"Then let's end it here", The Queen adds. "If you could please indulge my son, Laris. He may be stubborn at times, but he only wants what's best for those he cares for, so please don't hold it against him. Please do me this favor."
"This...your Majesty..." Having said that, Laris' objections, or any chance for that matter, to rectify the misunderstanding were dashed by the Queen's words.
A favor?
"With all due respect, your Majesty", I say but do not even bow. The people around refocus their attention at me. Laris tensely listened but his silence is also an affirmation that he can't do anything more; not with the Queen asking for a direct favor from him. It's bad to embarrass a royal after all, but I can't so much as care. "For one, I think he owes us an apology, not Laris or anyone else, for repeatedly calling us servants and liars. You insult and slander us, but you apologize to someone else? What logic is this?"
"Afzal—"
"Second", I cut in and then pause, indicating I'm not finished talking yet. The atmosphere seemed on the brink of something; depending on the Queen's mood. Only when the Queen stays quiet do I continue, "This is Obrecht's sword. For the same reason that you keep saying you can't lie, you can also tell whether I'm telling truth, yes?"
"But Muzi can't lie!" Afzal glances at Muzi.
Are you sure he didn't just say something like 'It looks just like my sword?' and you misinterpreted it instead? I dislike people who're easily fooled like you, because you let other people use you as they like without even knowing it.
I've long tapped Muzi's emotions that always to be the opposite of what his face was showing. His emotions made me feel so disgusted, I had to connect to Obrecht's just to purify myself.
"Then are you saying that I'm lying right now? With who's ears are you listening with? What evidence do you have?" I shrug off the look Laris is giving me—'Don't overdo it'. "Just because of our 'ominous black hair and eyes' we aren't worth your time?" I let the ink in my hair drip to the floor with a sizzle, as if the floor was hot lava that evaporated the whole thing into black smoke. "Then, how about now?"
Stunned silence fills the throne room. The first to laugh was Losalia.
"That was completely unexpected!" She laughs a bit more. "It's a fine thing that I went out of my room today!"
"That person during the banquet...it wasn't a clone puppet?" Afzal looked lost.
"...You haven't seen a lot of the world, have you?" I lowly tell him.
"And what is it that you wish to prove?" The Queen asks, all of a sudden.
"Appearances can be deceptive", I glance at Muzi while answering her.
"What do you mean by looking at me?! Are you implying that I lied?! That I have been fooling his Highness, Afzal?! How could you say that?! I understand that you may be angry, but fooling my own partner—", he intentionally left his sentence unfinished. His eyes tear up that Afzal agitatedly hugged him, before glaring at me. Either way, I don't shy away from their glare.
"Don't try to change the subject. Before you started slandering my lover as a thief, you should have had evidence to prove it. Because unlike you, I have evidence that this Obrecht's sword."
"Oh~ Let's see it then", Losalia urges. Afzal shoots her an accusing look fit for a traitor; to which she ignores.
"How come I never knew you had evidence, Videre", Laris whispers beside me.
"..." I can't exactly say that I've just thought about it now when I saw the transparent crystal embedded on his sword.
I turned to her Majesty. "If we can prove that this is Obrecht's sword, will you promise to stop trying to obtain my lover's sword, without tarnishing our alliance?" Although she may have implicated peaceful relations earlier despite things being in her favor, it's still better to obtain a worded promise, especially from a Faerie.
"How dare you speak like that to the Queen!" One of the guards couldn't help but shout.
"I did not ask for your opinion." The Queen glared at the guard, who apologized and bowed with clenched fists. She cradled her blank face with her propped-up slender hand—the kind of hands that don't even know housework. "What do you think, Losalia?"
"It seems quite fair, given that Afzal seems to have repeatedly insulted them by calling them 'servants' and slandering them as 'thieves'. I mean, if I were them, I would be angry too, which is justifiable. With all of us Faerie-kind here listening, I don't think they even have the courage to lie from the beginning."
"Sister, do you even hear what you're saying!" Afzal exclaims.
"Rather than trust what they're saying, I trust what my own ears hear. You should also stop acting so disgracefully. How many times have I told you to keep a cool level-head?" Afzal was forced to silence after being scolded by her own eldest sister.
"Then, I'll leave this upon your jurisdiction", the Queen says. "I think it's only right that I stay out of this. I do trust your judgement, and this would be a good way to practice resolving matters in the future, wouldn't it?"
I can ear Laris releasing a breath at this proclamation. This is also an indirect indication that the Queen values and upholds the alliance, as she doesn't want to use her title to pressure us.
"As you wish, Queen Mother." Losalia only nods, while her personal maid curtsies upon her place. "Will you need time to prepare your evidence, Sir Videre?" She walks over to me, an elegant smile on her lips.
"...No. I only need to ask them how many swords they see."
Sensitive to my train of thoughts, Obrecht cooperatively pulls out his sword as he stood beside me. The few guards in the throne room tense up at the sight of a big weapon.
"That's all?" Losalia kept glancing over at Obrecht, intrigued.
"Isn't that preposterous? There's only one sword", Afzal says, befuddled.
"How many swords are you missing?" I stare at Muzi. I want to hear it straight from your lips.
"I—I—I..."
Are you even missing a sword?
"Then, let me rephrase it. If this is theoretically the sword you're missing, then you must know the answer to my question—how many swords do you see?"
"O—One", Muzi caves in and says in a stutter.
Satisfied, I back up and ease the pressure I had subconsciously been exuding. "Then, this isn't yours."
Afzal, "This is ludicrous! How can such a ridiculous question prove—"
Clink—pop—
"…Obrecht has two swords. The sword you're looking for may look the same, but I can assure you, yours was definitely a counterfeit."
Flexibly, Obrecht obliges in showing off his—twisting and pressing until a long sword emerges out of the middle part of the heavy sword, its hilt expanding.
"...From the very start, there could only be one sword like this, and it's his. Because he designed it, and his father crafted it for him. Is that not enough evidence?"
Even Laris looks surprised. The greatest evidence I can use wasn't really Obrecht's sword, but the confirmation coming from Muzi's mouth himself. They think so highly of a Faerie's candor, so to use it against themselves, surely they can't deny their own racial dignity?
Forced by the situation, Afzal looks at Muzi indescribably, before reluctantly bowing his head to apologize, enduring the humiliation of having to show the top of his head.
"My deepest apologies. It seems that I have been in the wrong", he says, head down up until he left.
"Your Highness, Afzal", Muzi follows after him, gritting his teeth and looking at me as if it's solely my fault.
That's what happens when you try to covet something that isn't yours.
A whistle sounds out.
"Losalia, a princess doesn't whistle, nor catcall."
"They do now, Mother. Didn't you hear—it's a new trend for princesses these days. More than that, shouldn't you be coaxing your humiliated little favorite?"
"Is teasing your Mother also a new trend too?"
"Perhaps?" Losalia chuckles before looking at Obrecht. "I must say, you're very handsome and you look very strong. Would you like to be my one of my future husbands? All you'd have to do is stay and live a happy life in the Queen's abode. This is fine, right Mother?"
Huh?
"Your children would be very strong, so I can't say I disagree."
You're face screams satisfaction! Where does it look like you might disagree?!
"What do you say?" Losalia brightly leans forward to act cutely in front of Obrecht, her hands inching to grab his arm.
Before I could control myself, Obrecht had already been hang upside down from above Losalia's reach, my shadow vines tightly wrapped around him. Everyone in the room silently stared. The guards that had relaxed when Obrecht put away his sword, all got tenser when they saw how Obrecht got caught in a blink of an eye without any retaliation. Though I'm not even sure if he'd even want to retaliate, given that satisfied look on his face.
Ignoring him, I tell the Crown Princess, "...He can't. He's already married."
Losalia's eyes didn't open even open wide. She simply changed targets and answers, "Then how about you?"
"..."
"Taken!" Obrecht aggressively objects.
"I really don't mind taken men. I like how the both of you are strong—especially you, in particular." Losalia walks around me as if inspecting the goods. Little goosebumps start to come out on my arms.
"He's already taken! He's living an incredibly satisfying married life with someone, so you can't!" Obrecht barks.
"Since we have cleared up this incident, I may leave with ease, your Majesty. Although two of my comrades would be staying behind upon the request of the Fae Priestess." Laris bows. I take it as a cue to grab him with a vine and slowly back away. In hindsight, maybe this is the reason why he had me go with them instead of Raguk—so that if things got worse, it would be easy to escape.
"Wait!"
The guards by the door blocked the way upon the Crown Princess' yell.
"I don't mind if you're both married. Tell me who're your spouses, and I'll negotiate with them!"
Obrecht, "There's no negotiating! He's mine! I'm not sharing!"
"I'm not some object here", I complain, all the while looking for a way out of the guards. Since there aren't any openings, I'll make an opening myself!
Obrecht, "I already have a lot of people to share you with, and you expect me to share more?! No! No way, I don't want to!"
Stunned for a moment, Losalia laughs. "I should have seen that coming! So you two are married? Even better, then! Both of you can become my husbands as well, and I won't even get in the way of your relationship. You can just add me to it, isn't that a nice deal? I'll even pamper the both of you!"
"Videre does indeed seem smart", the Queen inputs.
"Your Majesty!" Laris shouts in objection and panic, as she merely smirks back.
"He does, doesn't he? And I did not expect him to have such striking eyes! I had to give up Tukare because the Priestess was going to be my rival, but who knew there's this other pie?" Losalia brightly says. "Now, everyone, you can't be thinking of leaving without saying yes, right?"