C96
"I'm serious."
I smiled and signaled him to pay attention. Terence, with a perplexed expression on his face, obediently brought his ear closer to me.
I was talking about kidnapping and all that, but I really had no intention of forcibly taking Terence out of this place. It might be genuinely impossible.
"I have a magical stone mine that I brought from my parents' family when I got married. It was closed a long time ago due to lack of profitability, but today, a person living nearby delivered the news..."
I didn't have any local acquaintances who could give me news about the mine, but as I couldn't say I saw it in a novel, I gave an approximate account.
"Is that really possible?"
Terence's eyes widened as he heard what I said.
"For me, too, it was difficult to believe it completely."
I handed him a brochure. He read the title written on the cover.
"Correlation between the meteorite that fell in the Majer region and the nearby magical stone mine. It's a document that seems quite old."
"It was written about 80 years ago. At that time, the fall of a meteorite in the Majer region was observed, and a few years later, magical stones began to emerge from the nearby ground."
Terence quickly scanned the summary of the article.
"The author of this article proposed the hypothesis that meteorites may have created magical stones. This is the first time I've heard this theory."
"It was a hypothesis that was buried and dismissed as nonsense at the time. It's still a hard story to believe."
"Honestly, yes. New magical stones are created, and that's because of a meteorite."
Terence's words didn't stop there.
"But," he said, with shining eyes, "Ethel thinks it's plausible, doesn't she?"
It wasn't plausible; it was a fact in the novel.
Liena, who guessed the secret of the mine from the novel, seeks related information and discovers this document.
So, deliberately, I brought back the thesis that had been buried in a deep storage room of the Imperial Central Library, full of dust.
"It was good to read to pass the time."
As I had nothing else to do after finalizing the divorce, I decided to expand my knowledge about mines.
It didn't take long before I became busy again because I had to deal with Elliot.
"Yes, I think it's a promising story. It's a very remote possibility, but unless it's completely impossible, it's worth checking."
I looked at Terence and chose my words carefully.
"Of course, given Terence's position, these are important moments, and I know he's extremely busy, but..."
"You can just say that."
He closed the pages of his thesis and smiled.
"I would like to accompany you on this journey. Could you accept me, please?"
"Are you okay with that?"
In fact, I had planned to suggest it first, but I wasn't sure if he would willingly accept it, so I used the extreme expression of kidnapping.
However, contrary to my concerns, Terence nodded easily.
"Any work that needs to be done can be finished while I'm away."
He opened the window and gave some instructions to Jack, who was waiting outside the carriage. Jack's face quickly turned blue.
"Your, Your Highness! I'm sorry, but it's difficult to suddenly postpone your entire schedule. And if His Majesty the Emperor finds out about this..."
"I can't tell His Majesty the details of the situation yet, but please tell him it's a decision I made as a prince. If you say that, he may get a little angry, but he'll trust me and wait for me."
Jack hesitated, but as always, he set out to fulfill his master's orders. Terence turned to me and opened his mouth.
"All right, shall we go now? Jack will take care of the rest."
"Now?"
It was an astonishing action. I asked, looking at Jack, who was struggling away in the distance.
"Will it be okay?"
"It's okay. He's a capable friend."
Poor Jack. However, it would be very beneficial for Terence to accompany me and see the Andala Mine with his own eyes.
"Then, shall we have a quiet conversation on the way?"
Terence smiled meaningfully.
"If your assumption about the mine is correct, you and I... In other words, what kind of relationship will form between the Asteroth imperial family."
As expected, Terence figured out my plan without any special explanation.
I didn't offer him companionship simply because I needed an escort or a companion.
This was a whole business proposition.
"But before that, don't you have extra luggage to pack like me?"
"You can get most things on the go."
"Excellent. Let's start talking in detail then."