Her shivering voice created a mysterious resonance in the walls of the giant room, followed by a quick silence for a brief moment. Orlando slowly removed his sword from her neck and turned around. But before he could utter a word, he noticed a dark wide smile curved on Lorelia’s face as if she was relieved with her answer.
“Is that so?” She slowly reached closer to the maid and retained her glorious posture while confronting her, “What do you think is different between them?”
“H-His Grace cares about Milady very much…but I think, Milady is somewhat offended by him.” She clenched the hem of her cotton skirt as she mumbled, keeping her head down. Holding a thumping heart rate, the maid realized that she had already jumped into the hellfire surrounding her.
“Can you give me certain examples that can mention the difference in their relationship?” Lorelia continued her interrogations, keeping a sharp watch on her as if she was trying to scan her gestures through her gaze.
The maid paused for a brief moment and frowned her brows as if she was contemplating something. Soon after she lifted her face up and rolled her gaze before addressing her, “Your Highness, earlier when I was assigned by His Grace to take care of Milady, she seemed very furious at this idea. She even asked us to take her back to her own room but Crown Prince had strictly forbidden us from doing so. And…2 days ago…” Her words suddenly trailed off as her brows furrowed deeper. It seemed as if she became a bit fretful.
“What happened two days ago?” Her sudden halt made Lorelia quite impatient as she asked quickly, narrowing her glare.
“Well…Umm…” The maid wore that conflicted look on her face again as she started scratching the back of her head in confusion. Before her nervousness grew intense, Orlando charged again at her with a fierce scold, “Are you deaf!? Or are you audacious enough to ignore Our Highness’s question?”
“T-That’s not the matter, M-My Lord!” She gulped, getting more confused by his scolding as she tried to explain in a timid voice. “This was supposed to be a secret for now but…I…I am telling you everything. Two days ago, Milady had passed out due to exhaustion and Prince Zordan stayed next to her all the time out of immense concern. But in that period, he…also marked her as his omega with a bite on her neck.”
“What?” Immediately Lorelia almost jolted in surprise as she rolled her mysterious brown eyes, lifting her pitch in shock, “Zordan has…marked Gabriel? That means…was it without her consent?”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness.” She nodded, keeping an aloof look on her small face as she forced herself to speak. “The moment Milady regained her senses back, she asked me for a mirror. And…after watching herself in the mirror, she thrashed it into pieces and looked terribly furious. By that time, His Grace walked into her room and he asked me to leave. But while I was outside, I could hear outraged verbal spat from Lady Gabriel as if she didn’t wish to be marked by him. It was kind of chaotic and confusing.”
“Hah…Hahaha!”
All of a sudden, amidst the vague ambiance surrounding them, Lorelia burst out into a faint peal of laughter, leaving both Orlando and the maid too stunned to speak. She continued chuckling and retained an obscure gaze in her eyes as she spoke, “So…Gabriel is marked now? I didn’t expect things would turn out interesting so soon!”
As she laughed for a while, Orlando stood with a baffled expression whereas the maid grew more anxious with her sudden change of mood. After a brief chuckle, she turned her eyes towards her and coldly commanded, “Alright, then you may leave.”
“Huh?” Both Orlando and the maid flinched at her command as he quickly conversed in a curious voice, “Y-Your Highness? Don’t you have any other interrogations?”
“I have heard what I wanted to, Chief Orlando.” A skeptical smug appeared on her face as she lifted her iced glare on that vulnerable maid before giving a curt warning, “You gave me quite useful information. Until I ask for you again, stay low and keep your sharp watch over them. And as you might already know…whatever happened here today, if a word leaks out from you…then you might lose your granddaughter forever…”
“No! Please…Don’t do any harm to my kid…Your Highness!” The maid shuddered in fear at her declaration and bowed her head on the ground, teary-eyed. “I will do everything you ask for…but please, spare her…”
With a cold smug, Lorelia watched the maid quickly get out of the room, leaving both of them behind. Making a confused face, Orlando turned around and stared still at her as he asked, “Umm, Your Highness, you could have gathered some more information from her. Why did you let her go easily?”
“Because I have finally discovered the clue that I was looking for.” She smirked, turning her gaze outside the windows at the dark night sky as she proclaimed, “Zordan is the culprit. He is the one who murdered Chief Luther.”
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