MAGIC THUMB, HEART THUMPED

Elennora could feel his body getting tenser as he heard how the man was screaming with all his might. Not long after, other people in the area started screaming in panic as well.

People were screaming about how the King had the heart to poison his own people, and some people even started to cry and wail, as if they were disappointed in their King.

The situation became chaotic, and Elennora almost stepped forward to try to control it before his hand was pulled by the brown-haired Crown Prince. Unknowingly, Elennora had been dragged away by the Crown Prince from the chaotic site.

"Hey! Why are you pulling me like this? My people are scared and blame the King now! I have to comfort them and make sure that it's just a misunderstanding!"

Elennora tried to break free from that grip, but Crown Prince Levan only tightened his grip with no intention of letting go.

The Crown Prince's expression was grim and cold, and without saying anything, he continued to drag the Crown Princess somewhere less chaotic.

He only stopped when they arrived at a relatively deserted area. Just then, he finally let go of the Crown Princess's hand.

"Why did you pull me away like that? Don't you know that I have to take on the responsibility of being the Crown Princess of this kingdom?" Elennora immediately snapped at the taller man.

His brown eyes flashed into golden eyes, but the owner of those golden eyes did not falter.

"What would you do if I didn't drag you away from the scene?" Levan boldly challenged the Crown Princess.

Crown Princess Elennora didn't seem convinced, but after pondering for a moment, he replied, "I know that the King wouldn't do anything to harm his subjects, so I would tell them that it's not what it looked like. The royal family of Grinia will never try to hurt our people!"

Elennora answered earnestly, but Crown Prince Levan sneered at him, "That's all? Do you think you will be able to appease your people by saying that in this situation?"

"..." The pink-haired Crown Princess looked dumbfounded at the Crown Prince's question.

He had learned many lessons with the royal tutor so that he could become a good ruler of Grinia in the future, but when a situation like this happened, he had to use his own ideas to control it.

Because of that, Crown Princess Elennora thought that it was best to immediately clear up the misunderstandings that were going on around his people.

He didn't expect that Crown Prince Levan would underestimate his idea.

"Listen to me, Your Highness," the Crown Prince spoke again. "Your people are blaming your father now, so if you suddenly appeared in front of them when they were emotionally unstable, what do you think they would do to you?"

Hearing Levan's question, Elennora fell silent. Indeed, people were angry because of the food poisoning incident earlier. They didn't seem to be able to think straight, and they only knew to blame the person who sent them the food.

"It was just a provocation," Crown Prince Levan spoke again when he received no response from the Crown Princess. "Only one person had a stomach ache after 'eating' the food sent by your father, and then another person came to check it out before shouting that it was food poisoning. No doubt, it was just a few people doing a stage show."

Crown Princess Elennora looked at Crown Prince Levan in disbelief. He panicked earlier, so he couldn't analyze the situation with a cool mind.

The Crown Prince emphasized the word 'eating,' so Elennora assumed that the Crown Prince wanted to say that the person didn't even eat the food sent by the King before acting like he was in pain.

In a situation like this, people were easily provoked by loud noises that suddenly appeared. When someone screamed, people would panic and couldn't use their rationality. Elennora just realized that he would make a mistake if he decided to appear in front of his people to clear the misunderstanding. He wouldn't be able to do that because his people were still under the influence of the provocation.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Levan sighed as he leaned his back against the wall behind him. "There are palace guards in this area, and I believe they will handle the situation. They will bring the accusers to the palace, and the palace will carry out further investigations into it. You need not worry, Your Highness."

Elennora didn't say anything after Levan finished speaking. But, not long after, he could hear hurried footsteps coming from behind him. Turning his head, he could see a large group of palace guards running towards the chaos. The Crown Prince was right, and he finally managed to heave a sigh of relief.

Seeing how the Crown Princess had finally relaxed again, Crown Prince Levan smiled before extending his hand and grabbing the Crown Princess's hand. The owner of the hand flinched slightly, but he let the Crown Prince touch his hand.

"I forcefully pulled your hand earlier, and your hand seems to have hurt because of me. I'm sorry, Your Highness," Levan spoke while stroking the Crown Princess's wrist.

There was a light bruise on his wrist, and he used his thumb to caress the bruise as if his thumb could do magic to heal the wound.

However, Crown Princess Elennora didn't even feel the pain in his wound. Instead, he felt his heart thumping as the Crown Prince's thumb gently rubbed his wrist. Perhaps the thumb could indeed do magic for the Crown Princess.

Elennora had never felt like this before, and he could only stare at the Crown Prince who was still busy tending to his bruise. Crown Prince Levan was reliable and gentle indeed, and Elennora knew that he owed the Crown Prince a debt.

"Thank you for your guidance today, Your Highness," at the very least, Elennora felt the need to show his gratitude to the Crown Prince.