Cecily blinked at him, slightly annoyed. After making a gesture with her mouth, she returned to her usual seat.
"Isn't it normal to worry about the prince of the kingdom?" she said, shrugging her shoulders.
She didn't really like talking to people; she disliked most of them, even within the organization.
Although she didn't dislike Samuel, she was simply neutral towards him, almost the same way she treated many of her family members, so there wasn't much difference. That's just how she is.
"Haha, although I'm not the one to say because I'm not good at judging people, I think you see him very differently. I don't know if you've noticed, but you maintain a slight hostility towards all members of the organization, especially Alan. But neither I, nor Old Roy, nor the leader are spared from this."
"So, it's something new to see you like this," Samuel said, smiling a little.
Cecily raised an eyebrow curiously and then lowered it.
"Well, all of us nobles have been raised to care about princes and royalty; it's something people like you wouldn't understand," she replied, leaning back in her seat.
"Haha, if that were all, I would have said that your concern for the prince is superficial."
"What do you mean?" Cecily looked at him reluctantly.
"I think you care for him in a deeper way. Perhaps lovingly?" Samuel smiled.
He had known Cecily for several years, and this was the first time he had seen her so interested in someone.
Although she had always treated him coldly and rarely even spoke to him when they saw each other, he had had to watch over her from the shadows because she tended to get into trouble very often and was still young.
So, he had developed a certain fondness for her, already seeing her as family.
Cecily frowned and glared at him. "Nothing but nonsense comes out of your mouth," she said, turning slightly to look at Ryan before speaking again.
"He's very easy to fool and so small and cute that it's hard for me to leave him out in the open. Many have wanted to take advantage of him, of his status, and so on. I've had to chase away those who approach him with bad intentions, because he doesn't usually notice them. That's why I worry about him," she said.
"He's like a puppy, that's what he is." She nodded after saying that. "Besides, it's his first mission, and we've already sent him to such a dangerous place. It's normal for me to be worried."
'Puppy, huh.' Samuel looked at the rather tall man she was referring to as small. He had heard rumors about what he was like and what a bookworm he was, whose words were few and sometimes almost meaningless.
Rumors that he was crazy were running rampant in the streets.
But...
"I'd heard rumors about his shyness, but I don't see it anywhere. Have I missed something? Where did that little puppy you say was as cute as a baby go?" He teased, noticing the great confidence with which Ryan stood up straight and spoke to the leader, a high-ranking minister.
Cecily couldn't answer that.
'I'm wondering that too,' she thought.
Perhaps that was what attracted her most to him at that moment. A drastic change shouldn't happen overnight.
Had the vacation lasted longer than she imagined?
So, she remained silent.
A silence that spoke volumes to Samuel, who chuckled to himself.
'Talented young people, in love with each other. A love story waiting to be discovered and a fairy tale waiting to be told. But love in a world in ruins often takes separate, stray, or even opposite paths. What does fate have in store for them? It will surely be a worthy tale of legends,' he thought.
-
The carriage soon stopped in a somewhat abandoned area. Although it had been abandoned recently, it still looked moldy, and for good reason.
"The breach opened in the middle building. It was a hospital, and it brought moldy beasts that quickly covered the buildings and were difficult to remove," said Martin as he exited the carriage.
"The distances between the capital and the north are still remarkable. Don't you find it strange that they could open a breach at such a great distance? Besides, according to what you're telling me, it brought strange beasts. That sounds like a conspiracy," said Ryan.
"Haha, that's right, Prince. There are suspicions, but the castle is divided. Thanks to the Dukes having to return to their territories, the foolish ministers are taking certain liberties to speak out against some of them and blame them senselessly. But opening a breach from such a distance is impossible, considering how few came." He replied.
"So they did it from a short distance, huh. Kazaks infiltrating the walls is certainly a disgrace, and even more so when some idiot nobles are the cause."
"Hahaha, good answer. They're all idiots."
At this point in the conversation, Cecily and Samuel got out of the carriage.
"Laughter in desert areas doesn't sound good, you know? It creates echoes that are then creepy because of these annoying beasts that permeate everywhere," Cecily complained as she got out.
"I'm sorry, Miss Cecily. We were just chatting a little."
"Tsk." She shrugged and walked over to where Ryan was standing. "Did you find anything? You don't usually make up your mind so easily," she said.
"Some things in the castle." Ryan knew what she meant, so he didn't hide it.
"What is it?"
He leaned in to whisper to her. "A spirit-purifying item. The theft occurred in the king's chambers while he was entertaining someone important. Now the question is how the hell the thief got in there."
Cecily stared at him in shock. "Really? So it was an inside job, then?"
He rolled his eyes to indicate that he had no idea but was here to find out.
Having heard that and knowing that the stolen treasure was very important, she felt much more excited than she already was when they arrived.
"Okay. Then let's start with the magic," she said, walking a few steps forward.
A dragon staff appeared in her hand, and everyone stepped aside. At first, Ryan didn't understand what was happening until she closed her eyes.
'Inanimate Destiny?' he thought.
She soon struck her staff against the ground, and a series of strange shadows swirled around it. The spirituality slowly spread from her eyes to the staff and from the staff to the ground, to every rock and shadow nearby.
Subsequently, it gathered in one place, within the shadows of a distant building that, due to its size, cast its shadow here, and gathered in the form of a dark rock.
Cecily approached and picked up the small rock, then touched the ground around her within a 2-meter radius and stood up.
"Four Kazaks, sixteen strange beasts, and approximately thirty-eight people have walked this place in the last eight hours. The rocks are cold, so they are all natives of the north or of these lands. They have gone to three buildings, the central one and the two at either end," she said.