The Retribution of the Ice Cold Maiden

30 - Don't you find it weird?

"Alright girl, don't you have something for me?" Duke Rant asked Selena after they left the Royal Court and were standing near the main gate of the Palace waiting for their carriages.

"Of Course..." Selena replied as she pulled out the Record Crystal which originally belonged to the Duke.

"How did you fix it anyway?" The Duke asked. He had tried every way to fix it but everyone simply shook their head in disappointment. So in depression, he simply handed the crystal to Marquis Booker to hold on to it for the case.

"I... I hit it a few times..." Selena replied as she avoided his gaze.

"The Hell? That works too?" The Duke was surprised by Selena's answer.

The truth was Soul can hack or change the properties of magic items as it was seen by Urak's Communication Ring's incident. So Selena borrowed the Crystal from her Father and Soul spent a whole day in the real world slowly fixing it. So basically, Soul spent months fixing it. By the time it was fixed, Soul managed to reverse engineer the whole crystal and found out how it worked. He also realized that he could imprint his own memories into the Crystal which is why Selena had the crystal's recording began from the time she entered the Drawing Room. That itself took him another day. It took him one more whole day just to edit the sliver of energy that the Baron transferred to show it more abundant to make everyone think that it was Baron Turner who sent too much energy and destroyed the Crystal.

"But..." The Duke pondered, "I don't get it. If the Crystal was damaged, how did it keep recording?" The Recording showed what happened next after the Baron broke it. To everyone else, it was Selena's crystal that recorded it, but the Duke knew it was his Crystal, so how was that possible?

"I don't know... maybe the crystal kept recording. Maybe what was truly damaged was the way to see it. Which is why probably hitting it a few times worked." Selena gave a vague answer.

"That... Whatever, I don't care. I am just glad it is working again." Duke replied with a shrug as he extended his hand to take the crystal.

But before he could, Selena pulled her hand away and asked in a demanding way.

"But before that, I wonder if you are interested in investing with the Booker Manor?"

"Eh? Investment?"

"Well, if not, I can always tell the King that your Record Crystal is actually fixed and the "compensation" is not actually necessary..." Selena replied as she played with the crystal.

"T-That..." Duke Rant tensed up. Since the Marquis title of the Johnson Manor was transferred to Grant and considering that Patricia Turner was going to be his wife, the King did not think it was proper to pull out all the wealth of both families at once as it could bankrupt them. So, he decided to have the compensation paid in installments. Of Course, because it was changed to that, a small interest was also applied to the installments to make it fair for Duke Rant. So technically, when the payment will be completed, Duke Rant would actually get more than he paid for the Record Crystal. However, it all goes away if Selena revealed that the Record Crystal was fixed now.

Duke Rant squirmed for a minute before bursting out in laughter.

"Ha Ha...!! Of Course...!! It is only right that I do so." He didn't laugh just to appease Selena. He was genuinely happy. If not for her smart methods in cornering the accused duo, Duke Rant might not have succeeded in getting compensation in the first place. He was truly impressed by the 16-year-old girl's intellect.

"Marquis Booker...!! How did a Rock like you manage to give birth like a Diamond, like her?" Duke Rant asked Marquis Booker who was standing next to Selena.