Roy had also been the one to see through and dispel the magic item disguised as Ronald. He had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of any and all kinds of magic, new and old, and all of his pay went to the bookstores in the capital that dealt in technical books. He was downright obsessed with magic, and because of that, it was rare for people to realize he was the son of an influential margrave.
Incidentally, he was also Cesia’s magic teacher. Cesia was oddly knowledgeable about high-class magic because it was one of his interests. In teaching her how to apply her exceptional skill in finely adjusting her magic output, he had proved that it was possible for someone without particularly high amounts of magic energy to master high-class spells, and he had even written a paper on it.
Roy held his hands out over the teapot, and soon, gold particles gathered around the handle, finally coalescing into the handprint of the person who had touched it last. When he transposed it over a preprepared image of Juliette’s handprint, the two prints perfectly matched.
“Roy,” Layne said.
Roy nodded. “It corresponds exactly with Princess Juliette’s handprint. She was the last person to hold the teapot!” he declared.
The atmosphere in the room turned tense, and Mavis covered her mouth with her hands.
Felix frowned. “But this only demonstrates that it wasn’t Cesia but Princess Juliette who touched the teapot last. Isn’t it a bit too flimsy to prove Cesia’s innocence?”
“Idiot, think about it for a second. All we wanted to prove with this was that Cesia wasn’t lying,” Keith said in a serious voice. He looked frighteningly gloomy. He always maintained an aloof attitude, even in a crisis, so this was a rare sight.
“Then, this means…” Felix said, looking anxiously at Mavis.
Mavis looked pale, still covering her mouth with her hands. Still, with lips trembling in despair, she unfalteringly said, “With this, it’s clear who was lying.” When Mavis had given the teapot to Marcus, she had already prepared herself for the worst. Her eyes were wet with tears, but she resisted the urge to cry.
Marcus was unable to find the right words, so Layne spoke first. “If Princess Juliette purposefully dropped the pot, then Cesia did nothing wrong. But one other person there provided testimony to back up the princess’s statement…”
“Anita. My head maid…” Mavis said. Unable to bear it, a single tear fell to the floor.
Marcus wordlessly pulled Mavis close, and she quietly sobbed. She didn’t know what Marcus and the Second Division were after or that Juliette was the mastermind behind the ring of kidnappers that had orchestrated her abduction, either. However, she knew enough to know that Anita had framed Cesia, and she felt incredibly sad.
After a while, Mavis stopped crying. Turning to look at everyone around her, she said, “Please, let everyone know the truth. I know it’ll save Anita.”
Layne frowned, but Marcus nodded. Chris led Mavis to a couch in the corner of the room and made her some hot tea. Then, sitting around a table they normally used for meetings a short distance away, the members of the Second Division again faced each other.
“If Anita… If she’s the princess’s head maid, then she would be privy to a decent amount of information,” Roy muttered glumly. He had never had any direct interaction with Anita, but as one of Cesia’s teachers, he felt a one-sided sense of closeness with her because she had given Cesia lessons on how to behave like a lady.
“But what’s in it for her to leak information to a Gwylltian princess?” Felix asked. Everyone else was puzzled, too.
When searching for the spy, they had limited their possible candidates to those who would benefit from passing information to either Gwyllt or powerful figures within Emeroade. Anita’s position might have made her a suitable spy, but they didn’t know her motive.
“Regardless, what will we do next?” Keith asked.
Layne looked at Marcus. “Should we secretly capture Anita and hear what she has to say?” he asked.
Felix and Roy went pale at Layne’s suggestion. At a time like this, “hear what she has to say” meant submitting her to torture. Layne was unperturbed. He was an ex-mercenary who was fiercely loyal to Marcus, and he was willing to do anything for the prince.
Marcus shook his head. “If Juliette notices that we’ve figured out that Anita is the spy, she’ll promptly return to Gwyllt. She’s in Emeroade as a representative of the king, but as a member of a foreign delegation, she’s brought diplomats along with her. If she says that she isn’t feeling well or anything else, really, we’ll have no way to keep her here.”
Their only chance to capture Juliette would be while she was still in Emeroade. If she fled the country, arresting her would be nearly impossible. It would be just like it had been with the leaders of the criminal organizations that had escaped in the past, except this time, she was a princess of a foreign country.
“Then, Your Royal Highness, what should we do?” Felix asked, frustrated.
In contrast to him, Marcus looked hopeful. “Juliette is prepared for any eventuality and never lets down her guard. I can’t imagine that she’s brought anything on her visit to Emeroade that might connect her to a criminal organization.”
The members of the Second Division nodded as understanding dawned on their faces.
“However,” Marcus continued, “what about Anita? She’s been in Emeroade the entire time.”
With a start, everyone lifted their heads.
“Furthermore, she’s been searching for and leaking information on our movements to criminal organizations. I won’t let any of you tell me that you can’t find some evidence on her,” Marcus said clearly.
Everyone bowed their heads and, in unison, said, “Your wish is my command.”