I settle into one of the upholstered chairs facing the imposing high-backed seat with carved arms where the queen rests, her feet propped on a footstool with a golden cushion. She's looking at me with a smile, so she can't be upset. Well, I know she had given us her blessing, but for a moment I was worried.

"I wanted to thank you. You've taken very good care of my sons, especially Vincent, whom you've even helped rise so high in the rankings. You've done excellent work."

Is that it? Does she think I boosted her son on purpose? I just wanted to spend time with him.

But I guess it works in my favor.

"I didn't do it alone, our friend Ronan Velbrun was crucial in clearing that dungeon."

"Yes, I'm aware," she stops smiling and looks at me more seriously. "I'm also aware that he's a brilliant student with high affinity for darkness and unprecedented talent for necromancy. Crown investigator Duskmere has gone from suspecting his involvement in possible assassination attempts on my sons to singing his praises. In his opinion, he's a brilliant student whose motivations he misunderstood, and he'll be a great asset to the kingdom in the future—especially if he agrees to be his assistant after graduation and work for him."

What?

I'm speechless. Ronan, one of the possible final bosses of the otome game, as a crown investigator?

I don't know why, but an image pops into my mind: Bob, Joe, and Tom wearing Sherlock Holmes hats and pipes, while Ronan still sports his yeti skull helmet and Myrthaxya flies over the city like one of those advertising planes, dragging a huge banner that reads: "For criminals, there's no rest even in death." And lots of skeletons and zombies with heavy ball-and-chain shackles on their ankles, forced to do road work.

I suppress the urge to shake my head. I'm in the presence of the queen.

"I'm glad to hear it," I tell her once I manage to compose myself. "When the divine beast emissary said that about the enemy being darkness, many of the nobles looked at Ronan as if they thought it might be him."

"Don't worry, we're not going to allow an innocent person to be arrested. Besides, if Ronan Velbrun were the next demon king, the divine beast emissary would have detected him. That's why he came here, since this event brings together the kingdom's most promising students and their immediate families. If one of them were the demon king, being in his presence, the emissary would have realized it."

I nod.

I think I know what was wrong with the pup. Somehow, he must have known or sensed this, and that's why he hasn't wanted to leave my room. When he reaches level 20, the other divine beasts will sense him and come hunting. For now, they'd practically have to stumble upon him to notice. It seems that an emissary of a divine beast also has that power to see beyond the mask that makes others think he's just a simple puppy.

The queen must misinterpret my silence because she smiles again, in a maternal way, and tells me:

"Regarding the other matter we discussed when you came to the palace, I'm pleased to see how your friendship with my dear son is evolving. I've already spoken with him and he's told me about your engagement, as well as asked for help compensating your former fiancé. As I said, I prioritize my children's happiness. I don't care that your parents are counts instead of dukes or marquises. A mother's intuition is rarely wrong, and I know you'll be a wonderful wife."

Okay, this is what I wanted to avoid. I'm completely tongue-tied. If responding to a future mother-in-law would already be hard on Earth, imagine when she's also royalty.

"You honor me, Your Majesty."

"I hope to have good news soon. You don't need to be so formal with me in private, after all, you're going to be like a daughter to me soon."

"Thank you very much, Your Maj..."

"Call me Eleanor."

So I stay a bit longer chatting with her, mainly about Vincent. She's interested in how the dungeon went, tells me he's leveled up thanks to us, and above all, I can see she likes how I talk about him. I guess my infatuation shows. I suppose when he talks to his mother privately, it shows in him too.

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Mary.

Mary had been upset almost the entire dinner, and it wasn't an emotion she was used to. The two horrible parents who had kept poor Ronan locked up since childhood in the basement, practically starving him to death, were sitting near her. She couldn't help but stare at them. She didn't care if it was rude or that they were nobles and she was a commoner. It was a miracle that Ronan had been able to survive and become such a beautiful person—attentive and considerate instead of the heartless monsters his parents seemed to be.

Furthermore, when that divine beast emissary arrived, it seemed like he was accusing her friend with that talk about darkness being the enemy. Because when she looked at Ronan, she could see his vibrant dark aura. Maybe it was because, being a necromancer, he always had active mana due to his undead. Either way, she wasn't going to allow anyone to lock up her friend again. Whether it was his parents, Duskmere, some army commander, or some confused mob.

That's why, as soon as dinner ended and the attendees left the hall, she told her parents she needed to talk to someone and asked them to wait for her in one of the rooms set up for that purpose, with refreshments, armchairs, and settees. She knew that the discomfort they felt from leaving their home to attend an event that was socially above them would increase by separating from her, but she wasn't going to let this chance to confront the Velbrun barons slip away.

She found them walking through the gardens, and Ronan wasn't with them. She felt relief, since it wasn't a conversation she wanted to have with her friend present, and the excuses she'd thought up to get him away seemed rather weak.

"Baron and Baroness Velbrun, I wanted to speak with you."

"You? How dare you?" the baron snorted with disdain, looking deeply offended. "A mere commoner, and you've been staring at us all dinner. And now you expect us to grant you an audience?"

Mary was patient, though it was difficult—and that wasn't normal for her.

"It's about your son. We're friends."

The baron was about to say something, but his wife, with more tact, placed her hand on his arm as if to indicate he should wait, and she answered with a smile that was obviously fake.

"Is something wrong with our dear son? We're very proud of him, and of the achievements he's made this first quarter."

"What's wrong is that you've had him locked in a basement for his entire childhood and adolescence."

The baron's eyes blazed with indignation; however, his wife tightened her grip on his arm and, without giving him time to intervene, continued talking. Her voice sounded strained, as if she were remembering something painful and delicate.

"It was terrible having to do it, we suffered more than he did. But because of his high affinity, it was necessary both for his safety and ours. His malignant impulses could have led him to either hurt himself or harm someone else."

"And that's why you barely fed him?"

The baroness let out a strangled moan, as if she were horrified.

"But who told you that? Him?"

"He let it slip out."

"That's a lie. He's a great manipulator, you have to be careful. A girl like you, with high affinity for light, so good and innocent... I don't want to turn you against my son, but you're the perfect victim for his machinations. I..." The baroness burst into tears. "Raising him has been so hard. When I tried to hug him, he—my little one—would attack me; he also tried to turn his tutors against us..." She sobbed harder and brought one hand to her chest while searching for a handkerchief with the other to wipe her eyes.

Mary felt confused. She knew Ronan wasn't manipulating her, but the baroness was crying. Maybe she had judged them too harshly?

The woman's initial smile had been forced, but she was crying. Mary only cried when she was heartbroken, when something truly hurt her soul.

Could it be possible that her friend's mind, when he was a small child, had exaggerated the situation, creating a more traumatic memory than it really was?

"Actually, if you're his friend, I'd like, as a mother, to ask for your help. He barely speaks to us, and he's told us he's not interested in participating or winning in the third-year games, that we should leave him alone. And he, to build a great future for himself, should participate and ensure that our barony grows in lands, or perhaps earn a title of higher nobility. I know you don't understand, but this is important for him. If he dismisses it out of resentment toward us, continuing to punish us, he's only hurting his own future."

Mary took a deep breath. She didn't feel capable of determining if the baroness was lying to her, but her husband didn't hide the disdain Mary produced in him, nor that spark of greed in his eyes when he heard about the games.

Since she didn't know what to do, she focused on her heart, on what she knew about Ronan, on how sweet and kind he was with her and how he had always helped her.

Besides, leaving him alone, locked up, without windows, without food... Ronan always told the truth. Without exaggerating. And what they had done to him was something she was going to have trouble forgiving.

"No. If your son doesn't want to, he'll have his reasons. And what you did was horrible: nothing justifies it. Furthermore, I seriously doubt Ronan was violent. If he wanted to hurt himself, or someone else, with his power he would have done it by now."

"But how can you say such a thing," the baroness seemed horrified and cried again, making Mary feel more uncomfortable.

But Mary knew that her heart and her intuition were right. Here, Ronan was the victim and his parents were the abusers.

"If you'll excuse me, that's all I wanted to discuss with you."

The young woman began to turn around, and the baron grabbed her arm while raising his voice.

"How dare you!"

Just then Vincent happened to be passing by and went pale.

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