IDGM 18

Chapter 18

I hung the torch on the wall and looked around at the neatly arranged jewel boxes on the shelves.

Even I, who wasn’t particularly fond of shiny gold, felt a sense of awe in the presence of such beautiful jewels.

Though I wasn’t an expert in gemstones, just living in the royal palace had taught me quite a bit.

‘These are all incredibly valuable.’

The treasures here weren’t simply valuable because they were made of diamonds or gold.

Their historical and artistic significance far outweighed the material worth.

Some jewel boxes had labels stating which queen had worn a particular necklace at what event, and others could be identified by appearance alone—telling of their era and the artisan who crafted them.

These were unique, named jewels, created or worn by great figures of the past.

Among them, I spotted some pieces that had originally belonged to my mother, and others that seemed to have been in Kabbalah’s possession.

The dark storage room felt like it was sparkling from all the jewels.

‘I don’t have time to just stand here and admire these.’

Almost entranced by the treasure, I snapped back to my senses.

‘How am I going to carry all of this?’

I began slipping necklaces and bracelets over my arms at random.

Each time I moved, the jewels clinked and clattered together.

And then I sighed.

‘How foolish—coming to steal treasure without even bringing a bag!’

After scolding myself for a while, I gave up on the self-criticism.

It hadn’t been that long ago when I promised to encourage myself, and here I was tearing myself down again. Ridiculous.

‘Even making it this far without getting caught is a feat, Chloe. Calm down and find a good solution.’

And then, almost like magic, I noticed a sack that hadn’t been visible before.

It was sitting in a dark corner, draped over something.

‘What’s that?’

Everything else was stored in luxurious boxes, so why was this thing kept in such a shabby sack?

‘Maybe it’s not a treasure?’

But this was a treasure vault. Of all the places, why would they store something unrelated here?

‘Not my concern.’

Though curious, I quickly lost interest.

What I needed was the sack itself.

I untied the rope binding it and pulled the sack away.

And inside, an item revealed itself.

‘…?’

I glanced at it out of habit.

It was a large holy grail, about a span and a half tall.

A goblet typically used in religious ceremonies—an oval bowl with a jug-shaped handle underneath, and a domed base.

It was lavishly decorated with rubies, blue diamonds, and gold, yet compared to the other treasures here, it didn’t seem that impressive.

Even if these items weren’t to be judged solely by appearance, the craftsmanship of the gem setting wasn’t particularly remarkable, nor were the materials top-grade. It even had numerous small scratches.

It was clearly something that had weathered many years.

One peculiar thing was that although it was clearly shaped to hold liquid, it had a long hole running through the bowl, handle, and base.

‘Just for decoration, maybe.’

If someone actually tried to use it, any liquid would just pour out.

‘Maybe it meant something to Kabbalah?’

I passed the grail by without a second thought.

It looked too heavy and likely wouldn’t fetch a good price if I tried to sell it.

‘Focus on taking only what clearly looks expensive—small and lightweight.’

I began stuffing jewels into the sack without hesitation.

After filling it to my satisfaction, I tried to lift it to leave—only to drop back down with a groan.

‘Ugh.’

My pupils trembled slightly.

‘It’s heavy…!’

How much had I packed that it ended up this heavy?

I looked between my skinny arms and the bulging sack in disbelief.

The unexpected enemy in my perfect heist plan was… me.

‘Stay calm.’

To spread out the weight, I wore as much gold and jewelry as I could on my body.

Around my neck, a diamond-encrusted necklace; bracelets and anklets on both arms and legs, all hidden neatly beneath my clothes.

Even so, my body wobbled like it had when I wore a heavy dress at the engagement ceremony.

With tears in my eyes, I removed about half the jewels from the sack.

Now only three or four necklaces, three tiaras, and a few rings and earrings remained.

‘This should be enough, right?’

I turned around—then hesitated and added a few more rings and earrings out of greed.

Among them was a ring my mother used to wear often. I considered leaving it, knowing I’d never be able to sell it, but in the end, I couldn’t resist and packed it anyway.

Necklaces with multiple gemstones were usually the most expensive, but Kabbalah’s flamboyant multi-layered necklaces were so heavy I couldn’t manage any more.

‘Ungh.’

Breathing hard, I hugged the sack.

I couldn’t straighten my back, barely managing to hold the torch with a hunch.

There was a reason I’d brought it.

I boldly used the torch to set the velvet cushions on the shelves aflame.

The fire quickly spread to cushion after cushion on the shelves.

‘Perfect!’

Setting the storage room on fire was to erase my traces—making it difficult to figure out who did it or what had been stolen.

Most likely, the remaining treasures would be stolen by the palace servants in the chaos of putting out the fire.

‘That way, even if the jewels I took appear later, it’ll be hard to trace them back.’

As the flames soared, a thrill spread through my entire body.

Hugging the sack, I rushed out of the vault.

Or at least, I tried to.

“Hmm…”

That grail I saw earlier suddenly bothered me.

‘If it really meant something to Kabbalah…’

Wouldn’t it hurt her more if I took it?

My torch hand was conveniently free.

I clenched my teeth.

‘Come on, Chloe. Just a little more strength. Even if I collapse tomorrow.’

After escaping the vault undetected, I returned to my quarters and hid the stolen treasure in a spot I’d prepared in advance.

A small hole beneath an ornamental tree in the garden.

The tree’s roots had been exposed during a previous downpour, and since the lazy gardener never tended to it, it had remained untouched.

Once everything was done, I returned safely to my room and carefully straightened my clothes.

‘Good thing no one’s here.’

There were no guards, no maids.

From the loud cries of “Fire!” outside, it was clear everyone had rushed off after hearing about the fire in Kabbalah’s treasure vault.

In the imperial palace, when a fire breaks out, guards protect the emperor while everyone else is required to help carry water.

At times like this, everyone except the emperor and empress is considered unimportant.

To protect this grand palace from burning down, many hands must act swiftly.

Even though the imperial family is treated better than nobles, they are still considered less valuable than the palace itself.

Such is the cold truth of imperial law.

I lay on the bed, pretending nothing had happened.

I said a quick prayer that no random assassin would appear in my guard-less chamber to kill me.

“Yaaaawn.”

It had been a productive day.

The scent of something charred wafted gently into my room on the breeze.

I drifted off to sleep to the sound of servants fetching water and people screaming outside.

No need to worry.

Kabbalah’s vault and my chambers were far enough apart.

That night, I had a dream.

Kabbalah flailing and screaming in tears as she watched me draped in gold and jewels.

The Next Morning

The maids, exhausted from running around all night to help extinguish the fire, looked utterly worn out.

Their faces were still flushed with excitement from last night’s events.

“How on earth did that place catch fire?”

“They say a thief broke into Her Majesty’s chambers last night. Maybe that’s who did it?”

“How could someone disappear like that in the palace with so many eyes watching? They’re still not caught, right?”

“A guard I know told me the thief was definitely caught once—but when they returned, the person had vanished.”

“It’s like something out of a ghost story.”

I nodded to myself in satisfaction.

Just as I had planned, the palace staff suspected the culprit was that red-haired thief.

“To think they set fire to that vault! They say it was full of insanely valuable treasures!”

“I wonder what happened to the jewels? Did the thief set the fire and steal them all?”

“I heard a large portion of it is gone.”

“What’s Her Majesty going to do…? I heard a single necklace in there could buy a whole mansion.”

“Just one mansion? There were pieces like Queen Lucia’s wedding necklace in there! The Tear of God, wasn’t it?”

That very Tear of God was now buried safely in my garden.

Then, one of the maids lowered her voice and whispered,

“But you know… I think I saw something strange last night.”