“That’s quite interesting.”

“Not a single person committed a crime?”

Melvin scratched the back of his head awkwardly and laughed.

“At most, it was just urinating in honey jars, hammering nails into pumpkins, or dumping waste in vineyards… A few slaps from Captain Morton and a round of scolding through the village was enough to end it.”

“…”

Amy blinked silently. She couldn’t believe such a naive village existed.

‘The most notorious crime was urinating in a honey jar? Is this what all rural areas are like?’

Having lived only in cities and experienced all sorts of hardships, Amy found the warm atmosphere here as unfamiliar as the biting cold.

‘It’s much better than a place rife with conspiracies and schemes.’

As she nodded at that thought, Captain Vernon’s voice, who was looking inside, reached her ears.

“Oh, it’s blocked inside?”

Amy quickly ran to where he pointed and placed both hands on the stone wall where rocks had collapsed and piled up unevenly.

“Melvin, is this direction north?”

“Ah…”

The butler quickly visualized the structure in his mind and nodded.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Is there a lower floor?”

“No. This basement is the last floor.”

“Good.”

As soon as the butler finished speaking, Amy suddenly began to carefully feel the stone wall. Vernon and Melvin watched her curiously before quietly approaching to join her.

“What are we looking for?”

Amy shook her head at Vernon’s question.

“Just… please check if there’s anything strange.”

Afterwards, the three of them spent a long time pressed against the stone wall, pushing and thoroughly searching every inch. And just when their waists were aching and their palms were numb from the dampness and cold, Amy’s fingertips sensed something.

It was a small protruding stone. Amy pressed it firmly with her hand. But the wall remained unchanged, just as it was at first. However, when she inadvertently pulled it, there was a click, and a round hole appeared in the wall. It was a small hole, just big enough for a small hand to fit through.

“…”

She swallowed hard and carefully inserted her hand to feel inside. The hole itself seemed to form a perfect circle, making it difficult to believe it had formed naturally, so she was certain this was it.

As she carefully examined it, suppressing her excitement, her hand grasped something like a handle. Amy pulled it without hesitation.

Ku-ku-ku-kung.

With a small rumble, the edge of the stone wall crumbled, revealing another hole. Vernon and Melvin quickly moved to Amy’s side to protect her.

They waited for the dust to settle before approaching the hole. Vernon inserted a torch into the hole and examined the interior. Amy spoke.

“I’ll go in.”

The two men were surprised and tried to dissuade her.

“It’s dangerous.”

“It’s fine. There won’t be anything much.”

Vernon hesitated but eventually lowered his arm blocking her and handed her the torch. Amy raised the torch and carefully entered.

“…”

In a room small enough to take in at a glance, there was a table placed against the opposite wall. Amy slowly approached it.

“Is this it?”

On the table was a statue about the size of a child’s head. The statue, which had a small sphere in the center surrounded by several spheres, was completely black.

Amy took out a linen cloth from her bosom, wrapped it around the statue, and carefully picked it up, holding it close to her chest.

“Let’s go now.”

When Amy came out with something, Vernon and Melvin were inwardly surprised, but they tried not to show it and guided her out, lighting the way with the torch to ensure she wouldn’t fall. And finally, when they stood on the ground, Melvin let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“May I ask what that is?”

Vernon, who seemed to be itching to speak, asked as soon as they finished climbing the stairs. Melvin also waited for Amy’s answer with curious, shining eyes. Amy glanced down at the object she was holding tightly with both arms.

“You’ll know when the time comes.”

Amy headed to the Grand Duke’s office in the outer castle. It was a place she mainly used instead of Noah, who still had much to learn. After entering the office, she firmly locked the door and carefully placed the statue she had been holding onto the desk. Then she removed the cloth.

“…”

She thought, as she had felt when she saw it under the dim light underground, that it was an even stranger object in the sunlight. It had a metallic texture that was neither iron nor copper, and it was completely black, but it didn’t look like it had been painted with dye.

Amy stared at it blankly and mumbled.

“It really… existed.”

Then she swallowed dryly and reached out her hand to slowly caress it from the top. Her fingers sensitively examined the cold and hard surface as they moved downward.

When her hand touched the flat part at the bottom used for fixing it in place, a small lid about two finger joints long opened with a click.

“What’s this?”

Inside was something like a pale yellow elongated rod. Amy held her breath and carefully took it out.

“Is it a jewel…?”

When sunlight hit it, it sparkled like a diamond.

‘Is this the power source? How does it work?’

There were many questions, but no answers. Amy looked at the unknown object from various angles before putting it back in its place. Then she felt around again. At that moment, her fingertip touched a small, semicircular protruding part.

She hesitated for a moment, then pressed it firmly.

“…”

There was no reaction.

“What? I got nervous for nothing.”

Amy exhaled the breath she had been holding and ran her hand through her hair with a disappointed expression. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Amy, are you in here?”

It was Noah. Amy quickly went to open the door for him. Noah asked as he entered.

“I heard you went to the underground prison? Why did you go alone instead of with me?”

“I went with Captain Vernon and Melvin.”

“Still. From now on, go with me.”

Amy was about to frown and say she couldn’t when Noah noticed the statue on the desk and stopped in his tracks.

“What’s that?”

“I found it in the prison. I think it’s…”

Amy paused and pondered. She wondered if it was okay to reveal everything when it might not even work. In the meantime, Noah couldn’t wait for her answer and strode towards the statue. Without any fear, he reached out and touched it.

At that moment, there was a spark.

“Ugh!”

Noah grimaced and covered his ears with his hands.

“Your Highness!”

Amy rushed over in surprise. Noah tried to smile as if he was fine. But his face had turned pale.

“Does your ear hurt? Let me see.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, why are you holding it?”

At Amy’s insistence, Noah reluctantly lowered his hands that were covering his ears. Amy worriedly examined his ears. Fortunately, apart from the earlobe with the black stone being slightly swollen and pink, there didn’t seem to be any other problems.

“What is this black stone?”

“Ah, that’s something my mother gave me.”

Hearing Noah’s answer, she thought, ‘This is also an heirloom from his mother.’ Just then, a woooong sound came from behind.

“What!”

And the moment the two turned around in surprise, the statue began to operate.

“It’s moving!”

As the small sphere in the center slowly began to rotate, the larger and smaller spheres positioned like satellites around it also started to move. The central sphere had numerous holes, and golden light poured out from inside.

When these lights met the outer rotating spheres, numerous scatterings occurred. The statue was enveloped in dazzling light. It looked like a small torch burning with golden light.

“My goodness…”

The self-moving device emitting light was so fantastic that the two stared blankly at the scene with their mouths open.

How long had they been like that? There was an urgent knocking on the door, then the office door flew open and Melvin rushed in. He stopped for a moment, staring at the device with wide eyes. Then, as if suddenly coming to his senses, he spoke gravely.

“You need to come out and see, Your Highness. Something strange is happening right now.”

Noah, distracted by the rotating device, asked halfheartedly.

“What’s going on?”

Amy turned her gaze to look at Melvin. Surely not already…?

Melvin, with a very perplexed expression, wiped his sweat and stammered.

“The weather outside is…”

He grimaced as if he couldn’t believe it himself, then swallowed hard. Then he carefully continued.

“It’s getting warmer.”

The Grand Duke’s castle was thrown into chaos. Employees, guards, and villagers alike rushed outside, staring in a daze at the ground turning from brown to green.

The chef was holding a large pan, and the laundry maid was hugging a basket as big as herself. The women who had been drying meat from animals slaughtered in preparation for winter all stood stock-still with their eyes wide open.

“What in the world…”

As someone muttered absentmindedly, sweat slowly began to form on people’s foreheads. The guards wearing thick leather armor were the first to throw off their protective gear. Then the servants loosened their thickly wrapped cloaks, and the maids removed their headdresses and coats, standing before the wind in light attire.

“It’s not cold…”

People looked at each other with their mouths agape. They had no idea what was going on.

“How… can this be possible?”