Chapter – 14
I ran out of the contemplation room as if I were escaping, changed into different pajamas, hung my wet clothes over a basket, and then fled to my bed.
[Quartz! Can’t you hear me?]
I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you.
I can’t see or hear anything.
Sniff.
The problem was that I could hear and see too well.
That thing came out of the pocket of the wet clothes I had thrown onto the basket. There had only been the stone my grandfather gave me in that pocket…!
Grandpa gave me something weird….
That wasn’t a stone or a gem.
I lowered the blanket slightly and looked toward where it should be. It wasn’t bright, but thanks to the night lamp I could still see my surroundings.
At some point, it had climbed onto the cabinet near my bed and was cautiously watching an octagonal matchbox about its own size.
It’s the exact same color as the stone.
It looked like white paint mixed with a few drops of blue. Its shape resembled a lizard, but its big face and eyes and its thick four legs gave it the feeling of a country puppy.
The sharp spikes on its back looked like transparent water. As it moved, the spikes swayed like droplets of water.
And one more feature:
[There’s no way you can’t hear me! Quartz! Quaaartzz!]
It was a chatterbox that spoke in human language.
Perhaps it lost interest in the matchbox because it came back toward me. I quickly pulled the blanket over my head.
Is it another species? I’ve never heard of a species that turns into a stone.
Even in my other memories, there was no such creature. Maybe Grandpa knows.
Since it’s night now, I should ask him in the morning—no, I need to ask Uncle Callet secretly so my relatives don’t find out…
[Quartz!]
“……”
The stone jumped up and down on the bed calling me. It looked smaller than my two fists put together, but its voice was louder than a mandrake.
[Quaaartz!]
Gah! Noise pollution.
…Wait. What if someone hears this and comes in?
Dad was in the room next door, and Theon was across the hall. If Theon came in at this hour—
My allowance!
I quickly got up and grabbed the stone.
“I hear you. I hear you!”
[I knew it.]
The stone’s big eyes narrowed smugly.
“Why do you keep calling me?”
[Because you’re pretending not to know me.]
“Who are you?”
[Acum! Your friend!]
The stone slapped the bed with its tail as if frustrated. Since when did I become friends with a stone…?
Apparently I wasn’t the only one confused.
[But Julia, why did you get so small? The last time I saw you, you were much bigger and had wrinkles everywhere. You look like a child now. Do humans get younger?]
“Julia? Julia Quartz?”
[Yes.]
“That’s my grandmother….”
I trailed off. Because a question was just about to be answered.
“If you lose it, you’ll be in big trouble.”
Grandpa showing off while giving me the stone, Uncle Callet’s shocked reaction. Could it be…
“…Grandma’s keepsake?”
This water lizard?
Meanwhile, at the same time
Raksek let out a dry laugh after hearing his aide Callet’s report.
“Does that even make sense? Holding Reitan responsible for earrings stolen by a maid?”
Raksek had left the training grounds earlier and returned to the mansion late in the evening after being out all afternoon.
But the expression of his first wife, Priscilla, who greeted him, seemed unusual. When he told Callet to investigate what happened that afternoon, the situation turned out to be quite absurd.
It seemed Marian and Priscilla had moved to check Reitan.
“Even a seven-year-old would know that’s nonsense. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes.”
“But Marian isn’t wearing that sapphire just for decoration. She’s plotting something more.”
The collective responsibility accusation might just be the first step in Marian’s plan to trap Reitan.
Thinking the same thing, Callet asked:
“Should we investigate properly? Young Master Reitan might fall into a trap.”
“Leave it. He should be able to handle something like that himself.”
For the successor selection, it was an unspoken rule in the Travel family that the head should intervene as little as possible in internal affairs.
Raksek tossed the letter he was holding onto the desk and leaned back.
It was a letter Reitan had received earlier from a priest of Pin, promising a blessing for the day they would suppress the Holy Sword’s rampage.
Ridiculous fools.
He would only tolerate their arrogance until the alchemists completed their research successfully.
But more than that—
I keep thinking about that little head.
Raksek recalled the youngest granddaughter he met today.
Her intelligent-looking green eyes. Her still chubby cheeks. Everything about her was round.
Especially how perfectly her round head fit in his hand.
“……”
For some reason, his hand felt empty.
Raksek lightly grabbed the end of his chair’s armrest, then released it.
This isn’t the same feeling.
“Callet.”
“Yes.”
“If this tournament matter is resolved, how much loss will that useless son have to cover?”
“The alchemists estimate one year to develop the unsinkable ship technology. Including projected losses, it would equal about four years of Young Master Yosel’s performance.”
“Not a small amount.”
Six years ago he wouldn’t have expected anything. Reitan would have simply surrendered his achievements without complaint.
“Let’s see.”
Raksek raised one corner of his mouth.
“Whether that man, now a father, will lose the bowl already placed before him.”
Back to Julia
[Quartz is dead—!]
The stone, Acum, burst into tears upon hearing about my grandmother’s death. Large watery eyes filled with tears that kept falling.
I was worried it might faint.
“Acum. Drink some water.”
I offered a cup of water, then pulled it back. Acum was smaller than the cup.
[Travel dried Quartz to death!]
Ignoring everything, Acum continued crying loudly enough to hurt my ears.
At first I worried it might wake everyone.
Acum said only Grandma Julia could hear him until now… Since Dad isn’t coming, it seems true.
That was a relief, but what about my eardrums?!
To protect my hearing, I needed to stop Acum’s crying. I tried changing the subject.
“Hey, I’m curious. Do I look a lot like Grandma? Enough to confuse you?”
[No.]
Acum immediately denied it.
[It was your energy. And your eyes. Other than that you don’t look alike at all. Julia was a calm human.]
“…Oh.”
Acum stared at my face and tilted its head.
[Even your hair is different. Pink? Then whose daughter are you? Julia had two sons. Brown? Reitan?]
“You know Uncle Brown too?”
I was shocked.
Uncle Brown was Julia’s son before marriage, born out of wedlock, and not registered in the Travel family. He was my father’s older brother.
How did Acum know that?
[Hmm. Reitan’s daughter? Makes sense. Reitan was more troublesome than Brown. Are they doing well?]
Acum’s short stubby tail wagged with anticipation.
“Dad is well. Uncle Brown is…”
I slowly covered both my ears before finishing:
“He passed away seven years ago.”
[Whaaaat?!]
Even covering my ears wasn’t enough. As expected, Acum burst into loud sobs again. I comforted him until dawn before finally falling asleep.
And when I woke up—
“Morning….”
“You should eat. Did you sleep well?”
“Ahh! Dad? Did you… see a lizard in my room? Last night I brought—”
“I didn’t see anything.”
Only Dad and I were in the room when he came to wake me for breakfast.
7. The Pearl Earrings and the Relatives
“Then it wasn’t a dream?”
The notebook and pen scattered on the contemplation room floor, the wet pajamas hanging, the glass on the bed.
All the traces of last night remained.
Except for the stone Grandpa gave me.
“Where did it go?”
After breakfast, Dad and Theon went out to practice swordsmanship.
Pretending to play alone, I searched all over Stone House looking for Acum.
Even if he turned into a talking lizard, he might be Grandma’s keepsake. And if Grandpa found out I lost it—
I need to find it fast.
I also had an outing scheduled for the afternoon. Time was running short.
“Miss, are you going outside? Don’t go far.”
“Okay! I’ll just play in the front garden!”
The maids were working inside Stone House while I wandered the garden alone, whispering Acum’s name.
Then—
Hm?
From beyond the dense cypress hedge that served as a wall, I heard voices.
“Got it, Hati? If the frog appears, throw this.”
They were children’s voices.
