Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Queen's Twilight
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Whether I could trust her or not wasn't really a big deal.
I suffered from insomnia and couldn't fall into a deep sleep, while she was currently under discreet surveillance by Mu-yeong and the Death Knight.
I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.
There were still guests around, but neither she nor I were the type to fuss over that.
That was when it happened.
"Hey. What are you doing?"
I frowned as I watched her crawl onto my bed.
"What else? Just doing my job."
Objectively speaking, she was stunningly beautiful.
It was true that even comparing my past and present lives, I could hardly find another beauty like her.
But that didn't mean her suddenly invading my bed was okay.
As I started to sit up warily, she lunged forward and grabbed me.
So you're finally showing your true colors, you wench!
Even with my eyes closed, her gaze was fixed right on me.
"Didn't we have aligned interests? If you keep this up, the deal's off."
"You'll regret nothing. Just hold my hand."
She intertwined her fingers with mine and quietly gazed down at me.
I shot up to yell at her to cut the nonsense.
And then.
"Huh?"
She had vanished without a trace, and the window that had been filled with starry night sky now shone with bright daylight.
"What the... Librarian."
[Yes.]
"What happened?"
[Simple. You enjoyed a very comfortable, deep sleep. So deep that you weren't even aware you'd fallen asleep.]
That single line left me staring blankly.
Me? I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep?
Like my consciousness had suddenly cut out, and I'd only just woken up now?
[The insomnia you suffered from was forcibly neutralized the moment you took her hand.]
At those words, I looked down at my body.
Come to think of it, the irritability from my chronic insomnia that always grated on my nerves was completely gone.
"They said she had healing powers, but this strong?"
[Her healing ability defies all conventional definitions. I recommend suspecting her true nature.]
The Librarian seemed oddly wary of Luna Basilyn Raphaelria.
Whatever the case, the discomfort from my insomnia was gone, so I changed my mind.
Looked like I'd taken in a pretty good houseguest after all.
"Hmmm... It's already dawn? I'm going back to sleep for a bit."
Of course, Luna Basilyn's deranged angelic mindset was anything but normal.
"Get your head straight. Rumors are flying about your engagement to the Mielephons, you idiot!"
It was the first thing I heard heading to the dining hall for breakfast.
"What I did was just a simple healing act."
"Healing? You're still suffering from bad insomnia?"
"Yeah, something like that."
At my response, Melissa clamped her mouth shut.
"I don't get how you're wired, but it won't heal in one go. Looks like you'll need neutralization right beside you for at least a few months."
She let out a sigh at my matter-of-fact words.
"Fine. Just be careful not to stir up scandals. I know it's a fake engagement, but you started this mess."
"I know."
"If things sour with the Mielephons, it'll get really annoying."
She shook her head.
"More importantly, there's something I really need to discuss today."
Her face said she could hardly hold it in any longer as she pulled out a piece of jewelry.
None other than the national treasure from 200 years ago that Luna Basilyn had given us: Queen's Twilight.
The kind of item that could spark a war between nations blinded by greed the moment its existence leaked.
"You might know this, but long ago, two countries went to war over a national treasure like this. Now it's passed down to the Empress of the Pascalia Empire."
That was impressive, but Queen's Twilight was on another level.
"There's basically no way to sell something like this openly. Nations will step in to secure it."
She pondered its value carefully.
"We're talking at least 100 billion cel in return."
The scale was so absurd it was laughable.
A fortune most couldn't even dream of.
"No, I don't get it. It's just jewelry. A few billion cel, maybe tens of billions, sure—but over 100 billion?"
She nodded at my question.
"Of course. You don't know why it's famous?"
"Why?"
"See this?"
She held Queen's Twilight ever so carefully, as if it might shatter, showing the gem at its center glowing with an otherworldly light.
"It's called a Bartnel gem. Ever heard of it?"
"Nope."
"Yeah, I'd only heard rumors myself and never thought it was real. Know why? It's the only one discovered in the world."
Gems are valued by their rarity alone.
But beautiful and one-of-a-kind?
"I said before it might match our territory's annual budget. Honestly, that was a rough guess, but its true value is easily worth tens of billions—no, hundreds of billions of cel."
"It's that expensive?"
I reached out curiously.
"Hey! What if you break it with your strength!"
"Come on, you think I can't control my power?"
I took Queen's Twilight from her and examined it closely.
"Hmm? There's some strange power imbued in it? Not like the divine power priests use."
"It's imbued with an Archangel's blessing."
"Archangel?"
Luna Basilyn, chugging beer and munching desserts despite the early hour, explained.
"It's an item blessed by an Archangel. Similar to the divine power priests use, but fundamentally different."
She casually spilled top-tier info.
"Holding it grants longevity without illness and massive resistance to poison."
I inspected it from every angle in fascination at her explanation.
This wasn't something I could replicate.
"Are Archangels that impressive?"
"Nah. They're all useless puppets who can't do anything on their own. They act solely by God's will, execute His judgments, enforce His laws—mindless tools without ego or judgment."
Archangels.
The Holy Kingdom portrayed them as God's proxies, awe-inspiring beings.
But Luna Basilyn, an angel herself, showed no fondness for them.
Whether that was just from their fall or a pre-existing sentiment, who knew.
"Legion Commander-class Archangels, right? Their masters."
I showed her the Hand of Fury she'd given me, and she nodded.
"Among angels like normal living beings with egos, they're the pinnacle. But they still can't compare to true Archangels."
An item blessed by such an Archangel.
"The Holy Kingdom would lose their minds over it."
"There's even a theory they nearly started a holy war to claim it before it vanished. Anyway, back on point: if word gets out we have this..."
She carefully placed Queen's Twilight back in its box and continued.
"Our territory—no, the entire Bata Kingdom—could get swept into war."
Money of equal value wouldn't start a war, but possessing this item just might.
"So we hide that we have it and dispose of it as discreetly as possible."
Was that even feasible?
You couldn't just hawk something this priceless at a market stall.
"That's why I thought of this: there's a massive auction in the Empire that guarantees total anonymity, accessible only through connections."
"You don't mean send me, do you?"
"Who else? Me?"
She extended her hand.
"Head to the Empire. Attend the auction and sell this thing off."
A poisoned chalice in our possession.
Succeed in selling it, and House Cascadia becomes overnight billionaires.
Plus, if it leaked, not just foreign powers but even folks in Bata Kingdom might scheme against us.
Her plan was reasonable enough, but I spotted two issues.
"Two problems."
"What?"
"How do we know it's real? That sealed space was cut off from the outside world for ages."
How would a 200-year-old item end up inside?
"W-well, that's not it. People entered and left that space before we did, right?"
"Through dreams. Real-world objects are different."
She shut her mouth at my words.
She was right on second thought.
And there was another issue.
"Plus, how do we even enter an ultra-exclusive auction promising secrecy? Show it off and beg to participate? Then what's the point of hiding it? Doesn't it require connections to even contact?"
Melissa shook her head at my question.
"That's not a problem. Think about the family you're 'engaged' to."
The Empire's premier sword clan.
House Mielephon, lineage of the Sword Saint.
Ah.
I nodded.
"So we just verify if it's real?"
Melissa's and my gazes turned to Luna Basilyn, still downing beer.
"Nothing comes to mind?"
As I chided Luna, she shrugged and drained her mug.
"No idea if it's real or not. Honestly, don't care. But it probably is. Blessings like that don't come easy."
A fake imbued with an Archangel's blessing? Unlikely.
Even if fake, it didn't matter.
The unique Bartnel gem was real, and so was the blessing...
Forget historical value; it'd match Queen's Twilight anyway.
"You're right. No way an Archangel-blessed item is fake."
[High likelihood that statement is accurate.]
The Librarian agreed.
In the end, I'd have to go myself.
"Don't forget: the moment this spreads, real trouble brews. You don't want that, right? I sure don't."
"Funny, same here."
"Then it's settled. Bring back some tasty desserts when you return."
"You got it."
And so, I set off for House Mielephon's territory in the Empire, accompanied solely by my sleep-aid pillow—no, my healer—Luna Basilyn.