I was surprised. An imperial prince, with a prophecy on his shoulders, an atheist?

“But you must be different.”

“…….”

“Egraine Lorentz. Please bring me the myths you believe in.”

The water myths.

The tension I had relaxed during our conversation snapped back.

The culprit who caused this tension casually entered the prayer room. I muttered as I watched his large back.

“You’re asking for too much.”

Unlike the sparsely populated wishing room, the prayer room was bustling with people.

The wishing room is for personal use, while the prayer room focuses on clerical prayers. Kingdom citizens prefer to pray with clerics.

Today, there were more people than usual.

On the usually empty altar, a statue of the youthful god Marta stood.

“A cleric must be about to make an offering. Good timing.”

I looked at Giovanni.

“You’ve already seen it, but clerical prayers are popular.”

A young cleric in a wide white robe approached the statue, the garment fluttering with each step.

“What’s that?”

Giovanni was looking at the cleric, his gaze fixed on the cleric’s neck.

“It’s a symbol of a cleric. They cherish aquamarine, a gemstone close to water. Although the temple denies it, there are rumors that this gemstone strengthens a cleric’s power.”

“Really?”

Giovanni kept staring at the cleric, or more precisely, at the necklace.

‘Is he interested in gems?’

That didn’t seem like him.

“Can you steal that?”

I doubted my ears.

“Sorry?”

Giovanni just looked down at me with his eyes. His gaze made me feel an odd sense of foreboding.
“The statues offered as tributes by the Kingdom can bring rain once or twice, but they soon lose their luster and become ordinary stones. But what if there exists a statue that never loses its light? Or an object like that?”

His voice lowered, and his gaze intensified, making my throat dry.

“Our shamans say that is the Kingdom’s divine object.”

“…….”

“The Kingdom possesses the secrets of water. That’s why the shamans desire the divine object.”

My mouth went dry. Learning his hidden purpose for visiting the Kingdom wasn’t the important part.

“I desire the Kingdom’s divine object.”

“That, that’s understandable. But why tell me this…?”

I pretended ignorance for now.

“You don’t know why?”

He looked at me steadily.

I recalled the jewelry box I’d hidden deep in my drawer, breaking into a sweat despite not being hot.

‘How did he know?’

My father said my greed was strong enough to make me a great thief if only it was lessened.

When I see something valuable, I can’t help but be tempted. Recently, it happened again.

It was during the welcome banquet for the delegation.

“The clothes I wore that day were a gift from the King. I’m not interested in clothes, so I noticed it later.”

“…….”

“My cufflinks were missing.”

Sweat trickled down my forehead.

I realized during the dance that his purple cufflinks were rare gems, difficult to buy even with money.

I told myself repeatedly, he’s a potential business partner, I can’t be like this, trying to curb my greed.

‘I thought I had.’

After returning home and finding the gem in my pocket, I even screamed.

‘My eyes had really popped out!’

“I couldn’t believe I noticed it only later.”

“I’ll return it. I was momentarily insane then….”

“I’m not angry.”

I quickly looked up. His gentle smile was more frightening than his usual expressionless face.

“Talent is precious, whatever its nature.”

“…….”

“I need your help while in the Kingdom.”

“…….”

“You can bring the water myths.”

So that’s what he meant!

Now that everything was out in the open, any further denial was futile.

“Do you consider aquamarine the divine object?”

“Probably not. I simply collect them. The rest is for the shaman to decide.”

“…….”

“Please.”

“Yes….”