“?”

“..?”

Alon couldn’t help feeling endlessly bewildered as he watched the woman suddenly burst into tears.

She had simply been staring at him—then, without warning, she started crying.

‘Did I... do something?’

A flood of thoughts raced through his mind, but naturally, he hadn’t done anything.

In fact, he hadn’t even had the time to.

The confusion lasted only a moment.

“I’m sorry. Something suddenly got into my eye.”

“...Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“...I see.”

Alon could only respond hesitantly to the woman’s slow explanation.

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like something had gotten into her eye; it looked more like she was crying from sorrow.

But since she insisted, pressing the matter felt inappropriate, so he decided not to dwell on it.

“......Shall we introduce ourselves first?”

“Yes. I’m Lina, the head of the Greenwood Trading Company.”

For a moment, Alon tried to recall anything about the Greenwood Trading Company, but he quickly gave up.

‘It doesn’t seem to be a particularly famous trading company.’

All he knew was what the attendant had told him earlier.

“I heard you wanted to discuss something with me regarding gold crafts. Is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then let’s hear it in detail.”

She nodded, wiping her eyes again.

*****

Thirty minutes later.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“Did the discussion go well?”

“It ended well enough.”

“Oh, really?”

Alon glanced at Evan’s surprised reaction.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s just... Normally, discussions with trading company heads don’t end this quickly. And we’re talking about gold crafts, aren’t we? I assumed there would be a lot to negotiate.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

Alon nodded in agreement.

‘The value of gold crafts really is high.’

Gold itself was expensive, and the value of crafted gold items could vary greatly depending on the artisan.

Of course, Alon only knew the basics, but it was still common sense.

“Honestly, I was a little surprised too.”

“Why?”

“That it ended so quickly.”

In truth, Alon had been bewildered the entire time by how smoothly things had gone.

‘The terms were too good.’

Good terms, from Alon’s perspective, weren’t a bad thing.

However, the better the terms were for Alon, the worse they should have been for the other party.

At its core, negotiations were about balancing mutual benefits and losses.

If one part of the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) deal was advantageous, there had to be another part that required compromise.

That principle had held true in every deal Alon had made with countless trading companies so far.

Yet in this negotiation, even before they began, there were many terms that were disproportionately in Alon’s favor.

‘...Something feels off.’

That was exactly what Alon found strange.

The negotiation ended successfully, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t figure out what the trading company was getting out of the deal.

‘Well, if I nitpick, it’s not exactly a losing deal for them either... But still, there were definitely parts where they could’ve pushed harder. Why did they give up so much?’

As Alon thought it over, he eventually shrugged, as he often did.

The outcome was good.

Since the contract didn’t put him at a disadvantage, there was no reason to overthink it.

‘...Though I still don’t understand why she was crying at first.’

The fact that she had burst into tears the moment she saw him still left him puzzled.

“Oh, by the way, Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“They say the vice tower master has discovered a new formula.”

“...Is that so?”

With no time to linger on his thoughts, Alon rose from his seat and headed for Penia.

*****

Meanwhile, Lina, the head of the Greenwood Trading Company—or rather, the Elf Queen Magrina, who had just been speaking with Alon—was lost in a deep sea of thought.

Her human disguise had dropped, and Perion, who had accompanied her as her escort, looked at her with a somewhat peculiar expression.

The reason lay in the queen’s earlier demeanor.

‘...What was that?’

Perion couldn’t make sense of her behavior today.

The queen had left Greynifra—a place she should never abandon—to visit Marquis Palatio for a single reason.

To confirm whether Marquis Palatio was the Primordial Elf.

But inwardly, Perion had believed the journey would yield little.

If Philde—the highest-ranking wizard among the elves—was correct...

Even if Marquis Palatio was the Primordial Elf and recognized his sister, Queen Magrina, he wouldn’t acknowledge her openly.

In other words, under those constraints, the queen had no way to discern whether Marquis Palatio was the Primordial Elf.

Thus, despite the queen’s firm insistence that she would confirm it by seeing him in person, Perion had remained skeptical.

However...

‘...Why did she cry?’

Although the queen now wore a serious expression, lost in thought, Perion had unquestionably seen it.

Earlier, the moment she saw Marquis Palatio’s face, a single tear had slid down her cheek.

Perion could say with certainty that it was the first time he had ever seen such a reaction from the queen.

She never revealed personal emotion in front of others.

While she was a compassionate ruler, she carried the weight of her royal duties more heavily than anyone and fulfilled them without fail.

Could she truly have sensed something from Marquis Palatio—something in a way he couldn’t understand?

‘But if that’s the case...’

Perion looked at her again.

By now, Magrina had returned to the composed face of a ruler.

Not as a “sister,” letting emotion slip because of the Primordial Elf, but as a clear, resolute “queen.”

Just as Perion considered risking impropriety to satisfy his curiosity...

“Perion.”

The queen, who had been silent since they left Marquis Palatio’s estate, suddenly spoke.

“Yes.”

Perion held his breath for a moment.

A fleeting mix of emotions crossed the queen’s face—regret, sorrow, and a faint smile—then vanished in an instant.

After a brief pause, Magrina gave her command.

“...Place the Shadow Leaves beside him.”

“...! Shadow Leaves?”

“Yes.”

Shadow Leaves.

For those who guarded the roots of ‘Paggade,’ the Shadow Leaves were a select group of elves who protected the queen from the shadows—each of them a sword master.

They were, effectively, the queen’s personal escort unit.

“Do you mean—”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“...How did you realize it?”

Perion’s expression reflected his disbelief.

Magrina recalled the gloves worn by Marquis Palatio.

Gloves that only elves could use.

More precisely, gloves that could only be used by the Primordial Elf—

Her brother.

The moment she saw them, tears had spilled out involuntarily. But her certainty that Marquis Palatio was the Primordial Elf didn’t come from that alone.

“I have my own way.”

“... ...”

The queen answered with a smile and retrieved something from her robe.

It was an old ring.

A ring so weathered it had lost its luster in many places.

Originally, there was only supposed to be one of its kind in the entire world.

“My own way.”

The <Ring of Restraint> that Alon had first obtained in the labyrinth now rested in her hand.

A ring gifted by the Primordial Elf.

*****

At that moment, Alon was...

“Hm~ So the trading company leader just poured out everything, then cried and laughed? Is that about right?”

Reviewing the earlier events with Penia.

“Well... The order might’ve been reversed, but that’s the gist.”

“Could it have been some sort of forced agreement... or something along those lines?”

Penia’s face briefly showed sympathy before Alon interjected.

“What exactly do you think of me...?”

She hurriedly waved her hands.

“Oh, no, no, not that! Haha... Maybe the trading company leader just has... mood swings?”

“...Hmm, perhaps.”

“What a pity, at such a young age.”

And with that, their oddly comforting (?) conversation concluded.

*****

It was dusk.

For Hidan, the regular meetings of the Blue Moon were generally a bit chaotic.

To be precise, they started quietly but grew more unruly as time passed.

The meetings had always progressed that way, and Hidan had never found them particularly bothersome.

Whenever discussions became excessively noisy or heated, Lord Red Moon would step in to mediate and restore order.

However, at this moment, Hidan felt deeply uneasy.

The reason?

[You’ve all heard, right?]

[A birthday gift, huh—]

It was none other than the matter of the Great Moon’s birthday gift.

No—to be more precise, it was the discussions about the gift.

[Deus, just so you know, don’t go overboard with an outrageous gift.]

[I know.]

[Are you ‘really’ sure you know?]

[Yes. I plan to prepare something ‘appropriate.’]

[Hmm, same here. I’m planning something perfectly appropriate.]

[I feel the same. We mustn’t make the gift burdensome for Brother.]

The moons had started a subtle, yet unmistakable, competition.

[Hmm, everyone’s got the right idea. It seems we all understand that giving an overly extravagant gift could overwhelm him.]

[Yes, I completely understand!]

Hidan glanced around at the other moons, including Yutia.

They all wore relaxed, knowing smiles.

At first glance, their words could be taken at face value, but Hidan—who frequently roamed around gathering reports—knew better.

...The five moons were ‘absolutely not’ preparing “appropriate” gifts.

In other words—

[Yes, we must give something at the ‘appropriate’ level.]

[Right, I agree. At the ‘appropriate’ level.]

[Understood completely. ‘Appropriate,’ indeed...]

[...Same here.]

[Me too!]

With the word repeated over and over, everyone—except for the cheerful Golden Moon—carefully hid their true intentions while sizing each other up.

...All because they wanted to give the Great Moon a gift that would outshine the others.

Thus—

‘Do we really... need to go this far?’

Hidan felt his energy drain, stifling a quiet sigh deep inside.