*thump*
"EH?!" "HUH?!"
Without checking anything else first, Medea turned right around on his heel and fell on one knee, bowing his head toward the royal siblings, making them let out shocked voices in unison.
"Your Highness, Crown Prince. Your Highness, First Princess. Please, forgive me this unbecoming act! It was necessary for us to act as quickly as possible as your lives were in danger."
"EEEHHH?!"
"...explain yourself..."
Medea said without lifting his head even a fraction of an inch, increasing Charlotte's shock and confusion tenfold and making Noah barely keep it together, seeing the one member of the shadow guard he could freely use crippled for life and momentarily paralyzed.
|If I lose my composure in front of Charlotte any more than I already had, all the build-up trust will vanish...|
Noah had to repeat to himself in his mind.
"Your Highness, Crown Prince. Your personal guard was indisposed, and in your great benevolence, you allowed her to return to her chamber and recuperate."
"...and those four are pinning down the replacement..."
Medea said, lowering his head even more and using compliments that, in Noah's ears, sounded like insults. So he hissed through his teeth while glaring down at the prostrating black-haired man.
"The threat to your lives, Your Highness, lies exactly in that statement. That is not the guard that your personal guard requested. This is."
"..."
Medea said in a grave voice and moved his hand to the side, first pointing at the captured guard and then at the guard with his knee on the captured one's forearm, causing Noah to look between the two with an indifferent expression.
"...wait... WHAT?!"
Indifferent only until Medea's words sank in, that is - the next moment, the Crown Prince roared, jumping right on his feet and almost knocking down his chair.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! I SWEAR! YOUR HIGHNESS, I...!"
*WHAM*
The captured guard struggled wildly and shouted in desperation, but another guard grabbed his head and slammed it against the floor.
"It is true, your highness."
The guard pointed at by Medea nodded his head and removed his helmet.
"My name is Derec Nevvorl. I've been serving under Commander Jinarrlay for five years. It's just as Mister Medea said. Lady Evelyn Eavdellat requested that I replace her as your guard today in front of Commander Jinarrlat during morning training. I rushed out to don the armor but was locked in my chamber. My room was one of the few unfortunate ones to have their windows blocked with the debris after the latest incident the late head researcher caused, and it hasn't been uncovered, making the blocked door the only way out for me."
"..."
The guard introduced himself and began speaking in a stern, soldier-like tone, making Noah unable to make any comments and just stare at him while blinking repeatedly.
"It appears that luck didn't completely leave me even though almost all royal guards were still at the training grounds. A diligent palace maid, Young Lady Agness Becklivi, who by some stroke of luck was passing by the hallway, heard the ruckus I was making and rushed to my aid right as I was going to make the pointless attempt to chop down the steel-reinforced door. It turned out that it wasn't simply locked but blocked shut with a sword stabbed into the doorframe. Agnes could not remove the weapon alone, though, and she rushed out to look for help, luckily stumbling upon young lady Zorivia Rotteloss and Mister Medea as they were on their way to this very room. Young lady Zorivia Rotteloss returned to her room, and mister Medea followed Agnes, removing the blockade and freeing me. By then I already figured out that what happened to me wasn't a prank..."
"IT WASN'T A PRANK! I... IT'S A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH! I NEED RECOGNITION AND FAVOR OF SOMEONE IN POWER! MY...! MY FIANCE IS SEVERELY ILL, AND I NEED HIM...!"
*WHAM*
Derec tried to explain but was interrupted by the struggling traitor... who was then immediately silenced once again by other guards.
"...so I asked for his assistance, and we rushed here, taking a few of my colleagues returning from their shift and sending one of them to inform commander Jinarrlat and urge them to come with us to stop the potential assassination attempt. But thanks to Mister Medea's quick thinking and selfless courage, not only was the situation dealt with instantly, but we even managed to capture both criminals alive so we could interrogate them!"
Derec finished his story unbothered by the captive's howls and looked at the kneeling black-haired man with respect and awe.
"What selfless courage?"
Noah glanced at the masked individual with spell-amputated legs, gritted his teeth without showing any signs of knowing who it was, and instead glared at Medea.
"Your Highness! Mister Medea spotted the assassin waiting in ambush in the chandelier and rushed to you and Her Highness the First Princess's side without a moment of hesitation! Shielded both of you from them with his own body, showing his back to the enemy! And all of that without any armor to ensure his safety! He was putting his life on the line to go as far as to ask to confirm that this wretched thing wasn't actually an ally!"
"..."
Derec gasped and began singing even more praise under Medea's name, to which Noah could only chew on his own tongue to stop himself from speaking out.
Shadow guard was a force that obeyed exclusively the ruling King and Queen of Wondalandor. They were trained in the art of stealth and could hide their presence from all but the most keen-sensed and trained individuals.
...the truth was even as a Crown Prince, Noah didn't have the right to order one of them around...
Speaking out and revealing that he was the one who put a member of the shadow guard on that chandelier would be equivalent to admitting that he grossly overstepped his rights and qualifications.
If that knowledge leaked out and he was exposed to already having a pawn in that elite group, some people might come to the conclusion that he was, in fact, planning an assassination attempt on his own father to seize the crown by force.
|HOW THE FUCK WAS HE EVEN ABLE TO SPOT HER OVER THERE?! EVEN I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE EXACTLY SHE CHOSE TO HIDE! WHO THE FUCK IS THIS HELLSPAWN?!|
Although outwardly, it was difficult to spot that Noah was gritting his teeth – on the inside, the Crown Prince was drowning in a boiling sea of boundless rage directed toward Medea, who was posing as an icon of servitude.
Noah could not show his true feelings.
After all, someone actually replaced the guard that Evelyn spoke to—that appeared to be a fact that could easily be checked. Not to mention that the criminal basically confirmed it himself before his head was repeatedly slammed against the floor.
"DEREC!"
"...!"
Someone's sonorous voice carried from the hallway and startled Noah out of anger.
The next moment, half a dozen guards invaded the tea room, and many more stopped before the door.
"Commander Jinarrlay!"
The helmetless guard called out towards the largest of the newly arrived armored men.
While the explanation of the situation proceeded, Charlotte was doing her utmost best not to panic.
Why was it so difficult for her that it demanded so much effort?
It was because, from Derec's words, it appeared that she was the person who invited Zorivia to join her little tea party!
But the Crown Prince was already there, so it looked as if she was trying to get him and Zorivia together so they could have a private talk behind everyone's back!
Not only was it a clear breach and disregard of the Royal order but also something that Medea wouldn't like!
IT WAS OBVIOUS WHICH ONE OF THOSE WOULD HAVE THE MORE SEVERE OUTCOME!
"...!"
Charlotte's chest was going up and down like that of a baby bird struggling to live, and her eyes filled with tears as she was unable to make eye contact with the kneeling black-haired man, which robbed her of a chance to convey that she had nothing to do with the invitation.
|Too late...?! Is it too late?! Am I going to die?! I'm going to die...!|
Experiencing the crushing feeling of the walls closing in on her and trapping her, Charlotte felt lightheaded, and her world began to spin...
"...fuah..." *thump*
"Ch-Charlotte...?!"
Before she knew it, she let out a short gasp and fainted, in her last flash of consciousness catching the shocked gasp of the crown prince to her side.