The reception hall of the Imperial Palace as well served the purpose of an auditorium.
The hall was as large as a theatre room with nothing but a throne. A red carpet led the visitor from the entrance to the stairway leading to the throne. The Crown Prince briskly walked up to the King and greeted, "Greetings to the blazing Sun of the Empire, Imperial Father." The duo following the Prince followed his feat, and bowed to the King.
The King slightly gestured to Azure and his accomplices to lift their head.
"I bring good news." Azure started, with the slight gleam of hope in his eyes.
"Do speak, Prince." Shaun coldly replied. No matter how much he wished to smile at his young kid and hold him in his embrace, he could never bring himself to do so.
No sooner did he hear the indifferent tone of his father, the gleam in his eyes was lost. He blankly stated, "I have found the Mage. He wishes to have a word with you in private, Imperial Father."
The King gave a nod, accepting the request.
Bowing respectfully to his father, Azure left the reception hall with his Knight.
No sooner had the doors closed, the young kid removed his hood, exposing his long, vibrant orange hair and golden eyes. His sharp features were prominent even at such a young age.
"Greetings to the Blazing Sun of the Empire." The kid bowed respectfully, "Renard Velho, a Mage of the Magic tower, greets you."
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Sir Renard." The King replied, "I hope you were informed prior by the Prince about the assignment."
"Indeed I was, your Majesty." Renard noded, "I accept to help you, Your Majesty."
"Splendid!" The King exclaimed, a hint of relief and happiness were hidden in his voice, "I shall send for the Imperial Knights to guide you to the suspects."
"Before that, Your Highness," Renard said, "I wish to speak with the victim of this incident."
Hearing this, the King hesitated.
"May I ask the reason?" The King asked.
"The Laced Magic could be cast by anyone,
Your Highness," Renard started, " I just wish to know Her Highness's enemies."
The King narrowed his eyes. Though it's a normal thing to ask the victim whom they suspect during an investigation, the Mage wasn't supposed to be in charge of that. It was as though the Mage was indirectly asking for the investigation to be handled by the Magic tower.
The King very well knew how this case treaded the fine line of being either under the Jurisdiction of the Imperial family or under the Magic Tower.
Thus, he agreed to hire a young Mage for this investigation.
But, if found that the Magic used was a threat to others outside the Empire, the investigation would immediately be transferred to the Magic Tower.
"I shall inform the Princess regarding your wish.
You are free to meet the Princess, if granted an audience by her." The King replied, "Any further wishes?"
"That would be all, Your Highness."
Saying so, Renard bowed respectfully before taking his leave. Unnoticed to the King, Renard smiled to himself as he walked out of the hall.
…
"The Imperial Palace, you say?" Eve asked surprised as she just returned to the Riverton Palace using a teleportation talisman, "Didn't I just have supper with him yesterday?"
"It seems like a Young Mage wishes to meet you, My Lady." Lily, Avalina's personal maid replied, taking off the fur coat from Evelina's shoulders. "The Knight informed me that his Majesty wished to convey a few words to you regarding this."
"And what might that be?" Eve groaned, as though dreading to hear what comes ahead.
"You are free to burn this letter, My Dear."
Lily spoke in a weird tone.
"Are you trying to imitate His Majesty?"
Evelina asked her in a sharp tone.
As though suddenly realising her mistake, she bowed down immediately, "Please forgive me, your Imperial Highness! I've committed a grave sin!"
For a while, silence followed this.
"Of Course you've committed a grave sin!" Eve spoke coldly, "How could you imitate His Imperial Majesty so poorly?"
"Yes! I do not dare imitate his Majesty this poorly, My- huh?" Lily realised midway through her rambling as to what Eve spoke.
"Practise properly next time." Saying so, Eve heads upstairs controlling her laughter.
Blinking blankly at Eve heading up, Lily snapped out of her thoughts when Eve called out,
"Are you coming?"
"Ah-ah! Yes, My Lady!"
…
"A garden date!"
Eve cried out of the blue, springing up from her bed and making Lily flinch pretty badly.
"A date, My Lady?"
Lily asked, shocked.
"It seems some stranger wishes to have a chat over tea tomorrow?" Eve replied, "I think I understand why His Majesty wishes me to burn this off."
"But who is this Gentleman?"
Lily asked, curious.
"Someone named Renard Velho," Evelina said, "A Mage of the Magic tower, it seems. Do you know anyone like that?"
"Renard Velho…" Lily thought, giving a dramatically long silence in between she continued, "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."
"Ugh. Same here." Eve groaned as she laid back on the bed with the letter in her hand.
"I wonder how he got the King to accept such a request."
Though the duo talked about how a stranger invited the Crown Princess to a private tea party, it was stranger that they themselves ended up in informal terms.
Four days back, when the mansion suddenly received the arrival news of the Crown Princess, the mansion went berserk. That's because not one of the Princess's previous attendees remained in the castle!
The troubled attendees immediately consulted this with the Duke before he could meet Evelina.
The Duke ordered all the current new maids to serve Evelina while new temporary workers were to be hired immediately.
Given Evelina's history of rejecting and kicking out the palace attendees for any trivial issue, the Duke made sure to hire a large number of attendees. But little did he know that what he feared for wouldn't happen.
Evelina was relieved to see unfamiliar faces around her.
She felt comfortable knowing the fact that they won't judge her for her change in behaviour. Thus, no matter how freely she acted with them, she made sure to respect them and appreciate their hard work.
"Thank you for the food, Miss Mary."
"Ah! I didn't even realise there was a window here! You perform miracles with that cloth Edith!"
"When did that dead plant come back to life? It must have been Lily's magic!"
Thus, with such compliments every now and then along with maintaining a lease master-servant relationship, Evelina succeeded in touching their hearts.
Now, the maids do any and every work she asks for without any hesitation.
Instead, to do any work requested by her, it seems that a secret "Lucky Draw" is conducted, that is, the maid who receives a stick with a green tip gets to do the job.
Though they were very friendly inside the Western Palace, they had to make sure to not appear so outside its walls.
Thus, from time to time, Eve shows her other side to the maids, just so as they get adjusted to her duality.
"Lily," Eve called out to the young blonde maid, "Get me a pen and paper. We have a date to prepare for!"