Chapter 55 - Mother-In-Law’s Interrogation Skills

Vaughn took a deep breath. He knew that he wouldn't be able to lie his way out of this confrontation. He had to explain everything to his mother-in-law to avoid misunderstandings.

"Please don't be angry mother-in-law. I was waiting for the proper time to propose to her formally, but this problem about the conspiracy happened. I am still not sure who my enemies are, and I am thankful that father-in-law saved me that day. But, I was really keen on marrying your daughter when I met her that day. I thought I was just a mere foolish child back then when I promised to marry her, but I can't put her out of my mind. Her visage accompanied me and became my guiding light during the darkest hours of my life. I knew then that she had always been and will always be the one for me."

Renaria was expecting a more dramatic reaction from Vaughn, like begging fervently or kneeling. It was usual for her to get such reactions from the people she interrogated before. If Vaughn kneeled before her, it was not the first or even the second time that someone who belonged to the royal family did that. It was one of Renaria's formidable skills – to make someone feel so powerless before her during interrogation.

The only person that did not succ.u.mb to her interrogation skills was her husband. Even though Ovid seemed to be a meek lamb before Renaria, he was doing it on his own accord because he loved his wife that much. When Zenia was born, she too was able to turn his father into someone so gentle.

Even though she was expecting the usual reactions that most people had given her, she did not want to see that from Vaughn. Her son-in-law did not disappoint her. It only proved that he had a strong mind and would not be easily persuaded to do things that he wouldn't want to do. It also proved that he really was the one who wanted to push the marriage. However, in Renaria's mind, this son-in-law should've thought of a more ingenious way to marry her daughter.

"But you never showed that intention before. What if she met someone and got married earlier?"

"That would never happen, mother-in-law. I assigned some men to intercept any marriage proposals, gifts, or anything from any man wanting to get close to Zenzen. Even brother-in-law did…" Vaughn stopped when he noticed that he seemed to be blabbering something he shouldn't.

He was quite surprised at himself. What did his mother-in-law do to him that he couldn't lie to her? He remembered the famous military tactician of Ishelon long before Zenia was born. Rumors said that it was a woman with incomparable beauty and grace. She could easily make the enemies succ.u.mb to her without lifting her finger. She could make them talk and spill everything.

Vaughn just realized that the rumors were true. His mother-in-law was that woman, and Ovid Anisen did a good job in hiding the precious beauty. Vaughn knew that many of his mother-in-law's enemies wanted her dead, and they could still be hunting her down. The safest way to protect her was to keep her with him and never show her to the world.

Vaughn had a hunch that it was Ovid who spread the rumor that Renaria eloped with her man and never returned to the military camp. She could be in another kingdom living a simple life. But, how could she return when her husband, the Great Military Advisor of Ishelon, wanted her to stay at home and look after their children?

"What about your brother-in-law? I suggest you think twice before you fabricate a lie."

Vaughn's sweat trickled down his face. He was experiencing something that he never thought he would – he was being interrogated with no room to tell a lie. The worst part was that he felt some kind of unknown force was preventing him from telling a lie.

"Brother-in-law, he…" Vaughn could not say what he wanted to say and tried hard not to let the truth come out.

He looked at Renaria and saw Zenia's face. What if Zenia inherited the malevolent skill of her mother? Could it be the reason behind Ovid Anisen's lack of concubines? Would Zenia disappear forever when she finally learned his true identity? Did Zenia already know the truth about his identity?

Renaria sighed. She could read what Vaughn was thinking just by looking at the different expressions on his face.

"Stop it! I already know what your brother-in-law did. I'm just testing you. I just never thought that you also did the same thing. I was worried that Zenia was not getting any marriage proposals at her age, it turns out you are also obstructing them."

Vaughn fell silent. Renaria wanted to tease the foolish son-in-law a bit more, but she saw that her foolish husband was already walking toward them.

Renaria stood up and whispered, "Zenia doesn't know yet, and she did not inherit my skill. I suggest you start thinking of a way to reveal the truth to her, otherwise you won't be able to meet her again in this life."

She started walking to meet her husband and left the pale-faced Vaughn sweating profusely. Vaughn had never encountered anything like that before. He felt like he just discovered a very important secret of Ishelon and their many victories before. His mother-in-law did not use any weapon, yet he was left totally defeated. On top of it, she showed no sign of helping him in telling Zenia the truth.

The shadow guards saw and heard everything. They too shivered at the thought that Renaria was the woman in the legendary rumor. They looked at Vaughn with pity. The shadow guards wanted to tell Vaughn that it was all his fault for prolonging the lie. He should've told Zenia earlier when he got the chance.

"Why are you smiling after talking with that man?" Renaria knew that Ovid was sulking.

Renaria put her arm around Ovid's arm and whispered, "He's our real son-in-law."

Ovid looked at Renaria in disbelief. "Really?"

Renaria just gave him a slight nod. Ovid smiled and all the gloominess dissipated all at once.

"What happened at your meeting? Did it end already? Why is it so quick?"

"What do you think will happen? I will not let my daughter be bullied. The Left Minister was insisting that the marriage between the Crown Prince and the second wife should take place first."

Renaria stopped walking, "Preposterous! When did it happen that the second wife was the one to marry first? Why is there a second wife anyway?"

Ovid took Renaria's hand and gave her a light pat. "Now dear, it's natural for a prince to have many wives and concubines. It is up to our daughter to discipline them all. This is a political marriage after all. Zenzen can divorce that brat if she's not satisfied. I explicitly told the King that he should grant it without questions when the time comes that our Zenzen asks for it."

They almost reached the exit to the garden when Renaria saw someone being carried out in a stretcher.

"Who's that?"

"The Left Minister."

"What happened to him?"

Ovid gave a slight cough before he answered, "I just gave him a piece of my mind, and I guess it was too much. I asked the others if they also want to have a piece of my mind, and they said no. The meeting ended quickly."

"It's more like a piece of your knuckle." Renaria chuckled and imagined the terror that Ovid inflicted on every man during the meeting.

"The King told me that we should stay for the night, and have dinner later."

"Hmm, we should also prepare some gifts to the Left Minister to apologize."

"What for? He deserved it."

Renaria knocked Ovid's forehead lightly. "We are here to make peace not war. We are still not certain who the enemy really is. For all we know, he could just be using the Left Minister or other officials for that matter. We need to be cautious and avoid creating trouble."

"What kind of gift are you going to give?"

"The Ishelon silk, what else? It's hard to come by, and it's more expensive than their jewels," Renaria grinned.

"Come, they are preparing some refreshments for us."

* * * * *

Mathilda brought the snacks, which Vaughn mentioned in the morning, at Zenia's table. She liked it so much. They were all sweet and flavorful. Zenia was so engrossed in eating her snacks at the dining area when two gentlemen sat near her table.

"Did you find the horse yet?"

"No, but I thought we don't need it anymore."

"I don't think that the master will still look for it. We don't even have any clue about its whereabouts."

The other lowered his voice when he spoke. "There's a horse here that looked like the one they've lost. It has a different color, but I know someone who can turn it as black as midnight."

Zenia became vigilant. If she was not mistaken, the men were talking about Noir that looked exactly like Thunderbolt. Even though Thunderbolt had a chestnut color as of the moment, he still closely resembled Noir. Zenia had a hunch that the man who gave the suggestion also knew the one that Zander had commissioned to change Thunderbolt's color.