Chapter 94 - Dreaming Princess

“It’s a business secret,” replied Xyle.

“Wow. You just said that you found out about another person’s secret and don’t seem to care at all. Especially in front of that person?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s my job. Isn’t that why you’re here? This is the final destination of all secrets,” retorted Xyle.

Ella laughed and smiled brightly. The good part about Xylem was that he knew the rest of the details even when he was only told of a small portion. Then she said, “Yes. At least, anything discussed here won’t get spilled elsewhere.”

“Do we have more things to hide?” asked Cladis, reminding himself about the promise they made last night. There were few things in his mind, but it didn’t seem that secrecy was as important.

“Can you lend me your people while you’re at the Academy, Your Highness?” asked Ella.

“What?” questioned Cladis.

“I need Sir Narwin. It would be great if you could send Sir Histeen along the way as well.”

Cladis and Xyle were astonished by Ella’s bold request. They needed some time to understand what the words they heard actually meant. Then, the Crown Prince asked, “How do you know them? Does the Marquis know? Wait, did you tell her, Tower Master?”

Cladis turned to Xyle aggressively. Xyle then clicked his tongue, seeming annoyed by his expression, and turned to Ella. He never imagined she would mention their names.

Narwin and Histeen were secret weapons given to the Crown Prince. On the outside, Cladis seemed to be aided by Ethan and his other friends at the Academy. His actual aides, however, were the two of them and Dallas.

They were secret weapons of the imperial family that no one knew. It seemed Ella had learned about them from the books. But there was no way she would know about their existence otherwise, which was the problem.

‘‘Is this revenge for what I said to the Crown Prince a while ago? By a lot, she got back at me then,’ thought Xyle as he made a long sigh, then spoke, “I apologize, but it has to be done. I hope you understand.”

“Tower Master!” shouted Cladis in protest.

“Your Highness, please don’t blame him. It’s not his fault. I needed to know. I can’t ask my family for this,” explained Ella.

‘She can’t ask her family…,’ Cladis disappointedly laughed at Ella’s determined expression. His heart raced so much yesterday when he didn’t know what she had been thinking.

“Right. I guess the Marquis will never agree to you giving up on the position of crown princess. But don’t you think it’s too cruel to use my own people in your effort to leave me? You said you would give me a chance!” Cladis’s eyes even went teary as he was hurt.

‘What? Why is he reacting like that?’

She became speechless as she didn’t expect him to react in such a way. Ella realized what he had been thinking only after a while. She almost wanted to applaud him for his amazing imagination. But it was understandable that Cladis thought of that because he didn’t know about her other concerns.

‘But still, why cry? He’s like a baby.’

Ella brought her hand up and lightly hit Cladis’s forehead. With a sound of a slap, he became so surprised that a tear dropped from his eye. Then she said, “What were you thinking? Who said I was going to use them to end the engagement? I just said I’ll be using them. But I will never use them for my private matters, so don’t worry.”

Cladis looked at Ella with dumbstruck as he rubbed his forehead. He just blanked out, not understanding what she had just said, then realized her words and began to smile foolishly. The chance that Ella gave him was still intact.

Ella almost sighed at such a sight but held back. Even if she only saw him as a teenage boy, he was still the crown prince of this country. She wasn’t alone with him, so what she did wasn’t appropriate. It was a mistake.