Report and Announcement.

The situation is starting to calm down and also the atmosphere is starting to subside. In the Emperor's room, several people were sitting facing each other, with a Knight standing behind the wooden sofa the Emperor was sitting on.

"Is Prince Zavei feeling better?"

The Emperor's voice entered the ears of the two siblings sitting opposite him. The eyes of the girl who was comforting her brother glanced at the face of the Emperor who was watching her.

"My Brother has calmed down, Your Highness."

The girl's reply made Carlex smile, his gaze turned to Zavei who was still wiping away his tears.

"Then may I ask Princess Elie to stay here for a while?"

Hearing this made Elie confused, as well as Zavei who had just calmed down his tears.

Elie's amber eyes glanced at Zavei's face who was looking at Carlex. But the grown man only showed his signature smile.

"All right, Your Highness," Elie replied with a nod.

Zavei turned to Elie who was sitting beside him, while that girl just smiled and patted her brother's shoulder.

"You can wait in my room, I won't be long."

Zavei nodded in understanding, he took his robe which was folded on the table in front of him.

"Thanks for having me, Your Highness." He bent his body.

Carlex nodded slightly. "Thank you for visiting, Prince Zavei."

After getting a reply, Zavei walked behind the sofa he was sitting on earlier. The boy's body passed through the door of Carlex's room and caught everyone's attention in it.

"What happened before, Your Highness?" Elie asked without taking her eyes off the closed door.

While Carlex who sat across from her was confused by that girl's question.

"What do you mean, Elie?"

Elie turned her head, looking into the Emperor's red eyes.

"I don't want to bring it up because my Brother was there, but I want to know why he is crying like that."

Hearing this made Carlex's eyes glimpse the face of a man who was reading a book in the library in his room.

Sensing that Carlex's gaze wasn't on her, Elie turned her head back, to where a tall man was leaning his back against a bookcase while focusing on reading the book in his hands.

"Prince Clovis?" Elie called.

But the man didn't give a response which made Carlex also nervous.

𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨? Carlex thought staring at his son's face.

Elie frowned, seeing no reply from Clovis.

"Why are you not answering?" She asked.

Meanwhile, he was busy turning the pages of the book he was reading.

Seeing Clovis' straight face made Elie confused because it was unusual for that man not to reply to her. The girl's amber eyes glanced at the face of a grown man who was looking at her nervously.

"Do you know why he is like that, Your Highness?" Elie whispered, leaning closer to Carlex.

As soon as he saw Elie approaching him, Carlex also leaned forward.

"He was like that after your Little Brother came, Elie," Carlex replied with a nod.

Elie pressed her lips together, then she realized that when she entered earlier she had seen a cracked wall and pieces of wall on the floor.

The girl's eyes widened, then turned back to Carlex who was confused to see the girl in front of him.

"Was the cracked wall his doing too, Your Highness?" She asks.

Carlex nodded slightly, then sighed roughly. "Maybe he can't control his anger, he's always been like that."

𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. Elie thought.

Seeing Elie's worried look made Carlex smile.

"Why don't you go over to him?" Asked Carlex with a smiling face.

Elie raised her head, looking into Carlex's red eyes that were the same as Clovis's.

"Can I?"

Carlex chuckled softly. "Nothing is stopping you."

His glances headed towards Clovis who was stealing glances at them.

"It looks like he's waiting for you after all."

Elie smiled faintly. "All right, Your Highness."

Seeing Elie's body turn away from him, Carlex caught Clovis who was looking at Elie. At the same time, Carlex raised his thumb, pointing it at Clovis.

The tall man realized that his father was giving him a thumbs up, but he paid no attention to it.

Carlex chuckled in annoyance, "Look at that ridiculous look, I don't know whose behavior he is imitating."

"My Lord."

Carlex, who was watching the two idiots in his room, suddenly became silent when he heard someone calling him from behind.

His bloodshot eyes lit up, who knows what he will get this time?

"You brought it, Evgont?" Carlex asked glancing at his personal Knight.

Evgont nodded, and he moved to the side of Carlex's sofa. Kneeling at the side with his hand held out a roll of paper in front of Carlex.

Staring long enough at the scroll of paper with black ribbons in his sights, Carlex took it with a searching gaze.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘺. Carlex thought.

"Who sent it this time, Evgont?" Carlex asked without turning his head.

Evgont lowered his face. "I received it from someone named Yehur, My Lord."

Carlex's brows furrowed after hearing who Evgont had received his letter from.

"Is he wearing a symbol on the arm or something suspicious?"

Remembering at a glance, Evgont nodded. "I saw the symbol hidden under his cloak, my lord."

Carlex's fingers tightened on the roll of paper in his hand, his face was flat, but Evgont realized that his Emperor was holding back his anger.

"Tell the guards that I'm giving them a yellow alert."

Startled to hear this, Evgont looked up. "Are you sure, My Lord?"

Carlex looked at Evgont's face that was kneeling beside him.

"Do I need to joke this time? Hurry up!" Carlex's command.

Hearing a loud voice from where Carlex was, Elie and Clovis who were talking turned their heads together to Carlex.

Clovis frowned, seeing his father's face that seemed to harbor anger. What's more, the veins on his face popped out when that man was holding back his anger.

"What happened?" Elie asked with a worried look at Carlex.

Still watching his father, Clovis put the book he was holding into the bookshelf which became his backrest.

"Looks like it's about time he received '𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'."

Elie was confused by what Clovis said.

"That?"

Clovis glanced down at Elie's face. "After receiving a letter from someone, Father usually would not be this angry, if it was not from them." He replied.

Clovis moved to take a step, but his wrist was grabbed by someone, who was none other than Elie.

"What exactly do you mean, Prince?"

Clovis stared at Elie's face, "Are you ready to know?"

Elie swallowed hard. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵? she thought.

Raising his face, looked into the red eyes of Clovis before her. Elie nodded confidently.

"I want to know."

Seeing the faith implied in Elie's eyes made him smile faintly.

"All right, you can hear it." Clovis clasped Elie's palm.

Meanwhile, Carlex kept his eyes on the scroll of paper in his hand intently. The black ribbon he had previously seen was completely different from what he was receiving now. His sense of smell was also aware of a pungent scent surrounding the roll of paper.

"What do they want after destroying mine?" He mumbled.

"Looks like the letter was from them, don't you think, Father?"

The voice that came from beside him startled Carlex who was struggling with his thoughts. Seeing Clovis holding Elie's hand, and Elie watching him worriedly, made him realize.

"Did I startle you guys?" Carlex asked while massaging his temples.

Elie gripped her hand tightly. "Does it have anything to do with the territorial issue or anything else, Your Highness?" She asks.

Seeing Elie's worried attitude made Carlex laugh instantly. "Are you still thinking about that?"

Elie gritted her teeth. "I want to help you with my ability, Your Highness."

Seeing the frustrated face of the girl beside him made Carlex smile.

"I just don't want to blow your mind, Elie."

Elie paused to see Carlex's smiling face, but her vision caught a hint of tiredness in Carlex's eyes. Meanwhile, Clovis who stood between them just stared at the two of them in turn.

"Don't be hard on yourself, I will help you, Father."

Elie flinched when she felt Clovis' fingers tighten in her grip.

Touched to hear his son speak like that, Carlex got up from his seat. The two people next to him flinched, then were confused when they saw Carlex running towards his desk.

"What is Your Highness doing?" Elie asked feeling strange.

Clovis shrugged. "Might want to do something."

𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠...

Elie leaned forward and saw what sound came from Carlex's place.

"Door?"

"More like dungeons."

Elie widened her eyes, she looked directly at the dungeon door in the Emperor's room.

And from where Carlex was, the man smiled brightly looking at the two people who were still standing in the same place.

"Why are you two still there? Come here."

Without waiting long, Clovis pulled Elie's hand that was still in his grasp. Walk towards Carlex's desk which is connected to the dungeon in the Empire.

"You two can go in first," Carlex said invitingly.

Following his father's words, Clovis walked ahead of Elie. The two of them descended the stairs that led down to the dungeon, followed by Carlex who had just closed the entrance on his desk.

"Is this the first time Elie has stepped into a place like this?" Carlex asked as he lit the torches that were on every rock boundary.

Taking a look around her, Elie returned a nod. "I have never entered a dungeon before, Your Highness." She replied.

Carlex watched the two backs walking in front of him, a feeling of calm surrounding him.

"Did Clovis tell you about the letter, Elie?"

Gasping to hear that, Elie gulped. "I only know that the letter given to you was from them, Your Highness."

He chuckled. "Yes, this letter is from them."

His bloodshot eyes glanced at the scroll of paper in his right hand.

"Do you know who they are I mean?"

Elie shook her head, "I don't know, Your Highness."

Carlex smiled slightly. "This letter should have been sent by a representative from the East Island."

Jolted by his father's words, Clovis returned to his flat face.

But Elie saw the man walking in front of her flinch, even if only for a moment. Then slowly Elie's steps slowed down, and she tried to match Carlex's steps behind her.

"And it seems the one you received wasn't from the East Island representative, is that correct, Your Highness?" She asked.

Carlex nodded with a smile. "If I had known that this letter was not sent by them, I would have received it directly without asking my Knight for help." He replied.

Elie listened carefully to every word Carlex said.

"Have you read the contents, Your Highness?" Elie asked subconsciously.

Carlex was surprised to hear Elie's question, to be honest, he wouldn't think Elie's question was a mistake.

Elie turned quickly to her side. "I'm sorry Your Highness, I didn't mean to say that."

Carlex chuckled softly. "It's okay, after all, the contents of this letter are the same as the previous ones?"

Elie glanced at Carlex's right hand and saw the scroll of letters that the tall man beside her held firmly.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳? Elie thought with a sharp look.

"Are you sure nothing is wrong, Your Highness?" She asked.

Carlex frowned. "What do you mean, Elie?"

Elie pointed her finger at the paper in Carlex's hand.

"Excuse my rudeness, but I see something poisonous is hidden in there."

Clovis' steps suddenly stopped, as did Elie and Carlex walking behind him.

"What's wrong, Clovis?" Carlex touched Clovis's shoulder.

Clovis turned his head slowly. "Looks like what Elie said was true."

"I've been smelling medicinal herbs."

Looking strangely into Clovis's two eyes, Carlex's gaze shifted to the scroll of paper in his hand. Carlex stared at the roll of paper in his hand, looking closely.

"What do you mean by-"

𝙎𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝...

Carlex and Clovis were shocked to see that the paper in Carlex's hand had been torn in two.

"Elie?" Carlex muttered while looking at his letter.

Clovis felt something strange after noticing that Elie's beads had turned amber-bluish.

"Elie?" This time it was Clovis who called out.

"Don't touch it, the liquid inside will numb the skin." Said Elie flatly.

The girl's hand dropped, pulling her sword away from Carlex. Now Carlex glanced at Elie's face, surprisingly he saw Elie's bead that had turned blue, but the blue that he saw was completely different, like a very deep sea.

"What's going on, Elie?" Carlex gripped the shoulder of the girl in front of him.

However, there was no clear response from Elie, who just pensively stared straight at the rocks behind Carlex.

"They are waiting." Elie's voice sounded like a whisper.

But the two men nearby heard it, until Clovis noticed strange movements coming from the passageway ahead.

𝐑𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬!!

"There." Elie pointed in the direction of the noise she meant.

Carlex turned to his right, sensing a threat by his dragon instinct.

"You feel it too, Clovis?"

Clovis nodded without turning his head. "We have to hide."

Carlex groaned. "We cannot return to the Empire, let alone withdraw now."

Clovis turned his head. "Then we shall face it."

Hearing this made Carlex stunned. "How about Elie?"

Clovis glanced at Elie's face. "Do you want to come along?" He asked.

The corner of Elie's lips lifted one. "I'm not refusing."