Arkhen—, 'A crystal necklace? I feel like there's a story behind this.'
Gereld—, 'There is indeed a sad story behind the necklace. Currently, it's in the possession of another Grand Duke household. The story is that the crystal called Dawn of Synthia is created from the bones and flesh of a woman. She was a valiant warrior of an enemy kingdom that the Bariat Kingdom was at war with fifty years ago.'
Arkhen was startled. A crystal made from the bones and flesh of a woman? What the…
Gereld—, 'Grand Duke Melioth wanted her, but she refused to surrender and fought until the end. She even managed to let the royal household's descendants of that kingdom successfully escape. In the end, she lost and Grand Duke Melioth refined her bones and flesh to create a crystal and made that into a necklace.'
Meya—, 'But this is a secret only known to two Grand Duke houses and Royal family. Nobody knows that it was Grand Duke Melioth who refined her bones and flesh into a crystal. To the public, it's known that the realm blessed the valiant general Cynthia's soul and took it to heaven while turning her body into a unique crystal called Dawn of Cynthia to leave her mark in the world.'
Arkhen—, 'I see… So that Grand Duke must be exchanging that crystal necklace for you two. This guy called Dirroth must have some connection with that kingdom from fifty years ago.'
Gereld—, 'No. Duke Melioth died ten years ago. The current head is Duchess Reina, wife of Duke Melioth. But she only handles the dukedom territory. The other affairs related to the kingdom are handled by her son, Raoth. The necklace was also given to him after his father died.'
Meya—, 'Then It must be him who wants us dead or take advantage in some way! After all, our Dukedom is stronger than theirs. They are Grand Duke house in name only after Duke Melioth passed away.'
Arkhen—, 'One last thing. Can you tell me if the appearance of that necklace was made public or not?'
Gereld—, 'Well, yeah. Duke Melioth wore it for 40 years on his neck. The crystal is big, half-palm sized attached to the necklace's pendant slot.'
Arkhen—, 'Alright.'
'Velshi, can you create an exact necklace like that? Of course, no need to be an absolutely exact copy but same appearance wise.'
[3 reality motes to gather the information and 21 reality motes to create the counterfeit necklace. Do you wish to proceed?]
'Oh, that's unexpectedly cheaper than I thought.'
[That's because the information regarding the appearance of this necklace is not a secret and creating a counterfeit even with the exact same property is also not that costly. For the real deal, it will cost 272 reality motes, and for a fake with the same appearance, just 21 reality motes].
'Create a fake one and put it in my inventory].
[24 reality motes deducted]
'Also, what happened to the mysterious egg? Still, one and a half day until it hatches, right?'
[Yes. I will need to take your blood last time after thirteen hours, and then it will hatch after another twenty-four hours. So a total of 37 hours until it hatches]
…
Five minutes later, Dirroth arrived in the cave once again.
"Hey, Dirroth! Come here. I have a surprise for you."
The moment he entered, Arkhen called him.
Dirroth frowned but still walked towards the prison cell since he was going there anyway.
"The item you want is the necklace with Dawn of Synthia crystal right?" Arkhen asked with a smile.
Hearing that, Dirroth's eyes instantly flared a little.
"Humph, that's exactly what I want, and you should know that you cannot give that item to me," Dirroth said with a snort.
"Do you know how was that crystal created?" Arkhen asked.
'Arkhen!' Gereld internally shouted in telepathy as he looked at Arkhen with his eyebrows creased intensely.
'Shut the fuck up,' Arkhen also internally said with a snort as he glanced at Gereld briefly.
"Of course, I know how it was created," Dirroth said as a hint of pride appeared in his eyes but his face remained mostly indifferent. "The realm blessed Valiant General Synthia and turned her body into that crystal in the memories of her deeds while her soul was taken to heaven."
'Look, Arkhen. If that Dirroth is connected to General Synthia, it will be bad. Even though I don't like Grand Duke Meloth's house, I don't want any discord to happen in the Bariat Kingdom,' Gereld said.
'You are thinking too much or too little. If Dirroth is connected to General Synthia, he would want revenge on your Kingdom either way. For now, he must want to get back the necklace at any cost before doing whatever he had planned, if he had planned at all,' Arkhen replied.
"Dirroth, that fairy-tale regarding Realm blessing her soul and her body made into that crystal is false," Arkhen said as he shook his head while displaying a wry smile.
"What do you mean?" Dirroth asked as he narrowed his eyes.
"What I mean is that... Grand Duke Melioth refined her bones and body into that crystal after she refused to surrender. This is the real story," Arkhen said.
Hearing that, Dirroth's expression changed for the first time. "That's a lie!"
"Hey, siblings. Tell him," Arkhen said as he turned to Gereld and moved his hips to hit Meya's back.
"It's true," Meya quickly nodded. "Valiant General Synthia's body was refined into that crystal by Duke Melioth."
"Sigh… What Arkhen said is right," Gereld said with a sigh. "The story that spread outside was false."
Dirroth's expression became blank.
The subordinates of Dirroth had various uncertain expressions. They didn't know what to say.
"As a matter of fact. I was gifted that necklace when Meya and I were engaged. The Dukedom of Melioth wanted my support, so they gifted it to me," Arkhen said with a smile. "Do you want to see it?"
'You two. Don't act surprised or shocked when I take out the necklace.'
'What do you mean? How can you have that necklace?' Gereld questioned.
'I have it. Just don't get shocked when I take it out, or it will make Dirroth suspicious.'
After saying that, Arkhen took out the necklace from his inventory as it appeared in his cuffed hands.
Dirroth's eyes turned wide, and his body slightly trembled as he saw the necklace with a big white crystal with blue sparks and black patterns.
"T-This… This can't be," Dirroth muttered as he rushed to the prison cell and grabbed the bars. His gaze intensely focused on the necklace.
However, Dirroth calmed down and frowned as he thought of various things.
After several seconds, he looked at Arkhen and asked with narrowed eyes, "If you were gifted this necklace and you are a prince of that kingdom, your arrival should be known to the person from whom I want the necklace. He should know that you are traveling with these two…
"So, why would he make this deal? Wouldn't your presence here foil the plan? Why did he tell me to capture prince Meya and prince Gereld today, at this time, if he knows that you have the necklace."