After returning to the castle, Karentina headed straight to Stella’s room.

Stella’s fever showed no signs of subsiding, as if the fever reducer had had no effect. It had already been two days, or perhaps more. Seeing the child, who could barely eat and only managed to swallow water, she felt a pang in her chest.

“Young Lady Karentina, I’ll take care of her, so please get some rest.”

She couldn’t help but nod her head at Gemma’s concerned words, filled with concern. When she returned to her room and leaned on the plush sofa, an overwhelming fatigue engulfed her.

‘The Empress and Duke Horton… this is harder than I thought.’

Karentina gazed at the ornate ceiling, lost in thought. She couldn’t believe it, but it was really Eddie. How did a child who claimed to love the North, where they were born and raised, end up in the southern Duke Horton’s workshop?

There must be one answer.

“Rainbow hexaplex trunculus.”

Along with the Duchy of Lorraine, the Duchy of Horton was an ancient noble family with territories in the southern fiefdom surrounded by the sea. One of Duchy Horton’s main businesses was the production of dyes used to color luxury fabrics, and the raw material for creating some of the world’s most beautiful colors was the rainbow hexaplex trunculus.

Like its nickname, ‘Opal of the Sea,’ the rainbow hexaplex trunculus came in a variety of colors.

The rainbow hexaplex trunculus were an extremely expensive luxury item, with only ten thousand being caught to produce a small amount of dye. The aristocrats went crazy for dresses dyed with the rainbow hexaplex trunculus, and due to the lack of alternatives, the prices soared to unprecedented levels.

‘It was a source of money for the Emperor and Duke Horton.’

However, capturing the rainbow hexaplex trunculus was an extremely arduous and dangerous task. To save on labor costs, the Duke and Duchess Horton and the Empress brought in Viscount Maurice, who was considered the most reliable.

Since Viscount Maurice didn’t like the North, and with more than enough income from the magic stones production, he readily allowed the children of the slums to be sent as slaves.

It was almost inevitable for Eddie, who had become enslaved, to become indispensable to Duke Horton in order to survive.

‘Eddie had excellent knowledge of minerals.’

A few years later, the rainbow hexaplex trunculus were on the verge of extinction due to massive overfishing, and it was Eddie who saved the struggling Duchy of Horton.

Eddie, who knew the northern mines better than anyone, found a better alternative to the rainbow hexaplex trunculus and presented it to Duke Horton. With this discovery, Duke Horton succeeded in ensnaring Ignis, leveraging the wealth that shook the empire.

Recalling the cave coral mentioned in the original story, Karentina vaguely asked Eddie.

Cave coral was a type of mineral scattered in the underground rivers at the entrance of the northern mines, and through Eddie’s persistent efforts, it was reborn as a mineral dye.

Cave coral captivated the hearts of the aristocracy with its more vivid and diverse colors than the rainbow hexaplex trunculus. Moreover, there was no need to endure the dangers associated with the rainbow hexaplex trunculus. However, in the latter part of the story, when Ignis destroys the Duchy of Horton, Eddie also loses his life.

‘I can’t hand over the treasures of the north and the children to the scum.’

Karentina’s gaze turned cold.

Thud.

With the sound of the door opening, a light blue cat entered, carrying a bundle of documents in its mouth. Zion, who had disappeared like smoke, had now returned in the form of a doll, handing the documents to her.

“Here it is.”

“Good job!”

“Hmph, it’s nothing much.”

Karentina smiled brightly at the proud look on Zion’s face. She began to carefully examine the papers he had brought.

“You did it very well.”

As expected, the ledgers were a breeding ground for various corruption and embezzlements.

 
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