To say that he wasn’t as crushed as their finest luminous crystal dust was an understatent.
Because Luca Kyros had to be physically propped against his husband for emotional and psychological support just to survive such trying tis.
While the people of the Empire battled demons of various kinds and so crossed lines that could never be retraced, one particular dungeon owner was fighting for his life against his own intrusive thoughts.
And they were particularly intrusive, alright.
Because unlike most people who crashed out quietly on their own, Luca was crashing out alongside D-29, who was currently calculating the compounded opportunity losses that would be suffered by Luca’s potential great-grandchildren due to the inevitable loss of their Lun Crystal Farm.
A disaster of disasters.
Technically, it should’ve been finder’s keepers. The Elven Prince had deliberately left the crystal seed behind so it wouldn’t fall into Prince Eren’s hands. When they discovered it during the crystal quake and brought it ho, it should’ve been fine.
It should’ve been theirs.
But Prince Elior had just calmly and sadly explained how it had originally been his birthright.
Birthright.
The word alone felt heavy, especially since the Prince was simply describing it so they could understand what the goblins were looking for.
At best, he likely had no idea that one pitiful vendor had it sitting in his dungeon space, continuously making great sounds of Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
Elior was simply reminiscing about sothing that had been a part of him.
Luca’s golden eyes flickered as he imagined how he would feel if soone he knew had been in possession of sothing so important to him and hadn’t even thought to tell him.
He would be devastated.
Not angry.
Not imdiately.
Just... devastated.
And so Luca, whose knees felt like they no longer existed, quietly buried his face into the crook of his husband’s neck and sniffled.
Then, with all the bravery of soone about to voluntarily walk into financial ruin, he made a very difficult decision.
__
anwhile, as the ever bright and lively Luca visibly withered before everyone’s eyes, there was considerable panic.
Xavier tightened his hold around his wife, who had gone completely soft in his arms, and narrowed his eyes at everyone else in the room.
What was with everyone wanting to disappear from the face of the planet today?
If they kept this up, they wouldn’t even need that moronic Eren to co hunting anyone down. Xavier would do it himself.
And it wouldn’t take long.
Granted, the Imperial Crown Prince was certain the two elves hadn’t realized that his little wife had built sothing equivalent to his own Lun Crystal Farm. But did they really need to emphasize that it was tied to succession?
Did they really need to highlight that leaders were acknowledged based on whether their crystal seeds could grow or propagate?
Because if that was the case, then Luca or Cece could very well replace their damned king.
Xavier gently slid a hand behind Luca’s neck, rubbing slow circles as silent signals were exchanged around the room. A few of the others made subtle gestures toward the elves, urging them to stop talking for a mont.
Thankfully, Prince Elior finally caught on after wondering, once again, what exactly he had said wrong.
At this point, he was beginning to suspect that his royal tutors had deliberately sabotaged him by teaching him incorrect communication thods.
But it wasn’t entirely his fault.
How was he supposed to know that soone like Luca would care about Star Coins?
Or about his feelings?
And yet the Imperial Prince Consort clearly did.
Even if it gutted him.
Even if it crushed him into fine luminous dust.
Luca still forced himself to speak.
"I-I’m sorry, Prince Elior. W-we’ve been using your crystal seed..."
Silence.
Luca Kyros, teary-eyed and clinging to Xavier for dear life, hiccuped.
"Hic—!"
And Prince Elior promptly fell onto his butt.
__
Obviously, that had been embarrassing.
Then again, what hadn’t been embarrassing and truly eye-opening for him today?
At one point, the naïve Elven Prince had genuinely thought that maybe that was it, maybe hearing about the crystal seed’s whereabouts would be the last surprise of today’s extre ride.
But no.
Apparently, falling on his butt wasn’t even as bad as what happened in what should probably rank as one of the most unbelievable monts of his life.
Because when he asked for clarification about what Luca ant by "using" his crystal seed, the uncultured elf truly didn’t expect to pry open Pandora’s box.
"W-we’re growing Lun crystals from it..."
"Hic—!"
"I’m sorry... what?" Prince Elior asked faintly, though by now he really should’ve known that today wasn’t operating under normal rules.
As if unable to watch the chaos unfold any further, the Imperial Crown Prince spoke up.
"He’s saying we’ve been able to propagate Aetheryon’s Lun crystals from the seed we found, which we’re now realizing was yours to begin with."
Xavier’s azure eyes glinted as he addressed the elf directly, even as his hands remained gentle where they cradled his wife.
"As such, I’d like to discuss how this arrangent would work for both parties moving forward."
Prince Elior should’ve been intimidated.
Rightfully so.
But at that mont, he was simply too stunned to process the political implications.
The seed was being used.
Used.
Because when was the last ti a seed had grown enough for sothing so plural to be attached to it?
CrystalS.
With what had to be a capital and very pronounced S at the very end.
That alone was enough to render even Rahil speechless.
The Aetheryons had held an absolute monopoly for generations for several reasons.
First, centuries of experience had proven that finding alternative and natural deposits elsewhere was practically impossible.
Second, successful propagation had once been the very achievent that established their ancestors as the leaders of their race.
Third, his forebears had been notorious hoarders who stored the majority of what was mined in private vaults.
And fourth, the truth behind the Lun crystals extravagantly displayed in the palace was far less glamorous than outsiders believed. The current supply circulating everywhere had long since been drawn from inherited reserves rather than recent propagation.
The output from their specialized chamber was barely sufficient to create small crystal seeds for mbers of the royal family. As such, only the rightful heirs were given a chance to have one for every generation.
And yet now—
Now he was being told that they had grown crystals from his seed.
Plural.
"???"
Ah.
But very soon, Prince Elior would co to understand that growing crystals was rely the tip of the iceberg.
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