The smile that makes your blood run cold

"..."

Charlotte put down her cup of tea and discreetly gazed after Zorivia, who had entered her room's bathroom.

"..."

Then she glanced at the member of the royal guard standing guard right next to the door to her room and discretely gulped down her saliva before taking a deep breath.

She had to prepare herself mentally to speak to the only other person left—the black-haired young man standing behind the chair that Zorivia had momentarily left.

"...everything seems good and all, but... what are you going to do about young lady Rotteloss's examination tomorrow?"

Charlotte bit her lips and decided to take a plunge. She raised her head to look at the serious-faced man.

"There will be no problem, Your Highness. Please do not bother yourself with such trivialities."

"...!"

Medea bowed deeply and responded calmly to the girl, who flinched at the sight of the sudden movement.

"Wh-what are you talking about?! They will be checking whether her hymen is intact or not! There will be an official virginity inspection by bishop Valentine and five other witnesses! They have been checking her since the plans of the engagement of the young lady Zorivia and the crown prince Noah were first conceived! They will know that something is amiss, no?"

Charlotte fidgetted and leaned forward, lowering her voice to a conspicuous whisper.

"You are not going to tell me that you keep your hands or that snake tongue of yours to yourself around her...!"

"Hmm... I believe we have a misunderstanding on our hands, Your Highness..."

The teenage girl nervously glanced back at the door before leaning even closer towards the black-haired man and whispered urgently, but he merely used his tongue to flick away an irritating eyelash from the corner of his eye and leaned back with a bright expression.

"...misunderstanding...?"

Charlotte furrowed her brows and also leaned back with a slightly red face.

"Nowadays, there are not five witnesses left but four. Young lady Rotteloss's maid, Mary, who hanged herself leaving the troublesome letter, was one of the witnesses each time. Moreover, the original witnesses might even be down to three as, besides Mary, old lord Byrona lost the position of importance and can no longer be considered viable for such an important duty. As for the other three, the timing isn't very good for them either, so that leaves only bishop Valentine – but he doesn't seem keen on going anywhere without his two personal guards, whose presence would be inexcusable during the process. There won't be any inspection nor examination unless someone else steps in his place."

"..."

Medea closed his eyes for a second, taking a short but deep breath before going out of his way and explaining the situation... which made Charlotte furrow her brows as if she had found something amiss.

"...lord Byrona... wasn't he a Count who ruled the land close to Battllorran's border in the south... I believe he owned the valley at the feet of the ancient dam..."

The girl picked one of the details and addressed it, fidgeting nervously as she prodded the subject. Her face lost its color while the cogs in her brain began to spin.

"That is correct, Your Highness. I marvel at your vast knowledge about even the most insignificant amongst the aristocracy within your kingdom."

Medea bowed his head and complimented the girl in the first princess's position, but she wasn't happy about the praise.

"...I have been told that it was the land that went back underwater after a Captain of the forty-second company of the Wondalanor's army ordered the dam to be blown up to stop the advance of the Battllorran kingdom's third field army's first corps... which completely ruined Count Byrona and caused all of his financial distress and threw the balance of power of the southern nobles on its head..."

"It's as Your Highness said."

Charlotte broke into a cold sweat and pointed out while lowering her head. She looked at Medea with a nervous gaze, and he nodded, one corner of his lips going up as he answered.

"...Medea... You were the captain of the forty-second company who gave that order...!"

Charlotte backed herself into the comfortable chair, but with Medea smiling at her from across the fashionable table, she felt as if she was chained to a torture device instead.

"Yes. What an amusing -coincidence- isn't it, Your Highness?"

"...y...yes..."

The black-haired man smiled straight into the scared girl's face and asked calmly, making her tremble as if she broke into a high fever.

"Princess Charlotte? Is everything okay?"

"!!!"

The poor teenager was saved by Zorivia's return and her worried call seeing the other girl's state.

Her return was trully a blessing for Charlotte, she already suspected Medea of being involved with the maid's so-called suicide so it spared her from the responsibility of confimring with Medea whether he was the reason the bishop requires constant protection or not on top of it.