Episode 19
According to the results checked at the library earlier, just as I had expected, the mountainous region surrounding the Seg area was entirely made of hematite layers rich in iron.
“The reason top-grade rubies display this kind of red glow is thanks to a component called ‘chromium’, but iron is the absolute worst for rubies. Because if even a tiny amount of iron gets into chromium—which creates the red glow of a ruby—it turns into a murky dark brown.”
Therefore, while there was a possibility that a ruby mine existed, even if there were one, it was virtually impossible for a mine of rubies usable as gems to exist.
“The Seg region, down to the mountains surrounding it, is entirely soil containing a high amount of iron. In other words, wherever that ruby mine is in the Seg region, a transparent natural ruby mine without a single impurity mixed in can never exist in this vicinity. I don’t know whether the local lord really has a ruby mine, but even if he does, it’s probably all dark, dead, low-quality rubies, or otherwise black hematite—that’s all.”
Oracle’s complexion turned ashen in an instant.
“Yet such a natural ruby comes out? There is only one answer. You simply used a red mineral to craft fake rubies.”
“…!”
Oracle’s slit-like eyes trembled thinly.
“Wh-What are you talking about! For a mere young lady to read a few books and come here spreading such groundless rumors!”
“We’ll know whether it’s slander or not if we test that raw stone.”
I picked up the fake gem.
“T-Testing, you say! What are you planning to do! Do you have any idea how much that ruby costs?!”
Fearing that his true identity would be exposed, Oracle was now speaking to me informally and shouting.
“As you know, a harder mineral leaves scratches on a softer one. If it’s a real ruby, when scraped against cubic zirconia, it will leave scratches on the cubic zirconia.”
“No!”
Removing the brooch on my clothes, I scraped the fake gem.
Screeech—
Along with a sickening friction sound, white powder flaked over the fake gem, and a clear scratch was engraved long across it.
“As you can see, the one scratched is actually this gem you claim to be a ruby. It’s strange, isn’t it? My brooch is cheap cubic zirconia bought at the market for a mere 1 silver. To think that a gem weaker than cubic zirconia is a ruby.”
I thrust the clearly scratched mark right in front of Oracle’s nose.
“A mineral softer than cubic zirconia. This is probably not a ruby, but ‘red spinel’. I heard that spinel differs from ruby only in crystal structure, and because it looks similar to ruby on the surface, even experts get confused. However, a method to distinguish the two was recently uncovered. A distinguishing method other than scraping the mineral against cubic zirconia like I did. Precisely like this.”
Opening the window, I held the gem up to the sunlight.
“Spinel is a single-refraction mineral, so light passes through in only a single ray, like a diamond. However, a real ruby…!”
“In a real ruby, the light splits into two rays like this.”
Just then, a soft voice chimed in. I, Aidan, and even the despairing Oracle turned our gazes toward the door.
“Huh?”
It was the golden-haired man I had met at the library earlier. Giving me a subtle eye-smile, he held out a gem gripped in his fist.
Glowing as if ablaze between his long fingers, the ruby emitted a crimson light of a dimension completely different from Oracle’s spinel. A clear double-refraction.
It was a truly high-grade ruby.
Striding with long legs, the man stepped forward and placed the real ruby atop Oracle’s display counter.
“To think I would meet you here of all places, Aidan.”
It seemed this man knew Aidan very well. Aidan’s green eyes were hidden beneath long eyelashes, then revealed once more.
“I greet His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince.”
I felt my heart drop with a thump.
The Crown Prince? This man I bumped into in front of the library earlier?
Dismissing Aidan’s greeting with a simple wave of his hand, he looked at me. The corners of his lips drew a soft curve as if intrigued.
“We’ve met once, haven’t we?”
At those words, Aidan’s eyes turned toward me. Though he said nothing, he was asking with his eyes how a commoner like me had met the Crown Prince on earth.
“Earlier at the library, because I was leaving in such a hurry, I failed to recognize Your Highness the Crown Prince and committed a discourtesy…”
“Ha-ha, it’s only natural not to recognize me. It’s not as though my face is known here and there, after all.”
He spoke, still smiling softly.
“My name, as you may know, is Adelian Suppleman.”
The sole heir to the Suppleman Empire, Adelian.
According to rumors, he was the same age as me, a talented individual who passed the academy graduation exam at the young age of fifteen.
“I-I am called Cynthia Violeta.”
When I bowed my head awkwardly, Aidan abruptly blocked my front. It was hard to believe that he, who knew how impolite such an action was, was doing something like this.
“What on earth brings Your Highness all the way here? To go on a stealth inspection in person to a rural village like this.”
“Recently, starting from the Kingdom of Litos, there’s been much talk due to counterfeit gems. At the word that the origin of those gems was our Suppleman Empire, other countries canceled imports of not just rubies, but all gems, you see. His Majesty told me to resolve this matter in person. I didn’t expect this young lady to resolve it, though.”
Soft, sky-blue eyes landed on me. It was a face one ended up staring blankly at, somehow. So, wouldn’t this kind of feeling be precisely what it’s like when one can’t avert their eyes upon facing a work of art?
“Although I also learned from the library that the land in the Seg region contained a lot of iron and caught evidence, it took a long time to reach this far, you see. But Cynthia, aren’t you incredible?”
“You flatter me.”
My cheeks turned red from embarrassment.
“Ah, for your information, it’ll be no use running away, my friend.”
At Adelian’s words, Oracle, who was about to go up the stairs, froze his steps. When on earth did he run over there again?
“At any rate, the Imperial Guards are surrounding this area, and my subordinates have already gone to the local lord’s castle as well. It’s about time he was dragged here, but…”
Hardly had those words finished when the sound of a carriage was heard outside. The moment Oracle saw the local lord with a gloomy expression caught in the carriage, he too gave up, holding out both hands and hanging his head.
According to the story, in order to raise the value of the spinels, they underwent crafting after mining to disguise them as top-grade rubies.
Because they thought selling domestically carried too big a risk, they used overseas orders as an excuse and didn’t sell domestically, but even that recently became known through methods of distinguishing spinels and rubies, so Oracle thought he should stop doing this now.
However, the local lord tempted him to pull off just one more big score, and Oracle surrendered to the thought of ‘just once’. Then, they cleaned out as much spinel as they could from the mine and crafted it.
On the night they were moving a massive quantity, the carriage jolted, spilling the contents inside.
They had deliberately chosen a cloudy day where even the moonlight was barely visible, and because they couldn’t hold torches either, they gathered spinels as best they could see for now, but upon arriving and checking, one was missing.
One day while searching the vicinity every night to find it somehow, Colin came to visit Oracle holding the spinel.
They tried to resolve it with money somehow, but when he returned without selling, the two grew anxious. Because if he happened to visit another jewelry shop and learned that the true identity of this mineral was a fake ruby, it would be troublesome.
“However, upon learning that he spoke with Chase regarding the spinel, it seems they thought they had to seal his mouth somehow.”
Thus, they sent an assassin to bring back the spinel, intending to lock him in prison under charges of fraud.
“In the end, it wasn’t a core.”
Aidan muttered softly. The incident was completely resolved. The fisherman Colin would be released innocent, and the fake gem had been exposed as well.
However, as a result, Aidan and I had failed.
“However, if we approach it like this, we might come to find the real one.”
At the words I spoke to muster strength somehow, a soft voice chimed in.
“How were you approaching it?”
The Crown Prince took a step toward me. From somewhere, the cozy scent of sunlight strongly stimulated my nose.
