The Reincarnator's Inauspicious Route to Finding Love-Chapter 59: Questions Asked (3)
Instead of climbing up the stairs, Prince Mikyle ducked into the hidden niche behind the stairwell after making sure there were no longer any eyes on them. Aisley followed him, gripping the skirt of her dress so that it could not be seen by anyone passing by.
"I believe you have something to tell me?" Although the sentence was posed as a question, it did not sound like one.
"I’m surprised you knew you were my target all along." She was not worried about their conversation being overhear by all of the noise, especially by the cacophony of ascending and descending students as their feet pounded against the solid steps of the staricase.
Prince Mikyle sighed, his relaxed expression turning into one of annoyance. "Drop the pretenses. You were purposely waiting for Adrien and me to leave the classroom. What is it you wanted to speak to me about?"
Aisley looked into Prince Mikyle’s burning gaze, steeling herself for the questions she had to ask. "Are you serious about Adrien?"
"I am," came his highness’ immediate reply.
"How serious?" She needed to know if this was just a temporary fling or lifelong commitment. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
"Not that I see as any of your business, but I do intend to marry him if he’ll have me."
She was almost stunned by how immediate his reply was and how serious he sounded. It was pleasantly shocking to find someone so sure of their emotions and who showed complete devotion as Prince Mikyle.
"Do you have any desire for the throne?" This was the question she was the most worried about. If Prince Mikyle took her question the wrong way or ever decided to use it against them, then it could spell ruin upon her house. She did not plan to commit treason but she was willing to support him if he so desired the throne– as long as he stayed by Adrien’s side that was.
"I do not," came another immediate reply.
Aisley felt her heart lighten just a little when she saw that Prince Mikyle’s expression and tone of voice had not changed. "That is all. Thank you for your time." She had been worried that he would take offense to her question and would even accuse her of lèse-majestè.
She still couldn’t completely let down her guard though even if Prince Mikyle’s attitude hadn’t changed.
"I have a question of my own." His words stopped Aisley in her tracks. The hair on her neck stood up, uncertain of which question he will ask of her.
"Is Adrien related to House Ceciles?"
Aisley felt her breath leave her and her blood run cold. It seems his highness is as perceptive as I’ve thought. But how shall I answer him?
"I am unable to say," Aisley finally answered him. It was the best she could do in that moment, not that she would actually confirm it.
. . . .
Mikyle watched as Lady Aisley darted out from their hidden spot and left by taking the staircase– the very staircase that kept Mikyle hidden from view. He closed his eyes and expanded his sense of hearing to check if anyone else was nearby.
After checking and finding out that nobody within hearing distance was around, he pulled out the Portal Communicator and contacted Henry.
"Yes, your highness? What may I help you with today?" Henry kept up the guise that Mikyle wanted him to use while during school hours in case Adrien was ever around when Mikyle needed to communicate with him. The guise was for Henry to act as a Palace Elementalist since the excuse he had bought with Adrien was that the Portal Communicators were only available to the Velron Royal Family at the moment. He and Henry were forced to put on this act, at least until Mikyle could bring himself to tell Adrien about Dor-Shey Da’at.
Should I Gift my brothers a Portal Communicator to make my lie more believable? A ping went through his heart as he was once again faced with the fact that he had lied to Adrien, albeit a small one. He realized that he had been forthcoming about almost everything with Adrien which should have been his first clue that Adrien was his mate– even if the possibility of having a mate for himself seemed inconceivable at the time.
"I need you to make the Shigaron Kingdom and their former Crown Princess your priority. I want you to do it yourself." Mikyle made the decision based on the way Lady Aisley had been acting and on his earlier suspicions from when Adrien had first told him about being an illegitimate child.
She may have thought she was being discreet, but I could sense the Mana that she had given to Adrien. It must have been her way of checking if Adrien was of Ceciles Lineage. And it was quite obvious she was trying to be sly while trying to dodge answering my question.
"Yes, your highness. Would you like me to look for anything specific, or are you looking for any links to your last request?" Henry kept up the guise while keeping his words vague in case of any prying ears that may be listening in.
Mikyle smiled. His teeth flashed within the dim light, making him look like a predator hidden in the dark who was waiting for its prey. "Make sure to inform me of any links you may find. And I hope I don’t have to remind you to be discreet about it?"
"No, Sir. I’ll use the utmost caution. They won’t even know I’m there."
Mikyle hung up the call. He placed the Portal Communicator back into his pocket.
It seemed that his Little Kitten may have even more enemies than he could have imagined. But at least he knew for certain on where to look thanks to Lady Aisley. Should I tell Adrien now, or wait until I have actual proof?
He left the niche behind the stairwell and began his ascent up the stairs. He would undoubtedly be late to his next class but it was all worth it if he could help Adrien find his birth parents. It’s a good thing I had Henry to look for information on the missing Savion Ratcliff when I asked him to look into Teressa Mallorne and the Ceciles Duchy.
. . . .
The next target on her list to talk to was Lady Silva. Though Lianna Silva may not be as sly and underhanded like Prince Mikyle, conversing with her may prove to be just as tedious as her previous conversation with Prince Mikyle. And that will only be because of the open criticism Aisley had provided Lady Silva, criticism that may have been mistaken as animosity.
Aisley made her way to the classroom where her first class of the day was to be held. She arrived at the classroom five minutes after the lecture had begun.
Sliding into an empty seat in the back, Aisley allowed her eyes to roam the room until they landed on her target. Lady Lianna sat in the front of the room, her back straight and her vibrant purple hair was pinned neatly atop her head.
"Double-entry bookkeeping can help provide improved accuracy and error detection by implementing a built-in self-checking mechanism through recording equal and opposite entries which helps keep the Liabilities and Equity balanced."
Aisley listened to the professor as she decided on how she should approach Lady Silva. In truth, she had not put much thought into her plans on how to broach the topics she needed to have with everyone– which could be seen in how the conversation went with Prince Mikyle. It was unlike her to jump into something without proper planning, so she could only hope that her poor planning wouldn’t ruin everything nor put Adrien’s life in danger.
Her finger tapped against the desk as she thought of several different ways to broach the topic. The topic she wanted to bring up was to show the nobility that House Ceciles was ready to break away from their neutral stance and stand behind the current Crown Prince and Crown Princess. The only reason she decided to take this route was for the simple fact that it was well-known how much the Crown Prince doted on his siblings. And since Prince Mikyle had no ambition for the throne, then the best course of action was to place power behind someone who would be willing to protect Prince Mikyle and his beloved.
It was important to make sure that Adrien and the people around him had power in case the current Queen of Shigaron ever caught wind of the fact that Adrien was most likely the son of Shigaron’s former Crown Princess. Though it was possible that she was jumping the wagon in thinking that Adrien was a Shigaron Royal simply because he shared an uncanny resemblance to her great Aunt and was of Ceciles blood. But she was quite confident since the Cecelis line had only borne one heir in every generation except for two; the generation of her grandfather and great Aunt, and her generation where she and her sister Aefre had been born.
But if Adrien really is her cousin’s son, then how did he become known as the youngest Mallorne? Were the babies switched out at birth? Or did Countess Mallorne have some kind of connection to her cousin? Did her father know something about this but had decided to omit it from her and her sister?
