liliana’s hands.
“Fly!”
As she recited the incantation, Liliana’s body lifted into the air.
Holding their hands tightly, she leaped down the cliff.
Both of them had been through all kinds of hardships, so they weren’t particularly shocked by this.
Liliana descended for quite a while.
When they finally landed at the bottom, they were able to find the writing the worker had mentioned.
The strange characters carved into the wall were ancient script.
Liliana read the ancient script.
“It is an ancient script.”
At Daisy’s words, Liliana nodded.
“Can you read it?”
“Mhm, I can.”
At Liliana’s answer, Jennifer asked.
“What does it say?”
“It says this place used to be the lair of a crystal dragon.”
Jennifer flinched in shock.
“Then does that mean there is a crystal dragon here?”
“That’s not it. It says it entered eternal rest here.”
“Phew, that is a relief.”
Jennifer let out a sigh of relief.
If a crystal dragon were actually alive here, their lives wouldn’t be guaranteed.
“Let’s go this way.”
Liliana moved along, following the ancient script carved into the wall.
When they reached the end of the wall, an astonishing sight unfolded.
“My goodness…”
“This is…”
Jennifer and Daisy admired the breathtaking scene.
Centered around where the two stood, an enormous amount of magic stones were hanging from the walls and ceiling.
“M-Magic stones.”
Jennifer picked up a magic stone that had fallen to the ground and examined it.
Liliana was just as surprised.
“Huh? What’s this?”
After being momentarily captivated by the marvel of the magic stones, she noticed a small altar on the right.
An ancient script was written at the center of the altar.
After reading the ancient script, Liliana’s eyes lit up.
‘It says to inject mana?’
When Liliana infused mana into the altar, a silver light burst out from it.
When she tightly shut her eyes and then opened them, an ivory-colored egg the size of a watermelon had appeared on top of the altar.
“An egg?”
Startled by the sudden brightness, Jennifer and Daisy came over to Liliana’s side.
“What just happened?”
“Are you alright?”
Jennifer and Daisy asked in turn.
“Look at this.”
As Liliana pointed at the egg, Jennifer’s eyes widened.
“It is an egg.”
Liliana stepped closer and placed her palm on the egg. Then, astonishingly, the egg began to draw out her mana.
Startled, Liliana quickly pulled her hand away, and the egg wriggled.
“I-It is alive.”
As Jennifer spoke in shock, Daisy nodded.
Liliana narrowed her eyes and looked at the egg.
Characters appeared on the eggshell, then disappeared.
[I’m hungry.]
Liliana looked at the egg with a baffled expression, and once again, characters appeared and disappeared on the shell.
[I’m hungry, I want to eat mana.]
“Look at this little thing.”
It was even acting cute with text.
[Kyuu, I’m hungry.]
“It’s cute, so I’ll let it slide.”
With a small chuckle, Liliana shared some of her mana with the egg.
After feeding it until it was full, the egg became still. Then words appeared on its shell.
[Take me with you.]
Liliana stared at the egg in disbelief.
Jennifer and Daisy tilted their heads.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
As Liliana kept muttering to herself while looking at the egg, Daisy asked with concern.
“I’m fine.”
“But why have you been talking to yourself this whole time?”
Jennifer asked, finding it strange, and Liliana widened her eyes.
“You can’t see these words?”
As Liliana pointed at the egg, the two tilted their heads.
“What words?”
“We cannot see anything.”
Liliana rubbed her eyes and checked the text again.
[Please take me with you.]
The egg had been leaving messages, asking her to take it with her.
‘Only I can see it?’
It seemed the two of them couldn’t see it at all.
“Your Highness, there is no time. You need to go back now.”
“Yes, we have delayed too long.”
“Oh, has it already gotten that late?”
As the two nodded at the same time, Liliana picked up the egg.
“You are taking it with you?”
“Mhm, it’s asking me to take it.”
Liliana put the egg into her spatial storage.
“Let’s go back. His Highness must be waiting.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
Liliana hurried out of the abandoned mine with Jennifer and Daisy and headed back to the Travia estate.
She couldn’t keep Estevan, who must be struggling in her absence, waiting any longer.
***
The three quickly climbed over the wall of the Marquis’s residence.
After crossing the wall, Liliana cast a magical barrier so that the inside couldn’t be seen from outside.
“For now, let’s wash up.”
She moved her mana and cast a spell. Water droplets formed in the air and poured down like rain.
Liliana used water magic to wash Jennifer and Daisy first, then washed herself.
After rinsing off the dirty dust from the abandoned mine with water, she dried them using wind magic.
“Now, let’s change.”
