About half an hour later, the banquet ended, and Ayanokouji and the others returned home under Wilhelm's escort.
Through the conversation at the banquet, Ayanokouji could conclude that Crusch was a very straightforward person. The purpose of this banquet was indeed to show him, Emilia, and the others, that as the Karsten family, Crusch also straightforwardly stated that although they were competing factions, she would compete fairly and honorably.
Ayanokouji believed that such people could be described as 'foolish'. In political struggles, it's impossible to defeat opponents by excessive means. Real political struggle requires using every means to the fullest.
However, during the conversation at the banquet, Crusch asked him about the kidnapping case in the royal capital not long ago, which was directed and acted out by Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji could sense that Crusch wanted to extract information from him, but her purpose was too clear, and his response could be said to be perfect.
After Ayanokouji and the others left, Crusch folded her arms over her chest and stood near the window, watching the dragon carriage drive further away, her eyes deepening.
"Crusch-sama, what are you doing, meow? You look so serious." Felix asked like a mischievous cat.
"I just asked Ayanokouji about that kidnapping case." Crusch said slowly, reaching out and gently rubbing her chin, "It's been a long time since such a bad case occurred in the capital. Those hooligans chose to kidnap noble children for money, it's too bold."
"And this happened right after Ayanokouji came to the capital. Crusch-sama, do you doubt Ayanokouji, nya?" Felix asked curiously.
"I was skeptical initially. After all, it was just a coincidence, so I intentionally asked about the kidnapping incident." Crusch said slowly, "However, my Divine Protection couldn't detect any lying emotions from him."
Crusch's magical attribute was wind, and she had the ability Divine Protection of Wind Reading – the ability to see and interpret the true wind and human emotions without confusing the two without any barriers, rarely experiencing deception.
But she did not expect her ability to be ineffective on Ayanokouji because he had no emotions at all.
"It seems it was just a coincidence. Ayanokouji has nothing to do with the kidnapping."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Felix asked with a smile.
"But I didn't read any other emotions from Ayanokouji... None at all, which is too strange." After saying that, Crusch shook her head, "Forget it, maybe I'm overthinking it."
The scene changed. Ayanokouji and the others had returned home. As soon as they opened the door, they saw Felt and Rom back at the mansion.
"Felt, Rom, you're back!" Seeing the two who returned, Emilia's face immediately showed a smile, "You must be working hard these days!"
"Yeah, we're exhausted!"
Felt sat on the sofa, and Rom gently massaged her shoulders from behind. The large disparity in size made Emilia a little worried about Rom crushing Felt's shoulders.
"There have been many problems recently."
Felt stood up, took a glass of milk from somewhere, drank it in one gulp, and casually put the cup down, with white stains still on her mouth.
"Those people are hard to deal with – but we've tried our best to follow Ayanokouji-sama's instructions and spread Emilia-sama's policies to the slums and surrounding areas."
"Good job." Ayanokouji nodded.
Although there were only two people, Felt and Rom, Emilia's policies could spread from one to ten, and then gradually among the crowd.
"But Emilia-sama, are you serious about these policies?" Felt wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and asked.
Although she had now joined Emilia's camp, she was not initially interested in Emilia's political views and did not know them, but in the past few days, she had almost 'preached'. During this process, she finally understood Emilia's political views, so she became a bit curious.
Emilia's political views included improving the status and living conditions of the poor, and Felt had long wanted to change this situation, having lived in the slums for a long time.
"Of course." Emilia became very serious and nodded enthusiastically, "I am very, very, very serious!"
"Alright, let me help you too!" Felt also made a very serious expression and gave a thumbs-up, "Let's work hard together!"
"Mm!"
"Are you two playing house?"
Beatrice shook her head helplessly. Although she looked like a little girl, she was actually older than everyone present.
Seeing all this, Rom's expression became somewhat complicated.
"Rom." Ayanokouji noticed Rom's expression and asked, "Do you have some free time later?"
"I have free time. I wonder if Ayanokouji-sama has something to do?" Rom asked.
"I have something to ask you."
Ayanokouji took Rom to a room and then closed the door.
The room's sound insulation was good, and Emilia and Felt's laughter outside could no longer be heard.
At this time, Rom was a little nervous. His large figure made the room seem somewhat crowded, but it was enough for the two of them.
His large hands were placed awkwardly on his knees, and his body was slightly trembling. The other party suddenly wanting to talk to him made him a little panicked and started thinking if he had done something wrong.
Rom looked at Ayanokouji's face, trying to guess why the other party wanted to talk to him, but found nothing. There was no evidence at all on the expressionless face.
"Don't be nervous, Rom, I'm just asking a few questions." Of course, Ayanokouji noticed Rom's subtle changes, "I won't waste time, so I'll get straight to the point. In short, does Felt have a special identity?"
He didn't know why Felt was chosen by the Dragon Emblem, so he guessed if Felt had something special. However, Ayanokouji himself was not sure about this, so he used a 'cheating' method to verify the effect.
He didn't know if Felt had a special identity, and even if she did, he wasn't sure if Rom knew it.
Just like he had once obtained information from Elsa, someone's reaction when hearing certain words does not lie. Micro-expressions and small body movements can reveal a person's thoughts, and he was preparing to obtain information about Felt from Rom.
"What? I, I don't understand what you are talking about, Ayanokouji-sama!" Rom immediately replied, pretending to be completely unaware.
But Ayanokouji immediately knew he was lying.
The pupils and pores dilated, breathing became rapid, and the eyes unconsciously shifted to another position. These are all signs that the speaker is lying. Rom was not a wise man, and it was impossible to deliberately control his expressions to deceive.
The other party's answer had proven that there was something special about Felt.
And Rom knew this.
However, Ayanokouji didn't mention this directly. Instead, he shook his head and pretended to believe what the other party said: "Really? If that's the case, then there's nothing wrong. You may go."
"Yes." Rom nodded, then stood up.
As he was about to leave, he seemed to think of something, "Ayanokouji-sama, why did you ask that? What happened? Did something happen?"
"Oh, I heard rumors about Felt in the royal capital. It seems some bigwig is targeting Felt and wants to kill her." Ayanokouji said slowly, his lie being to get the truth from Rom, "The authenticity of the information I received is hard to guarantee, and I don't understand why they would target Felt."
"What?" Rom's eyes widened, full of shock and disbelief.
Ayanokouji continued: "Since there's nothing special about Felt, it seems this information is false, so I don't need to provide Felt with extra protection."
"Mhm... Ayanokouji-sama, if the information you heard before is true... please make sure to protect Felt!" Rom said very seriously.
"What is your reason?" Ayanokouji said slowly, "You just said that Felt has nothing special. This is a critical time, and I don't need to focus on her."
"Ayanokouji-sama, Felt is not an ordinary person..." Rom gritted his teeth, and his expression became a bit serious, "Please keep what I say next confidential."
"Yes." Ayanokouji nodded.
As expected, Rom revealed Felt's secret.
"Felt, she is the daughter of the previous king." Rom's expression became more serious, and then he told the secret.
A long time ago, the late king personally handed Felt to him, hoping that Rom would protect her.
'Is Felt actually a descendant of the royal family?' Ayanokouji thought. This could explain why Felt became a candidate for the throne.
But he was still a little confused as to why the previous king hid Felt.
Also, all the royal family members in the previous royal capital died of a special disease, but why was Felt safe and sound?
There was no doubt that there must have been a big conspiracy hidden in the past of the kingdom, and Ayanokouji had not yet found relevant clues.
However, after knowing that Felt was a descendant of the royal family, Ayanokouji realized that her value in his hands had become greater.
"Is there anyone in the royal capital who is truly loyal to the royal family?" Ayanokouji asked.
"I don't know either." Rom shook his head, with a bit of helplessness in his eyes. "The current situation in the royal capital is something I cannot understand."
"Even the once-feared Valga Cromwell doesn't know?" Ayanokouji asked.
"What?" Rom's mouth opened slightly, with a bit of surprise in his eyes. "You already know?"
"In any case, I will investigate everyone who joins our camp." Ayanokouji said calmly, "I already knew your true identity. In the kingdom's civil war, you were the leader of the Demi-Human coalition."
❀❀❀
"Oh my! I'm actually... a descendant of the royal family?!"
Felt looked at the sky, her eyes full of shock, then turned to look at Rom.
"Rom, were you actually a famous person before?!"
"I... was very powerful before." Rom shrugged helplessly.
"But Rom... Why did my father leave me?"
Felt was full of doubt.
"Sorry, Felt, I can't tell you..." Rom shook his head. Although Felt was only his adopted daughter, he actually considered her his own child.