Jewels Regaining Their Light
“……”
The tale of what had transpired in Talia—and why I had ended up embarking on this journey once more with the traitor Selina—had just concluded.
A suffocating silence hung thick in the drawing room for a moment.
Adelin stared blankly at me and Raysilla in turn. Horror and despair slowly spread across her face, half-covered in grotesque jewels.
The fake hero they had ruthlessly discarded for power, or simply to survive. Because of that choice, Raysilla had gone untreated, and Kail had been utterly unaware. Now that he knew, it was ironically the aid of those two betrayers, Selina and Adelin, that he needed.
“I see…”
Adelin's voice, hollow after sorting through her thoughts, sounded as fragile as if it might shatter at any moment.
“The sin we committed wasn't just betrayal.”
It seemed to finally sink in, skin-deep: their petty selfishness had nearly snuffed out the last lifeline of the true hero who had saved the world.
Adelin slowly bowed her head.
At the same moment, a clear liquid trickled from her intact left eye, untouched by petrification.
But even those tears couldn't fully wet the floor.
The droplet rolling down her cheek touched the vicious curse of the Petrification Disease and instantly shimmered brilliantly in midair.
It transformed into a transparent, beautiful crystal, falling to the floor.
Plip. Plop.
Gems that would fetch thousands of gold to anyone else. To me, they were merely the wretched dregs of a dying sinner's remorse.
I gazed indifferently for a moment at the tiny tear-crystal that had rolled to my feet. No emotion stirred within me.
...Am I too far gone to ever fully return to who I was?
“Enough.”
With that, I cut things short and rose from the sofa.
“Save the sentimental tears for later. What you need to do now is get that broken body of yours back to peak condition as fast as possible.”
“Condition... right. If I'm to be of any help, I need to recover.”
“I'll handle the other royals and nobles freaking out about their living gem mine escaping. You just focus on clinging to that lifeline of yours.”
With that, I turned my gaze away from her entirely.
Instead, I nodded toward the maid who had been quietly observing from the corner.
“We need a place to stay for a few days. Mind showing us the way?”
“...Understood. This way, please.”
The maid opened the door smoothly, as if she'd anticipated it, and began leading us. I sent Raysilla out first, then left the drawing room without a shred of lingering attachment.
Screech, thud! The drawing room, now empty save for the two betrayers after Kail, Raysilla, and the maid departed.
Adelin remained with her gaze fixed on the floor, shoulders heaving as she gasped for breath. With each exhale, beautiful yet cruel crystal shards rained ceaselessly onto the growing pile below.
And across from her.
Selina, the beastkin thief curled up on the sofa, stared vacantly into space.
At the horrific end her old comrade—fallen even lower than herself, perhaps more pathetically shattered—had met.
The karma of their betrayal, each scrambling solely for personal gain, had returned as an indelible guilt they could never repay in a lifetime, and utterly crumbled flesh.
“……”
Even after a long while since Kail's departure, Selina couldn't rise from her seat.
She knew better than anyone that she lacked even the right to approach and comfort Adelin, collapsed face-down on the floor.
She merely alternated her gaze between the firmly shut door and her old comrade's back, sinking slowly into a dreadfully heavy silence.
And bit by bit. As flecks of red liquid began staining the emerging transparent crystals. Adelin Aynis slowly, arduously lifted her body and looked at Selina.
“Selina.”
“...What.”
“Could I hear your perspective on everything since reuniting with him?”
“No trouble there. I was feeling stuffy anyway—wanna catch some moonlight like old times and talk?”
“That sounds even better.”
“Alright, then. Let's head up.”
Back in the days marching with Kail to confront the Demon King. The party members, acquainted less than a year, always had grievances with one another. On such nights of the brightest full moon, they'd share earnest talks from spots with the best view.
And tonight, for an earnest talk of a rather different sort.
Selina carefully cradled the immobile Adelin and headed to the castle's highest spire.
Reunion with Adelin Aynis: Day 2.
Today, using the largest gem from her body—the emerald infused with the most Blood Creation Lord power—as a test run, I was purifying it with White Purification.
Sizzle—!
“...Fascinating.”
I'd merely let a faint wisp of the dormant White Purification in my body flow into it.
Yet pure white smoke tinged faintly red began billowing from the emerald.
And faintly, the smoke itself carried the Blood Creation Lord's demonic taint.
If this tiny shard held such power, the concentration from the Lord's core near her heart was beyond imagining.
Moreover, forcing out the purest, largest crystal for this test had pushed Adelin to her limit. She rolled back her eyes and fainted.
I silently regarded her wretched form, her ragged breaths fading to faint whispers.
“...Hah.”
With a short sigh, I carefully lifted her limp upper body.
Her frame—bones, skin, and seemingly beautiful jewels—was chillingly light.
I laid her on the bed, tucked the thin blanket up to her neck, and left the room without a backward glance.
Reunion with Adelin Aynis: Day 3.
Walking the castle corridors to fetch a meal for my sister, I spotted a gaudy-clad group approaching from afar.
The legitimate princes and princesses of the Einiss Magic Kingdom, along with the queen.
No point greeting them first—they'd just flaunt their superiority, throw a tantrum, and pick a fight. So I averted my eyes to some random spot on the corridor, planning to ignore them.
But the moment they spotted my face, they flinched, then began backing away in unison, as if rehearsed.
“Damn it... Failer Empire bastards, of all people...!”
“Let's retreat for now. No good comes from tangling with them.”
“Why would he back that fake scum...!!”
Whispering frantically and irritably among themselves, the group fled around the corner, avoiding me like the plague.
Hm... Why's the Failer Empire suddenly coming up?
Their utterly unexpected reaction didn't warrant chasing down those arrogant fools for answers. If anything, them steering clear spared me the hassle.
I shrugged lightly and continued on my way.
Reunion with Adelin Aynis: Day 4.
With Adelin yet to fully regain consciousness, Selina had volunteered as the test subject today.
Stimulating the Subordinate Lord fragment etched deep in her soul, forcing White Purification in to purify it.
Sizzle—!
A sound like flesh searing, and a muffled scream escaped Selina's lips.
“Grrraaah!!”
She gritted her teeth and endured at first, but as the White Purification intensified, she writhed on the floor in agony.
Suddenly, dark red blood poured from both nostrils.
Yet Selina glared up at me with bloodshot eyes.
“I can take more... Ngh, hit me harder one more time.”
Her voice, forcing a smile through bloodied lips, cracked miserably, signaling she couldn't endure longer.
“Hah……”
I gazed at her stubborn misery for a brief moment, then sighed deeply and withdrew my hand, pulling back the White Purification.
“Enough. No need to kill yourself over this.”
“No... I can still go a bit more...”
Even sprawled and panting, she insisted. I added to her,
“That day when it comes, it'll be way worse than this. Don't waste your strength needlessly.”
“……”
Selina looked up at me with an indescribably complex gaze—guilt, relief, and something blindly fervent mingled in those damp eyes, somehow exhausting.
“...Got it.”
She wiped her nose with her bloodied sleeve and pushed up with her hands.
“I'll go see Adelin for a bit.”
But from overexerting, her legs buckled suddenly, and she toppled toward the floor.
Yet just before impact.
I instinctively shot out my arm and caught her shoulder mid-fall.
Her beastkin warmth felt unnecessarily hot against my fingertips.
Snapping to, I shoved her upper body upright a bit roughly, like discarding luggage.
To preempt any weird vibe, I gruffly opened my mouth.
“Why do you keep meeting Adelin alone since we got here? Plotting to betray me again?”
Meant as a joke, signaling I'd washed my hands of it all, but Selina's eyes widened in huge panic.
“N-No! It's not that, just...!”
I raised a hand to cut off her flailing excuse.
“Kidding. Just a joke.”
Turning toward the door, I added a final warning.
“Anyway, get Adelin recovered by three days at latest. With only a week left, success or failure's fifty-fifty.”
“Uh... yeah, got it. She said tomorrow or the day after, she'll be somewhat better.”
“Good.”