Enya stared at Zilant and the head butler, nodding.

“I am not an expert in detecting the aura, but I felt something pushing me away from the garden…” Enya said.

Zilant looked at her, observing her. The head butler looked at them.

“So, are you saying you didn’t see the face of the person who set the place on fire?” the head butler asked.

Enya locked eyes with him, nodding nonchalantly.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, there was… rumors that you said that it was His Highness.”

Enya frowned, looking at the head butler, confused.

“What?! Who is that? I have never met him. How would I know what he looked like?”

The head butler was baffled, speechless. His mouth opened, but no words came out. He glanced at Zilant, who was also confused.

Is this man serious? He talks so… commonly like he doesn’t have class. The head butler cleared his throat, covering his lips with a fist.

“So are you stating that you have never seen His Highness and that you didn’t claim it was His Highness?”

Enya raised one eyebrow.

“Well, duh. I have never met him… who is he anyway? Is he my Commander?”

The head butler choked on himself, looking away. He paused, thinking to himself.

Is this young man the rumored young boy who continuously argued with His Grace? The head butler sneaked a peek at Enya, then at Zilant. He stared without blinking, analyzing them. Zilant frowned with confusion.

“Yes, Head Butler?” Zilant asked, snapping him out of his world.

The head butler stood straight like a soldier.

“I’m sorry for my rudeness, Your Grace. I see…” he looked at Enya once more.

Enya leaned her head on her shoulder.

“Yes?”

“I’m just baffled at how blunt you are…” the head butler replied, coughing.

Enya nodded.

“Well, I didn’t want to come here… I was forced. Now, can I go back, Commander?” she glanced over her shoulder.

Zilant coldly stared at her.

“Sire Fraye… Be mindful of your setting—”

“Commander, you know that I didn’t see the perpetrator. Why force me into this situation?” Enya interrupted.

The head butler’s jaw dropped. He just cut… in the middle of His Grace’s sentence.

“What I know isn’t entirely what you know. Now is it?” Zilant asked.

Enya shrugged, pouting.

“I don’t know. I don’t have your brain capacity in mine,” Enya responded. She peeked an eye to look at Zilant’s face. What did you want me to say?

Lumerin started sweating as Enya spoke because he knew very well that he was the one who lied that Enya saw the First Prince. Crap! The more this boy speaks, makes it obvious that he wasn’t the one who said His Highness did it. That will bring danger to me. Lumerin cleared his throat silently as he turned to avoid being centered.

Enya then turned to look at Lumerin. They locked eyes. Lumerin sweated as Enya didn’t look away. She smiled slyly at him.

“I wonder who said that I was the one who saw His Highness… whoever he may be,” Enya added. Lumerin swallowed hard, unable to speak for himself.

Zilant stared in Enya’s direction, observing Lumerin’s nervousness.

“Who cares about who said it? Now that we know it’s not His Highness, let’s find out the truth of the person who set the place on fire.”

“No, Commander. Blaming something on a royal member is a treasonous offense. Don’t you think so, sire?”

Zilant groaned, shaking his head.

“Enya, head back to the training ground. Thanks for your cooperation,” he said.

Enya turned to look at Zilant. She forced a smile and tilted her head.

“Okay, ‘Commander’.”

Enya then walked away without bowing to Zilant. She looked at the head butler and bowed respectfully. The door closed behind her.

The head butler glanced at Zilant, checking if everything was alright. Zilant groaned, pinching his temple.

“I’m sorry for bringing in my rude recruit… I will make sure that this won’t happen again,” Zilant said to the head butler.

The head butler nodded slowly, spacing out.

“Your estate must be lively because of that young man. Ahem…” the head butler cleared his throat. “Besides, he did point out something important. If he never claimed the person to be His Highness, then who did? This is a serious offense against the royal family. Your Grace, I hope you are able to find out the truth behind this… or Her Majesty will be upset that you allow the Royal Family to be insulted in such a way.”

Zilant bowed respectfully, lowering his head more than earlier.

“Head Butler, please pass the message to Her Majesty. I can attest to everyone that there was no such aura user. My recruit is new and learning. When I arrived, the fire was nearly a mishap. I didn’t sense any aura. But hers who was already dead…” Zilant responded firmly.

The head butler looked at Zilant, observing his stare. Zilant was more confident in his words than before. The head butler took a deep breath and nodded.

“Very well. I will pass on the message and hope this case goes quiet…” The head butler turned and walked away.

Zilant waited for the door to close before turning to Lumerin.

“Viscount—”

“Thank you, Your Grace! I will make sure I don’t say a thing about this… I… I will find out who spread this and pay for it…” Lumerin stuttered.

Zilant nodded.

“Just give me a name, and I will go search. I am the one who should close the case,” Zilant said.

Lumerin nodded quickly, raising his finger to his chin to think.

“Ah! That… one of the guards that I have was suspicious! He… he claimed to hate aura users!” Lumerin hinted.

Zilant frowned. Although this was not what Zilant wanted, he had to keep his promise. So, Zilant stormed out of the palace and headed to the Viscount’s estate.

As Zilant reached outside the gates, he caught a glimpse of Enya. He dismounted from his horse and walked up to her. He pulled her shoulder back.

“Sire Fraye…” Zilant coldly called.

Enya turned around with a big smile and leaned her head on her shoulder.

“‘Commander’?”

“You are to help me arrest one who spread the rumors.”

“No.” Enya pushed his hand away.

Zilant groaned and pulled her wrist.

“You started this without consulting with me, who is your commander. You are disrespecting me and the knights that we shared our blood and sweat with.”

Enya glared at him.

“Commander, I only trained with the knights for a few days… I didn’t share any blood with them. Plus, why are you so prone to keeping the promise with a noble who refused to respect you and your knights?” Enya dared to ask. Zilant froze, staring at her. “If you really want to add the knights into this argument, shouldn’t you have thought about their reputation and asked the noble to respect it as well? When we entered his estate, he was definitely looking down on someone like me because I was a knight in your estate.”

Zilant tightly gripped his hand around her wrist. Enya smiled, knowing he couldn’t speak.

“Have you also thought of that young boy that you warned me to stay away from? If you’re the one protecting him from me and most likely from others, then wouldn’t you want anyone who comes by you to respect him as well? Because if you don’t, then don’t call me out on the fact that I don’t care about my comrades… I care about them more than you do because I don’t allow disrespect to be a norm…” Enya pushed his grip away and turned to him. She waited. Come on. Speak, you ill-mannered prince.

Zilant swallowed hard, condensing the words from her. He took a deep breath and stepped back. He bowed his head gently.

“I’m sorry that I was short-sighted and offended you. Take this as an apology,” he said.

Enya couldn’t argue anymore and walked away. Zilant stood there, contemplating every word’s weight.

Stupid brute prince! You yielded already?! Enya pouted on her way back to the training grounds.

Zilant stared at her back, memorizing her body structure without realizing that she was as slim as a girl. He sighed, brushing his hair back.

“I guess you aren’t that naive after all…” he mumbled and then returned to his horse.

Mounting swiftly, he rode toward Viscount Degardo’s estate, his mind already planning the next steps. Upon arrival, he arrested the guard that Lumerin had mentioned.

“You’re under arrest for slandering a royal member,” Zilant said to the guard.

The guard gasped, looking frantically.

“What?! What do you mean? I didn’t slander—”

“Lies! You were the one who told me that His Highness was the one you spotted after His Grace left!” Lumerin stormed in.

The guard shook his head, stumbling to the ground with his knees.

“Your Grace, this is a lie. I am being falsely accused!”

“Are you trying to blame a noble now, too?!” Lumerin pointed at him. Although the guard denied that he spread the rumors, Lumerin handed evidence against him.

Zilant held onto the evidence, clutching it tightly with bitterness. He stared at the guard with pitiful eyes. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes because this was escalating the situation for offending the royal family without having to harm his knights.

“You… Are you denying these witnesses’ words of your comrades?” Zilant forced himself to ask. The guard collapsed, unable to argue any further. Thus, Zilant had taken the guard to the dungeon for questioning, but the guard was soon executed for slandering a royal member.

Zilant closed his eyes in his office, the news of the guard’s execution weighing heavily on him. Enya’s words, echoing in his mind, gnawed at his conscience. Meanwhile, atop a nearby building, Enya, dressed in her nightly stealth, smirked at the unfolding event

“So… you chose nobles over truth and respect. I mean, you are a Dragon’s royal member after all. Saving your face as the Second Prince helps you maintain a relationship with nobles who could either help or break you…” Enya spoke to herself. Typical.

Once the news spread widely, Llard heard of it, and the mere mention of Zilant’s name triggered his chaotic behavior more.

“How dare this illegitimate child put my reputation in this kind of situation? He must have thought it was fun to play with it… Bring out those claws of yours… I will take everything from you once I find out the truth of what you’re aiming for, Zilant…” Llard sneered from the balcony of his room.

Llard’s personal butler knocked on his door.

“Your Highness…”

Llard turned around, grabbing his cup and pouring wine.

“What is it?”

“The suspect was arrested and executed immediately under the orders of the commander of the Dragon’s Snow Knight. Aside from this, there was a witness who took the stand, but he wasn’t the one who was executed. Thus, this witness escaped the death stand when he was the prime suspect who slandered the royal family.”

Llard smirked, gripping his cup tightly.

“So, he dared to make me a fool and falsely executed someone else? Find out about this witness immediately. Fetch me his information…”

“I have heard… from the head butler that he was a new recruit in the Snow Knight.”

Llard paused halfway as the cup touched his lip. He sat straight, glaring at his butler.

“So… a new recruit under his wing… What is he planning to do? Why is he protecting this peasant?!” Llard scoffed. When I get my hands on that Phoenix heir… he will regret ever crossing me. And Zilant… your protege will pay dearly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 🪶 🔥 Princess, Don’t Waver ❄️ 🐉 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note:

I really need to change my book cover. It’s so poorly done lol

The next chapter will be published whenever I can. I’m sorry for the late upload