Chapter 178 - The Next Step (Part 3)

The visit with the Queen went well. Vaughn and Zenia still could not believe that they could get so much information from the Queen. Vaughn partly blamed himself for not seeing the Queen often. If he did, he might have learned all of it before.

The carriage was awfully quiet. Zenia was not used to it. She had no idea what Vaughn was thinking.    

"What do you think…"

"Not now, Zenzen. Let's wait until we reach home."

Vaughn was in deep thought, and Zenia felt like he was somewhere she could not reach. 

'What are you thinking about now?'

She kept looking at him, but he just rubbed his chin with his left hand while he held her hand with his right. He would sometimes squeeze Zenia's hand, but he refused to look at her. He knew that his wife was looking at him.

Zenia could no longer wait for him. She had decided to cut his train of thought.

"Your Highness."

No response.

"Vaughn…"

No response.

"Vaughn Pernell!"

Still, no response.

"Go to Ishelon by yourself!"

"Huh? What did you say?" Vaughn was frowning when he asked Zenia.

"Now I got your attention," she gave her husband a warm smile.

"I told you to wait. I'm thinking of something."

"I might forget it already. Does the left Minister want the throne for himself?"

"I guess. Although, I don't think he's really that interested."

"Why did he wait for so long before making his move?"

"I think he does not have enough funds and manpower before, but now he does. Although, he does not seem to be someone who can easily come up with this kind of plan."

"You mean someone could be using him? Do you want to hear my opinion?" Zenia's eyes sparkled.

Vaughn looked at her and just nodded his head.

"I think we need to consider what Mother has told us earlier – the Left Minister hates King Tarendino. But why does he continue to be on his side until now? What is he waiting for? Is he waiting for a perfect opportunity to execute his plan? What kind of plan?"

Vaughn thought for a while and answered, "Plan for revenge?"

"Revenge…for what? Because the King did not make Concubine Jayda his Queen? Because the Ninth Prince cannot be the Crown Prince? Knowing the Left Minister, would he care about his adopted daughter or his grandson? He treats everyone as a pawn."

Vaughn looked at Zenia and then shifted his gaze on the scenery outside. He held Zenia's hand tighter than before. None of them spoke again.

When they reached the Palace of the Crown Prince, Vaughn got off the carriage hurriedly without letting go of Zenia's hand. He almost dragged her, but she managed to keep up. They met Redivo at the front door of the main residence.

"Redivo, gather all the doc.u.ments and reports that contain information about King Tarendino and his siblings. I want a complete list of the names along with their children and women. Give me the details of what happened at that time. Exactly how King Tarendino acquired the throne. I want a full report on the King's eldest brother and Crown Prince at the time."

"I will gather everything that you need, Your Highness." Redivo bowed and took his leave.

"Are we going to postpone our trip to Ishelon?"

"We won't. I can look at the doc.u.ments later when we return from Prazia. I have a feeling that the King and the Left Minister were not merely in-laws. I need to find out the truth about the Left Minister's biological father and mother before I make my next move."

"Do you suspect something?"

"I do, but I don't want to tell you yet."

"Okay."

Vaughn was glad that Zenia did not insist. He also thought of his grandfather. What would he think? If he could really choose his family, he wouldn't want to be born as a prince. But then again, he had never met Zenia Anisen.

Zenia helped Vaughn to look for something in the library of grandpa's courtyard. Vaughn hoped that his grandfather was able to keep some doc.u.ments or books that could help him with his investigation.   

Ruvin arrived in the afternoon and was told that the Crown Prince and Princess were in the former king's courtyard. He went there and saw the couple. They were busy sorting out the books and some doc.u.ments.

"Greetings, Your Highnesses. What are you two doing here?"

Ruvin saw that Vaughn's mask and Zenia's face veil were neatly placed on the table. He already knew Vaughn's real face, and he was having second thoughts about whether to look at Zenia's face. He knew she was ugly so there was no need to look at her face. But, he was curious.

The couple did not seem to hear him and Ruvin knew that Vaughn let his guard down since Harnen was there at the door. Harnen let Ruvin in without notifying Vaughn and Zenia. Ruvin took the opportunity to look at Zenia's face and tease Vaughn later.

Zenia was sitting on a chair while the doc.u.ment that she was reading was on top of the table. She was busy reading the doc.u.ment, and she knew that Ruvin just entered the room. Since Vaughn paid him no mind, Zenia just continued with what she was doing. Ruvin was chuckling as he inched his way toward Zenia while he kept looking at Vaughn, who stayed focused on the historical book he was reading.

Ruvin sat across Zenia whose head was slightly bowed as she read the doc.u.ment. Ruvin saw her long lashes that fluttered. He noticed her flawless skin and almost perfect nose. Ruvin gulped down his saliva as he kept looking at Zenia, who had enough.

Bang!

Zenia slammed the table.

"Are you done looking? If you are, start working by reading this. Take note of any significant information related to the Royal Family of Tissuria as well as the Left Minister," Zenia threw a compiled doc.u.ment in front of Ruvin.

He looked at the thick doc.u.ment, and then looked at Zenia once more.

"Are you the one that His Highness brought before, the one wearing a disguise?"

"Yes! Stop your chitchat and start working already. I am amazed why the Crown Prince is not firing you yet."

Ruvin frowned, and Vaughn pretended that he could not hear them.

"Tch, tch. We've already spent time together when the Crown Prince was away on important business, and you still treat me this way, although you are somewhat more alive as compared to before. I wonder why you suddenly changed."

Ruvin clicked his tongue and continued to tease Zenia.

"Young sir, hearing you say this makes me believe that nobody told you anything. First of all, we have never been together while the Crown Prince was away – I was with him the whole time. My brother, whom you've already met, was the one posing as me the whole time that you thought that you were together with the Crown Princess. My guess is they did not tell you anything because you complain too much or you find it difficult to understand anything."

"Look here, Crown Princess, I may not…"

"I am not yet finished. You need to listen and listen well. Since they don't want to tell you anything, allow me to explain it to you. We will go together to Ishelon to fetch my brother, who will again pose as me. You two will return here in Tissuria and pose as the Crown Prince and Princess. You are expected to play the role that you are tasked to play and avoid too much interaction outside – that includes sneaking out to play."

"When did I…"

"I know all there is to know about you, soldier. If you are in my unit, I have already put you in a dungeon to reflect. I don't tolerate insubordination nor do I allow dissipation. Did you understand?"

Ruvin instinctively stood up straight and shouted, "Sir, yes, sir."

"At ease! It's good that you understood. Now, carry on the task that I told you to do." Zenia went back to reading as if nothing happened.

Vaughn was smirking and trying hard to hold in his laughter. He had never seen Ruvin behaved so well. Ruvin sat on the chair and began flipping the pages of the doc.u.ment that Zenia gave him.

"S-sir, I can tell that you are someone with a high rank in the military. I don't want to be rude, but could you please tell me your designation."

'You brat, I will make you pay for making my knees shake earlier when I learned that you ranked lower than me.'

Zenia sneered. She could read Ruvin like an open book. She knew exactly what he was thinking.

"If I rank lower than you, what do you plan to do to me?"

Ruvin smirked and thought that he had the upper hand. Vaughn could only sympathize with him. He thought that he caught Zenia off guard because she was just riding her Big Brother's coattails.

"Oh, I wouldn't do anything to you since you're now the Crown Princess." Ruvin was starting to get back to his usual arrogant self.

"Have you ever heard of the Junior Commander of Ishelon's military unit?"

"Yes! In fact, I admire him the most among the soldiers of Ishelon."

"Why is that?"

"Isn't he also the military tactician of Ishelon?"

"You are well-informed. Between you and the Junior Commander, who ranks higher?"

Ruvin was getting annoyed at Zenia's battery of questions, but he still replied.

"Him, of course! I am just a lowly soldier compared to him."

"Are you familiar with the military pendant that each military man of Ishelon wears around his neck?"

"I know that each pendant represents the rank and identification of the owner. It cannot be forged, and the soldiers should always carry their pendant with them wherever they go."

"So you are familiar with it."

Ruvin was getting impatient, "I told you I am familiar with it."

Zenia touched her neck, unfastened her necklace, and gave it to Ruvin.

"See if you can identify this pendant."

Ruvin looked at the pendant carefully and gasped.

"Junior Commander?!" His eyes widened when he asked Zenia.

"I will gladly welcome you to the dungeon, soldier. You need to be disciplined."

Ruvin looked at Vaughn, who only sneered at him.