Chapter 47
The man looked embarrassed after throwing the cloth.
“Ah, no. I didn’t mean to throw it. But having a foreigner here, in a place like this…”
He started making excuses. Jex just calmly pulled his hood back up.
That calm reaction made Eslyn even more angry.
“Hey, discrimination against foreigners is—”
“It’s been illegal to discriminate against foreigners for years! Are you crazy, you idiot?!”
Suddenly, a wooden cane appeared from somewhere and whacked the man on the head.
“Ow!”
The man grabbed his head and crouched down.
Eslyn turned and saw an old woman standing there with sharp energy. She blinked in surprise.
“What the— Grandma?!”
“You horrible brat.”
Her voice was rough and scratchy like metal scraping.
Tap, tap. She walked up to the stand using her cane. Looking closely, her eyes were cloudy—it seemed like she couldn’t see well.
“I… I didn’t mean…”
The man mumbled, wiping away tears from the corner of his eyes. The old woman’s face scrunched up in anger.
“Apologize right now and get lost! Is this how I raised you?!”
When she shouted harshly, the man bowed deeply.
“S-sorry. I just panicked…”
Jex watched quietly, showing no emotion.
“…I may be a foreigner,”
Jex said flatly, his voice calm but firm.
“But that doesn’t mean you can treat me poorly or look down on me.”
“…”
“Bertania is a country where discrimination against foreigners is forbidden by law.”
“…I’m sorry.”
The man sincerely apologized and looked around nervously. Jex didn’t say anything else—he just stood still.
“You pathetic fool! Get out of here!”
The old woman picked up the cloth from the ground and threw it at him. Then she smacked his backside with her cane.
“Geez, Grandma! Stop hitting me! I’m going!”
The man ran far away in a hurry.
Tsk, the old woman clicked her tongue and sat down heavily in a chair near the stall.
“Sorry about that.”
She spoke while staring into the air. Eslyn, who had stayed quiet, sighed and replied,
“…I’m okay.”
“I’m fine too. He apologized.”
Jex answered flatly. But Eslyn was still in a bad mood.
“Now then… what item were you looking at?”
The old woman asked.
“Ah…”
Right—there was a reason they had come to this stall.
“I wanted to buy that red magic stone.”
“Hm?”
Eslyn pulled the stone out from a dusty corner and handed it to the old woman. It was covered in dust, and wherever her fingers touched, marks were left behind.
The old woman examined it closely, turning it over in her hands.
She wore a strange outfit with lots of little charms on the ends. Was she a mage? Eslyn wondered.
“Sorry, but this one’s not for sale.”
“Huh?”
“I said I’m not selling it. That one over there is better—”
“Why not?”
Eslyn asked quickly. The old woman, who had been about to reach for another stone, paused.
“I only want this one.”
“Hmmm. You…”
The old woman smirked.
“You know what this is, don’t you?”
“…”
Jex’s gaze could be felt from the side. Eslyn stayed silent.
Heheh, the old woman chuckled like she was enjoying herself.
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“When one sense gets worse, the others grow stronger to make up for it.”
She tapped her cloudy eyes.
“I’ve felt it for a while now—you remind me of someone. Someone I saw from far away back when I lived in the capital… Everything’s different about you, but still… why do I think that?”
Click. Jex put his hand on his waist.
“Sir Jex.”
Eslyn quietly stopped him.
“It’s fine.”
The old woman kept chuckling and rubbed the red magic stone on her clothes to clean the dust.
“That idiot was rude today, and… if you can recognize this stone, then maybe it finally has some use after all.”
She suddenly held it out to Eslyn.
“Here. Take it. No need to pay.”
“No, I’ll pay for it.”
“No, no. Just come back to Rebiv sometime and tell me stories from the outside. That’s enough.”
She waved her hand like she didn’t care. Her dry, rough hand pushed the stone into Eslyn’s.
The cold stone sat in her palm. Eslyn looked down at it, slightly dazed.
“I don’t know what kind of bad luck you’re trying to avoid, but… maybe it’s better to avoid a known misfortune than to gamble on uncertain luck.”
“I…”
“I hope misfortune doesn’t come your way.”
Her cloudy eyes seemed to look beyond this place—like she could see what others couldn’t.
Eslyn quietly bowed her head.
“A stone that helps avoid misfortune… Pelisus.”
“Is that magic stone really that special?”
Jex tilted his head. He looked like he didn’t understand how she had recognized it.
“Don’t you remember, Sir Jex? Dierian showed it to us.”
“Dierian showed us so many things all the time…”
Eslyn was momentarily speechless.
‘That’s… true.’
He’d always get excited and shove all kinds of formulas, books, and strange diagrams in her face.
“But he showed me this one in great detail. At first, I wasn’t sure… but now that I see it clearly, I’m positive.”
Eslyn held the stone up to the sunlight.
It looked like an ordinary red crystal. But when the sunlight hit it, rainbow colors shimmered inside.
‘Your Highness! This thing in the picture is a treasure among treasures! You must remember it! If you ever find it, don’t give it to anyone—bring it straight to me!’
‘It looks so plain… How would anyone recognize it?’
‘What?! The size, the color, the fine curves—how is that plain? It’s so unique, you can’t not remember it!’
‘I’m not a genius like you.’
‘What? I’m not a genius either. I just remember what I see.’
‘Ugh, never mind…’
She never expected to find that treasure here.
A magic stone that helps avoid misfortune.
What are the conditions to use it? What counts as misfortune? Does it work for non-mages?
Eslyn thought deeply. Looked like she had another question for Dierian now.
“You recognized it instantly—amazing.”
Jex said. Eslyn put the Pelisus stone in her pocket and looked at him.
“More importantly… I’m sorry, Sir Jex.”
“Pardon?”
“That kind of situation… I’m sure it’s happened to you before.”
Her face looked sad. Jex seemed a little surprised and shook his head.
“It’s fine. Compared to before… thanks to the law, I can get good jobs now.”
“…”
“So I believe people’s attitudes will change little by little.”
He was the one who should be comforted, but instead, he was comforting her.
From the moment she met Jex in the south, Eslyn had hoped Bertania would become a place where he could live comfortably.
That hope wasn’t just for foreigners.
“I…”
I really wanted to change so many things.
But now, all of that felt so far away.
Eslyn bit her lip. The lid on her tightly sealed heart kept wanting to open.
“Why do you look so sad? Who made you upset?”
Tebet came rushing over from the plaza. He stood with the sun behind him and carefully looked at Eslyn’s face.
“It’s nothing. There were just a lot of people—it was a little overwhelming.”
She avoided the question. Tebet’s sharp eyes briefly flicked toward Jex. But he said nothing.
He’s not going to say anything. Tebet sighed and gently took her hand.
“Come with me. I found a spot that’ll lift your mood.”
Eslyn silently followed him.
The place he led her to was a small outdoor café on one side of the plaza.
Green plants surrounded the area, and orange trumpet vines bloomed along the walls. It felt like a little garden.
“It’s beautiful.”
Tebet smiled warmly. Their table, shaded by an awning, had a perfect view of the Rebiv plaza.
The three of them ordered tea based on the staff’s recommendation.
“Do you like the tea?”
“Yes.”
Eslyn smiled.
The sweet aroma filled her mouth. Her busy mind started to calm down.
‘What should I do now?’
The question popped up.
She had run south to start a new life.
To get away from the man in front of her…
But.
‘Is that really the right choice?’
Her own determined voice echoed in her head.
‘But if you don’t leave—what then?’
The question repeated with no answer.
Suddenly, children’s laughter rang from the fountain in the plaza. They were playing in the water.
Eslyn looked up at the scene.
The plaza sparkled in the warm sunlight. It was peaceful, like another world. Kids ran and played, and people chatted happily in groups.
‘It feels like a different world.’
The view made all her worries feel small.
So different from the cold, tense days at the northern duchy and the palace. It felt unreal.
‘What if… I just stayed like this?’
If she could stay—with the man she loved and the loyal knight—just like this…
Eslyn found herself thinking about it.
Silence fell over their table. Since Eslyn wasn’t speaking, the conversation naturally stopped.
“…”
She rested her chin on her hand, holding her teacup, and watched the plaza.
Tebet used that chance to study her side profile quietly.
“Did you hear?”
A nearby conversation drifted over with the breeze.
“What?”
“They say Duke Ripherius is missing.”
“What? That war hero?”
“Yeah. Supposedly, he got caught in a landslide on the way back. Now the capital’s in chaos. The palace has launched a big search effort…”
Clink. Eslyn set her teacup down. Tea splashed onto her hand.
Was that the signal?
“Do you think soldiers will come all the way to this village?”
“Who knows… this far out?”
The short dream faded, and reality came crashing back in—like it was all a lie.
