After a few minutes, Ven finished asking around and as expected, no one on the team was informed of an emergency tonight. Ven quickly called Lilica again to tell her that this could be part of the enemy’s plan.

However, just as he was about to dial Lilica’s number, he caught sight of Ventina texting Zeke.

“Stop texting that guy.” Ven said as he snatched her phone away.

“Hey! Give it back! I haven’t tapped the send button yet!” Ventina said as she tried to snatch her phone back.

Curious, Ven glanced at what she was typing.

‘It seems like the prince’s team lost sight of Ellie. Is there anything you can do from over there?’

“Why didn’t you just tell me that you’re trying to help out?” Ven asked her as he felt relieved. He had thought that she was texting Zeke since she regretted going out with him.

“I don’t need to tell you everything, right?” Ventina snatched her phone back and tapped the send button.

“Yes, you have to.” Ven said before turning away, his ears slightly blushing before muttering, “I was jealous for nothing.”

“What did you say?” Ventina asked him innocently as she couldn’t hear him clearly just now.

“Nothing. Anyways, I’ll call Lilica now to tell her that this could be the enemy’s plan.” Ven tried to change the topic.

“Wait. I don’t think you should call her.” Ventina stopped him.

“Why? Are you jealous?” Ven asked, his eyes filled with hope. Ever since he had become her boyfriend, she had never displayed her jealousy for him to enjoy even once.

“Of course not. I just think that telling her that may make her feel worried unnecessarily. We’re still not sure if this is the enemy’s plan, right? What if it was a false alarm?” Ventina quickly crushed his hopes.

“But I think we should tell her. Either way, she’d still be worried about the second prince. The enemy could also be targeting her after luring the prince away and she may be in danger.” Ven argued.

“Isn’t she with her father? Her father is pretty strong since he was in the knight academy before, right? She’ll be safe with him.” Ventina argued back.

“But…” Ven was about to retort when Ventina’s phone sounded. It was a message from Zeke.

The two of them glanced at her phone to look at the message.

‘I’ve told everyone in our group for the time being. The king and Kazuki have some plans regarding this so let’s leave it to them. Oh, and don’t tell Lilica about the possibility of it being the enemy’s plans. She’s in a critical stage of her pregnancy right now and telling her this would just make her worry, or so the queen said.’

Seeing that it was the queen who said this, the two of them decided not to contact Lilica but her father instead. Maybe telling her father would be more beneficial.

---

Meanwhile in Mr. Stell’s room

As expected, Lilica’s heart was filled with worry the more she thought about Kazuya. Seeing his daughter so anxious naturally made Mr. Stell feel troubled.

“Just go to sleep. That brat won’t be back so quickly. This isn’t the first time he’s gone out in the middle of the night. What are you so worried for?” Mr. Stell tried to calm his daughter.

“Dad, I feel like something bad is going to happen. I can’t just sleep when my mind keeps on wandering like this.” Lilica said as she felt the bad feeling in her heart growing.

“Nothing’s going to happen. Even if you don’t want to sleep, think about your babies. If you don’t sleep, how are they going to become healthy? You…” Mr. Stell was about to continue his lecture when his phone rang.

He glanced at the caller and saw that it was Ven, so he just casually answered the phone.

“Hello?” Mr. Stell said.

“Hello. Is Lilica asleep yet?” Ven asked.

“Not yet. Why don’t you just call her directly? Why are you calling me?” Mr. Stell asked impatiently. He was still in the middle of coaxing his daughter to sleep.

“Well, the queen told us not to bother Lilica since she didn’t want her to feel worried. I’ve asked around and it seems like the prince being called out as an emergency could be the enemy’s plan. We don’t know what their motive is by doing this. It could be luring the prince to their hideout or assassinating Lilica when she’s alone. Anyways, could I trouble you to stay by Lilica’s side just in case?” Ven replied seriously.

“Okay. I know what to do.” Mr. Stell said before he hanged up.

“Who was that?” Lilica asked curiously. It was weird that her father would get a call in the middle of the night.

“Oh, it was your second uncle. He’s trying to get some help from your mother but was afraid that she wouldn’t agree so he called me first.” Mr. Stell lied with a straight face. He knew that Lilica wouldn’t continue questioning if he were to lie in this way.

As expected, Lilica just nodded and continued drowning in her worries. She had hoped that the call was from Kazuya or Ven, to tell her not to feel worried and that everything was fine.

“Stop worrying! Continue moping around like this and the prince will leave you! Just sleep.” Mr. Stell sighed as he forcefully tugged Lilica in.

“But what if…” Lilica was still anxious.

“What? You think he won’t come back in one piece? If he can’t even survive from an investigation, then he’s not my son-in-law anymore!” Mr. Stell said.

“Does that mean if he come back then you’ll finally acknowledge him?” Lilica asked. She knew that deep down, her father was still opposed to her marriage.

“Shut up! Just go to sleep!” Mr. Stell didn’t answer as he put on an eye mask for her so that she could sleep.

“Okay.” Lilica let out a smile when she heard her dishonest father. It seemed like feeling worried had tire her out considerably as she soon fell asleep.

Mr. Stell sighed when he saw that she was finally asleep. He then put on a barrier around Lilica just in case the enemy’s target was really her. He had planned to stay up the whole night to guard her.