Although Mita was a prince, in this room, he was in a position of absolute weakness.
Marquis of Sernan stroked his chin and said, “Your Highness, do you intend to cast off my daughter after toying with her? You have clearly had intimate contact, and she even surrendered her purity to you.”
“We did not do anything!” Mita was on the verge of a breakdown, adding, “Besides, my injuries have not even healed yet. I am still a patient!”
“Yet you spent the entire afternoon alone together in a bedroom,” Marquis of Sernan said with a face as dark as water. “Your fiancée flew into a rage over this and nearly killed my daughter. And you are telling me that you are innocent?”
Cynthia timely rose to her feet and bowed to the Marquis. “Lord Marquis, I offer you my apologies. Because of a momentary impulse, I actually injured Fiona. This is my fault. Please forgive me.”
Marquis of Sernan did not look favorably upon Cynthia, but since he desperately needed Cynthia to take the initiative so that he could continue pressuring Mita into finalizing the engagement, he said lukewarmly, “It was an accident, young people.”
“Although the friend I brought along provided medical treatment for Fiona, the situation at the time was too urgent, so a proper examination was likely not performed,” Cynthia said, her words heavy with suggestion. “I suggest you have the healer you brought along conduct another examination. After all, if Fiona is already carrying royal blood, we must proceed with the utmost caution.”
Mita looked at his fiancée in sheer disbelief. “What royal blood? I told you I never even touched her!”
Although Marquis of Sernan’s political career had been stagnant, he was a smart man. The healer he brought along quickly diagnosed that Miss Fiona, who was not yet married, was pregnant.
No matter how foolish Mita was, he understood by now that everyone was teaming up to frame him. He did not deign to argue with these scheming individuals, merely scoffing, “Do you think you can force me to submit to your conspiracy with this? Give it up. I will request the Royal Healer Corps.” At this point, he glanced at Antcana, then changed his phrasing. “No, I will ask my father the King to witness this personally and re-examine Fiona’s physical condition.”
“And then your father the King will know what kind of disgraceful things you have done,” Antcana burst out laughing. “This scene is too wonderful. You must make sure to notify me so I can come watch you get scolded.”
Carlo looked at her with considerable disapproval and said helplessly, “Antcana, that is enough.”
Spare Mita some dignity; after all, the man was the crown prince.
Fortunately, the others were not quite as ruthless to Mita’s face. Led by Count of Sernan, everyone expressed respect for His Highness Mita’s choice, while also declaring that they would never change their own stances because of this, and then everyone was swept out the door together, along with Carlo, who had not helped at all after arriving.
As soon as he stepped outside, Count of Sernan’s expression changed. He cast a malicious, up-and-down glance at Cynthia, let out a cold snort, and opened his mouth as if about to deliver some harsh remarks.
Cynthia allowed him to look her over. Judging by Fiona’s behavior, Count of Sernan was clearly not a gentle or well-mannered person, and she had never intended to befriend such a man in the first place. That she had been willing to speak nicely to him today was purely to use this family to undermine Mita’s influence among the nobility.
Now that her objective had been achieved, she had no need to stand around listening to this kind of person lecture her.
Cynthia merely nodded slightly to Marquis of Sernan, then grabbed Lilica by one hand and hauled Carlo along with the other, turning on her heel to leave.
Marquis of Sernan, whose grand exit had been abruptly cut short, thought to himself that he had not even finished speaking yet.
“I wish you a speedy fulfillment of your wish, Marquis.” Antcana blinked at him, then took a couple of light jogs to catch up with Cynthia.
Marquis of Sernan struck the ground angrily with his cane. “Disrespectful, unfilial scoundrels!”
Fiona was still immersed in the fantasy of becoming the crown princess immediately, a foolish smile plastered across her face.
The more Marquis of Sernan looked at her like this, the angrier he became. He raised his hand and slapped her across the face. “Good-for-nothing wretch! You still expect me to clean up the mess for you!”
Fiona was jolted back to reality by her father’s blow. She clutched her cheek, not daring to utter a single word.
Marquis of Sernan boarded the carriage. Fiona followed after him, though with tear-filled eyes, she paused just long enough to kick a servant to the ground before climbing inside herself.
Cynthia had brought Carlo and Lilica along because she originally wanted to use this opportunity to play matchmaker and get the two of them engaged and married as soon as possible.
After all, in her mind, Lilica might already be an expectant mother.
However, Antcana quickly caught up with them and unleashed a powerful verbal assault right in front of Carlo and Lilica.
Cynthia was cursed from head to toe.
Although she and Mita were close relatives, Cynthia had relied entirely on her own hard work within the Royal Healer Corps since childhood, eventually securing the position of third heir, a status female royal members traditionally could not attain, through actual combat achievements. Antcana’s scolding prowess was so formidable that even Lilica stood quietly by, listening to her curse without daring to put in a single word.
Once she finished venting, Antakana calmed down slightly. She crossed her arms, still holding Cynthia’s staff in her hand. “Cynthia, no matter what, you owe me an explanation.”
“Because I have seen through Mita’s true nature,” Cynthia replied without missing a beat, having prepared for this long in advance. “He would sacrifice me for the reputation of the Holy Maiden. This shows that in his heart, he and I are not a single entity. He never regarded me as a wife who should share honor and disgrace with him.”
“Lies,” Antcana said without a moment’s hesitation. “I would rather believe that you simply could not endure Mita’s emotional promiscuity, and that still does not explain why you beat Fiona nearly to death. Do not try to cover it up; I can tell.”
Cynthia hesitated for a moment. Everyone present was a trusted confidant, but could they really believe something as bizarre as having lived through a lifetime before?
Lilica silently gripped her hand, unable to help saying, “Sister Cynthia, if you do not want to talk about it, you do not have to.”
“Carlo, take her away,” Antakana instructed. “Today I must find out what is going on. There has been far too much abnormal behavior from Cynthia lately.”
Lilica glared at Carlo with a silent threat.
However, Carlo was standing on Antcana’s side this time. He said, “Lilica, you owe me two favors.”
Lilica left Cynthia’s side with visible reluctance, secretly flashing Carlo a very vulgar hand gesture behind her back.
Antcana saw it, but she said nothing. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on her friend, saying sincerely, “Cynthia, I know you still trust me, otherwise you would not have handed your staff to me. I am also willing to stand behind you as your most steadfast backing. Therefore, I do not want anything to become a rift between us, and especially not for you to distance yourself from your friends because of people like Mita and Fiona.”
“I do not want to keep secrets from you, but some things sound simply too bizarre,” Cynthia said, keeping her head down. “I am afraid that you will not believe me, or that you will think I have gone mad.”
“You have to say it first before you can know whether we believe it or not,” Antcana softened her tone. “If you need to, we can find a place to sit down and talk about it slowly.”
Cynthia, however, shook her head. “Anna, I will tell you, but now is simply not the right time.”
“Then when will it be the right time?” Antcana exerted nearly all her patience to converse with Cynthia, trying hard to keep her voice from turning explosive. “Are you going to wait until the Demon Realm army marches right up to Gauss before you are willing to speak?”
“Until I can find evidence to prove that what I am saying is entirely credible.” Cynthia did not intend to keep hiding things from her friends forever. “I admit that some things have happened recently that you do not know about yet, but I will definitely tell you everything eventually.”
“Then why did you choose that idiot Fiona today?”
“Because she is the biggest idiot. Fine, I will tell the truth. Because she hit me before.”
Lilica’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment. Someone actually dared to hit Sister Cynthia?
Carlo pinned Lilica in place with a look and muttered, “Calm down, Cynthia already beat her back twofold.”
“That still does not make it forgivable!”
Antcana signaled for the other two to remain quiet, then cast a side-long glance at Cynthia. “You expect me to believe that? Fiona? Hit you?”
“I swear on my life that this is the absolute truth,” Cynthia raised a palm toward the sky. “If Fiona has never hit me before, the gods may punish me.”
Carlo gave a dry cough and whispered, “I can vouch for that. Fiona did lay a hand on her.” Though she was immediately laid flat by a single punch from Cynthia.
Lilica turned her head to glare furiously at Carlo. You just stood by and watched Sister Cynthia get bullied?
Carlo defended himself, saying, “I can hardly go around beating women.”
Lilica’s gaze was unwavering. “It is fine. From now on, I will protect Sister Cynthia well.”
Carlo was left speechless, realizing he absolutely could not let Lilica remain this idle, or else she would sooner or later cause a murder at the academy. First thing tomorrow morning, he would have to ask the professors if they needed any practical combat teaching assistants. If they did not need any, he would ask if they minded having an extra assistant. Well, if all else failed, arranging for her to guard the school gates would work too!
Antcana cross-examined her for a while longer, but Cynthia proved completely impervious to both soft and hard tactics. Aside from reiterating time and again that her sole purpose right now was to dissolve the engagement, she revealed nothing useful.
Even regarding the Holy Maiden Betty, the answers she provided were flawless, standard official responses.
Seeing that night was growing deeper and none of them had eaten dinner yet, Lilica eagerly invited them to her dorm to grab a bite to eat before heading back.
Carlo clearly had no intention of agreeing, and Antcana refused as well.
Lilica looked at Cynthia with a pitiful, puppy-dog expression.
Cynthia’s refusal was already right on the tip of her tongue, but she simply could not bring herself to say it.
Antcana also advised, “Anyway, your family estate is so far away that you will not see anyone even if you go home. If you ask me, you might as well just apply for a dorm room here at the academy.”
Hearing this, Lilica nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! Sister Cynthia can just stay in my room tonight.”
Cynthia joked, “Why stay at the academy? Is it so you can have your homework tutored at any time of day or night?”
Lilica struggled with her words. “If you sleep in the same room as me, that would not be out of the question either.”