In the drawing room, Charlotte and the others were facing Malcolm. The latter had come to hear the results of the interrogation.

“How did the interrogation go?”

“It was interesting.”

Quentin proceeded to explain to Malcolm how the four committed the crime.

“I see… in other words, someone manipulated them and even provided them magic weapons.”

“That’s correct.”

Quentin still had no idea who that person was. He was anxious. The only conclusion he could come up with was that it an accomplice of Malcolm.

Charlotte let out a sigh of amusement at the sight of her nominal fiancé in distress. At that moment, her eyes met Ethelbert’s.

“So, Your Highness, what shall we do? I’ve been asked for your cooperation as a magician, but I’m not a citizen of this country. If I were to use large-scale magic in this place for any reason other than self-defense, I’d need to obtain the Crown Princess’ permission, as this could easily lead to a national issue.”

…Says the man who used magic in front of me as he pleased.

He was a magician. Magic was a part of his life. For that reason, they were supposed to turn a blind eye to it to some extent, but only within the academy and the kingdom guesthouse. In fact, Charlotte should have criticized him for using teleportation magic, and for the use of magic that affected others such as altering her hair and eye color without prior explanation.

The reason she didn’t was because she was curious about magic, and because she strangely had a firm trust in Ethelbert.

“As per His Majesty’s order, I have to quickly resolve this matter and bring Juliet back. So, I wish to utilize the fastest possible method.”

Certainly, having to fulfill Frederick’s wish was annoying, but she still had a lot of work left. She wanted to finish this assignment as soon as possible so she could get some sleep.

“First of all, there is reason to believe that the Elms Company may be facilitating smuggling between the countries in the southern part of the continent. If this is true, then more magic items are likely to have been smuggled.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“They must be being kept somewhere… Lord Ethelbert, could you look for them?”

“Yes, it would only take a few seconds.”

“!”

Charlotte and Quentin were surprised by Ethelbert’s casual statement.

“As I’ve already seen them before, search for a similar reaction throughout the earldom would be a simple matter. Not to mention, since magical tools are hardly used in this kingdom, I won’t be misled by other reactions.”

Conducting such a search in a place where magic tools were commons would apparently have made the task much more difficult. Still, Ethelbert declared confidently that he could do it. It wasn’t just arrogance, but the truth.

Hearing that, Malcolm tensed up, his face turning paler. Then, a knock was heard.

“Malcolm, there’s something that you urgently need to hear.”

“Un-understood…”

Malcolm went to the door, revealing a servant. After the servant whispered something to him, Malcolm exclaimed in shock. “What?!”

“What’s the matter?”

“A fire has broken out in a building owned by our company. We need to hurry there and assess the situation…”

Malcolm’s face was getting worse and worse as he became more and more upset.

A new visitor then appeared.

“Has the matter already been discussed?”

A voice spoke out, and the door was opened wide. George entered the room and greeted Charlotte and the others. Malcolm, who stood nearby, glared at him with open contempt.

“What do you want?”

“I’ll go assess the building. Malcolm, stay here.”

“Why?”

“Don’t take a step outside this mansion.”

Malcolm seemed disgruntled.

George continued, “It’s an order.”

Malcolm’s eyes went wide. “You have no right to order me around!”

Malcolm yelled, grabbing George by his shirt. His face was distorted with anger and scorn.

“Who do you think you are? You son of a filthy whore…”

“Calm down, Malcolm. We’re in front of Her Highness.” George spoke in a low voice.

Taken aback, Malcolm turned away and said, “Excuse me,” to Charlotte and others, before leaving the place.

A servant who had come with George followed him, probably to keep watch so that he wouldn’t leave the mansion. The servant who had come to tell Malcolm about the fire left at George’s behest.

“It seems that you don’t get along with your sibling.”

“I’m the only one with a different mother… How shameful. I’m sorry for showing you that.”

George smiled bitterly, and Charlotte said, “Don’t worry about it.”

The earl’s former wife was a prostitute. It was a marriage filled with love between two people of different social classes. However, she died soon after giving birth to their eldest son, George. Afterward, the earl’s relatives pushed for him to marry someone more worthy of his status, and that was where Katie came in.

For quite some time before hand, there was talk about earl becoming engaged with Katie. However, the earl married his now former wife before the engagement was finalized. Unsurprisingly, as a high-ranking aristocrat, Katie disliked his former wife and son, George.

George was probably being treated coldly by his stepmother, but he didn’t seem to care at all. In such a harsh environment, his growing up into a confident and carefree young man was surprising.

Well, the earl did love him.

Charlotte had known the earl for quite some time. She had also heard about his son. He often mentioned how his eldest son was his most important treasure.

Having affection for a son born to a woman he loved was only natural.

It’s not hard to imagine that there were differences in how the children were treated.

The earl and his wife, Katie. Each of them must’ve showered love on their beloved sons. The bad relationship between the siblings was a natural result of that.

Children were always at the mercy of their parents. Charlotte had always felt such was the case.

“We’ll also head to the scene of the fire.”

“Your Highness?”

“Yes. There’s something I want to confirm.”

“…I understand.”

George left his seat, saying, “I’ll proceed with the preparations.”

Leaning against the sofa, Charlotte spoke, “Quentin. I’ll leave you some knights, so stay here and keep an eye on Malcolm Elms.”

“But…”

“Don’t we have to stop him from getting any closer to Juliet than necessary?”

He wouldn’t have any objections if she phrased it that way.

“Understood.”

With a firm resolve on his face, one overflowing with sense of responsibility, Quentin agreed without hesitation.

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