《The Retribution of the Ice Cold Maiden》41 - Aren't your priorities reversed?

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"Greetings to the First Prince...!!" The crowd bowed in unison.

"Hmm..." Oliver nodded which allowed everyone to raise their heads again.

"What about me?" A sharp girly voice sounded behind Prince Oliver.

The crowd looked behind him to see a beautiful red-haired woman strutting in the Main Hall with a haughty demeanor.

"Y-Your Majesty, Second Princess...?!" Finn Venbella cried out in delightful shock. Two Royal Family members were visiting his home. If this did not increase his market value, he did not know what would.

"Greetings to the Second Princess...!!" the crowd bowed again.

"Hmm?" Rose Valentinus, the second princess looked down to see Wilfred on the floor writhing in pain.

"There's an old man on the floor... clean it up." she commanded Finn. Looks like the siblings are not so different after all.

"Y-Yes, Of Course...!!" Finn Venbella nodded furiously as he signaled Captain Hamett who quickly ordered his soldiers to pick up the incapacitated Wilfred and tie him up to a pillar so he can't escape.

Seeing that, Prince Oliver glanced around the hall and realized something was not right.

"What happened here?" he asked as he looked Selena directly in her eyes.

"Y-Your Majesty...!! We request justice...!!" Zane quickly piped in and fell at the First Prince's feet.

"Th-That maid hurt my Granduncle, an aristocrat. I demand you to have that maid---"

"Are you the owner of this estate?"

"E-Eh?" Zane asked as he lifted his head.

The First Prince simply narrowed his eyes instead of repeating the question.

"I-I... No..." Zane quickly bowed and answered.

"Then stop talking before I turn you into a mute."

"E-Eek...!! Yes...!!" Zane stumbled back as he cowered in fear.

"I-I am the owner of this estate, Finn Venbella." Finn spoke and stepped forward. He was still wearing his robe and had not changed. He did not even have shoes on. "I am sorry for my unsightly appearance."

"Explain..." Oliver ignored his attire since he had come here unannounced anyway.

"Well, you see... My granddaughter thought I smelled bad and she asked me to take a bath which is why I am in this---"

"Grandfather..." Selena interjected him as she returned to her icy-cold usual self.

"W-What?"

"I believe the First Prince is asking about why Captain Hamett is here and why was my cousin's Granduncle injured, right?" Selena asked as she also looked at the First Prince straight in his eyes too without wavering.

Selena was surprised by the First Prince's visit. It did not seem like he was a part of the Wyatt's plan as they also seemed surprised. But his presence did put Soul back into hibernation. It had happened earlier once when an unconscious Selena was taken into a room belonging to the First Prince after her fake suicide attempt.

'He must be wearing something given by the Church too.' Selena thought as only items from the Church could seemingly block Soul out.

"Hmm..." the First Prince simply nodded in agreement.

"O-Oh..." Finn Venbella scratched his head in embarrassment. He then proceeded to recount everything that happened from the moment Selena came to his room and heroically rescued him to the moment where the Prince came in. However, as he finished the story, Finn's expression grew grim due to a certain thought.

"How did you lift the bed?" Rose asked Selena with sparkling eyes as she stood at a face width's distance away from her.

"I... have been working out recently and it was a strength I got at the moment of danger." Selena replied, praying that the Princess won't ask her to reenact it.

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"That's... is so cool...!!" Rose replied. Even a hot-headed woman like her knew why the First Prince came all this way. It was normal for her to be curious about the lady who had done the impossible.

"Rose, you are too close." Prince Oliver reprimanded his sister with a stone face.

"Oh? Then where should I stand?" Rose asked tauntingly as she stood next to Selena.

"On the mountains... away from everyone's sight."

"Why You...!!" Rose was infuriated but she calmed herself down and looked at the Wyatt duo.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Th-This is a trap...!! We are innocent...!!" Zane tried to defend himself. The situation was beyond salvageable. Even if his Grandfather, the Marquis showed up now, it won't do any good.

"No... this is the result of my own indecision." Old Man Finn suddenly spoke out.

"Grandfather?" Selena was alarmed after hearing the old man's tone. It was meek and tired. She looked at him to see his body shivering. Looks like being almost killed by his own grandson had drained the remainder of his energy from his body.

"Little Lena... I am sorr---" Old Man Finn could barely say those words before collapsing.

"M-Master...!!" Butler Lennox caught the falling old man with tears in his eyes.

"Grandfather...!!" Selena called out as she grabbed his hand.

"Soul...!!" She called out but there was no response.

Thanks to Soul's radar, they had found out the old man's health problem. Selena planned on taking care of it once the matter of the Wyatts to settle. But she did not expect the old man to get this critical when Soul was blocked out.

'What should I do?' Selena thought in desperation. It was the first time she felt helpless when Soul wasn't around. She had never realized how much she had come to be dependent on him.

As she was struggling internally, a person with red hair kneeled down near her. She lifted her head to see the First Prince Oliver checking on the old man.

He turned to look at Selena's conflicting eyes.

"Do you want me to leave?" he whispered to her.

"Eh?" Selena was shocked.

"Your eyes... look disturbed. Am I bothering you?" he asked again with a straight face.

"I..." Selena seemed more conflicted. She did not know what to do anymore. If she risked exposing everything to save her grandfather, there was a chance she could be chased to the ends of the earth, but if she doesn't... her grandfather dies. Could she live with pride if that happened? It would be a stain on her consciousness that won't leave her mind for all her life.

Prince Oliver was silent for a moment before waving his hand and with a furious roar, a fiery red magic aura covered the two along with the old man and the butler which warped into a red dome.

"T-This is..." Selena looked around only to see the red colored dome.

"This is a magic barrier..." Prince Oliver explained, "...Nothing gets out or in. Your secret is safe."

"Th-That's..." Selena was surprised by the First Prince's offer. 'Is it a trap to see what I can do?' she thought but it was ultimately useless as the reason who she couldn't save her Grandfather was...

"Hey...!! What's with the red dome?"

"S-Soul...?!" Selena exclaimed in pleasant shock.

"Y-Yeah... Hey, look...!! It's that Red-haired Prince...!! I hate this guy...!! Girl, get away from him. He will give you cooties."

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'I don't understand, what---' Selena's thoughts were stopped by a theory.

'It's the Second Princess...!! She's wearing something from the church.' Selena exclaimed.

"Ughh..." Old Man Finn groaned heavily in the Butler's arms which brought Selena out of her thoughts. She pushed back all the extra thoughts to the back of her head and turned to face the First Prince who was waiting patiently.

"Your Majesty...!! How good are you with minimizing your magic attack?"

"Me?" Prince Oliver replied as he pointed out his index finger which slowly emanated a thread of burning magic energy which straightened itself to form a needle. "...about this much."

"That's perfect..." Selena replied and approached her Grandfather and... ripped his clothes off.

"Hieekk...!!" Butler Lennox was surprised by the young lady's brazen actions.

"W-What are you doing?!" he asked.

"Grandfather became sick after returning from the Blackwoods forest, right?"

"E-Eh? Yes...!!"

"Blackwoods forest is famous for its black wooded trees which are the result of the properties in the soil. No matter what tree you plant there, it's bark will always be black." Selena began explaining as she kept staring with great attention to her Grandfather's body.

"The reason for that is the millions of Vilestream Worms that inhabit the deep undergrounds."

"It eats the soil and excretes it back which gains the properties to turn the bark of trees black."

"H-How in the world do you know all this?" Butler Lennox was impressed by Selena's knowledge. "...and how does it help your Grandfather?"

"I read a lot of books..." Selena replied as she had managed to learn all the books from the Soaring Heaven Library which Soul had collected. It wouldn't be surprising to call her a walking encyclopedia now.

"...and the reason I mention the worm is because one of those worms is inside his blood veins."

"What?" Butler Lennox was shocked.

"Yes, the worm is very small and can easily enter the bloodstream if accidentally ingested via the mouth which I think he did." Selena replied with a grim look.

"...moreover, the worm itself is not harmful, but its excretions have accumulated enough to poison Grandfather, which is why even if you give him medicine, it will only be a temporary solution as the worm still exists and keeps traveling in his veins."

"Th-That's... So what do we do now?" Butler Lennox asked as he looked down at the old man. He now understood why Selena had tore off his clothes. It was to look for that worm.

"The Magic needle..." Prince Oliver replied. "...You want me to strike it down."

"Yes..." Selena replied without raising her head.

"H-How are we going to find it?" Butler Lennox asked anxiously.

"Leave that..." Selena narrowed her eyes, "...to me."

"There...!!" Soul suddenly sounded inside Selena's head and pointed her to a direction.

Selena, with the support of Soul's radar located the worm. It was moving inside a vein going to his stomach. Selena mapped the veins and looked around on how to lure it out.

She then pricked her Grandfather's forearm at a certain point with her fingernail and spoke to Prince Oliver.

"When I give the signal, strike the magic needle at the marked point, understood?"

"L-Lady Selena... th-that's the First Prince you are talking to and---"

"Understood." Prince Oliver replied.

"W-What?!" Butler Lennox was surprised by the Prince's casual ignorance towards Selena's improper behavior.

'Isn't this the same guy who is known to be a ruthless general in the army?' Butler Lennox thought.

While Lennox was having a meltdown, Selena pricked the vein where the worm was lazily swimming.

*Griickkk...?!*

It was surprised by the sudden attack and quickly swam to the opposite end.

*Prick...!!*

Selena pricked again and the Worm changed direction. The process continued for a full five minutes.

However, both the Prince's and Selena's concentration did not waver.

"Now...!!" Selena screamed as she pricked one last time.

*Stabbb...!! Sisss.....!! GRIIICCKK....!!!*

The Prince slowly removed the needle and lo and behold...

A tiny burnt worm was on its pointy end.

"It's done..." Selena's tired voice sounded out as she finally relaxed. She had used Soul's radar and an excessive amount of concentration to bring out the worm. It was heavily taxing on her mental health and she was losing consciousness.

"M-My Lady...!!" Lennox panicked as Selena fell head down.

*Swishh...*

But before it could happen, she found herself in the arm of the red-haired prince. She was too groggy to be aware of the situation she was in.

Prince Oliver stared at her in hopes to understand how she managed to do such a weird yet effective treatment.

'This girl... is too bizarre.' he thought as he recounted all the incidents about her ever since his brother's birthday party. He had been keeping an eye on her ever since his brother's birthday. It was just recently he had learned about the origin of the bangle and wished to warn her in person. But after seeing her play around with the Wyatts like that, it seems his worries were unnecessary.

'Girl... I have never been worried before about someone as insignificant as you...' Prince Oliver thought as his sight fell on her lips.

'What kind of magic did you perform on me that has me thinking about you all the time.' he finished his thought and put his hand in his pocket.

"This Coin will help you when in need." Prince Oliver replied and took out a coin with his own insignia on it and placed it in Selena's pocket.

"I don't need it..."

"..."

"..."

"Why?" Prince Oliver asked without changing his expressions.

"I have one from the King. Why would I need one from a Prince?"

"..."

"..."

"I see..."

She looked up with her tired eyes at the red blur in front of her.

She placed her index finger on his lips which frightened Lennox and surprised the First Prince.

"Shhh... Not a word to anyone about this. Otherwise..." Selena's body slumped down as she lost consciousness, but not before finishing her sentence.

"...I will drop a palace on your head."

"..."

"..."

"Okay..."

*Fwumpp...!!*

The Red dome disappeared and what the crowd saw left them shocked.

An sleeping old man with no clothes smiling. An unconscious young lady lying on the floor. A catatonic butler...

and to top it off, a Prince who held a worm in his hand.

'What the hell happened in there?' Everyone thought.

Prince Oliver stood up and threw the worm to one of his men.

"Find the Imperial Doctor and ask him to cure this old man of the excrements of this worm in his veins."

"Yes...!!" The Guard replied.

"Arrest both the Wyatts and I want a thorough investigation of this case." The First Prince commanded as he began to leave the manor which made the Wyatts fall into Despair.

"W-Wait... Where are you going?" Second Princess, Rose asked her brother.

"Home..." Prince Oliver replied as he took out his own personal communication ring.

***

In the private room of the King, Russell Valentinus.

"Hmm?" he was alerted by his communication ring going off. Unlike other rings, the Royal Family's rings allowed them to converse directly by audio.

"What is it?" The King asked.

"I want to be King." Prince Oliver replied from the other end.

"..."

"..."

"Is that a request or a threat?" The King asked without changing his tone.

"Whatever helps me being a King." Prince Oliver replied.

"I told you... You need to get married first."

"It seems I can't marry unless I become a King. My authority is not high enough... (to catch her eye.)"

"..."

"..."

"Aren't your priorities reversed?" The King asked.

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