TVPTL 27

Chapter 27

“…Miss Tekins.”

The Grand Duke seemed to be looking at me with pity, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

I rolled on the floor.

“Ow, that hurts!”

“Ow?!”

When I groaned as if I had been hit by the gold coins, Beroa’s eyes widened.

Good, now’s the time!

“Sis, that thing is so scary! I’m scared!”

With my eyes tightly shut, I pointed at the flying gold coins.

“I’m too scared to go to you, Beroa. I’m so scared!”

I hid behind the Grand Duke’s back and started trembling. Beroa, flustered, flailed her hands.

“Do you think this will work, Miss Tekins?”

“It has to.”

Peeking out from behind the Grand Duke’s back, I continued.

“I’m in danger, but so are you, and so is Sir Dean. Only Beroa can stop this right now.”

If only I had a shield or something.

But no matter how much I looked around, there was nothing useful.

All I could see were gold coins flying through the air.

No choice then. My only hope was to fake it.

“Beroa… Sis is hurt…”

“Ooooh!”

As I groaned again, Beroa shut her mouth tightly. Her cheeks puffed up as if she were trying to summon strength.

“Ooooh!”

“…!”

Gold coins dropped. She tried to avoid us, but a few still fell right above me.

Danger!

I shut my eyes tightly and covered my face with my arms.

Please, let it end with just a bruise! I prayed desperately.

Huh? It doesn’t hurt?

I opened my eyes slightly. What I saw was the Grand Duke’s back as he was sheathing his sword.

Wait, what?

Had he been carrying a sword from the start?

“Are you alright?”

The Grand Duke, now covering his sword with his cloak, extended a hand to me. That’s when I realized I was still sitting on the ground.

“Ah, yes.”

When I hesitantly took his hand, Leandro helped me up and said,

“I wasn’t sure, so I cut them.”

Just as he said, several cut gold coins were scattered around me.

Did he cut them mid-air?

“Gold is soft, so it cuts easily.”

I stared at the Grand Duke in disbelief, and he added quickly as if making an excuse.

“You could do it too, Miss Tekins.”

No, I could not.

I shook my head firmly. No matter how long I trained with a sword, I couldn’t imagine ever being able to do that.

Anyway, Beroa. Beroa first.

I went over to Beroa, who was now sprawled in the center of the secret vault, looking completely drained.

Hm?

Something caught my eye.

The broken coins were scattered where I had been sitting.

But a few steps ahead, there were unbroken coins.

That was where the Grand Duke had been standing.

“…”

I looked once at the fallen coins, then at Leandro, who was talking with Dean.

With a small sigh, I turned and ran to Beroa.

“Beroa, sis was so scared!”

“Yaya?”

Beroa tilted her head.

“Ayaya?”

Ah.

She must be thinking of when I said I was hurt earlier.

“It’s okay. It didn’t even really touch me. But Beroa, how did you do that?”

I lifted Beroa into my arms.

“You were so amazing. Really cool, Beroa.”

“Aw!”

Beroa proudly lifted her head as if to say I did great.

So cute, so adorable.

After ruffling her hair, I gently said,

“Still, just in case, let’s not use that power again for now. I’ll figure out a safe way to use it.”

“Mhm!”

Beroa nodded firmly. At least she was good at listening.

Well, I guess this is a blessing in disguise?

I looked around at the wrecked secret vault.

There must be a “Tear of Pluani” here somewhere.

In the original story, Preston stored it in the vault too.

But it wasn’t going to be easy to search with all the gold coins getting in the way.

Digging through that would take a lot of time.

Let’s see…

As I looked around, Dean cautiously approached me.

“Are you looking for the Tear of Pluani?”

“Yes. Please help me look. It should look like an ordinary stone.”

“Even if the tear looks like a stone, the box might be something fancy.”

“Or maybe it’s just stored in a plain box.”

Some people who possessed the Tear of Pluani had hidden it among real stones.

“I’ll check everything I see, just in case.”

Dean knelt and began checking the surroundings with desperate focus. Watching him for a moment, I handed Beroa over to the Grand Duke and joined the search.

Who knew how long we dug through that mountain of coins?

“I found it!”

I lifted a coin box into the air. At a glance, it looked like an ordinary coin box, but if I removed all the coins inside…

“It really was here, Sir Dean.”

I held the stone I found beneath the box and teared up.

“Is this really the Tear of Pluani?”

Dean asked as he came closer.

“I’m not doubting you, Miss Tekins, but it really just looks like a normal stone.”

“Hehe, it is.”

I smiled and reached out to Dean.

“Could I borrow your dagger for a moment?”

“Oh, yes.”

Dean handed me his dagger. I carefully set the tear on the floor and cut the end of it with the blade.

“Ha…”

Dean gasped. What looked like an ordinary stone revealed a radiant, multicolored light inside.

“It’s actually a fruit.”

I handed the Tear to Dean, and he received it with both hands.

“They say it’s called a ‘tear’ because it grows like a droplet on the tree.”

No one knows exactly what kind of tree it comes from or where it grows.

It’s a tree shrouded in mystery, like the World Tree.

“Don’t process it in any way. Just feed it little by little to your sister. Not too much at once—just a little at a time.”

“Yes.”

Dean nodded, holding the tear as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

“I will.”

Tears welled up again in Dean’s eyes.

It was pure joy and relief.

“Pardon me, I’ll… excuse myself first.”

He stood up, stumbling over his words. He clearly wanted to go to his sister as soon as possible.

“You may go.”

As soon as Leandro gave permission, Dean bowed deeply.

“Thank you!”

Then he dashed out of the secret vault.

Yes, this is how it should be.

As I watched his joyful figure disappear, I swallowed down a strange bitterness.

“Miss Tekins.”

The Grand Duke held out another stone to me.

“Is this also a Tear of Pluani?”

“Eh?”

I stared blankly at the tear in the Grand Duke’s palm.

It was much smaller and the color was fainter, but…

This was… this was…!

“A tear!”

I nearly screamed as I grabbed the Grand Duke’s hand with both of mine.

He frowned, clearly displeased at the contact.

Too bad.

I didn’t let go.

There was another tear, right here!

“Your Grace.”

I panted as I looked up at him.

“This… this, where… where did you…”

Ah.

So this is how you sound when you’re overly excited!

“It was inside there.”

Despite the frown on his face, he answered me properly.

I turned my head toward where he had gestured.

A small crack in the wall.

The kind you’d find in any old wooden building.

Was there really another Tear of Pluani in a crack like that?

“It must’ve been stuck in there and rolled out after Beroa used her magic.”

Leandro helped me open my hand by gently grasping my wrist with his other hand.

“Wow.”

I stared at the tear now resting in my palm.

Just in case—I checked once more.

Then again.

And once more, just to be sure.

Yes, it was real.

It was small, but it was the Tear of Pluani.

“Thank goodness…”

Tears welled up again.

It might be small, but it was still a Tear.

It should be more than enough for Beroa.

“Really, thank goodness.”

I closed my hand tightly around the tear. This would let Beroa recover her health.

“Your Grace, I’d like to give this one to Beroa. Would that be alright?”

“I don’t mind. I gave it to you to use as you wish, Miss Tekins.”

The Grand Duke replied indifferently, then looked me up and down once.

“I think it would be good for you to have some too, not just your niece.”