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In the end, Magda, unable to win over my dazzling eyes, had no choice but to start talking.
“Before the mermaids fled to the coral island, about 15 years ago, there was a boy living in a village called Laura on the east coast.”
Is that boy Kellerhan?!
Reading the curiosity on my face, she burst into laughter.
“The Duke has been serving as a knight in Gottfried since he was 12 years old. He couldn’t have been in Laura.”
Hm, I see. Kellerhan wasn’t the protagonist of the story.
I listened to Magda’s story with keen attention to when Kellerhan would appear.
Here’s the story Magda told me.
Mermaids were often seen on the shores of the village of Laura.
The villagers were very happy and friendly when the mermaids were found.
This was because mermaids had the intelligence of dolphins and could easily interact with humans.
The villagers of Laura gave the mermaids fruits that or special ornaments can only be found on land, and in return the mermaids brought the gemstones from their houses.
While such a peaceful bartering was taking place, one day, mermaid hunters came to the village after hearing that Laura had many mermaids.
“This is where the Duke and the Gottfried Knights appear.” Magda kindly explained.
As usual, it is the business of the Territorial Knights to deal with the mermaid hunters.
This was because, in principle, the crimes that occurred in the territory were handled by the Territorial Knights.
However, it is said that the Gottfried Knights intervened in Laura’s handling of the mermaid hunter because, by chance, the infamous serial killer who was being pursued by the Gottfried Knights at the time tried to escape the investigation under the guise of a mermaid hunter.
“At that time, the Duke wasn’t yet the captain, but the vice-captain. Before the dark magicians appeared in earnest, the status of the Gottfried Knights was different from what it is now. So, there were quite a few difficulties in the investigation.”
In particular, the Territorial Knights of the Count of BĂźller, who ruled Laura, kept Kellerhan in check.
It was because in their eyes, the manpower that came down from the center looked like a hyena trying to steal their ball.
“And they thought maybe they could catch the serial killer the Gottfried Knights were after.”
If that was possible, Count BĂźller would greatly praise the members of the Territorial Knights, and naturally gained fame.
Also, they were people who were distracted without thinking about putting the bad guy in jail.
The ball-coveting Territorial Knights were worse than the priests who criticized Kellerhan at my engagement.
It’s like they forgot their duty to do their best to protect the territory.
“Originally, we should have ambushed and captured the mermaid hunters at once, but for the reasons mentioned above, the Gottfried Knights were unable to move freely.”
And when the two knights collided, creating a gap in the investigation, the hunters took an unexpected action.
“The hunters were going to run away as soon as the Gottfried Knights got to Laura, but when they saw Gottfried and Büller Knights clash, they seemed to think it was worth it.”
Instead of leaving empty-handed, they decide to rob the villagers.
Because there were jewels obtained by bartering with the mermaids in the villagers’ houses.
“The mermaid hunters are the worst of the poachers. They aren’t afraid to kill humans.”
Then, something amazing happened.
One of the mermaids stood in the way of the hunters to rescue a country boy with whom it was particularly friendly.
It was only because of its determination to catch the criminal that Kellerhan was able to save the boy and the mermaid.
He was unable to officially investigate due to a clash with the Territorial Knights, so he was unofficially following the mermaid hunters alone.
Kellerhan saw the hunters trying to kill the boy and rushed into the scene without hesitation.
“However… He was too outnumbered.”
There were nearly 30 mermaid hunters, yet Kellerhan was alone.
In addition, the mermaid hunters were armed with bloody harpoons and nets specially designed for hunting mermaids.
If he was Kellerhan today, he might have been able to subdue 30 people, but Kellerhan at that time was only a 17-year-old rookie.
“How was the Duke? Nothing bad happened to him, right?”
At my words, Magda and Harold looked at each other, covered their mouths, shrugged their shoulders and smiled.
“What’s the matter? I’m serious now! The Duke was surrounded by 30 hunters!”
I was so worried about Kellerhan’s well-being that I raised my voice without realizing it.
They barely stopped laughing.
Harold coughed heavily, and Magda gently stroked my hair.
“The only person in the world who cares so seriously about the Duke is the Miss.” Magda said. “But don’t worry. Now, the Duke is alive and well. If he had been attacked by the mermaid hunters then, you wouldn’t have been able to become the Duke’s daughter-in-law, right?”
Ah… That’s right. This was an old story.
I was too immersed in old stories without realizing it, and my face burned with embarrassment.
“The Duke hastily hid with the boy and the mermaid. They were trying to stay in the cave until support came.”
It was a wise choice as the Gottfried Knights would immediately mobilize when they found out that Kellerhan was gone.
But…
“However, the rescue was delayed because the Büller Territorial Knights interfered again.”
“How long?”
“10 days.”
“10 days?”
I opened my eyes wide.
“There was something to eat, wasn’t there?”
“Of course, there wasn’t any.”
Magda shook her head, and I was appalled.
Which means Kellerhan survived in an undersea cave without any resources for 10 days.
And with a boy and a mermaid!
“Is that possible for humans?”
“Well, it’s the Duke.”
Magda shrugged her shoulders.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he did anything as he’s Kellerhan.
“Fortunately, 10 days later, the Gottfried Knights moved quickly and rescued the Duke, the boy and the mermaid.”
At that time, the boy was wearing topaz that the mermaid gave him.
When the fight broke out, he was putting it in his arms so that the hunters wouldn’t take it away, yet Kellerhan just lifted the boy up and went to the cave.
“For 10 days in the cave, the mermaid cried nonstop, and it was said that some of it was absorbed by this topaz.” Magda continued.
“Did you know that mermaids can handle gemstones because they’re instinctively attracted to them? The mysterious power of the mermaid was embedded in the topaz through tears.”
Magda presented me with a topaz brooch.
When I received it and looked again, there was a strange light shimmering from the inside in addition to the original sky blue of topaz.
“It happened while the mermaid hunters were arrested, and because it was unprecedented, the topaz came to this warehouse as evidence.”
Still, this topaz seems to have a naive story compared to Russell and other treasures, though?
That was the moment I thought.
“You won’t know because you weren’t there at that time, but the whole Empire was thrilled to learn that topaz with mermaid tears had been obtained.”
Magda said that, as if she had read my mind.
“The collectors would give out any money they could, asking for it to be put up for auction, but the Duke never allowed it to go out of the warehouse, saying it was evidence.”
… It’s as burdensome as the Russell Diamond series.
I’ve spent a few hours since then exploring the other treasures.
But there was no substitute for the topaz brooch.
The topaz brooch is relatively modest in appearance, so it’s difficult to guess its value without knowing the story of the mermaid, because the other treasures looked extraordinary from the outside.
“I’ll take this one.”
In the end, I returned to the mansion with the topaz brooch in my hand.
“So you chose that one.”
Kellerhan said casually, seeing the topaz brooch.
“There must have been a lot of more famous jewels, would that be fine?”
“It’s fine.”
I answered nervously for fear that I might be asked to choose another jewel.
“Alright.”
Hearing my answer, Kellerhan turned his head indifferently.
On the other hand, I hesitated, unable to take my eyes off Kellerhan.
I really want to ask, did he really survive 10 days without any resources in an underwater cave?
Kellerhan didn’t seem to accept such a question.
Don’t people normally want to come out and talk about something related to their stories?
However, Kellerhan was indifferent to the brooch, as if he had forgotten about what happened in Laura Village.
“…It’s sky blue, so it goes well with Isabella.”
Instead, Yuta’s voice was heard.
Turning my head, I saw Yuta peering into the topaz with a curious expression on his face.
“There’s something unusual inside.”
I explained to Yuta that inside the topaz were mermaid tears.
“Let’s make a request for a dress and accessories to match this jewel.”
In the midst of it, me and Yuta were exploring topaz when Magda came up to me and said. “Now that the theme has been decided, we have surpassed one big mountain.”
As Magda said, my suffering wasn’t over yet.
Far from being over, it was rather the beginning.
It was because Magda and Harold had commissioned every famous dressing room in the capital, and piled a mountain of dresses, shoes, gloves, and hats up in front of me..
“Please make a choice, Miss!”
And they gave me another ordeal of choice.
***
I had to invest the remaining 4 days until the tea party in choosing clothes and accessories.
“Will this look good on her? Or this?”
“This headband with sapphires suits her eyes!”
“The color of sapphire is too dark. I told you, bright colors suit her!”
I wasn’t the only one experiencing the hardship of making a choice.
Magda and all the maids gathered in the dressing room to discuss which one would suit me best.
But the discussion never ended. It was because the opinions of the maids differed from time to time.
As for me, I wasn’t in a position to choose anything because I was too busy just changing clothes according to the words of the maids.
This was the moment I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion before going to the tea party.
The Savior appeared at an unexpected moment.
“What are you all struggling with?”
Kellerhan, who came to see if the preparations were going well, looked at the messy dressing room and gave a bewildered expression.
“You haven’t decided on a single hair tie for her yet? Does that make sense?”