Chapter 62: Close enough to lose balance.

I turned off the polisher and took off my mask. It was a luxurious mask embedded with diamonds to prevent diamond dust from entering the respiratory tract while not making breathing stuffy, but completely natural breathing was still impossible. Taking off the mask, I felt like my insides were clearing up.

A breeze blew just in time. It was a wind created by the Duke’s magic.

When I looked back at him, an eye-smile welcomed me instead of a greeting.

I knew he had entered the workshop in the middle. It was after I had passed blocking (the first of two stages of polishing, the most important part of diamond cutting, creating basic facets on a roughly shaped diamond; creating 17 or 18 facets is called a single cut) and entered brillianteering (the second stage of polishing and the final stage of diamond cutting; completing a single-cut diamond into a full cut). I just didn’t acknowledge him because I was in the middle of a tedious and detailed task of grinding the diamond little by little on a disk spinning like an LP record while checking and adjusting angles one by one with a loupe. He also kept his word not to disturb me.

Diamond polishing work is not enjoyable to watch. It’s just repetitive, so it’s rather boring. Yet the Duke had been watching my work with interest for several days.

“The main stone is complete.”

I handed him the yellow diamond completed in Radiant cut.

“If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed that diamond changed like this.”

Every time he moved the diamond in his hand this way and that, brilliant halos of light appeared.

“It’s beautiful.”

His face, smiling gently at me, was what truly deserved the word beautiful.

“…Since you already know what magic circle will be engraved with auxiliary stones, you can engrave magic considering the flow of magical power.”

Generally, after deciding the magic circle to be engraved on the main stone, one complements it with auxiliary stones and engraves additional magic circles. That way, it’s easier to prevent magical power collision and increase efficiency.

But with the Duke’s skill, it would be possible to engrave a magic circle on the main stone conversely when the auxiliary magic circle is decided. He was also the one who stopped me from trying to engrave a protection magic circle originally and said he would engrave the magic circle himself. Even if the magic circle of the main stone changes, I obediently handed the main stone to him because I believed there would be no need to change the already completed design. Even though he didn’t tell me what magic circle he would engrave.

“I’ll start.”

I nodded with my mouth closed. Just as he didn’t bother talking to me when I was working, I didn’t want to disturb him by making noise unnecessarily.

The Duke’s magical power began to be released. When even breathing became cautious, he opened his mouth again.

“You can watch.”

He meant I could peek at how he moves magical power.

Mages were much more closed than I thought. In the early days of synthetic diamond research, persuasion, coercion, and conciliation were needed just to make them write proper experiment reports.

Although the Duke is my magic teacher, his proposal was unconventional. Yet, not telling me what magic circle he would engrave even then, I couldn’t distinguish whether he meant for me to find out myself or that he couldn’t tell me.

As if hiding a small secret, the Duke’s eyes curved lightly.

Time for me to react to that wasn’t given. Immediately, the Duke’s magical power began to head toward the gem.

The world seen while doing mana breathing is bizarre. Sound disappears, and the boundaries of color collapse. It feels like falling into the other side beyond the boundaries of the world I have seen so far. I thought it might feel like this if I were swimming in space.

As the Duke’s magical power left traces invisible to ordinary eyes on each facet (a cut and polished surface of a gem) of the diamond, I felt like my body was floating in the air.

Going up higher and higher, finally when all 70 facets of the yellow diamond were filled without exception with traces left by the Duke’s magical power, I was flying in the sky.

It was the sky above Noberten.

Although mana occupied the places of people and buildings, the unmistakable panoramic view of Noberten unfolded beneath my feet.

In the space truly like the universe, only mana emitted light. Mana shining like gems, like stars, made me realize the realistic situation rather than the appreciation that it was beautiful.

Bright places were Pistoga, the high-end shopping street, and where nobles’ mansions were located. The residential area of Betas where my house is showed faint lights sparsely, and some places were dyed in complete darkness without any light. The back-alley inn where I lived briefly would also be somewhere in that darkness.

I raised my head. In the distance, there was a place emitting the brightest light. The place revealing the strongest presence like the sun was the place where the King resides, the Royal Palace.

“Uh…?”

My legs staggered. As the magical power heading toward the main stone was cut off, the floating sensation I felt and the view looking down from a high place also disappeared. I couldn’t balance as if I had motion sickness.

“Are you okay?”

It was the Duke who caught me staggering. Since we met again, the distance between him and me had never been this close.

“Did you push yourself?”

Was the question asked from a place close enough for our breaths to collide blaming my carelessness? Or was it self-reproach?

“No, just the vision changed a bit so dizziness…”

As I tried to take a step back, the Duke relaxed his hand holding my arm.

“Be careful.”

But as the force supporting my body disappeared, I felt like I would collapse to the floor just like that. His hand urgently grabbed my swaying body again.

My eyes looking up and his eyes looking down met.

“……”

“……”

In the awkward posture, we couldn’t say anything to each other.

The one who avoided the gaze first this time wasn’t me but the Duke.

His face turned to the side as if trying to hide his furrowed brow, clenched lips, and jawline prominent with tension.

“…Try to stand up slowly. I’ll support you to the bed.”

I moved my steps slowly as led by the low, subsided voice.

My mind was complicated. When working on Duchess Mare’s red diamond, I could just see the flow of magical power in detail. I didn’t experience phenomena like just now at all.

There was no need to think about the issue of my understanding of magic circles. In either case, I merely saw.

The only difference was that the Duke’s magical power, not mine, moved.

How great is the power he possesses? The mages in the research institute weren’t those with great limit mana amounts. Rather, due to the physical limit of being Betas, their mana amount was much lower than average, even lower than mine. Although their meticulousness and obsession with research, their persistence were highly commendable.

For me, who hadn’t even seen a proper comparison group, I couldn’t gauge the range of that power at all.

The diamond necklace the King’s spy wore came to mind. A main stone weighing over 20 carats, and a magic circle intricately engraved with auxiliary stones. Having been preserved for a long time, it was worthy enough to be called a royal treasure.

But that very long time was the weakness the necklace had. The table cut, a method from a very long time ago, couldn’t draw out all the potential of the raw stone. Even if it exceeds 20 carats, the limit mana capacity of that diamond wouldn’t reach that of the yellow diamond I cut.

Perhaps the Duke has created something even greater than the necklace called a royal treasure.

“Are you okay?”

Receiving his support until the end, I rested my body on the bed.

“…Yes.”

I must perfectly finish the gem he made.

Looking up at him quietly, I saw his jawline protruding again as if clenching his molars tight. Strength also entered the hand holding my shoulder.

When I squinted my eyes, I heard the sound of him inhaling breath sharply. Slowly, his hand left.

“…It would be better to rest for today.”

“I should.”

The Duke’s hand, which I thought was moving away, hovered around my cheek.

“It’s a relief no scar remained.”

“It’s an old matter.”

It seemed to be the spot where I was hit by Spes Umbra. Although it swelled for a few days, no great wound was made. I remember such a thing happened, but it wasn’t something to ruminate over until now, almost 3 years later.

“Right…”

But for him, it seemed to be still a vivid event. His hand fumbled in the air several times as if he couldn’t bear to touch the wound. Just like that day he stopped me from leaving for the New Continent with him.

“You should sleep well. I’ll get going now.”

The forcibly raised corners of his mouth looked like he was enduring pain. It seemed my wound transferred to him and left a scar. A large, deep, indelible scar.

“Duke,”

I called him turning away from me. My voice, rushing out without my realization, caught his feet.

“Do you sleep well, Duke?”

The image of the boy coming out of the canopy and out of bed while I was grinding beans is vivid. Also the greeting he offered with a voice as if he hadn’t slept even for a moment.

I saw his face looking back. The sight of his furrowed brow smoothing out with surprise came into my eyes clearly as if time flowed slowly.

“I am sleeping well.”

Finally, tranquility hovered on his face.

“Because I have good dreams.”

His mouth relaxed as if just thinking about it made him feel good. It was a face completely different from the one standing in front of me tensely.