Luck is a Charm

Zen knew to figure out whether the current empress is real or fake by investigating what happened in those 9 years.

However, that is a difficult task since he wasn't even in this world 9 years ago and he doesn't know who else he can trust.

'Krista knew about this all along but hasn't informed me one bit. This woman, she's getting more and more tricky to deal with.' Zen sighed inwardly when he was played like a fool.

There was no way Krista Dragoon would not know anything about this if even a lowly imperial guard like Curtis and Dorian was able to hear rumors about it.

"Cecilia, how much time has passed in the real world?" Zen decided to leave this mysterious space and investigate it later. 

Since 9 years have already passed, there was not much difference in waiting a bit longer to find the truth out.

Meanwhile, Cecilia didn't show herself and merely told Zen from afar. "3 minutes have passed in the outside world as of this moment."

Zen smiled brightly at how amazing this mysterious space is. Time has passed for a long time here but for the outside world, only 3 minutes have passed. Such is the prowess of time manipulation.

Curtis and Dorian were dumbfounded though as they never heard of someone capable of manipulating time.

'He can control the time, then what can he not do?' Curtis sighed inwardly and cursed himself for poking a hornet nest.

A hornet's nest that made him lose everything in one day. Dorian was the same as he wanted to curse his terrible luck to have his shift this time.

"You two!" Zen exclaimed loudly as he pointed his finger at them.

Curtis and Dorian hurriedly knelt down as they acted like a dog waiting for an order.

Zen chuckled softly at their good behavior. "Good, for now, you two will resume your duties as an imperial guard while investigating secretly for me what happened during those 9 years in the Jade Kingdom."

And he continued, "The next minute, we will leave this mysterious space and reappear back in the entrance and you shall put up an act with me at that time."

Curtis and Dorian didn't dare to refuse any order as they nodded their heads.

Afterward, Zen informed him of their roles and what they needed to do. Their role is to act like they have made a mistake and apologize to Zen while telling the crowd that it was all a misunderstanding.

Although it might seem a bit far-fetched and even suspicious, the crowd could care less about this explanation since it wasn't related to them at any point.

"Do you understand what to do with your role?" 

Zen asked again, making sure they weren't just nodding their heads since it was a one-take action and if they messed up the act then it would have alerted the empress who he didn't know if it's the real empress or a fake one.

"We understand, master." Curtis and Dorian shouted in unison.

"Good, now let's not waste any time," Zen said and signaled Cecilia to bring them outside.

Cecilia controls the mysterious space as she casts them outside.

Whoosh!

Zen, Curtis, and Dorian reappear back to the outside world where they are still being surrounded by the essence flame, BloodJade Flame.

Zen snapped his finger and the BloodJade Flame slowly dissipated back into his core and the crowd's views were no longer obstructed.

"Hey, look, they finally finished fighting."

"Wait, did they even fight? How come there are no injuries in their body?"

The crowd who were minding their own business suddenly turned their head around to look at the current situation at the entrance and were dumbfounded.

There were no injuries on either side, causing the crowd to ponder if they even fought.

Zen chuckled softly as the torture method he used on Curtis and Dorian does not reveal any injuries on the surface as they feel the pain inside their body. 

Thus, the crowd had no idea what Curtis and Dorian had gone through. 3 minutes may have passed in the real world but it has been a long time in the mysterious space where they have felt like hell.

Zen glances at Curtis and Dorian to signal them to begin acting.

Curtis and Dorian nodded their heads as they quickly guided Zen to the entrance and shouted to the crowd, "We have mistaken this kind gentleman for someone else and almost offended him. Luckily, we managed to clarify things once we were surrounded in the flame created by this young man as he showed evidence of his identity."

Zen stepped in at this time and said, "The imperial guards were simply doing their duty as they wanted to ensure the safety of the Jade Kingdom. Therefore, I have already forgiven their action and that everything is a misunderstanding."

The crowd nodded their heads in understanding before someone else raised their hand and asked.

"Then what about Princess Krista Dragoon and Princess Leila Dragoon that were with you?"

Zen twitched his mouth slightly and cursed at this person for having such a good memory. 

However, he wasn't going to ruin the act simply because of him as he said, "This person here has clearly mistaken himself. Why would the princesses in this kingdom walk outside without any guards beside them?"

The person wanted to argue but was rendered speechless as Zen's words made perfect sense.

Curtis intervened and said, "We have seen the princesses before and when we went to confront this gentleman and those ladies, they weren't the princess and just someone with a beautiful appearance."

Zen secretly gives Curtis a thumbs up for being smart enough to back him up. 

The person became embarrassed as he realized his mistake as he laughed awkwardly, "Haha, seems like my eyes need to be fixed since I mistook the women as a princess."

Afterward, he excused himself and left the scene with the crowd slowly walking away since there was nothing else to see.

Meanwhile, Zen started heading toward the Palace Moon Restaurant after reminding them to investigate and meet up with him when he calls for them.