"Hah… that Old Fart finally left," Queen Evane said grumpily. "He's already this old, so why does he still not kick the bucket? It must be hard on you, Nicole."
"I'm used to it, Your Majesty," Nicole replied.
Ethan only sipped his tea quietly as he listened to the conversation.
Just like Queen Evane had said, Oscar had stayed inside his room for nearly half an hour before leaving.
The man didn't say anything and just sat quietly on the side, listening to their conversation.
Even so, Ethan was certain that the Patriarch of the Asta Family was sizing him up.
This wasn't the first time that something like this had happened, so he was already used to it.
Ethan had met many powerful people in the past, and he had to admit that Oscar Asta, who stood above the Asta Family, was an impressively strong person.
While he didn't want to brag that he was capable of defeating everyone as long as the battle was at the sea, he started to reconsider this way of thinking after meeting the Patriarch of the Asta Family.
His gut instinct was telling him that even if they fought at the sea, the one who would emerge victorious was the old man he had met a while ago.
For Ethan, this was supposed to be an impossible thought.
He had this unshakable confidence that as long as he was fighting in his home court, he was unstoppable.
So for him to feel that he couldn't beat Oscar in a sea battle was unnerving.
But, he trusted his instincts.
Seeing his solemn expression, Sebastian and his Other Half both smiled.
'You've grown, Ethan,' Sebastian commented. 'For you to acknowledge the disparity in strength proves that you've reached a standard where you can gauge someone's ability correctly.'
'Sebastian and I never said anything because we wanted you to discover on your own that there would always be someone stronger than you,' Ethan's Other Half stated. 'Even if you fought at the Sea, some people are bad counters for your ability. That old man was one of them.'
'Do you know what his specialty is?' Ethan inquired.
'Space Magic,' Ethan's Other Half replied. 'This means that he's a very tricky opponent that you can't fight using brute force.'
'If you were to fight him, will you win?' Ethan asked.
'Easily,' Ethan's Other Half answered in a heartbeat.
His voice was filled with confidence, showing how sure he was about winning against the Patriarch of the Asta Family.
Queen Evayne, who thought that Ethan was intimidated by Oscar because he was staring blankly in front of him, smiled as she engaged him in conversation.
"Ethan, are you okay?" Queen Evayne asked. "Did that Old Fart do anything to you? Just say the word, and I'll have him kicked outside of the Palace today."
The two maids behind the Queen both pinched the bridges of their noses at the same time as if they were about to suffer from a major headache.
Seeing their expression, Ethan couldn't help but feel amused because Queen Evane looked like a very easy-going woman, despite her position as the Queen of the Kingdom.
"I'm fine, Your Majesty," Ethan replied. "I was just lost in thought."
Queen Evane nodded in understanding.
"Truth be told, I was looking forward to meeting you today," Queen Evane stated. "You see, I was taking a bath when the castle started shaking, so I thought that we were under attack.
"My Maids even rushed inside the bath house and urged me to put some clothes on so that they could take me to a safe place to hide.
"Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up before I could take my daughter with me to the underground bunker. You really gave us a fright, young man."
Ethan could only apologize for the inconvenience that he had caused the beautiful woman sitting in front of him.
Before coming to the palace, he had always wondered what the King and Queen were like. But after seeing how humble and friendly Queen Evane was, his earlier notions that the members of the Royal Family must be stuck up and arrogant, vanished instantly.
"My spies in Brynhildr Academy told me that you have a very colorful love life." Queen Evane suddenly dropped a bomb out of the blue. "Excluding Nicole, you have at least four other ladies who are very intimate with you. It is good to be young, but you should also practice moderation, okay?"
Ethan blinked once, then twice, as he looked at the Queen, who had a mischievous smile on her face.
Seeing his reaction, the beautiful woman giggled because she liked what she was seeing.
"What's there to be surprised about?" Queen Evane asked in a teasing tone. "Brynhildr Academy is in Eastshire, so it's normal for me to know things that are happening there, you know?"
"Ethan, it's not that complicated," Nicole said with a smile. "Lord Edmond visited Brynhildr Academy recently, so of course, Her Majesty would know more about you from him."
Queen Evane chuckled, not even mad that Nicole had blown her cover. Sёarᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
It was indeed due to the Grand Archmage's report that she was able to know things about Ethan.
The more things she heard about him, the more she wanted to meet him, and she had to admit that she liked what she was seeing.
"My daughter and my son will be attending the ballroom party tomorrow," Queen Evane stated. "I do hope that you get along with them. Also, my husband is busy preparing your rewards for winning the Knight and Seek game, so look forward to it."
The Queen stayed for an hour longer before bidding her goodbye. She had a great talk with Ethan and Nicole and even invited the two to have dinner with her, which they readily accepted.
When they were certain that the Queen and her entourage had finally left, Ethan sighed and leaned on the couch.
"I didn't expect Her Majesty to be such a chatty person," Ethan said.
"She's only like that in private, Ethan," Nicole commented. "In public, she always wears a poker face."
"Then why did she not hide her character when Oscar Asta was here earlier?" Ethan inquired.
"Because she doesn't need to," Nicole answered. "I forgot to tell you something important. Queen Evane is also from the Asta Family."
"Huh?"
"Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?"
Nicole smirked because not many knew this secret.
In fact, she only happened to know about this because she was there when Queen Evane confronted the Patriarch of the Asta Family when Oscar was about to send Nicole and her mother to the countryside so that they would no longer be part of their family.
Nicole's Mother was already struggling with a disease that couldn't be cured, even after using the best healing magic and potions in the Kingdom.
But Nicole's Mother had once served as Queen Evane's maid when she was still healthy, so the Queen of the Kingdom refused to let them suffer any injustice and protected them from the Shadows of the Asta Family.