The stone tiles on the floor of the guest hall emitted a cold, white light.
Lavia stood at Harvey’s side, her palms freezing to the touch.
The ice element was covering her entire body.
A single thought from her would be enough to cause a torrent of dense magical energy to pour forth.
That was exactly why both maids were on high alert.
The magical artifacts on their wrists were resisting the erosion of the ice element, while they also guarded against any sudden move from Lavia.
Even though everyone present knew that Lavia could not truly release magic to attack a princess of the kingdom, they dared not gamble.
Their master was a princess of the royal family.
Regardless of who provoked this conflict, they had to protect the princess at the cost of their own lives, even if that meant facing a mage.
The princess did not feel the pressure radiating from Lavia.
She stared fixedly at Lavia’s face, trying to discern a hint of joking or a bluff from her expression.
“Good… very good.”
She gripped the skirt of her dress tightly beneath her.
“The eldest miss of the Astarea family is indeed different from the rest.”
The words sounded like praise, but anyone who wasn’t deaf could hear the malice behind them.
Lavia’s expression did not change at all.
She replied coldly, “Your Highness is too kind.”
The princess’s chest heaved with rage at Lavia’s composed demeanor, yet she could not inflict any punishment upon this person.
She had been sent to the academy against her will.
Within the royal palace, she, with her bloated figure and biting tone, was never liked by anyone.
Even with the identity of a royal princess, she held no value in the eyes of these powerful nobles.
Everyone dared to defy her behind her father’s back, and dared to denigrate her both openly and in secret.
All of this was because…
If, if only she could be like Lavia.
No sooner did this thought arise than the princess bit her lip hard to snap herself back to reality.
She looked at Lavia and said viciously, “It doesn’t matter if you refuse to speak.”
“I will eventually find out exactly who he is.”
Having said this, she cast one more glance at Harvey, her eyes filled with the resentment and reluctance of someone who had been deeply offended.
Harvey felt a chill run down his spine under her gaze.
The princess flicked her sleeve and turned to walk out of the mansion with a cold face.
The two maids behind her followed closely, withdrawing the faint halos of light from their wrists, yet they still stole a wary glance at Lavia before leaving, as if guarding against a sudden strike.
Not until the figures of the group had completely vanished from the guest hall did that tense atmosphere finally begin to dissipate.
However, no one felt relieved because of it.
Lavia was still holding his hand.
Harvey knew that this kind of contact between him and the eldest miss was unreasonable, but he didn’t dare pull away.
He also had no idea what to say in such a moment.
A moment later, it was Evelyn who spoke up to remind them.
“Eldest Miss, they have already left.”
Lavia did not respond.
Evelyn had no choice but to continue, “Do you need to prepare for this morning’s lessons?”
After these words, Lavia finally seemed to come back to her senses.
She lowered her eyes, swept her gaze across Harvey’s face, and then naturally released his hand.
Was she letting him go?
Harvey was somewhat surprised.
If not for the lingering, distinct coldness on his palm, he would have almost thought the soft touch left behind was merely his imagination.
Lavia brushed her cuff.
“Go back.”
She only said two words.
Yet, for some reason, Harvey felt a chill down his back.
Compared to the Lavia who had been sharp with the princess in the guest hall just now, she was even more unsettling now.
At least then, her anger was out in the open.
But now, she was terrifyingly quiet.
The three of them walked to the second floor together.
Evelyn followed at the side, looking at Lavia in front.
What the eldest miss had done just now was far too obvious.
So obvious that even she was a little surprised.
Thinking of this, Evelyn couldn’t help but frown slightly.
When Lavia finally walked into her bedroom, Evelyn stopped at the door, intentionally giving them space, though she did not retreat completely.
Lavia sat with a straight posture, gazing at Harvey before her.
The atmosphere was slightly heavy.
“Tell me.”
“How did you come to know her?”
Harvey began to explain, “Yesterday, right after you and the others left, this miss… this princess arrived at the mansion.”
Lavia did not interrupt, simply watching him.
Feeling his heart tighten under that cold stare, he had to continue.
“She arrived with those two maids and asked which attendant officer I belonged to. Before I could even explain, she assumed I was a servant of the house and ordered me to prepare dinner.”
Harvey subconsciously omitted the fact that the princess had wanted to occupy Lavia’s bedroom.
The relationship between the two was already strained enough; he didn’t want to make Lavia’s mood any worse.
“I didn’t think of the royal family at the time; I just felt she had a terrible temper, like some noble girl from a local territory.”
“Besides, one of the maids was even surprised by the abundance of ingredients in our kitchen…”
Evelyn, standing to the side, shifted her eyebrows imperceptibly.
Harvey recounted all the basis for his judgment at the time.
Lavia raised an eyebrow.
“You didn’t know?”
Harvey nodded immediately, “I really didn’t.”
“I only realized just now when I heard you call her ‘Your Highness’ that this lady was actually a princess of the kingdom…”
His tone still carried a hint of disbelief.
Who would have thought that a princess of the Kingdom of Rune would have such an unrefined image?
Lavia’s library didn’t contain photos of every royal family member; how could a common slave like him know?
Lavia looked at him, her expression unchanging.
The slightly long silence seemed to be her way of judging whether he was lying.
Harvey felt nervous under her gaze, but he held his ground.
After a long while, Lavia finally retracted her gaze and spoke coldly.
“She is the third princess of the royal family, Veronica.”
“She is known for that arrogant and unreasonable personality in the palace, and she is extremely detestable. I don’t know why, when she has no magic talent, she was even sent to the academy.”
“You don’t need to worry about what she might do to you.”
Lavia explained in a flat tone, “She has no weight in the Royal Capital. Apart from the status of princess, she has almost nothing to show for herself.”
“All she does all day is scheme to snatch things from others.”
By the time she finished, she was already frowning.
To think she was assigned to the same mansion as this woman—what exactly was the person in charge of the academy thinking?
Harvey was stunned for a moment.
It didn’t sound like she was royal at all.
She sounded more like a bandit.
Harvey said hesitantly, “But regardless, she is still a member of the royal family.”
“Could she do something to me in secret?”
In stories, this kind of situation happened all the time.
Even people with no social standing could pay to hire vagrants from the streets to inflict great harm on a target.
Especially since the princess had shown such obvious hostility toward him before leaving.
Just because he hadn’t managed to explain who he was?
The corners of Harvey’s mouth felt bitter.
These powerful people were truly unreasonable.
Hearing his concerns, the corner of Lavia’s mouth twitched, as if she had heard something ridiculous.
But she maintained her cold expression.
Her mood had not yet improved, and she could not be kind to this fellow.
In just one afternoon, while inside the mansion, Harvey had managed to attract the attention of another woman.
This made Lavia feel extremely uncomfortable.
She said intentionally, “She made it quite clear when she left just now, didn’t she?”
Harvey was speechless, his scalp tingling.
Yesterday he had merely run into an ill-tempered noble girl in the hallway; how had things suddenly involved a royal princess today?
And in such a predicament, no less.
He couldn’t help but look up at Lavia, “So… what do we do now?”
With the princess living in this mansion, what if she did something to him while the eldest miss was away?
Lavia looked over the person who always seemed to attract trouble.
After all, he was her personal property, and she had the duty and obligation to protect him.
She said coldly, “Know fear now, do you?”
Harvey choked.
Lavia looked at his expression, her voice growing colder.
“When she told you to move, you moved.”
“She treated you like a servant, and you didn’t even explain yourself.”
“Harvey, you’ve always been good at speaking when you’re with me; why did you go mute in front of another woman?”
Harvey felt embarrassed by her questioning.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to explain; she didn’t give me the chance to speak…”
It sounded weak and more like he was making excuses.
He couldn’t continue.
If he had known, he shouldn’t have appeared on the scene at all and should have just pretended he knew nothing.