Chapter 19

The crowd brimming with the common folk, who had been silently watching the events play out, instantly burst into a loud discussion after Livia’s declaration. The mass of bodies moves as one as many strains on their tippy-toes to gape at her, and some people even shuffle forward to get a better look. The nobles were also in a state of disarray. Some stare in utter shock, while some lean towards one another their eyes not leaving Livia as they frantically whisper in each other's ears.

More guards march into the room as the king's voice booms out a commanding, “Silence!”

The Red hall of the castle quiets instantly as old blue eyes center on the single woman who stands before his throne.

It was a completely unexpected turn of events.

King Grail of Wisteria hides his surprise with practice ease under a mask of blandness. His expression does not waver even as it takes him a few seconds too long to process everything.

Lady Livia Katrina Valentine, the young aristocratic lady who he had once been engaged to the crown prince, and who had once been the oldest daughter of Duke Valentine, had returned after being exiled. The fact is, one does not usually come back from being exiled. It was not only a life sentence, but it should have been impossible for her to take even a single step into the border of Wisteria without the soldiers at the border being notified.

And yet, despite all of this, the disgraced woman was here and she made sure to make a right spectacle out of it.

There would be no denying her presence. There would be no sweeping the matter under the rug as they had done before in the past. This bold entrance could only be met with an equally bold response.

If he had been any other ruler, King Grail might have been tempted to gain control over the situation by dismissing the common folk and even the nobles. What desire would any ruler have in their being so many witnesses in the brewing storm Lady Livia no doubt intended to unleash? Though maybe that was giving these supposed imaginary leaders to much. All they would see was a potential nuisance that needed to be dragged away. They would give out the order, and it would be carried out swiftly without a moment of hesitation. They would not bother to wonder how she got into the country, or how she managed to pass the many guards that were stationed throughout the castle, how she has gotten so far without being stopped.

No. They would not have, indeed.

But King Grail did wonder about these things, and he moves further past this to ask the true needling question.

Just what did Lady Livia know to confront the Royal family so boldly?

What were her motives?

King Grail did have some inklings, but there is too much information that he is unaware of. Even after debriefing his son of that night long ago, the details had been too vague and he said she said.

And maybe that was the issue.

A young aristocratic maiden had been accused of a heinous crime based on the word of a single witness. No real evidence of her involvement in the poisoning of a baron's daughter had ever appeared in all the time that had passed. Not only that, but she had been declared guilty in a matter of minutes, and almost given the death penalty by the Crown Prince of Wisteria.

If it had not been for Lady Livia’s sister intervention, there would have been no salvation for his son. The people would have never forgiven him for being so ruthless and cold-blooded. They would have rebelled against his status and turned their backs on him. Instead, Lady Livia had been stripped of all her titles, her engagement had been broken, and she had been exiled into the Kingdom of Salvia in some rural village. Her world had been upended, and no doubt after all this time, the young maiden was still seething.

Even so, she could not go against the word of her kingdom, even if that word had been declared in a much unfair and unjust manner. She was breaking their law just by standing on the soil of Wisteria. The royal family would be well within its right to ignore anything she had to say, and could even return her to her exile without a moment notice.

Based on the Second Prince Orin tense shoulders and jaw, and the Crown Prince's stiff figure at the bottom of the steps, his sons no doubt were greatly bothered by the fact that their king has not done so. Instead, a heavy silence hangs over the hall as King Grail turns and sits down on his throne. His eyes are unreadable as he regards the kneeling figure of Miss Livia (No longer a Lady), his mind in deep thought.

He has no qualms about his prolonged silence, and how the commoners have started to squirm under it. His men stand at attention, waiting for his next order. They had lined the walls and blocked the exits in the meanwhile. The two soldiers that had been put to sleep have been revived and joined their ranks while the other intruder had been escorted forward to kneel a little further behind Livia’s form.

King Grail had never approved of what Crown Prince Rodale did to Miss Livia. In fact, he had been quite irate when the news had finally traveled to him, almost a week after she had been exiled. He saw instantly that what his son had done was a mistake. Though it was not illegal, it was in very poor taste to sentence a person in such quick order. He knew this fact would plunge the royal house into disarray, and that is exactly what happened.

He thought his son had acted brashly, and impulsively, and he had not been the only one.

The nobles all but cut ties with him completely, while his aristocratic allies shrunk in one night. The gossip spoke in the dark corner of the castle bashed the Crown Prince. They hated his blatant show of power. They thought it too gaudy and tyrannical, but more importantly, they were fearful of their own statuses being stripped away. They also did not take too kindly of a Duke daughter being put over a baron's daughter. They snidely spoke of the Crown Prince's state of mind, and how it had been compromised. The nobles called him bias and unfit. The aristocrats called him shameful and immature.

The common folk had mostly been in a state of confusion in disbelief for the longest time because he had forbidden his sons and all others for speaking out on the matter. Especially so when his sons had wished to twist half-truths into their favor. King Grail had little choice but to take up full reigns on the chaotic situation and had to hastily clean up the mess the Crown Prince made before it had become too big to clean up.

After lecturing his sons heatedly over the matter, he decided to let the blame fall squarely on both their shoulders. He wasn’t a fool to think that the Crown Prince acted all one his lonesome. He ordered them to make the announcement of Miss Livia’s exile and refused to budge on them twisting up the truth to make them look better. They had little choice but to stick to the facts, but given that there was very little of that, the announcement was vague and confounding.

After, as King Grail predicted, the Royal house of Silvan was dragged through the mud. Wisteria was a kingdom that boasted about its fair and just treatment of all, no matter their standing, and here they were exiling their own future Crown Princess seemingly overnight without a good solid reason. It was no fault of their people for questioning them, for losing trust in them after that debacle.

In the end, the Royal family had little choice but to weather the storm.

King Grail did have the choice of undoing everything his sons' has done and returning Livia to Wisteria, but he had chosen not too for a multitude of reasons. The main one being the fact that the people already saw the royal family as splintered and divided with the rivalry between the crown prince and third prince. It would have done them no good to confirm those well place suspicions by furthering proving their point.

It would not have been pleasant to show his people that he strongly disapproved of the crown prince's actions. It would be the last straw, and Crown Prince Rodale would have found it difficult to hold onto his title. As harsh as King Grail was on his children, he still loved them and wished for their success. He declined to wield the hammer that would smash his foolish son's dream around him. He also saw it as a harsh lesson learned for the Crown Prince.

All the hard work his son had done in the years his oldest brother had stepped down had washed away, and Crown Prince Rodale had little choice but to start from square one once more. From working twice as hard to thrice, the crown prince had grown a lot of the past year. He had taken responsibility for his actions as much as he could. He distances himself from the baron girl, he threw himself into his studies with more vigor and attended to his duties as Crown Prince with unshakable resolve. For the first time since his oldest step-down, King Grail approved of Rodale as his heir.

It was an unfortunate thing that happened to Miss Livia, but King Grail had seen that the end result had been worth it. Miss Livia will survive being exiled; the king had thought. She was a strong, dependable woman. She would adapt to her new life and thrive. King Grail assuaged his guilt with these excuses and eventually put the entire matter out of his mind.

Now, after much time has passed, the topic has started to cool. At least, that had been the case until the beginning of the month. And now the popular topic of discussion had reappeared herself.

It was not only a challenging situation to navigate, but extremely delicate. All it would take was one wrong move and the Royal house of Silvan would once again be under intense scrutiny. Their favor had been at an all-time low throughout the year and was barely ticking up again.

King Grail would do nothing to bring that approval down, and for that reason alone, he decided to here Miss Livia out. What better to show his people that he was still a fair and just king then to give the woman his son had unfairly condemned a moment to speak her piece. He did not dismiss the audience out of the graciousness of his heart. He saw it as an opportunity to further advance his esteem in the eyes of the people.

So, King Grail leans back into his throne with a relaxed posture and a surprisingly kind smile despite the tense atmosphere. He gestures for the Rodale to returns to his side before speaking.

“Miss Livia, what do we owe the honor of your presence? What has beseeched you to come to the very Kingdom that had cast you out before?” He asks amicably.

----------------------------------------

Livia draws up from her respectable bow, the weight at her front doing nothing to stop the movement for being smooth and elegant after the King finally addresses her. Her robes still hide her body from view, thick and loose as they were, so her state of remaining hidden for now.

The teasing, almost arrogant air she carried when she stumbled into the room had all but evaporated leaving her sober and somber. Her thoughts were strangely bleak and empty, a vast contrast to the whirlpool it had been the day before. Her jittery nerves and anxiety drain into a pit of blackness, leaving her hollow.

It was all rather anticlimax.

Livia had been sure she would be teeming with rage and hatred, her blood boiling with the thought of her revenge so close at hand, but it was the exact opposite.

The fury was still present, but it was frigid and bitter.

So much time had passed. So many things have happened.

She was no longer the girl who they thought she was. If she had been her old self, she would be in the middle of a rant badmouthing the two princes, throwing accusation against them left and right, while shoving her proof down their throats. She would demand her status back, even her engagement, while she rambled and raged on. She would stumble into her way through finding justice and hope the presence of the audience would be enough to get her way.

Livia does none of this.

She appraises her situation as if she was a specter. She analyzes her situation closely, the King smiles, the silent onlooking crowd, the two stoic princes, and Sen standing at her back. She changes her plans with ease, adapts it, and disregard a few things before responding to the King.

She dips into a small curtsy. She is careful not to pull her robes too much so her state isn’t revealed.

“Your majesty, I thank you greatly for hearing me out,” Livia says with a perfectly respectable tone, “As for your question, the reason for my return despite my exile is a rather heavy matter that I do not say with any lightness.”

The crowd around the whisper at this, and the nobles shift with visible discomfort. Crown Prince Rodale looks off to the distance and does not spare her a single glance, while Second Prince Orin's usual bland smile has dropped off his face.

“And what might that be?” The King asks.

Before Livia can reply, the councilor stumbles from behind a guard to glower a Livia before turning to the King, “Your majesty, you cannot actually think to speak to this...this, convict! You should have her sent away! She is breaking the law!” He says in a hoarse voice.

The King rest his shin on his knuckles, “That is true,” He agrees.

His eyes flicker to the Rodale. “What do you think, Crown Prince? Should we stop the matter here?” He asks.

The Crown Prince isn’t the one to speak. Prince Orin steps forward, and bows shortly, “My King, if I may cut in, I think it would be better to go to a much private area. The matter must be of great importance if Miss Livia sought us out.”

Livia's hands are clasped in front of her. She is the image of being demure and patient, but inside something twist at hearing her name spoken by Orin. It was an unpleasant thing.

“Is that so?” The King says, his voice going flat. His does not spare the Second prince a single glance, his eyes pinned to the Crown Prince.

Prince Orin steps back into line, and bows lower this time, “Yes, but it is only a suggestion. Whatever you wish to do is the priority, your majesty.”

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“Of course, it is,” King Grail says, “But I believe I was asking the opinion of the Crown Prince.”

A second goes by, then another, before Crown Prince steps forward.

“I agree with the King.”

There was no missing how Prince Orin shot a look at Crown Prince Rodale when he said this.

Livia saw it, and so did the King.

“We should hear her out. She traveled so far. It would be shameful to turn her away now,” Rodale says before stepping back.

The smile returns to the King's face, “Then it is settled. Please continue, Miss Livia.”

Livia bows once more, and her knees only shake a bit at the effort, “Thank you, your highness.” When she straightens, she holds her head high and meets the eyes of the King with ease.

When she speaks again, her voice carries across the hall.

“As you all know, or have been made aware of, I am exiled,” Livia says bluntly, “I am breaking the laws of Wisteria by coming here today, and I took a great risk in doing so, but I cannot hold onto the truth a moment longer.”

She turns her back to the King and sees that Sen has stepped aside so he is almost one with the crowd. They meet eyes as she passes him to address the throng of people.

“But before I can go into that matter, I must tackle another,” Her eyes scan the crowd, and she is happy to see many meet her gaze, openly curious and all but hanging on her every word, “It has come to my attention that information regarding the reason for my exile is surprisingly sparse. I thought it would be no better time than the present to clear up any misunderstandings or rumors.”

“What you say has no credibility, young lady,” A noble says, pushing his glasses up his knows importantly, “How do we know what you say isn’t false? No doubt you wish the sully the name of the Royal family.”

The councilor nods readily to this, "I agree. You are a convict. Of course, you would speak in your own favor.”

Livia turns to them with a cold smile, “Well, you are not entirely wrong.”

Neither the councilor nor the noble seems to know what to say to this, startled that she would agree with them.

“Then I guess it is best I make sure everything I say is the truth, then?” Livia continues on. Her plum colored eyes center on the second prince.

“I guess it is a good thing I am in the presence of an exemplary castor,” She says.

She does not bow and only inclines her head. “Your highness, if you would not mind?”

Prince Orin does not move.

“That is a wonderful idea,” The King waves his hand, “Prince, if you would be so kind as to respond?” He asks a bit sharply.

“Of course,” Prince Orin responds smoothly, “I would be honored.”

His fingers snap and a small hue of blue shimmers around Livia.

“As you all have just seen, Prince Orin has cast a spell a truth,” Livia says, twisting to face the masses again, “Anything I say from this point on is the truth. But, to make sure the spell is in place, your highness, will you please ask me a few questions only I can answer?” She only turns her neck to address the Prince, once again refusing to bow.

Just in case you attempt to say that the spell was not cast correctly, or just in case you did not actually cast the spell, Livia thinks but does not say.

“What day were you born?” Prince Orin asks promptly.

“On the twelfth month on the twentieth day,” Livia says and feels the pull to answer truthfully. The spell had been cast correctly then. Though it was not as potent as a potion. She could resist if she desired.

“What color is your sister’s hair?”

“Snow-white.”

“What is your mother’s maiden name?”

“Johannessen.”

“It seems the spell has worked,” The King says pointedly, and Orin steps back.

“Now, I will you tell you my view of that night, long ago,” Livia says and does just that.

She leaves no detail out. She speaks about not feeling well, about leaving her debutante to take a small breather, and encountering her younger sister.

“When we both returned, we heard a small commotion. It had been the sound of a glass shattering on the floor. Miss Amelia had gone pale and had been struggling to take in air. The crown prince instantly rushed to her side to help her, but his magic did not help. It was the last thing I registered before splintering pain took my vision away. I registered nothing until I heard the crown prince all out to me,” Livia explains and pauses. She lets the common folk talk amongst themselves, her ears picking up on a bit of the conversation.

“Doesn’t that mean she had an alibi?” A woman mutter in the crowd.

“Then why was she accused?” Another one asks.

“She could have tampered with the glass beforehand?” An older man says.

“There were many people there, then. Surely they saw that she wasn’t feeling well?” A young man asks.

After the noise dies down, Livia continues her tale, “The Crown Prince instantly thought I was the main suspect. Before I could gather myself, he mentions my past deeds of bullying Miss Amelia.”

“Is that true?”

“I heard that somewhere.”

“Who is Miss Amelia again?”

“What the Crown said was true. I could not deny it. I did bully Miss Amelia,” Livia says, holding nothing back even as she meets the hauntingly familiar eyes of the Crown Prince who does not hold her gaze for long.

“My goodness!”

“See? I knew I heard it!”

“No, seriously. Who is Miss Amelia?”

The King shifts on his throne, and peers down at Livia with a less friendly gaze, “It seems my son did not snap to certain judgment. He had good reason to think you were a suspect.”

Livia inclined her head, “I do not disagree with you, however, we all know I would not be here if I thought myself completely to blame.”

“Back to that day,” Livia says, “The Crown Prince had stalked forward at this point but I was still in a bit of a daze. Before he can descend upon me, my dear little sister came to my side and spoke up. She was the only one who did. She thought I was innocent, and told the Crown Prince so. I finally came back to myself at this point, and also tried to reason with his highness. But I was interrupted by a servant. It was a young girl, one we just hired on. She said saw me,” Livia stops here, and waits.

“So, there was a witness.”

“Like is Miss Amelia short? Tall? Does she have ponytails? When I say I never have seen this young miss in my life, I mean it.”

“Shh! I want to hear this!”

“She said she saw me...standing by a few glasses before the party,” Livia has to stop herself from smirking at the chorus of voices that rise up at this.

“That’s it!?” Someone shouts at the back in a heavy country accent.

“Dang, if I stand by a cup at the loon will I be accused of poisoning someone?”

“Goodness! It is just as the papers had said!”

“That is ridiculous.”

“Just who was this random servant? Was she ever properly questioned?”

“Yeah! They could use that truth spell!”

“You know, I think I do know who Miss Amelia is! She has red hair, right?”

The people of Wisteria continue to mumble and grumble. The King had to brandish staff and bang it on the floor to regain order. The hall quiets down after a while.

King Grail turns to the Crown Prince afterward with a frosty expression, “Crown Prince,” He says, and all eyes fall to them, “Is what Miss Livia saying true? Had you really condemned a young woman based on such a flimsy statement?”

Livia watches the proceedings with great interest. She hadn’t expected the King to say anything. Was there a possibility he hadn’t known? Better yet, just what will the Crown Prince say to save face? Livia was aware the only reason he agreed to hear her out was because of the King.

The nobles, Livia notes, some of whom she recognizes from her debutante, are unsurprisingly quiet.

The Crown Prince piercing icy blue eyes flicker down towards her, and for a split second, all the emotions he was bottling up showed as clear as day in his eyes.

Fury.

Frustration.

Hostility.

And a small, microscopic drop of guilt.

Livia sneers, all but baring her teeth at him. She has to consciously smooth out the expression, but it did not come easy.

“Crown Prince Rodale,” The King snaps, “Answer the question.”

After a long pause filled to the brim rigidity.

“I had,” Rodale says through teeth gritted.

The noise level in the Red Hall goes up in volume.

“I knew he was unfit!” An old man says, pointing rudely.

“This is just dreadful.”

“Oh no, it was true. It was all true.”

“Innocent until proving guilty my arse!”

“What will the other kingdoms think of us now? This is all so horrible.”

“Silence! Silence!” The King barks as he slams down his staff.

He looked like he was about to lay into the crown prince right then and there, and Livia steps forward to bring attention back to herself. However, Prince Orin chooses that moment to speak up.

“I admit, what my brother had done was not the wisest, but it was not without logic,” He says calmly, “As Miss Livia has stated before, she bullied Miss Amelia. And not to gloss over things, it had escalated to the point of bodily harm. Many students at Aster Academy witness Miss Livia tormenting Miss Amelia for weeks after she had become close with the Crown Prince. It is not a broad assumption to conclude that Miss Livia would take things further and attempt to take Miss Amelia’s life.”

“I don’t know what is true or false anymore.”

“I heard about this too, it would be a logical conclusion.”

“But logic was thrown out the shack when there was that flaky witness.”

“Where is the proof?! There is no proof!”

“I wonder what Miss Livia has to say about this.”

Livia shrugs, “Again, I do not disagree.”

King Grail raises an eyebrow, his expression now stony, “But?”

“But I am not done with my story,” She says, a little impolitely, “I would like to continue, uninterrupted this time. As I had said before, If I was only here solely paint myself as some blameless woman, then I would never have bothered in the first place.”

“Now, starting back from where I left off,” She in exhales a little too loudly, “After the servant spoke up, I tried to reason with the crown prince, to move to a more private area, but his mind was made up. He said a few words, but I will not repeat them now. He addressed the party patrons after, and then and there, my trial began. He asked the crowd if they thought I was innocent, to speak out on my account if they thought I was. No one did. At least, not in my favor. I was declared the guilty party.”

“Not even the second prince?” A stray voice cuts in.

Livia's eyes flicker over the crowd but she can’t find the source. She answers anyway, “No. The second prince held his silence.”

“Miss Amelia finally woke up after a while. She was confused. Disoriented. The second prince caught her up with the events. He made sure to state that I was the culprit. The guilty party. That much, I do remember. He turned to his brother then, and he asked Crown Prince Rodale what to do with me. A few moments pass between Prince Orin and Miss Amelia before they all remembered I still existed. In which case, Crown Prince Rodale annulled my engagement to him, listed my crimes, and finally sentenced me...to death. It seemed he might even do the deed himself for a moment there, but in the end, he had not wished to dirty himself with my blood.”

Livia is given no choice but to pause as the common folk once more break into a commotion of words.

“Hadn’t it been at Miss Livia’s debutante? To think not a single person but her sister would defend her?”

“That escalated quickly.”

“She had been sentenced just like that? I didn’t know the crown prince had that kind of power.”

“Where were her parents?”

“So, the crown prince can just kill off whoever angers him?”

“That’s wrong! I thought Wisteria was better than this!”

“What has our country come too?”

“This sends a shiver up my spine. To think the crown prince was like this.”

“Is no one going to point out that this Amelia chick had a relationship with both the crown prince and the second prince?”

“That is true! How very inappropriate!”

And on it went.

This time, the King let the mutters and even shouts continue on much longer than before, and by this point, the Crown Prince Rodale was looking at a plain pillar away from everyone while the Second Prince Orin was staring with hard oceanic blue eyes at Livia, who held the stare with a glare of her own.

The crowd eventually settled themselves after they realize the story was still not over.

When she had everyone's full attention, Livia finished up the story. She mentions how she became hysteric after her sentence was declared and confronted Amelia, how Amelia responded back and being dragged away by the guards. She mentions how her sister intervened at the last minute and begged for the crown prince to spare her life, how it was her sister words that changed the crown prince mind in the end, and how she had not even known of this until she was dragged on a wagon to be moved.

“I was being transferred to a town on the outskirts of Wisteria, in the neighboring country of Salvia, when I fell asleep. I had excepted by the time I woke up again I would be in my new home. Of course, I was angry and frustrated that this had now been my life, but I was willing to accept it. As I had said before, I was not without guilt, and maybe in a way, I could absolve myself for tormenting Miss Amelia by giving in to my sentence.”

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, before letting it out slowly and opening them to face the crowd. This was the point of no return. What she was about to do next would be rather dramatic, but also no easy thing. Accusing a Duke daughter of murder was plainly different for accusing the Royal family of conspiracy and very foul play. There was no going back from it, but Livia would be damned if she let the fuckers get away with it.

“This should be where this story ends,” She says to the crowd, walking slowly, “But it was not to be.”

At the very least, she was attempting to do this the right way. If it blows up in her face, there was always the wrong way. And if she was being honest with herself, she almost wishes that it does. It would be instant gratification.

Well, only time would tell. Best to get it over with to see which route she would go.

“When I woke up,” Livia starts, looking up with a face twisted in pain, “I quickly realized I was not in the town of Zinnia. I had been taken somewhere else. Kidnapped against my will.”

As has been the now established habit, the crowd broke out in open discussion, though it was much more hushed and muted. Mostly, everyone was confused, baffled.

“What?” Was repeated a lot.

“Huh?” As well.

Livia paid little mind to it. Her eyes snapped to the face of the two Princes, and she can even see Sen face turn in their direction from the corner of her eyes.

Crown Prince Rodale's eyes had widened slightly at her revelation, and his mouth has even fallen open a bit. He seemed genuinely surprised, but it could just as easily be an act. But Rodale had never been good at controlling his emotions when they peaked through his mask of indifference, but she is aware that he is quite an esteemed actor.

Second Prince Orin's face had not even flickered. Livia sees the look of shock on his face, the surprise that all the spectators mirror, but she wanted to see past it. His mask was as impenetrable as always.

In the end, she was no closer to finding out who was the guilty party, but there was one thing she was sure of; Crown Prince Rodale and Second Prince Orin would be obstacles she would have to overcome. She had hoped they would be more obvious with their contempt of her, to the point they did something rasher, but they had control over their emotions that was positively irritating.

No matter.

Plans always change, and she easily adapts her own.

It would not do to accuse the princes of foul play so boldly, now. Not when they looked as startled as everyone else. It would be her word against theirs, and she did not want to whip out her trump card just yet. It was better she commits to the sympathetic route.

The gentle murmurs attempted to build up as the people digested this bit of information, but the King put a stop to it quickly. After the resounding sound of his staff hitting the hard floor stopped echoing, the King spoke.

“What exactly are you trying to say, Miss Livia?” King Grail asked, his face somber, “It cannot be what I suspect.”

Prince Orin blond eyebrows crease in worry, “It seems there is more to this story then we all thought. Please, Miss Livia, do continue.”

“I agree with Prince Orin, we must know what happened next,” Crown Prince Rodale says, standing tall for the first time since Livia entered the hall.

They were all eager to change the topic. To get the spotlight off of them, but all three of their eyes, almost eerily similar, held a silent threat in them. They were willing to change the topic, but only if she dared not go the route, they thought she might. Even the King, who had seemed even-minded.

Livia tries her best not to glower at the three clowns, not fooled for a second and keeps up her appearance of desolation. She knew it would not be easy, but it was aggravating that she would have to take the long road around. She was not a patient woman.

“If what you suspect, your majesty, is the possibility of foul play in the Royal House of Silvan, then I am afraid it is so,” She says grimly.

Her original statement was more incriminating. She had planned to add another word starting with a P and ending with an E. But she reframed...barely. She had promised Sen she would not outwardly try to get them killed on the spot.

The councilor could not sit still once that statement had been voiced. With a face a blotchy red, he stalks towards Livia with furious little steps.

“How dare you,” He spats, “You dare come into our kingdom, and spout off such nonsense? Such horrible accusations to our King and Princes? You are a cretin and nothing you have said can be the truth!” By the end, he is shouting, and small globs of spit fly's out of his mouth. He had moved close to her, and there was no avoiding the small droplets.

Livia expression wavers then, her patience dangerously thin.

She does not know what expression she makes before she gets it under control, but it was enough to drain all the blood from the old man's face and had him flinching back. She forces a smile that she knows is more teeth then it should be.

“I do not say these things lightly.” She says after wiping the spit from her cheek and taking a calming breath, “I obviously would not have come this far if I did not have solid proof of the fact.”

The councilor was back to glaring at her, “And what proof is that?”

Her smile does not waver as she gently lifts her black robe and sticks out her right ankle.

Her smile grows when the councilor stares blankly at it.

“What?” He snaps, obviously confused.

“Councilor, you are blocking Miss Livia from view,” Crown Prince Rodale says.

The councilor grumbles but shuffles out of the way.

The King, Crown Prince Rodale, and Prince Orin take one look at her ankle and see what the councilor had not.

“The brace,” Crown Prince Rodale says, frowning.

King Grail mirrors his frown, though much heavier, “It is gone.” He says coldly.

Prince Orin shakes his head, “But that is impossible. It cannot be released without royal blood.”

Livia drops her robe and clasps her hands in front of her with a smile that was much sweeter and genuine then it had any right to be.

“Exactly.”