Chương 51: The Queen's Refreshments

The reception room deep inside the palace was calmer than the treatment center and warm enough to take off an outer coat. A thick, expensive-looking carpet covered the floor, and sheer curtains hung over the windows. Refreshments had been set on a low table in the center. Beyond it hung another thin screen. Despite the word refreshments, there was plenty to eat. Small pastries, thinly sliced fruit, strongly scented tea, even pieces of sugar decorated with gold leaf. Kichan looked at it all and did not feel hungry.

The plates were too small. It looked more like decoration than food.

"This isn't a meal." Ren opened his mouth, then closed it. The queen's confidant did not smile. Her expression was soft all the same—the face of someone who had practiced softness for a long time. Only the corners of her eyes barely moved. A thin screen hung across the room. The queen's confidant explained only that it was royal custom. A woman's voice came from beyond the screen.

"I have kept our honored guest waiting too long." Ren translated slowly. Kichan looked at the screen. He could not see the person. There was only a voice.

"Another honored guest." The queen's confidant's fingers stopped beside the teacup. The voice beyond the screen did not waver. The fingertips visible beneath it also remained still beside a teacup.

"The kingdom does not wish to treat you discourteously." Kichan looked at his tea. It was warm, and the smell was not bad. That made him dislike it even more. At the treatment center, they had tried to move people. The mage had tried to take the key. The clerk had written everything down. Here, they served pastries and tea. Kichan pushed the cup away. He hated how the scent still clung to his fingertips. The queen's confidant opened a thin document beside her teacup.

"You sold a silver-gray metal at the market." She touched the next line with a fingertip. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"The metal merchant who bought it filed a report with the Royal Finance Office." At the words Finance Office, Kichan was already conscious of the lump of gold inside his clothes. He did not take it out. The queen's confidant spoke slowly, with the expression of someone checking off one fact at a time. Kichan hated that slowness.

"So?" The voice beyond the screen paused. The queen's confidant answered instead.

"That metal could be of great benefit to the kingdom."

"I could use some help too."

"Her Majesty the Queen wishes to help you." Kichan pushed the teacup farther away.

"Then don't touch the people around me." The room fell silent. Ren let out the smallest sigh and translated it exactly as Kichan had said it. This time, no one interrupted. The voice beyond the screen returned softly.

"That request can be reviewed." Kichan answered at once.

"Then I'll only review your offer too." The queen's confidant's eyes narrowed slightly. The corners of her mouth stayed where they were, but the fingertips pressing against her saucer turned white. Kichan reached inside his clothes. The queen's confidant's shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly. One of the guards started to move, then stopped. Kichan pulled out a small cloth bundle. Inside was a piece of jewelry he had thrown together at the market.

He had made it by mixing part of the gold lump with pieces of the silver-gray metal. It was too thick to be called a necklace and too elaborate to be a brooch. In Kichan's head, jewelry from Seoul department-store displays and internet ads had all blurred together. It did not have the simple shape of jewelry from this world. The centerpiece caught the light strangely despite not being a gemstone. The silver-gray metal gleamed coldly between the gold. Kichan set it on the table.

"A gift." For the first time, the queen's confidant could not bring herself to reach for it immediately. The voice beyond the screen stopped as well. Kichan watched their reaction and muttered to himself. So they like pretty things after all. The queen's confidant slowly picked up the piece. She turned it beneath the light. Every eye in the room followed it. For the first time, the hand beyond the screen reached all the way to the edge of the table. A very soft breath came from behind the screen. Kichan heard it.

The breath of someone who had received something beautiful. Then, one beat later, came the calculation behind it. Can we keep him making these? Kichan took his hand away from the cup. The queen's confidant spoke in an even softer voice.

"Her Majesty is very pleased."

"A gift is a gift." Kichan looked at the screen.

"If you're taking it, then just leave me alone." This time, Ren could not translate right away. Kichan looked at him. Ren bit his lip and spoke. The silence beyond the screen stretched on. The queen's confidant did not put the jewelry down. Then a door on one side of the room opened without warning. For the first time, the queen's confidant's expression hardened. The man who entered was tall. His clothes were immaculate, and he wore thin gloves. Small magic formulas revolved slowly over them.

He did not look toward the queen. He looked at Kichan. It was less the gaze one gave a person than the gaze one gave a broken device or a rare phenomenon. The gaze of someone examining a box that might open if touched. The moment Kichan saw it, his fingers moved toward the wake-up rod. The queen's confidant spoke in a low voice.

"Tower Master. This audience belongs to Her Majesty the Queen—" The Tower Master did not listen.

"You brought a magical manifestation with no mana into a palace reception room on your own authority." Kichan felt for the wake-up rod.