As the maids tidied the room, Jenkins glanced at Alexia. She raised her right index finger to her lips, signaling for him to wait until after the gathering to talk.
Jenkins nodded, not the least bit surprised that Alexia had discovered his secret. While stroking the ruffled fur of his cat, Chocolate, he thought back on everything that had happened between them since eting the short woman. Of all the young won he had t since coming to this world, Alexia was indeed the one most similar to him in temperant.
"But..."
He stole a glance at the blushing princess, whose face was so flushed that even the maids cleaning the room could see it was unnatural. But none dared to comnt. As royal maids, they knew all too well the fate of those with loose tongues, and besides, the head maid, Julia, was standing behind them, watching like a hawk.
"But what exactly is Alexia trying to do? Do I really look like the kind of creep who's into sixteen-year-old girls?"
As Jenkins scratched its chin, Chocolate subconsciously began to nod.
"I an, I do admire Miss Stuart's character and her thods, but she's just too young..."
Julia would occasionally shoot a look at Jenkins, but his expression was placid, betraying none of his inner thoughts. Julia's own thoughts were quite simple: since her princess had said such a thing, even if she had been prompted, the man should at least offer so kind of response.
But Jenkins clearly had no intention of doing so. He racked his brain but couldn't fathom what Alexia was trying to achieve.
"Looking at it now, this so-called secret casket must be a trap—a very elaborate one."
The maids responsible for cleaning left one by one, and the pastries and tea on the table were replaced with fresh ones. No one questioned the presence of a strange man in the room; these were trustworthy servants who had passed rigorous tests.
"A-11-01-7421, the Forced Universal Wish Granter, only appears in deserted mountains or long-abandoned buildings to lure adventurers into opening it. The last recorded instance was at the beginning of this epoch. That timing has absolutely no connection to the four pompous-sounding secret words on the casket. Moreover, the races that used those languages vanished from the material world long before this epoch began... I believe soone set this up as a trap. They deliberately disguised this dangerous Cursed Item as a 'treasure box' and arranged for Dolores to find it. I have to admit, it's a very elaborate trap."
Alexia had already drawn a conclusion from the outco of the event, and Jenkins agreed with her. If the goal was to seal a Cursed Item, there would be no need to inscribe the thod to open it on the surface of the seal. It was like a scene from a knight's tale, practically begging soone to open it.
"Then who could it be? This is incredibly dangerous. It's hard to imagine soone using a Cursed Item as a trap."
Jenkins directed the question to the princess, but she couldn't answer. In the end, it was Alexia who replied:
"It was likely the handiwork of the eldest prince or princess. Among Dolores's siblings, he wields the most political power. I imagine it wouldn't be difficult for him to recruit so Enchanters skilled in sealing rituals and ancient languages. Rember at the last ball, when he sent soone to try and recruit us? I believe this is retaliation. And if it had succeeded, no one would have been able to trace who set the trap."
Ordinary people had no way of investigating the thods of Enchanters, and Enchanters themselves couldn't divine the origin of a Cursed Item. If Dolores Stuart had truly died because of a wish-granting Cursed Item, the culprit behind the scenes would have remained forever hidden.
Jenkins had previously underestimated the Stuart children, thinking them a worthless lot, but now he truly understood the perils of a royal struggle. For a mont, he wasn't sure how to comfort his friend. He could only sigh and ask another question:
"How is the interrogation of Howard Stuart going?"
"The Tree House is supporting the eldest princess for the throne."
It was Julia who answered. Dressed in her usual maid's uniform, she projected a completely different aura from when she had attended the Williams family dinner a few days ago:
"Prince Howard is part of the eldest princess's faction... Of course, he was rely used as a pawn to test the waters. We couldn't get much out of him because he truly knows nothing. The intelligence he provided on Duke Antak was one of the few valuable clues he possessed. He's still too young to see what he's gotten himself into."
Though she said this, no one pitied him. Anyone who joins the contest for the throne must be prepared to be utterly crushed. Those who aren't ready for that can only et the sa fate.
Jenkins nodded, pondering what the Tree House could be planning. He then thought about how Miss Stuart's brother and sisters were no easy opponents.
After a mont's thought, he added:
"If you run into trouble, you can seek help from the Legacy Sage Church. Although, according to the three-thousand-year-old High Tower Accord, the Orthodox Churches don't easily interfere in the royal succession of secular powers, they will provide necessary assistance as a favor to . Since Julia has already... been to Nolan with , I imagine the Church is aware of my connection to Ruen. Just ntion my na, and the Church will at least be willing to take you in and guarantee your absolute safety."
"Okay. Thank you."
Miss Stuart responded in a soft voice. The color had mostly returned to her face, but she still avoided Jenkins's gaze.
"Speaking of which, I should be thanking you for your help, Miss Stuart. As I'm sure you're aware, sothing terrible happened in Nolan City on Friday. During that ti, I used the ring you gave to dispatch so help. I hope that didn't disrupt your arrangents in Nolan."
"Of course not. It is my honor to have been of assistance to you."
As Dolores spoke, she discreetly tugged on the sleeve of the maid standing beside her, signaling for her to say sothing.
"Mr. Williams, please feel free to use those people as you see fit. Mr. Kos, who is in charge in Nolan, wrote to us to report on Friday's events. We hope they were of help to you."
"They were a great help indeed."
Jenkins nodded again, his mind flashing back to the assault on the clock tower. He didn't know how many casualties Miss Stuart's people had suffered, but since they were the attacking party and the fight was brief, he imagined their losses weren't significant.
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