"Hey, cheer up, Zoemi. We got you out of there, didn't we?

"

Horeo smiled and tilted his head looking at the devilishly handsome black-haired attendant seating by the carriage's window, staring at the sights they passed on their way to the capital.

"Why wasn't I sent back with lady Miriette to the Espines' castle? I am her attendant and the accusations against me are too ridiculous to be taken seriously.

"

Zoemi shrugged his shoulders and answered with a grim expression.

There were four people inside the royal carriage available only for the members of the royal family.

The gold-haired first prince.

The short brown-haired girl in a maid's uniform, who had her hands slumped down limply alongside her body.

The skinny brown-haired girl in a maid's uniform, who looked slightly younger than the other passengers.

And the black-haired boy who was on the verge of blowing up from all the pent-up anger.

"We are doing that because the annoying hag who unfortunately happened to give birth to me is actively trying to make you annoyed enough for you to do something stupid so that all the charges against you would seem more believable.

"

The gold-haired prince sighed and pointed out.

"Well, that is awfully close to being accomplished, that's for sure.

"

"Big brother…! Please, calm down…!

"

Zoemi scoffed angrily, gritting his teeth – which made Patishi cry out with a pitiful expression and jump over to the black-haired boy's seat to grab his hand.

"Patishi, you are a good girl but you are missing something important – I am calm right now. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here anymore.

"

Zoemi sighed and raised his free hand to pat the younger girl's head while explaining, stunning others – except Horeo – with his words.

"…did you cast muffle so the coachman wouldn't hear us…?

"

The first prince asked, meaningfully glancing over the black-haired attendant's shoulder.

"Yes, I did.

"

Zoemi nodded, breathing out and leaning back into his seat while continuing to pat Patishi's head which seemed to be easing his worries a lot.

"Good. Veo, are you still feeling sick?

"

"…y-yes… I'm sorry for being a bother, my… p-PRINCE?!

"

Having received a confirmation, the first prince relaxed and also leaned back in his seat while asking Veo, who nodded timidly…

…and gasped in disbelief when Horeo guided her to lay down and put her head on his lap, where he started gently stroking her hair.

"Now then – did you actually kill Xeonith?

"

"!!!!

"

"!!!

"

With the comfort of his attendants out of the way, the gold-haired boy looked up at the indifferent Zoemi and straight-up asked an extremely dangerous question – which caused both Patishi and Veo to tens up in disbelief.

"I didn't deliver the final blow, and even the hit before that wasn't my doing – but I definitely took a part in wiping that perverted piece of filth from the face of the earth.

"

"!!!!

"

"!!!!

"

What made the two girls even more shocked, was Zoemi's lighthearted answer.

"But besides my unfortunate presence there, there should be no evidence pointing to my involvement – which made it incredibly annoying. Those idiots clearly just want to make me a scapegoat for appeasing the head of the Derizno family, but more than half of their fabrications are actually true. That's ridiculously annoying.

"

The black-haired boy shook his head in annoyance and added, looking straight into the prince's eyes.

"Then, the things that the commoner girl accused that overconfident weakling was true?

"

Horeo nodded his head calmly and asked, not doubting his friend for even a single second.

"Of course they were – I found her behind a fake wall made of the earth magick, barely alive and embedded into the real wall… If you are asking me that it seems like none of the reports were passed on…

"

Zoemi nodded and breathed out again before taking back his hand from Patishi's head.

"You go to your prince too, little sister.

"

"N-no…! I wasn't jealous…!

"

The black-haired boy smirked and gently pushed the shocked and embarrassed girl back to the other seat so that she also could lean against the gold-haired prince.

"My, my – someone is getting really needy~

"

"M-my prince, i-it's not like that – I really…!

"

Horeo laughed, wrapping his arm around the blushing younger girl's shoulder and resting his chin on her head.

"It's okay. Your big brother likes strong-willed and stubborn people while I have a weak spot for the needy ones.

"

"!!!!

"

"!!!!

"

The gold-haired prince explained calmly, but it was clear from the bright red blushing faces of both girls that his words had the opposite effect on them.

"And moving back to the main point – I made sure to take a look at every single report submitted by the Academy, and the commoner girl's case was only briefly mentioned as wild accusation that held no water. But I definitely noticed that every single one was compiled without the input from teacher Perserios – who is known for being impartial and trustworthy – which means that someone neatly erased everything she tried to submit.

"

Horeo looked back at the black-haired boy and explained.

"And was there a mention about a member of the Ghosts of Bellcephora showing up in the Academy?

"

Zoemi smiled at the well-hidden compliment towards the woman who was doing her best in conquering his father's heart, but his expression turned serious as he pointed out the extremely serious situation.

"There was a rather lengthy exert suggesting that you have some mental illness, yes.

"

The gold-haired prince smirked mockingly and nodded.

"But I was also present in the same room as my father when he saw that report – and his reaction was completely different than what whoever wrote the report wanted. While we're talking about the reactions of my father – he also seemed extremely bothered by the disappearance of the headmaster… He expects those two matters to be connected.

"

The gold-haired prince added and his expression became serious again.

"…yeah – I figured out the same thing – I actually thought that the Ghosts might have used Xeonith to lure her out of, but that didn't seem to be the case… Considering how afraid of them she was, I suspect that there was no one else who could openly threaten her, at least not in our kingdom.

"

"Her, she…? Are you saying that lord Vereq is like my Patishi…?

"

Zoemi agreed with the king's suspicion but forgot that Horeo wasn't yet aware of the real identity of the headmaster of the Aspakeony Academy, and ended up getting confused.

"No. Completely different, but you will learn everything on your own when you will become the king.

"

The black-haired boy smirked at his friend, making him raise his brow in suspicion.

"…my prince… sir Zoemi… I think that we are almost at the royal castle…

"

Their conversation was interrupted by very timid Veo pointing out at the window behind which a very familiar sight of the kingdom's capital was passing by.

"You're right, thanks, Veo.

"

Zoemi glanced at the window and then nodded at the older girl who was hurriedly getting up from the prince's lap before their carriage passed through the inner gate.

"And the muffle is off.

"

Zoemi declared and Horeo nodded with a calm expression.

"My prince – do you think that this whole summon would end up in me trading the Academy's dungeon for the royal castle's dungeon?

"

The black-haired boy smirked nastily, actually completely sure that it will really be the case.

"I expect a certain person to try and do that… but that certainly wasn't in the order I received from my father, so… we will comply with the will of the king.

"

"…?

"

"…?

"

The gold-haired boy responded with an equally malicious smile, making the two girls by his side look at both of them in confusion, right as the carriage stopped.