ICM Chapter 106

Nile greeted Ashika with an expression that showed he had much to say.

“My lady, don’t you have something to tell me?”

“Could we talk about that later? I’d like to meet Iben first.”

A polite refusal. This wasn’t a story that could be finished in just a word or two.

“Even if it’s later, you can’t lie.”

Ashika nodded. However, she herself couldn’t grasp where to start, where to end, or how to tell the story.

Nile stopped in front of an old wooden door.

“Here it is.”

“Let me talk to her alone for a moment.”

“My lady.”

“Have all conversations with me.”

Nile stepped back with a resigned shake of his head.

Beyond the door, Iben sat on the bed with a face devoid of any drowsiness.

The space made for priests was small and simple. There was a small table and chair beside the bed, and only one shelf on the wall. Ashika quietly pulled the chair over, placed it in front of the bed, and sat down.

Iben, who had been looking out the dark window, finally turned around. The light of the candle flickered in her blue-violet eyes, more vivid than any jewel Ashika had ever seen.

Ashika quietly observed Iben’s transformed appearance. Her expression was calm, showing no emotional changes like shock or rejection.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“You’re not surprised.”

A rough voice flowed out, like being scraped by sandpaper.

“I…”

“How much do you know?”

The intention of the question was clear. Ashika hesitated for a moment, then remembered that Iben had been the original owner of the necklace.

“I saw it. At the Grand Duke’s Castle.”

When a puzzled expression appeared on Iben’s face, Ashika added:

“I mean it literally. I entered a place called the divine chamber and saw it. The last day of the Grand Duke’s Castle.”

“How… ah…”

Iben let out an exclamation as if she had realized something.

“Do you have the divine stone with you now?”

Her dry voice was desolate. Like someone whose emotions had all withered away, with nothing left to expel.

“I don’t have it with me now, but I can bring it if you need it.”

After all, Iben was the original owner. If she wanted it, it was proper to return it.

“I saw it at the art shop last time. There were cracks in the gem.”

“That’s…”

How should she explain it? No, since Iben was the owner of the necklace, wouldn’t she know better?

“I had hallucinations. What I told you the first time I went to the art shop. That wasn’t actually a dream, but a hallucination. Each time I experienced a hallucination, severe cracks appeared in the gem as if it were breaking. Is that the original power of the divine stone?”

A different light appeared in Iben’s eyes. She seemed to ponder something, then tilted her head.

“There’s a story that divine stones lose their light when they exhaust their power. In the past, the imperial family also used that power to turn wasteland into fertile ground, and the divine stones lost their glow. But Arkpella’s… divine stone is different from the others. It was originally one piece, but it was split once when the Grand Duke’s Castle was built.”

So the first family head gathered the split pieces and put them together in one pendant to make a necklace.

“But no one knows how the power works. No one knows what abilities it has. We only know that it responds to the caster’s intense desire.”

The caster’s intense desire. Ashika had known nothing and wanted nothing, yet was forcibly dragged into hallucinations. Whose desire was that?

“Do you happen to know what Talion’s divine relic is?”

“Talion embedded the divine stone in the first family head’s picture frame. Perhaps because they thought it had no power, they didn’t value it much.”

The gem seen in the first dream was indeed Talion’s. And when Ashika found it, that gem was completely shattered.

“Ah…”

Ashika covered her mouth to suppress a scream that was about to burst out.

Had all of that not been a dream? Had it not been a simple hallucination or warning? The moment she realized this, she felt as if all her nerves stood on end like needle points, screaming.

Seeing Ashika’s face turn pale, Iben tilted her head.

“The former emperor took that and never returned it, but have you seen it?”

“…Yes. By chance at the imperial palace.”

“Since no one could use it, they must have treated it as a burden.”

Not knowing what had happened, Iben could only let out a hollow laugh. Ashika clasped her trembling hands together and tried not to show her agitation.

“You already know who I am, don’t you?”

“I know, but I don’t know your name. Could you tell me?”

It was the name of a family that had disappeared due to treason. Except for the current Empress Dowager, there was no one among Arkpella’s bloodline whose name remained.

“Ibis Spinel Arkpella. If the Grand Duchy had remained intact, you might have inherited the name of Arkpella.”

A bright blue flame ignited in the blue-violet eyes that had been cold throughout. It seemed her assumption that all emotions had weathered away and died out was mistaken. Iben still had remaining emotions.

Anger. The one reason she had tenaciously held onto life when she felt she might go mad and couldn’t let go.

The woman whose time had stopped at some point in the past was still beautiful. However, knowing that undying beauty was not a blessing made her shudder.

“Grandmother, there’s something I want to confirm.”

“Just call me Iben. If anyone heard us, wouldn’t they think we’re both crazy?”

Ashika’s clasped fingers twitched. It was indeed an abnormal situation. Something that no one should hear about.

“In the hallucination of the Grand Duke’s Castle, there was one more face I recognized besides Iben.”

“You saw that mad Gerbeau.”

Recalling a memory from not long ago, Iben’s body trembled. The gaze of the crazed man still seemed to cling to her.

“Is it really the same person? As Marquis Maiheller? It was 40 years ago…”

Even while thinking it impossible, she had to ask. Wasn’t there some other possibility? Like a son who resembled his father like a twin?

“If I’m here, there’s no law saying Marquis Maiheller can’t be possible too.”

Contrary to Ashika’s hopes, Iben reminded her anew of the unrealistic reality.

“Do you understand how dangerous your situation is now, Ashika?”

Marquis Maiheller was obsessed with Iben, but that was all. He would try by any means to sever the remaining bloodlines of Arkpella and Talion.

Ashika lowered her gaze and anxiously fidgeted with her clasped hands.

“Grandfather seemed to be planning to send me abroad if necessary.”

Iben let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

“That’s just like him. Yes, he would. Having failed once, he won’t attempt it twice.”

He had prepared meticulously for a long time to bring Iben to Duke Igraine’s residence, but ultimately failed. Not because the plan was insufficient, but because he hadn’t thought the enemy would pursue Iben so persistently.

Iben was destined to never live properly anyway. So the best Weive could think of for the one remaining blood relative was escape.

“I… don’t want that. I don’t want to run away.”

Ashika raised her head and met Iben’s gaze. Her jet-black eyes were beautiful and solid like obsidian.

“Perhaps you resemble that person more than I do.”

The black eyes and quiet yet firm expression, and even the way she seemed timid but made reckless choices at crucial moments.

“The foundation of your blood is like a volcano that could erupt at any moment. Weive’s choice might be the safest path for you.”

“I don’t want to leave. Everything I have is here.”

Iben shifted her gaze to the dim window. Like when Ashika first entered the room. Her long, pure white hair and bloodless white face formed a ghostly blur by the window.

Ashika couldn’t open her mouth. Because she couldn’t know what Iben was thinking. Because she couldn’t even imagine the long, long time she must have endured.

Silence settled in the room. While she was thinking, Ashika quietly waited for her.

Still casting her gaze out the window where nothing could be seen, Iben opened her mouth.

“I’d like to ask you for a few favors.”

“Please tell me.”

“First, I’d like to have Nile run some errands. He won’t listen to me at all.”

“What help do you need?”

“There are a few things that need to be brought from the underground lab at the art shop.”

Ashika’s eyes widened.

“The building burned down in a fire, so I don’t know what’s left.”

“The lab will still be there. It was designed that way. Since Nile has been in and out of my lab, he’ll understand if you explain it to him.”

Only then did Ashika understand. To go outside, Iben first had to change her conspicuous current appearance.

“Yes, I’ll tell Nile.”

“And.”

Iben closed her mouth for a moment and stared intently at Ashika.

Ashika did not doubt or guard against Iben. This attitude couldn’t be understood just from having directly seen the last day of the Grand Duke’s Castle.

Rather than being wary, her gaze desperately sought help. What had she seen and experienced through the divine stone to look at her so earnestly?

Praying that her choice could be an answer, Iben opened her mouth.

“Soon there will be the Crown Prince’s birthday celebration at the imperial palace.”

She had waited and waited again for a long time to find the best answer. But no matter how long she waited, no opportunity came. The opponent who had made her and the people of the Grand Duchy shed tears of blood for long years was still healthy, while those who knew the truth kept their mouths shut.

There had never been a way to fight without anyone getting hurt. To drag the enemy into a pit of fire, she had to jump into it herself. To do that, there was someone she had to bring down first.

Iben’s pale lips parted and a voice filled with cold air flowed out.

“Take me to the imperial palace.”