Everyone around was busy pointing fingers at Peiron and whispering.

Although it was an official event and the emperor was present, preventing outright vulgar remarks, they were eager to criticize Peiron indirectly.

However, Peiron, the protagonist of the controversy, couldn’t hear the voices around him.

His gaze was fixed solely on Erina, whose eyes were bright with laughter despite her sad face.

Peiron was angry at Erina for bringing family matters out in public, but he was also surprised by her actions.

He never imagined that Erina would speak about her situation herself in a place where all eyes were focused.

Although their relationship had been strained due to misunderstandings, they had still lived in the same mansion for a year.

The Erina that Peiron knew couldn’t open her mouth even when faced with unfair treatment, and hesitated even to express her emotions.

She had lived like that for a full year.

He had noticed that her usual hesitation disappeared after Rose entered the mansion, but it was still rare.

He had dismissed it, thinking she was just momentarily surprised by him bringing a lover.

She had always been someone who swallowed her feelings with a gloomy expression.

But now Peiron doubted if this person enjoying his public criticism was really Erina.

Enzo, who had been quietly observing, decided to intervene, not wanting any more commotion.

“Enough.”

At Enzo’s low voice, silence fell over the noisy banquet hall.

Seeing Peiron staring blankly at Erina, Enzo couldn’t help but sigh.

Enzo had trusted Peiron and had advised him several times about marriage, hoping he wouldn’t make the same mistakes as many in the past.

Recently, arranged marriages were rare, and the outcomes of such marriages were often not good.

Nevertheless, there were quite a few couples who, having rushed into marriage based on family background without thoughts of love, later fell in love and caused chaos in both families.

Arranged marriages were mostly centered around transactions between families.

Because of this, neither marriage nor divorce happened easily.

That’s why Enzo had tried to dissuade and persuade Peiron several times, but Peiron had insisted it would be fine, resulting in the current situation.

“Peiron Eolse.”

“… Yes, Your Majesty.”

Peiron hurried to Enzo’s call, standing before him and bowing deeply.

Knowing what words might come from Enzo’s mouth, Peiron’s response wasn’t as quick as usual.

Enzo’s face was stern as he looked down at Peiron, who was bowing so low it seemed uncomfortable.

Enzo called Peiron forward and then remained silent.

The longer Enzo’s silence continued, the more miserable Peiron felt.

It was widely rumored that the previous emperor had caused many problems due to his fondness for women and concubines.

The previous emperor not only took concubines regardless of status but also wasted the national treasury to curry favor with them.

The biggest problem was the several illegitimate children.

Some greedy concubines even tried to use their unborn illegitimate children to extort the royal family.

As a result, even after Enzo ascended to the throne, he had to struggle for a long time to dispel concerns that he might follow in the footsteps of the previous king.

Having witnessed this up close, Peiron knew that Enzo was extremely averse to causing any uproar over such issues.

“Is what I just heard true?”

A question remained at the end of the silence.

But Peiron couldn’t bring himself to speak.

He knew that any answer would surely destroy everything he had built up until now.

Yet he didn’t want to deny Enzo’s words.

He couldn’t bring himself to say no, as it felt like denying the love he couldn’t let go of.

Peiron wanted to ask why Erina couldn’t understand him.

But the loyalty deeply ingrained in his bones made him let go of everything.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Enzo swallowed hard at Peiron’s deeply sunken voice.

He was the one who had made Enzo, upon ascending to the position of crown prince, realize for the first time that he could trust and have faith in others.

Among the nobles busy exploiting the emperor, he was the only one who didn’t block the way but stood by his side.

For Enzo, Peiron was one of the mental pillars that kept him unchanged even in this position.

The briefly joyful existence of the magic stone somehow felt like an uneasy thorn bush.

Seeing Enzo’s hesitation, Erina wanted to immediately cut the thin, taut string of heart that was swaying.

Knowing that the string would eventually break, Erina endured the moment that felt long.

“Erina Medelia, would you continue speaking?”

Enzo had made his choice.

Ignoring Peiron, who was still uncomfortably bowing his head, Enzo raised his head to look at Erina.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Unlike her sadly drooping lips, Erina’s eyes shone brightly.

“The place I arrived at after leaving abruptly was a small village where an enormous stone mountain was visible at a glance. While walking around the village with a heavy heart, I discovered ancient writing carved into the stone mountain.”

Everyone began to focus on Erina’s words.

“The moment I approached the stone mountain, curious about the ancient writing that read ‘[Mountain where the breath of God flows]’, the content of the written ancient text changed.”

Everyone listened intently to Erina’s words – Sandes who had stepped back for Erina, Enzo holding the uncomfortable magic stone, Peiron still bowing his head unable to listen, the people from the Medelia viscounty who had treated Erina like an outcast, and the nobles who only now became aware of Erina’s existence.

“Erina Medelia.”

Exclamations erupted from the lips of those who had been listening in silence.

“My goodness! It’s like a novel.”

“Then does this mean that God wants the Eolse Count’s wife to divorce?”

“Oh my, should we really see it that way?”

Despite the many words being exchanged, Peiron couldn’t raise his head.

Enzo’s permission never came until the end of Erina’s story.

He wanted to rush to Erina and ask if it was true, but he couldn’t do anything.

Enzo’s expression was complex as he silently looked at the magic stone.

Understanding Enzo, who couldn’t do anything amidst the commotion, Sandes held out the magic stone box he was holding.

Enzo and Sandes’s gazes met.

Enzo barely swallowed a sigh that was about to escape at Sandes’s face, which wore an indecipherable smile.

As Enzo placed the magic stone in the box, Sandes stepped forward to settle the banquet hall that had become like a marketplace.

“Your Majesty.”

Unlike Peiron, who had uttered a weak response, all eyes turned to Sandes’s strong voice.

As the surroundings quieted down, Sandes spoke while closing the box containing the magic stone.

“How about seeing accurate information about the magic stone mine directly?”

“Directly?”

“Yes, I prepared it to show you clearly.”

Duke Herigel Emkil, who had greeted earlier, approached Sandes with a benevolent smile.

Herigel’s gaze briefly turned to Peiron, who was still bowing his head to one side, but only for a moment.

“With permission from Duke Emkil, I have pre-captured images of the magic stone mine in an artifact kept by the duke’s family.”

In Herigel’s hands was a large, round mirror.

“Will you allow the use of the artifact?”

Since the magic stones that power artifacts were precious items, the royal family managed the use of artifacts when there was no magic stone mine.

The few magic stones were preserved as much as possible to prepare for emergencies, restricting unnecessary use of artifacts.

Of course, if a magic stone mine is discovered, everyone can use it under the emperor’s approval.

However, since there had been no official announcement about the mine yet, the emperor’s permission was needed to use an artifact in this place.

“I permit it.”

As soon as Enzo’s permission was given, Herigel received a button-sized magic stone from Sandes.

He turned the surface of the mirror in his palm towards the ceiling, then placed the magic stone on top of the mirror, which melted into it.

The mirror that had been reflecting forward turned a transparent purple color and began to show a place.

When Herigel handed the artifact to Enzo, he took it and looked into the mirror.

The entrance to the magic stone mine where many people were coming and going was visible.

The mysteriously engraved phrase in the same font as the golden letters on the first magic stone was exactly as Erina had said.

The scene quickly disappeared as less than the required amount for the artifact had been used.

Enzo returned the artifact to Herigel.

“Duke Emkil, so this is why you came to me yesterday.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

At Sandes’s request, Herigel had sought Enzo’s permission to use the artifact and then captured images of the magic stone mine.

It was a very troublesome favor, traveling between the imperial palace and the magic stone mine in a remote village in just one day, but he was satisfied with the substantial compensation received from Sandes.

“Erina Medelia, congratulations.”

Enzo officially recognized Erina as the owner of the magic stone mine.

Erina showed her respect by bending her knees and bowing her head in response to Enzo’s congratulations.

Starting with Enzo’s congratulations, congratulations from Herigel, who was holding the artifact, and those around followed.

While the banquet hall was bustling with a friendly atmosphere, one person found it hard to even breathe due to his miserable state of mind.

A drop of sweat fell from Peiron’s forehead onto the floor, as he still couldn’t raise his head without Enzo’s permission.

Peiron felt that the single drop of sweat pooled on the marble floor resembled his own situation.

The sight of it trembling unsteadily, dropped and unable to be absorbed anywhere, was pitiable beyond words.

His eyes, which had been staring at the floor, squeezed shut.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why he had to fall so miserably.

He had only been unable to give up his love for Rose, and couldn’t abandon the peace of his daily life.

He had only wanted things to stay the same, disliking the disruption of the comfort he had carefully cultivated.

That was all.

Erina had told him countless times over the year that she loved him.

Why wouldn’t she try to understand that this was all he could do, knowing his feelings that he simply couldn’t change?

Consumed by twisted selfishness, Peiron began to resent Erina.

Born as the only son of the Eolse count family and raised without any lack, he thought of everything from his own perspective.

For Peiron, it was natural that Erina should understand and overlook everything for the sake of his peace.

Ridiculously, Peiron’s brief feelings of guilt towards Erina were overlaid with selfishness.

As more and more drops of sweat fell, his guilty feelings became blurred.

Just as he thought about rushing to Erina to question her, Enzo’s call was heard.

“Peiron Eolse.”

Once again, silence fell, and only the sound of a drop falling from the tip of Peiron’s wet silver hair onto his shoe remained in the banquet hall.