It has been 3 days since the crown prince's last visit. During those days of tranquility, I gathered intel as much as I can regarding the unlucky lady that the crown prince fancied without being inconspicious.
From what I have gathered from my somewhat reliable sources—the servants—it seemed like there was another young lady from a high-ranking house that had been appointed as the crown prince's playmate aside from me.
There's a high possibility that it's that girl... A grin filled with malice appeared on my face. Now, I just need to know who she is!
A frown formed on my lips. Haa...if I had use our information guild to look into it, I would probably have all of the information I needed within a few hours. Unfortunately, I could not do that without a few interferences...
I let out a sigh. As much as I am tempted to do it, I could not risk being interrogated by my father. It would be too exhausting to think of a valid excuse that guaranteed no further probing.
If I had done it, Father would probably never let me use the guild unless I tell him what I am planning to do with the information I will obtain, or the guild would probably report all of it to Father without leaving anything.
Either of those two would lead me to spill everything to Father which might cause unnecessary misunderstandings, all the more so since he still believed that I am head over heels for that damn prince. If word gets out that I'm still head over heels for him, that bastard's ego would inflate and would probably mock me and rub it on my face as much as possible. Yep. I must absolutely not let that fucking happen.
"Good morning, miss."
"What the fuck—" I jumped out of my seat as I sent a glare to the perpetrator. "Sia, since when have you been standing there?!" I exclaimed, patting my chest to calm down my erratic heart. She tilted her head a little to the side and glanced upwards before flashing me a small smile. "Probably a little while now."
"What? You should have called me! I almost had a heart attack thanks to a certain someone." I rolled my eyes heavenwards. A light laugh escaped her lips. "I did a couple of times already, miss, but you were too immersed in your thoughts to hear me."
"Ah, sorry, I've been thinking about a lot of things. Anyway, what brings you here?" She brought out a document and handed it over to me. "Everything that you wanted to know is written here, miss."
My eyes shot up as I accepted the document and opened it. A list of the servants' names and their information greeted me as I skimmed through it. "That was fast. Did you do this with extra precaution?"
"Please be at ease, miss. I did it without letting a single soul know." I nodded my head and smiled in gratitude. "Thank you, Sia. But aren't you curious as to the reason why I asked you to do this?"
She closed her eyes and let out a warm smile. "It would be a lie if I said I am not curious, but if you don't want me to know, then I won't probe any further. I trust you, miss, and I know you won't do something without a reason."
Warmth filled my heart as I beamed brightly at her, eyes forming crescent moons. "Thank you, Sia. I'll tell you all of it once I finally make sure of everything."
"Then, I'll wait with patience, miss."
We smiled at each other for a while before clapping my hands to get back to work. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Did you find any suspicious individuals among them?"
"There was some individuals who were doing something unusual, but not enough to garner suspicion." I nodded, carefully reading the information entailed in the document. Hmm...am I being too cautious? Perhaps, there really aren't any? Or...are they just really good at their jobs?
My lips formed a thin line. It would be really troublesome if it's the latter. I guess I'll have to dig deeper.
"Ah, right," Celsia blurted out in a sudden, causing me to glance back at her while cocking an eyebrow. "About Sir Mades, I asked around the area and it seemed like he was the son of a baron."
My eyebrows rose. A Baron? "Are you sure? Is that information to be trusted?" She nodded firmly. "Yes. I even had it confirmed, miss."
"I see. Thank you, Sia." I gave her a smile which she returned back. I fell deep into my thoughts again. I still couldn't wrapped my head around the fact that he's really just the son of a baron.
Ever since I laid my eyes on him, all of my senses heightened, just like one would do when encountering something hazardous. Every time I spend some time together with him, I always felt a sense of tranquility and comfort although I still remained wary of him. There was that time too. Ugh...am I reading too much into it?
"Sia, do you perhaps have any recollection of what Sir Mades talked about before?"
"The one where you appointed him as your personal knight?" I nodded. She placed a finger under her chin as her brows furrowed. "I don't really recall you going to the training grounds before, though I can't really say for sure since you like to sneak out most of the time, miss."
So, there's a possibility that I really did meet him before, huh? Damn it. Why can't I remember anything?!
For some reason, Amarizi's memories only amount from when she was seven years old up to the day I took over her body. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything prior to my seventh birthday. Should I ask Ageon about it again?
Ah, right! Speaking of Ageon... "Sia, I don't see Sir Mades these past few days. Do you know where he might be?"
"Hmm? He's currently attending the compulsory 3-day training camp. Didn't he inform you about it, miss?" Oh? Is it time for the 3-day training camp already?
"No—ah, right! He did inform me. It must have slipped my mind. Since 3 days has already passed, he should be returning today, right?"
Celsia was about to speak up when a sudden knock interrupted her. I glanced to the door and spoke. "Come in."
A mass of neat black hair came into view as his amethyst eyes stared directly at my eyes. "Greetings, my lady." Ah, speak of the devil.
"Sir Mades, it seems like the 3-day training camp finally ended."
"Yes, my lady. His grace told me to come escort you to the parlor for your assessment as soon as I got out of the training camp." I jolted up from my seat. Shit. I forgot today is the d-day!
I turned on my heel and walked towards the double doors, but before I could completely get out of the room, I glanced back to the two of them and smiled. "Let's go. We can't keep our guests waiting."
I turned around and started walking towards the parlor, Ageon and Celsia trailing behind me as usual. Not long after, we arrived outside the parlor. I knocked softly on the door before Ageon opened the doors wide. Both of my parents were present in the room along with 2 unfamiliar faces who I presumed as the temple priests.
I went towards them and greeted them with a curtsy. "Greetings to the faithful servants of gods. May the gods' blessings be upon us." The two of them returned my greeting with smiles on their faces. "Greetings to the young miss. May the gods' blessings be upon us."
I glanced at my parents before glancing back at them. "Should we start now?"
"If the young miss says so, then we shall commence it right away." The priest opened the box case beside him and took out a huge goblet filled with clear sparkling water. He placed it on top of the table as the other priest urged me to stand near the goblet.
"Please place both of your hands inside the goblet, young miss."
Following the priest's order, I placed both of my hands inside the goblet and completely submerged it into the sparkling water. After a few moments, the clear sparkling water turned to purple. The priests let out a smile. "Seems like the young miss has a strong affinity to reinforcement magic. You can pull your hands out of the goblet now."
Reinforcement magic? Not bad, I guess. I was about to pull my hands out of the now purple water when it suddenly changed back to its original color—no, it turned even more sparkly and clear.
My eyes went wide when the clear sparkling water rapidly rose in height and overflowed. The water kept overflowing, showing no signs of stopping.
I hurriedly glanced at the two priests, only to see them staring at the goblet in astonishment. Seeing no actions from them, I pulled my hand out of the goblet. As soon as I did so, the volume and color of the water turned back to its normal state. I let out a sigh in relief.
"Oh, by the gods!" The priest beside me suddenly exclaimed, turning towards me with amazement in his eyes before glancing at my parents. "Congratulations, your graces! This is the first time I've seen an individual to possess such pure and enormous amount of divine power!"
My parents' eyes widened as my mother placed a hand over her mouth. Ageon and Celsia also had a look of surprise in their faces. I watched them fuss over it, a small smile blooming on my lips.
I guess Aprodite kept her promise.