Chapter 76 - Uncovering Some Secrets (Part 1)

Zenia remained rooted to her spot when she saw her face veil floated in the air and slowly dropped to the ground. Vaughn and Redivo came running and saw that everyone's eyes were on Zenia. Vaughn noticed the face veil on the ground.

"Go back to work!" Vaughn roared, and all the people quickly ran back to their stations as they turned their heads to peek at Zenia.

Vaughn removed his cloak and put it on top of Zenia's head to cover her face.

"Redivo!"

"Right away, Your Highness." 

Redivo quickly moved out of sight and instructed the elite guards to spread and search for any suspicious character. Zenia knew that the Crown Prince was worried that a spy of the enemy may have seen her face. It would be more difficult to go undercover when they already knew how she looked like.

Vaughn was about to escort Zenia inside the main residence when Thunderbolt suddenly nudged Zenia away from Vaughn.

"Your Highness, let me bring Thunderbolt to your stable first. I need to make him feel at ease with his new surroundings to avoid other problems."

"I will go with you."

Vaughn held Zenia's hand, and she tugged on Thunderbolt's reins to follow them at a safe distance. Vaughn and Zenia's shadows formed an intimate silhouette that would make a young maiden's cheeks blush.

After settling Thunderbolt, Zenia whispered something and the horse went completely at ease. The caretaker of the horses took over and the couple walked hand in hand when they went back to the main residence.

The servants popped their heads from their hiding place and started gossiping.

"Did you see her? She's probably the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen in my entire life." One of the male servants blurted out.

A young female servant snickered, "You've only been to town a few times, what do you know about beauty?"

"No, no, no, she really is a very beautiful woman. Who started the rumor that our Crown Princess is an ugly wench?" Another one voiced out his thoughts.

"Could it be that the Crown Prince switched his wife?"

Everyone looked at the one who made the last comment and began smacking him on the head.

"How can he do that? The Crown Princess' family won't allow that."

They all laughed heartily, and they were glad that their Crown Princess was not someone hideous. They did not notice that a young woman sneakily made her way to the barn. When she got there, she reached out for a pouch from underneath the stack of hay near the storage area. She took out a pen and small paper and started writing a message.

She went out of the barn and took out a whistle from the pouch. She blew the whistle and waited, but nothing happened. She was about to blow the whistle again when Redivo snatched it from her. She immediately placed the piece of paper into her mouth and tried to swallow it.

Redivo pinched her jaw quickly and pried open her mouth. He took out the piece of paper and read it.

"Who do you work for? Is it the Ninth Prince?"

The woman remained quiet and refused to speak.

"Take her to the dungeon and make sure that she won't kill herself," Redivo ordered a guard and walked out of the dungeon.

He trod the path that would lead him to the main residence of the Crown Prince.

* * * * *

When Vaughn and Zenia got back to the main residence, they went to Vaughn's study to discuss the events that happened. Everything seemed chaotic, and it's a good thing that their group could still manage to put everything under control.

Zenia told everything that she discussed with her family, including Zander's plan to infiltrate the enemy camp in a covert operation. Vaughn began to worry that it might affect the ongoing operation of their group.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, Zander brought the elite military men with him. They will go there to gather information and won't do anything that would alert the enemy of their presence."

Vaughn sighed, "I will trust your words this time, but if anything happens to them they might end up in a grave without a tombstone."

"Oh, they always know what to do." Zenia gave Vaughn a reassuring smile and added, "There's one more thing - Concubine Jayda is not the Left Minister's daughter."

Vaughn's eyes widened when he heard it. "How did you know?"

"My mother told me that the Left Minister inadvertently admitted it to her. She has a hunch that the Left Minister is still unaware that he had given her an important piece of information."

"Mother-in-law is really something."

"Yeah, that's why we all fear her. It's difficult to hide something from her. It became more and more difficult for Zeze and me to trick her when we were young. We always need to come up with innovative ways to escape from her."

Vaughn looked at Zenia, who seemed to regret not being able to pull off successful tricks against her mother each and every time. He somewhat guessed that most of Zenia's acquired skills and abilities had sprung from her ingenious ways of escaping her mother. 

He sometimes doubted Zenia's ability to think logically. During the times that they had been together, she seemed to think of ways to trick others or use brute force. Now he was enlightened. 

Among the Anisen siblings, he had always thought that Zekiah was the most sensible. Zander had pure, brute strength and Zenia had always been mischievous. Her ability to analyze things could be due to years of being with Zekiah. She only adopted some of Zekiah's way of thinking but failed to think exactly like him all the time.

"The Left Minister always believed that the best way to subdue his enemy is to use the beauty trap. He got so many women in his estate and we know that he does not give them importance, not even his wife."

"Hmm, it's no wonder he keeps insisting that his niece should join your harem. He wants to plant a spy in your harem."

"I've always known that. It's not the first time that he recommended someone to be my wife or concubine."

"What do you plan to do now?"

Vaughn looked at Zenia and could clearly see that she thought that their marriage was a sort of mission. What should he do to make her understand? He knew he committed some slip ups, which should have given her a sort of hint regarding his  other  identity. 

He made it clear in his letter about his true intentions. How come she seemed not affected at all? Was his existence, as her husband and Crow prince of Tissuria, held insignificant value? What should he do to make her realize? At that moment, he wanted to tell her the truth, but he was also afraid that she might not understand at all. He couldn't bear losing her, but he also knew his mother-in-law gave him sound advice at the time. 

Vaughn held her hands, "Zenia, I'm afraid that…"

Redivo suddenly barged in and reported, "Your Highness, we apprehended a maid that was about to send a message to someone regarding the Crown Princess." Redivo handed the letter to Vaughn.

Zenia looked at the letter and had a hunch that it should be delivered to the Ninth Prince.

"Where is that maid now?"