The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 61.2
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“What is it?”
It wasn’t something bad, but it wasn’t exactly what he had been hoping for… To be more precise, his expression seemed to say, “It’s similar to what I know, but it’s not exactly the same. What could it be?”
Grace, who had been standing there for a long time staring at the thing in his hand, became impatient and asked him.
“Is it dangerous?”
“No, it’s not.”
Finally coming to his senses, he approached Grace, showing her the object in his hand.
“…What’s this?”
It was a piece of stone.
‘No, rather than a stone, is it a gem?’
But this is an abandoned mine, isn’t it? Grace squinted into the dark interior of the mine, where not a single light pierced.
Benjamin subtly shifted, aligning himself with her line of sight as if to block her view.
“It seems to be a gem.”
“Why did you make that face then?”
“It felt somewhat similar to something I know.”
‘Similar to something he knows…’
Benjamin had described it not as looking similar, but as feeling similar.
‘A magic stone?’
“Is it a magic stone by any chance?”
“It feels similar, but I don’t think it is. It’s quite peculiar.”
A magic stone is a stone imbued with magical power.
Since no one knew how they were created, the only way to obtain them was to harvest them during magic beast subjugations or hope for the occasional discovery of a magic stone mine.
“Among them, the highest quality magic stones are those obtained from magic beasts, so they have a stronger aura than other magic stones.”
This was why Benjamin was inevitably sensitive to the energies of magic stones and magical beasts.
Undoubtedly, he had faced more magical beasts in the empire than anyone else and had encountered magic stones to an extent comparable to that of a magic-tool artisan.
The Felton Duchy, despite its appearances, had been supporting and nurturing magic-tool artisans even before such a term existed.
‘Seeing it this way, it’s not incomprehensible why the emperor would want to keep them in check.’
Though the emperor wanted to undermine his influence, Benjamin was an indispensable patron in the magic-tool association and the ruler of the northern region, which was the main source of top-tier magic stones.
While they might be said to belong to different factions, in reality, the magic-tool association could be considered as belonging to the Felton Duchy.
Their influence was immense.
‘Although he’s not as knowledgeable as a magic tool artisan or a magician, given what Benjamin said, this stone must really be in the same category as a true magic stone…’
Moreover, wasn’t this an abandoned mine? Grace’s brows furrowed deeper.
“Did it come from this mine?”
“You could say that. It’s in quite a crude form since it hasn’t been polished.”
“So, is this a magic stone mine?”
“Um…”
Benjamin hesitated, seemingly reluctant to make a definitive statement.
“While it is a magic stone, it seems to be of a quality even below the lowest grade.”
“Then, wouldn’t it be hard to use it for making magic tools?”
“Possibly. We might need to call in an expert to know for sure.”
Grace looked slightly disappointed. Even if he wasn’t entirely sure, Benjamin was well-versed in magic tools.
Even if his assessment was off, it would likely be within a margin of error.
‘If it truly is a magic stone, selling the mine could not only compensate for the losses of the people of Count Ardel’s territory but would also leave some surplus.’
Lost in thought, Grace suddenly noticed something off about the stone in Benjamin’s hand and her eyes widened.
“…Huh?!”
“M-My lady?”
Taken aback by her sudden outburst, Grace swiftly grabbed Benjamin’s hand holding the lantern.
Benjamin, not expecting her to grab his hand, stiffened in surprise.
“W-Why did My Lady suddenly grab my hand…?”
“Your Highness! Look at this!”
Unable to contain her excitement, Grace moved the lantern back and forth over the stone.
Following her movements, Benjamin soon realized the significance and his eyes widened slightly.
“The color of the stone changes.”
“Have you ever seen a gem like this?”
“No, this is the first time.”
“Right?!”
Grace looked at the gem in his hand with shining eyes. Depending on the intensity of light it was exposed to, the stone changed colors in myriad ways.
‘It’s like an aurora.’
She had never seen one in real life, but its beauty made her think that the celestial phenomenon might look like this if brought to earth.
“…”
“It’s truly beautiful.”
Even if it wasn’t a magic stone, this gem held its own value. After all, people have always been drawn to beauty.
Especially a gem like this, which had never been seen before in the world, its worth was already confirmed.
‘Yes, tomorrow I’ll bring some people to investigate further inside. If it’s confirmed that this was mined from here, I’ll propose a contract.’
The entrance to the mine seemed deliberately concealed, likely hidden by someone aware of its potential value.
‘It’s certain.’
Grace, entranced by the beauty of the stone, speculated about its mysterious origins.
However, her plans of donating the mine as a donation to the temple started to go awry.
‘Because, as far as I can remember, the temple never mentioned discovering anything from this mine.’
After the donation, the mine vanished without any mention. But now that Grace knew of it, she planned to make the most out of it.
Either purchase the mine outright or pay a set amount or share a certain percentage of the profits from each excavation.
‘Then, the people here will have a better life.’
If the temple had discovered such a gemstone, it would’ve been beautiful enough to at least get mentioned in the subsequent developments.
‘But it wasn’t. Could it be that the temple truly accepted the abandoned mine out of pure goodwill and never even inspected it?’
If so, it was fortunate that she discovered it. With plans bubbling in her mind, Grace smiled heartily.
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