Hearing Meliya’s words, Milin and Lian exchanged a glance.
As participants in the incident and the ones who had brought the guard’s investigation report to Meliya, they knew things were not quite that simple.
There was nothing wrong with the guard’s report.
They indeed could not detect any residual magic power at the scene… more accurately, they failed to find any residual magic power from a large-scale destruction spell capable of causing such an explosion.
By the time they were able to enter the scene to investigate, it was already the afternoon, after the soldiers from the fire department had extinguished the blaze.
The only magic residue that could be detected was that magic circle, which had not yet completely vanished.
To keep Milin from worrying further, Lian claimed the magic circle was an experimental spell placed in the mansion by the Sage.
Although Milin was very confused as to how she knew such a thing, she stopped questioning it upon considering the complexity of the circle and the fact that Lian was brought in by her own teacher, the Sage.
She informed the mages of the guard about this, and they reached the same conclusion as Milin — if the explosion had been caused by that magic circle, the extent of the damage would have been far greater than what had actually occurred.
As for why they didn’t detect any trace of that youth from the Demon Race in white clothes, who possessed powerful magic power… it was because the Heavenly Silver Lian had manifested possessed the property of annihilating all magic power.
In her extreme fury over her daughter and friend being in danger, she had shown no mercy, completely erasing him from this world.
“Mother, it wasn’t just a matter of explosives. We actually encountered the Demon Race at the scene. I was attacked by one… you’ve seen that Demon before. It was that girl from the bathhouse the other day, the one who said she was a substitute and was so hostile toward you.”
“The Demon Race?! A Demon actually attacked the Princess?!”
Several nobles were so shocked by her addition that their mouths hung open. Border Earl Edmund even slapped the table and jumped to his feet.
“I see…” Meliya was also somewhat surprised.
She pondered for a moment before turning to her daughter. “Did you catch her?”
“…No. Someone saved her. I had the officers of the guard post wanted signs throughout the city.”
“Forgive this old official’s presumption… but you should have had them seize all the Demons present and interrogate them one by one…!”
The cloudiness in the old hunter Edmund’s eyes vanished due to extreme anger, and that sharp, hawk-like fierce light of the past reappeared.
He spoke to Milin through gritted teeth.
“That is impossible, Border Earl of Pinewood.” Meliya shook her head at him.
“Milin’s handling of the situation was correct. There were likely nearly 1,000 members of the Demon Race in the plaza at the time. Moreover, among the injured and the deceased, there are Demon citizens and tourists. We cannot do such a thing.”
“Be that as it may… they actually dared to lay a hand on the Princess… If she had been hurt!”
The old hunter looked toward Milin… this time, his angry gaze carried a trace of intense fear from the past — it was as if he saw the little girl from back then who, even with a face covered in blood, insisted on standing up and smiling at him.
He began to pant heavily. Seeing this, Milin hurried to his side and gently patted his back.
“Uncle Edmund, I’m fine. I wasn’t injured.”
“…I apologize, Princess. I lost my composure.”
Under Milin’s comfort, he slowly regained his calm. He bowed to the group in apology and then sat back down in his chair.
“To think a spy from the Demon Race sneaked into the Honglian Palace bathhouse and then attacked the Princess?”
“This is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard… Lady Meliya. I think old man Pinewood might be right. You are far too lenient with those Demons. Even if the Northland’s policy has always been like this, the rules in your palace should not be so lax. You must realize that with your status, you are indeed an easy target for those remnants of the Demon Race who still harbor hatred toward you.”
The speaker was Mrs. Stone.
As the Governor of Foothills Province, she was the highest-ranking person present aside from the Duchess and the Princess… she reminded Meliya of this with concern.
“You are right, Marchioness… this was indeed an oversight on my part. Lian, could you please go and invite the person in charge of the bathhouse here?”
Lian, who was attending to her, was startled by Meliya’s address.
For a fleeting moment, she thought it was her wife calling her name… but she quickly realized she was addressing her current self as a maid.
‘She’s calling for the current me, the maid.’
“Yes, Duchess.” She felt a bit of sadness… but the current situation did not allow her to indulge in it.
Thus, she ran out and quickly brought the bathhouse manager back according to Meliya’s instructions.
“Ma—Madam, Lady Milin… I really didn’t lie to you! I didn’t hire any substitute that day! Much less a Demon!”
“Liar! Are you in league with those Demons? To think you would let a Demon of unknown identity mingle so easily in a place so close to the Duchess!”
The manager of the bathhouse was a maid over fifty years old.
She was an old servant who had been by the side of Meliya and her daughter ten years ago, even before the Honglian Palace was built.
Facing the questioning glares of the nobles, which felt like a trial, she knelt before Meliya and Milin in sheer panic.
“Stand up first, Molly. I have no intention of doubting you,” Meliya said, stepping down to personally help her up.
She then turned to the group to plead her case. “Everyone may not be aware… this Molly has been serving by my side since ten years ago; she was a worker on my farm. It is impossible for her to betray me. Furthermore, I have indeed never established a rule forbidding the Demon Race from working in the palace.”
Meliya gave Molly a reassuring smile. Under her gaze, Molly finally recovered some of her senses from her terror and began to speak slowly.
“I remember… that day the Princess, the Head Maid, this maid beside you, and the Prince and Princess of Nolan all came to the bathhouse. And then I felt a bit dazed for a while… after that, you and the Princess arrived… that’s right… why was I dazed in between?”
“It’s fine now. Don’t worry about it, go and have a good rest.”
Molly puckered her face, trying desperately to recall, but she still couldn’t remember anything.
Seeing this, Meliya gently patted her shoulder and let her leave.
“Duchess…!”
Facing the opposing looks from the nobles, Meliya spoke firmly.
“Molly is someone I trust. If even she could be affected without realizing it, then it only proves the methods of the intruder were extremely cunning. We should focus on how they bypassed our security, rather than blaming an innocent servant.”
Milin strongly agreed with her mother’s decision.
There were several servants and employees in the Honglian Palace who were from the Demon Race or had Demon blood… for instance, Chief Steward Wright of the XÄ«long Pavilion.
Moreover, she also believed that Molly, who had worked for her and her mother since she was a child, could not possibly collude with the Demon Race.
But just then, she suddenly remembered something very important.
‘How could I have forgotten this? I should have told Mother something this important from the very beginning!’
She instantly connected the two events. Thus, she spoke up.
“…Mother, I don’t want to be so suspicious. But do you remember who was with that girl at the time?”
“You mean Princess Eleanor of Nolan.”
“Yes. Doesn’t she have Demon blood? And didn’t Feiyin say so at the time? She saw the Princess pulling and pushing with that Demon spy…”
“Milin, that is your Uncle Roland’s daughter.”
“But you haven’t seen her appearance with your own eyes, have you? You’ve never been to Nolan, and the last time Uncle Roland came to visit you, he didn’t bring his son and daughter with him.”
“…”
Seeing her mother fall silent, Milin knew she was starting to have doubts.
After all, according to Feiyin’s description, the two of them were “stuck together.”
There shouldn’t be such a sense of intimacy between a Princess and a maid who was helping her change clothes…
She had suspected it was just Feiyin’s usual habit of exaggerating and talking nonsense, but the Princess herself had admitted it with a flushed face.
“Mother, that isn’t even the most crucial part. Afterward, I checked with Grandpa Wright about the safety of the passengers on the festival float. Aside from those few guests near me who unfortunately passed away after being thrown by the blast… everyone from Nolan, including the Princess, is nowhere to be found. According to him, the two people following them didn’t board the float in the first place due to their physical condition… and afterward, I had people search for an entire afternoon, but we haven’t seen any sign of them or the Princess.”
“You are right. Lian, could you please go and confirm this?”
Meliya made the request to Lian.
……
By the time Lian hurried back from the XÄ«long Pavilion with news, the meeting was nearly over.
The atmosphere was quite solemn, and no one had a smile on their face.
Seeing her return, everyone turned their eyes toward her, urging her to give an answer.
Lian swallowed hard and immediately invited the person who had come with her into the meeting room.
“…I am Julian Nolanstia, the First Prince of Nolan.”
The person standing before everyone, bowing his head in greeting, was indeed the Prince of Nolan.
Unlike the impression he had given in the past, he now looked utterly devastated and vacant.
His face had clearly just been washed… but it was still bruised and swollen from bumps and cuts.
“Prince Julian, can you tell me what happened? Where is your sister? And your two companions?”
Meliya asked him with concern. His whole body shuddered, and then he slowly spoke.
“I don’t know… when I woke up in the crowd, she was gone. When I returned to our lodgings, the two companions who were with me were nowhere to be found either… they didn’t board the float this morning because they were feeling unwell. I’ve asked everyone, but there’s no trace of them… do you know where they are?”
“Did you lose consciousness when the attack occurred?”
“She and I had just gotten off the float to look around near the mansion… the impact separated us.”
“Duchess, let’s not waste any more time.” The person who interrupted the exchange between him and Meliya was Border Earl Edmund.
“Your sister has a connection with a spy from the remnants of the Demon Race, did you know that? …No, perhaps your entire group consists of Demon remnants!”
“What are you saying…? Even if my sister has Demon blood, you cannot make such baseless accusations! To even say that I am a Demon… are you insulting my mother?”
Facing Edmund’s aggressive questioning, the Prince suddenly jerked his head up.
His previously vacant eyes were instantly filled with intense emotion as he glared back at Edmund.
“The one who attacked the Princess at the mansion today was a Demon remnant connected to your sister! That Demon remnant even sneaked right in front of the Duchess once! What exactly is the goal of you bastards!”
“Your Grace, is this how you treat your guests? My sister and my companions’ lives are currently at stake… not only are you not looking for them, but you are even framing her and us as having ties to the attacking Demons…?”
The Prince ignored the furious Edmund. He looked at Meliya with a face full of disbelief as he spoke.
“Border Earl, this matter hasn’t been confirmed yet. You are being too hasty.” Meliya signaled for the Border Earl to calm down, and then spoke to the Prince.
“We have absolutely no intention of insulting you or your mother. But it is a fact that the Demon who had contact with your sister attacked my daughter. My daughter has already sent people to look for her. As for the two who came with you, we will send people to search for them immediately as well.”
“You had better find her quickly!” The Prince roared at Meliya at a volume nearly reaching a scream.
“To actually frame the Nolan royalty as Demon remnants… do you know what kind of insult that is to us, who have guarded the border between the two realms for generations? And to think you were one of the proponents of the New Peace Agreement! If my father knew we were being treated like this here — “
“Boy, you’ve crossed the line.” The voice of Mrs. Stone, the Governor of Foothills Province, was icy cold.
“Are you using the name of the King of Nolan to threaten the Duchess of the Northland? You are a state guest because Lady Meliya treats you as one. If you think you can be this insolent here based on that status, you are gravely mistaken.”
“To actually bring up the King of Nolan to scare us…!”
“Do you think the people of the Northland are easily intimidated?!”
Following Stone’s statement, a group of old nobles immediately joined the condemnation of the Prince with furious faces.
For a moment, the entire meeting room was seething with indignation, and it looked like order was about to be lost —
“Um… could I say a few words?”
Lian spoke up rather timidly. Everyone present suddenly looked at her.
Their angry gazes seemed to say, ‘What is a mere maid doing interfering?’, but Meliya waved her hand at the crowd, signaling Lian to continue.
“This Prince should not be from the Demon Race. At the very least, his appearance is not a disguise.”
“How can a maid like you be sure?”
“Because I tested him with the Sage’s device,” Lian said, pulling a bead from her bosom.
She placed the bead in front of the Prince and tapped its surface. “If the Prince were a Demon, this bead would light up. Look, everyone… it’s not glowing, is it?”
“…Is that so, Duchess?”
The nobles, of course, did not take Lian’s word at face value. They all looked toward Meliya and asked.
Meliya looked curiously at the bead and Lian… and Lian looked back at her with a gaze that hoped she would understand.
“Yes, I was the one who had her take it. Prince Julian, why don’t you go back and rest for now? As soon as I find your sister and your companions, I will notify you immediately.”
She nodded toward the group and then spoke to the Prince.
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