The Fake Wife of the Strongest Husband Wants to Survive - Chapter 67

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 67
Owen’s jaw tightened at her words.
After a moment’s hesitation, he exhaled and followed Pesha.
Up close, the rock was enormous, as though a mountain had been cleaved and cast down whole.
Its surface was rough and bluish-grey, and Pesha thought that a careless step could shatter bones beyond recognition.
Pesha pointed at the rock and asked a question.
“Do rocks come down like this often?”
“Not regularly, but when outsiders who’ve come to prospect the mountain cause accidents, large boulders do get swept down the slopes.”
“Outsiders? There’s a reason they trigger these landslides?”
Owen then brushed his fingertips across the rock’s surface.
“Rumors circulate periodically that gold is found in the mountain.”
“Gold…… you say?”
“Yes. You can see gold dust caked on this rock’s surface. Most of the mountains surrounding Swaf are like this. At first, people thought placer gold was being mined and flocked here. But they soon discovered it was worthless stone and departed. Still, every so often someone arrives late, having picked up the rumor secondhand.”
“Gold-bearing…… rock…….”
Pesha’s face went rigid at those words.
She stared at the boulder as though to bore through it, then suddenly seized the hilt of the sword hanging at Owen’s waist.
“What are you doing?”
Owen started and moved to stop her, but Pesha’s eyes blazed with intensity.
“I need something sharp. Please lend it to me for a moment.”
“Something sharp?”
“Yes.”
Pesha spoke urgently without taking her eyes from the rock.
“I need to verify my suspicion. If I scrape at it with something sharp, I’ll know for certain.”
For a brief moment, their gazes locked.
Pesha’s face was both urgent and assured.
Owen studied her for a long moment before speaking.
“Then I’ll do it.”
“What? You can just lend me the blade…….”
“It’s dangerous. Step back.”
He pushed Pesha behind him and drew his sword.
The finely honed steel flashed brilliantly.
And in one fluid motion, he brought the blade down upon the massive boulder.
Clang!
A heavy metallic ring echoed out as the rock’s surface cracked with a sharp snap, splitting into two halves.
In that instant—
A dazzling light poured forth from within the rock.
A deep, vivid blue.
As though a fragment of cloudless sky had been trapped within the stone, a brilliant azure glow was revealed.
Pyrite scattered like stars across the blue base, glittering in a way that made even the unknowing mistake it for gold.
The soldiers and laborers nearby drew in their breath as one.
“What…… what is this?”
“The inside of the stone is blue…….”
Pesha’s trembling fingers touched the fractured surface of the rock.
“……It’s Lapis Lazuli.”
Her voice rang out low and clear.
“Pardon?”
“This isn’t just ordinary stone.”
Owen looked between her and the blue rock, his expression bewildered.
Pesha, beaming with joy, cried out toward him.
“It was Lapis Lazuli!”
* * *
The Castle’s conference chamber was alive with energy for the first time in a while.
Meetings held after battle typically began with grim reports and tallies of losses, but today was different.
A white cloth laid on the table and a single fragment of blue stone resting upon it had kindled expectations of change.
The grey outer shell had cracked away to reveal the deep, vivid blue interior.
Blue as the deepest ocean and luminous as the clearest sky.
“The stone you see before you is Lapis Lazuli, known also as Ultramarine. It was discovered in the Mountain Range that surrounds our Territory.”
A moment of silence fell before murmuring rippled through the room.
Jane leaned forward in her chair, unable to contain her excitement.
“A new gemstone has appeared? That exquisite deep blue…… We could restore our finances, lost to war, with this alone!”
Others echoed the sentiment.
“At last, a path forward for the Territory has opened…….”
The air in the conference room charged with sudden electricity.
Faces etched with despair and exhaustion bloomed with hope.
Yet Pesha shook her head gently.
That small gesture alone seemed to drain the energy from the room.
“Lapis Lazuli is certainly a beautiful stone. Its blue hue captures the heart at first glance. However…….”
Pesha pointed to the fragment on the table with the tip of her finger.
“As you can see, it is opaque. Unlike the transparent gems we commonly know—emeralds or diamonds—it doesn’t sparkle when struck by light.”
In that instant, the hopeful faces hardened in unison.
“Opaque…….”
“Then…… does that mean its value might not be as high as we thought?”
“Is it too inferior to be called a gem at all?”
Murmuring rippled through the crowd once more.
People exchanged uneasy glances, unable to conceal their confusion.
Pesha met their eyes directly and answered with firm confidence.
“Yes, Lapis Lazuli has charm in itself, but it falls short of what the masses would call a precious gem. Those seeking dazzlingly brilliant stones in the market might well overlook it.”
It was a cold but realistic assessment.
Yet Pesha’s voice rose immediately after.
“However, I don’t intend to use this stone as a gem at all.”
A silence fell.
“Not as a gem?”
Rebecca, who had been holding her tongue until now, asked uncertainly.
Pesha smiled slowly and nodded.
“I plan to transform this Lapis Lazuli into something else entirely.”
The conference room stirred at her words.
“Something else? What do you mean?”
“If not a gem, then what could it possibly be used for…….”
To the bewildered assembly, Pesha placed her hand on her hip and answered lightly.
“Pigment.”
“Pigment?”
The confused faces turned to one another, whispering among themselves.
“Stone Pigment……? Is that what she means?”
“Stone Pigment? What’s that?”
“It’s a pigment made from stone. I’ve only heard that painters use it.”
“If you know what Stone Pigment is, this will go faster. When Lapis Lazuli is ground and processed, it produces a blue as deep as the stone’s own color. This blue is called Ultramarine, and I intend to make Ultramarine the most expensive pigment on the continent.”
Those who heard Pesha’s plan could not entirely hide their unease.
“A pigment made from stone? Can that really replace Beryl…….”
Disappointed by what seemed a modest application, some ventured cautious objections.
“Will something like that even sell? Why can’t we simply continue mining Beryl?”
Those who had argued for continuing Beryl extraction nodded at this.
Their faces held a glimmer of hope.
Even the Countess might reconsider returning to Beryl mining, they thought.
But Pesha remained unmoved.
“Beryl is already a closed matter because of the Abyss Closure, so let’s not speak of it again. Don’t worry. Lapis Lazuli will prove far more varied and boundless in its uses than Beryl ever was.”
Having finished her presentation, Pesha gathered the Lapis Lazuli from the white cloth, took her seat, and issued an order.
“Assemble all the miners who were previously working the Beryl deposits by noon. We begin Lapis Lazuli extraction today.”
Though not everyone was fully convinced, her expression was so resolute that none dared object.
They all understood that Pesha’s will was the Lord’s will—that there was no room for argument.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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