Trust is an incredibly rare luxury.
For Cecilia, born into the Royal Family and having witnessed countless disputes caused by “whether to trust or not,” this was even more true.
A few days ago, rumors spread throughout the city—unreasonable accusations directed at Rita—were essentially a Trust Crisis aimed at the fourth princess herself.
If Rita had performed well during the first two days of the examination, these rumors would have collapsed on their own.
Yet the opposition seized this very point, forcibly linking Rita to themselves, which made the rumors so effective.
However, those lurking in the shadows made three critical mistakes.
First, they didn’t need rumors—Rita was already linked to them.
This allowed Cecilia to instead devise a plan to counterattack.
Second, Rita was far from weak; that was why she managed to win the final match.
This gave Cecilia the confidence to break the rumors so forcefully and declare war on the shadowy forces behind them.
Finally, and most importantly, although the rumors seemed to circulate among commoners, the person who knew each of Rita’s opponents, witnessed the match outcomes firsthand, and used them as a pretext must have been someone involved in the examination.
Moreover, this person’s information was incomplete.
If the enemy had known Rita had directly defeated a candidate at the city lord’s mansion, they would never have dared to use such a reckless plan.
The very first day Cecilia arrived in Solus City, an assassination attempt was planned—by someone connected to the examination but ignorant of the city lord’s mansion’s intelligence.
That name was already beginning to take shape in her mind.
But Cecilia had no proof.
On the other hand, Rita, this mysterious and illogical girl, was extremely intriguing.
Though admittedly not very clever.
The most suspicious person turned out to be the very one who had saved her from the biggest crisis so far.
Later, she must share the joy with her and reward her properly.
Even though Cecilia didn’t trust Rita much, clear rewards and punishments were the correct approach.
Besides, money alone couldn’t bind Rita.
As time passed, Cecilia summoned a maid.
“Go to Rita’s room and tell her to come to mine. I have something to discuss with her.”
“Your Highness, Rita left the city lord’s mansion a little while ago,” the maid replied respectfully.
That made sense.
The first round of the examination had finally ended. Rita’s sword had broken halfway through today’s test—she must have gone out to update her equipment, eat something, or relax.
“Tell her to come see me as soon as she returns, provided I’m still awake.”
Cecilia reviewed her schedule alone in her room, ate dinner, and rested briefly on the bed, but Rita showed no sign of returning.
Something was wrong! Why hadn’t she come back after all this time?
Had she run away?!
Rita had unintentionally revealed her desire to escape more than once.
That night when she accidentally broke into Cecilia’s room might have been a clumsy attempt to run away.
But Cecilia didn’t want to dwell on it.
Exposing it now wouldn’t help control Rita, so she pretended not to have noticed.
The first round was over, and everyone was relieved… What a perfect opportunity to run!
Cecilia calmed herself and summoned the maid again.
“Has anyone seen Rita?”
“Your Highness, please wait a moment. I will send someone to inquire immediately.”
Cecilia didn’t have much hope, but soon the maid’s message returned.
“Early evening, Lady Rita left the city lord’s mansion wearing a cloak. Patrol soldiers say she probably headed toward the black market.”
Cecilia knew what the black market was—a chaotic place, but one where rare treasures difficult to obtain through official channels could be found.
For example, much of the Holy Knight Examination Certificate was traded on the black market.
Rita had taken a large sum of money—maybe she wanted to buy something there.
That was reasonable.
“Later, someone matching her description came out from a street corner, accompanied by a burly man, but the soldiers couldn’t see clearly.”
A man…
Looking at Rita, she didn’t seem the type to like men.
Back to her old ways? Under coercion?
No, better not speculate wildly.
Perhaps it was just a trading partner in the black market.
“Later still, someone said they saw Lady Rita at the Corner Tavern, drinking with others.”
Went drinking again?
Maybe the idea of her running away was just a misunderstanding, but between the black market and the tavern, Rita’s private life was really questionable.
Fortunately, Rita didn’t have a chaotic social circle.
“Finally, someone clearly saw Lady Rita walk alone into a… Citrus-flavored Brothel.”
“Cough…”
Cecilia almost choked on her drink, coughing.
She had thought Rita became a courtesan out of necessity, but apparently, she was one to fully commit to whatever she did!
“Your Highness, are you alright?” the maid gasped.
Cecilia covered her mouth with the Handkerchief on the table, wiping away the droplets at her lips, and waved the maid off.
After a moment, Cecilia set down the tightly clenched Handkerchief.
“No matter what time, as soon as Rita returns, have her come see me immediately!”
“Go see the princess? No matter how late? Did she really say that?”
Rita glanced outside at the pitch-black night and confirmed with the maid repeatedly.
“Yes, Your Highness said so. You’d better hurry.”
Faced with someone as easygoing and approachable as Rita, the maid felt less pressure and lowered her voice to warn, “Be careful, Your Highness might not be very pleased.”
“How can you tell she’s not pleased?” Rita’s heart skipped a beat, but she was more curious about how the maid could read that expression on Cecilia’s face.
“Don’t ask! Just hurry, or you’ll regret making the princess wait!” The maid didn’t dare reveal the full story to Rita, but gave this reminder out of goodwill since Rita was easy to get along with.
Seeing the maid unwilling to say more, Rita didn’t press.
She tidied her clothes and went straight to Cecilia’s door.
She knocked, received a reply, entered, closed the door—the same routine every time she visited.
At this hour, Cecilia really wasn’t asleep?
“You’re back?” Cecilia looked at Rita like a teacher catching a student sneaking off to an internet café. “Where did you go?”
“I wandered around the city, then went to the Tavern with Momoka, Johnson, Albert, and Promy,” Rita answered.
At the mention of those names, the tension in Cecilia’s brows relaxed noticeably.
“I see. Did you have fun?”
Phew, she got through it.
Those honor students’ names really came in handy.
Then Cecilia’s next sentence made Rita’s heart drop halfway to her feet.
“The brothel—was it fun?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.