Ceres

99

"Now you're asking whether his identity is true or not?"

Lennard retorted Glenn's words.

Just when Glenn was about to say something, Lennard signaled to Gil for something. Gil handed a small crest to Lennard.

It was Thousand Face's identity crest and something he uses whenever he was conducting a transaction.

"Everyone knows about this identity crest, right?"

Lennard showed the crest to everyone before giving it to Gil once again. Of course, in everything that Lennard would say, Glenn would retort.

"Surely, everyone now knows the truth behind the matter of the Empress being killed and our cases in this kingdom."

"That's a lie. We still need to investigate whether or not this assassin is saying the truth or not. There must be an appropriate trial for everything."

"A lie? Are you saying that we, in the Fay kingdom, are liars and that we do not know how to properly investigate serious matters like this? Are you questioning our decisions and judgment now?"

The Emperor stepped in as he knew that they couldn't afford offending Fay kingdom.

"Please refrain from saying anything anymore, Glenn."

The Emperor wanted Glenn to stop from further embarrassing himself. Then, he faced Lennard.

"Guests from Fay kingdom, we only hope that you would turn over this assassin to our kingdom so that we may be able to punish him according to our laws."

Lennard didn't buy what the Emperor said and only narrowed his eyes towards Glenn.

Arcyl then, stepped forward.

It was Ceres' first time to clearly see Arcyl, Ceres' grandfather. She doesn't have any lingering feelings towards this grandfather unlike when she first met Cerbous. If this is her or Ceres' feelings, she doesn't know.

"Let me, your Majesty, say a few words."

The Emperor nodded to Arcyl and the latter started speaking.

"Since this matter has been settled with clear and enough evidence, we will arrest the first prince for the trial."

Arcyl made some signal and some of his men entered the hall. Then, he told them to capture Glenn and place him in prison. He also ordered his men to watch over Glenn and the minister of justice and that no one is allowed to visit them.

"First prince, if you are innocent, I suggest that you step down for now. We will conduct a thorough and clean investigation on this matter. Even the people behind the minister of justice wouldn't be able to do anything for this trial."

Glenn didn't do anything this time to fight back or defend himself. He only looked at Lennard and Leona after which, he stared at Ceres and Gil. Glenn and Arcyl's men then, exited the main hall.

The Emperor's eyes twitched as he knew that Arcyl's words were meant for him and his faction.

When Glenn was taken out of the hall, Arcyl continued speaking. Now, he was facing the Fay kingdom's royal siblings.

"Along with this, may we ask the royal Prince and Princess of Fay kingdom to also hand over the assassin to us so that we may conduct a fair trial and if proven guilty, his corresponding punishment?"

Ceres already told Lennard that he couldn't let this kingdom take Thousand Face. It's not that she trusts Lennard but regardless of what happens, she will not allow them to take Thousand Face away.

"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, General Arcyl. I know that the Empress was killed by this person but, we intend to bring him over to our kingdom. This is in aid of finding the other people he is working with and apprehending them."

The Emperor backed Arcyl and said,

"Can you at least let us have custody for this person? We will surely allow you to attend the trial and interrogations. We will also capture the other assassins mentioned a while ago."

The Emperor was thinking that at least Lennard would give him face for the relationships of their kingdoms. However, he was wrong.

"Please do not expect us to abide with your request, your Majesty, just because we are in your kingdom. We have already given you enough face when we let you investigate what happened to us in the nearby town. However, it didn't end there and my sister, the sole princess of Fay kingdom, was even almost kidnapped in this banquet. Doesn't this mean anything about your kingdom's way of handling things?"

Lennard's words were harsh but it was the truth. He doesn't intend to give Thousand Face to Winsterein kingdom not only because Ceres told him so but also because he was curious about a lot of things.

Moreover, if he would be choosing between offending Dwight and Ceres... He would definitely pick offending Dwight.

The Emperor was about to lose his composure but he still decided to remain calm and speak. But, he was cut off by Lennard once again.

"It was our men who captured this person, right? As such, we have the rights to detain him ourselves."

No one wanted to offend Fay kingdom. Nobody in the room wants to; even those from the magic schools. Why? Because Fay kingdom is much more powerful than Winsterein kingdom.

Fay kingdom's structure is different from Winsterein kingdom wherein magic schools are separate from the kingdoms affairs. In Fay kingdom, both the schools and the kingdom help each other because of some circumstances.

With the flow of the conversion between Lennard and Dwight, everyone now knows that this banquet incident have surely come to an end. The commotion outside the main hall has long been repressed and Glenn's army has long been arrested. It was definitely time for everyone to leave.

The first people to leave were those from Fay kingdom. As such, everyone only looked at them while they take Thousand Face away. Orion couldn't help but furrow his brows because he felt like Ceres and Gil were really familiar. Lucas, on the other hand, spoke to Leona before the latter left. He was thanking the princess for understanding everything and promises that he would definitely persuade his father about retracting his words on the engagement.

The Fay kingdom's exit was followed by the delegates from the school. They didn't intend to stay behind anyway and poke in the kingdom's affairs.

Beatrice clearly has a sour face when she saw Lucas speaking to Leona. However, she didn't do anything anymore and only kept her anger deep inside. But when she saw Ceres approaching Arcyl, she angrily stared at her. She knew that even though Lucas didn't want to marry Leona, it doesn't mean that Lucas wouldn't want Ceres. All in all, it still comes down to Ceres beating her with Lucas.

Lucasthen, followed his master quietly. He didn't even speak to his father or anyonefrom the royal family. He wanted to focus on his training because he promisedhis master and the headmaster that he will have good results. However, hecouldn't help but be bothered about something. Before leaving the hall, helooked back at Ceres hopingthat he would feel something familiar once again. Unfortunately, he did not.This only troubled him and something inside him was definitely growing more andmore intense that it may soon explode. Of course, he doesn't know what it isyet.-tbc

A/N: The banquet finally ended!! Yey! OMG. I shouldn't be happy. Are you guys still there? Forgive me for being alive and ruining your day. I just don't like this banquet event. ;A; I hope you will read on for the other updates... It's much better than this. D: