Oh, I see. I guess I feel a little better about it, then.
“Wanna hold it?”
Can I really do that?!
“Sure. You’ll need to wear these gloves, though.”
The butler passed me a pair of gloves that I put on.
“Here you go.”
I cupped my hands, and Rio gave me the Red-Hot Crown.
It sparkled so much in the light that it almost looked like it was glowing.
This is so pretty!! And way heavier than I thought it would be. It is pretty wild for a gemstone to be this heavy!
I’ve handled a wide variety of gemstones doing my work as Red, but I’ve never gotten the chance to look at one so closely like this before.
“Thank you!” I said as I gave back the ruby.
“Sure. So did you see the paper?”
“I did, and I was so surprised by it. What are you trying to do by challenging Red…?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. When they try to steal this gemstone, I’m gonna catch ’em with my own two hands.”
B-but…how do you know Red will actually come to steal this…?
“He’ll come. This plan was something I’ve been working on for a while now, but after learning he stole the Blue Star last night, I knew his next target would be our Red-Hot Crown. That is why I needed to move fast.”
Huh… Move fast for what?!
“The deadline for the morning newspaper is one in the morning. It was announced that Red stole the Blue Star at ten o’clock last night, so we only had three hours,” Kento explained.
“Exactly. We were lucky that the Red-Hot Crown was in our museum. I was able to get my dad to agree to put it on display.”
I see… Well, kind of. What does the Blue Star have to do with the Red-Hot Crown? You’re making it sound like just because they stole the Blue Star, they’re coming for the Crown next?
“That’s right. It was actually only discovered recently, but the Blue Star and the Red-Hot Crown are closely related to each other.”
Oh? What do you mean by “related to each other”?
“Up until now, the two gemstones were just that: gemstones. They were each valuable because of how big they were, of course, but the same goes for diamonds and other jewels. Recently, though, ancient texts were uncovered that tell their story.”
“Ancient texts,” huh… So something written down a long, long time ago that has lasted until now is still around today. Kei once gave me a long explanation on the topic at a museum we went to before, so I kind of know what you’re talking about.
“And those texts consisted of a chain of letters that was written a long time ago between a prince from a country in a desert and a princess from a coastal region.”
A prince and a princess?
“Their countries were neighbors and once even allies, but by the time of the prince and the princess, tensions had risen, and war seemed inevitable. But even with all the turbulence, the prince and the princess met and fell in love.”
“Even though their nations weren’t friendly with each other?”
“Where you’re from doesn’t matter when you’re in love. It happened soon after they met, but meeting wasn’t something they could do so easily. They used each of their closest aides to make it happen, but they only saw the other a few times on the border, as far as we know.” Rio was staring out the window with a faraway look. “Eventually, the two countries did go to war, and it became impossible for them to get together. So instead, the prince sent a large, red ruby, and the princess sent a large, blue sapphire attached to their letters.”
“And let me guess, the ruby and the sapphire are…”
“The Red-Hot Crown and the Blue Star. After the letters shared between the prince and the princess were discovered, it was determined only a month ago that the ruby and sapphire talked about in the letters were the Red-Hot Crown and the Blue Star. Two weeks ago, however, the Blue Star was stolen by someone, which Red then stole. This means that the Crown will be what he’s after next!”
No… The reason Kei wanted to go after the Blue Star was because it was stolen…
“B-but how do you know Red will come after the Red-Hot Crown in the first place? If your family is the rightful owner of the Red-Hot Crown, then Red has no reason to steal it!”
That would make me a two-bit thief, after all! I’d never do that!
“If Red was still the same Red he used to be, that is…”
“Huh?”
“Now that the sapphire hasn’t been returned, I’m certain of it: Red has changed. He betrayed me…and everyone who believed in him until now. So I know he’ll come for the Crown. The two together are unbelievably valuable. If Red wants money, then he won’t let this chance slip by. And we’re going to bring him to justice!” Rio said, looking at the three of us as she did.
“Us going up against Red? Sounds like this could get interesting.”
“There’s no stopping Rio when she gets fired up. Yes, we’ll help you out.”
Both Daiki and Kento shared the same look of determination in their eyes.
“So, Asuka.” Rio looked to me. “I have arrangements for you to spend the night with us in the museum, so I want you to get ready.”
Wait, me too?
And now I have to go up against Rio…
What am I gonna do…?