Chapter 105 - Facing Big Brother Vaughn and the Crown Prince Together

Zenia decided to wear her face veil all the time, even when she was sleeping. Although no one would enter their bedchamber without permission, she must remain vigilant. She still had no idea whether all the people in the villa could be trusted. Even Zekiah thought the same.

"Your Highness, can you please send a message to Big Brother Vaughn that we need to talk about the mission that we discussed before. You may join us if you want." There was a trace of mockery in Zenia's tone, but Vaughn thought he might have heard wrong.

"I will send for him and there's no need for me to get involved. Excuse me I still need some important matters to attend to."

The Crown Prince went out of the room. Zenia took a deep breath and counted.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, t…"

"My cute little brother, you summoned for me?" Vaughn asked teasingly as he entered the room from a window.

"Why don't you use the door? Others might see you and have weird thoughts."

'From where I changed my clothes, it's much faster to go through the window.'

"They won't. All of them are busy."

"Okay then, if you say so. About infiltrating Luna Inn, why don't we do it tonight?"

"Hmm, I was also thinking the same. Tonight is the perfect time to carry out the mission."

"Wait here Big Brother Vaughn. I will look for His Highness." Zenia stood up and was about to walk away when Vaughn caught her hand.

"Let me look for him. Just stay here for a while."

Vaughn went out in the same direction that he came in. Zenia counted once more and then… 

"You wanted to see me? I come here together with Vaughn now."

Standing before Zenia was her Big Brother Vaughn and the masked Crown Prince.

'You think you can outsmart me? You may have read what I was trying to do, but you are a step too late.'

"It is good that Your Highness is here. Let us discuss the plan."

Zenia explained that they should pretend to be clients who came from a faraway kingdom. They would need to present evidence that they could pay the price. A few pieces of gold nuggets would suffice. She explained that these rogue mercenaries were easy to talk with if the client knew how to use the language of money.

The client could make them do anything as long as the price was right. She told Big Brother Vaughn to remain vigilant all the time. She drew a simple layout of Luna Inn. She focused on the area where the clients gathered. She pointed to a small door, which was partly hidden. She believed that it could lead to the secret quarters of the Ninth Prince.

Zenia noticed it when she was looking at the newly arrived clients when she was there the last time. She just thought that it looked like a door but did not bother investigating it. When Elida mentioned about Damien's secret quarters, she suddenly thought of the inconspicuous door.    

"Your Highness," Zenia looked at Big Brother Vaughn and continued, "You need to sacrifice some nuggets to convince them that we are legit clients. One or two nuggets should be enough as a downpayment."

"We can do that. I will prepare it right away," Big Brother Vaughn replied nonchalantly.

The stand-in Crown Prince was sweating a lot when he heard Vaughn answered back. He looked at Zenia who did not seem to notice that it was  Big Brother Vaughn  who answered. Zenia tried her best to suppress her anger, sadness, and some foreign emotions that were new to her. She did her best not to alert them. Vaughn was still oblivious of the blunder that he made.

Ruvin was nowhere in sight when Vaughn returned to his private quarters. He was thinking of changing back into the Crown Prince or have Ruvin act as Crown Prince. He had a hunch that Zenia might be trying to uncover something. He decided to reveal Zenia's true identity to Ruvin. Unfortunately, Ruvin was not there.

The one who had to pose as the Crown Prince was Harnen. He got almost the same built as Vaughn, although he was slightly shorter than Vaughn. It was an emergency and Harnen was Vaughn's only hope.  

Harnen decided that it was best to shut his mouth and never mention it to Vaughn unless he realized later that he made a mistake. Harnen looked at Zenia once more and saw that the Crown Princess seemed not to notice anything. She was the same as before. Harnen sighed and hoped that she wouldn't realize it.

"Just let me do the talking and follow my lead."

Vaughn nodded and replied, "Let's do it according to your plan."

"So, everything is settled. We will meet tonight at the stable."

"Yes."

* * * * *

"Report!" Damien shouted when he reached his study.

It had been more than a day since Vaughn and Zenia left the capital. They should be staying in the villa.

"Ninth Prince, all activities are normal. The Crown Prince and Princess must have been tired from the trip. The Crown Princess usually stays in the bedroom. The Crown Prince is directing some men about the renovation of the villa."

"Continue monitoring them. Make sure that the spies we planted in the villa remain loyal to us. What about Vaughn's palace?"

"No one is allowed to enter the main residence. Redivo receives reports and guests in the old courtyard of the former King. They locked the entire main residence and ten men are guarding it."

"Humph, let's see if they can stop the Royal Decree from the King. Where do they plan to place Verone when she comes?"

* * * * *

Vaughn had gathered Thunderbolt and Quicksilver from the stable. Thunderbolt seemed to protest at first but allowed Vaughn to tug his reign later on. Vaughn left Ruvin in the study and told him to act natural. He should go to their bedchamber when he felt sleepy.

Zenia was dressed as a man but did not put any disguise for her face. Vaughn looked at her and still thought that she was lovely. Although she was not endowed with a rich bosom and only needed a thin layer of body wrap to hide her peaks, she still looked like a girl even though she was in a man's clothing. 

Zenia took out a black cloth and covered the lower part of her face with it. She tied it behind her head to keep it secured. She already recognized Vaughn's partly hidden figure from a distance.  

"You're late!" Vaughn blurted out teasingly.

"We did not agree on the time."

"But still, you're late." 

Zenia threw a black cloth to Vaughn, "Cover your lower face with that. The clients that go there usually wear that to hide their identity." 

Vaughn followed Zenia and copied what Zenia she did to her face. Silence enveloped them, and Vaughn was puzzled by Zenia's behavior. It seemed like she was keeping her distance from him. He did not mind it and thought she was still tired. She just couldn't pass on the chance to get the mission done.

In a matter of time, Vaughn's men had able to detect the spies that the Ninth Prince had placed in the villa. Zenia took Thunderbolt's reign from Vaughn and immediately jumped on her horse's back. Everyone was told that they could take an early rest, and everyone did. No one detected their departure.

Under the dimly lit moon, two figures on their horses made their way to Lunaria. Vaughn was surprised that Thunderbolt could keep up with Quicksilver. The real color of Thunderbolt began to show – it was as black as night. 

'How many times did she ride her horse on a night like this? Did she try to go undercover before?'

The speed of both horses was on par with each other. Vaughn could not believe that he would see a horse as fast as Quicksilver. But, she said that Thunderbolt was faster than Quicksilver. From the looks of it, his silver steed seemed to be faster than Thunderbolt. Vaughn smirked and did not try to go faster than their current speed.

Zenia went slower when they reached the slippery area. She signaled Vaugh to do the same. Vaughn just nodded his head. He was perplexed at Zenia's refusal to talk. There was only silence between them. He would have been suffocated by the deafening silence if the hooves of the horses were not making different noises.

They soon reached a clearing and saw the brightly lit inn from a distance. There was a bonfire outside of the inn and there seemed to be some men drinking. Vaughn hesitated and worried for Zenia's safety. He held Zenia by her arm, but she jerked and nudged Thunderbolt to go forward slowly. Vaughn only shook his head. He was certain that Zenia was mad at him but why?