"Would you like some sugar with the tea?" the princess asked with a beaming smile. Her fiery red hair and a visage were perfect with the exception of a small circular mole right beneath her mouth, but that perhaps only added to her undoubtable beauty. They were already over introductions and were sitting inside a highly decorated pink room. Luxury was blatantly obvious all around the girlishly painted place: Golden artisan vases with exotic plants; carefully crafted magical light; Furniture from the highest quality wood beaming with vitality; etcetera. While Irwyn and the princess, Rebecca, were seated by the table, facing each other, Elizabeth and Alice were standing by the door on alert next to two more similar maids. The difference in their attire was vast: Alice and Elizabeth were wearing modest pitch-black dresses with no accessories, while the royal maids were adorned by complex dresses knitted together out of thousands of thin pink ribbons. Not the official attire among the direct servants of the imperial family, Irwyn noted, rather something likely handpicked by the princess.

“No,” Irwyn smiled back “I prefer my tea bitter.”

“Is that so?” the princess tilted her head in a bewitching manner, she was only 16 years old, but she was already quite skilled in intrigue. The princess was similar to Efora in that sense: She compensated for her lack of magical talent with beauty and deception, albeit she was nowhere near as good as Irwyn’s oldest sister “but let’s get down to business. Are those two trustworthy?” she said as she glared at Alice and Elizabeth.

“Out of everyone among the Blackburg maids these two are by far the least likely to telltale to Avys, in fact, they helped me out with the thing you wanted,” Irwyn just tried to wave away her worries.

“Hopefully that is good enough,” Rebecca nodded and continued to the main topic, “Did you bring it?”

“Of course,” Irwyn said and took out a folder from beneath his clothes “it was not easy, but I managed to obtain all the information you needed. How were things on your end,” in that folder was a detailed description of the weaknesses of the Blackburg family direct members. It was especially difficult to make since he was not capable of writing. The information had to be genuine, since faking the information unfortunately wasn’t really an option if he didn’t want to burn all the bridges with the royal family, and the emperor who likely permitted this exchange in the first place. On the other hand, being open about this wouldn’t work either since even Avys wouldn’t want their weaknesses to be exposed. Thankfully the royal family contacted him through a proxy right after Dragoncull, so he had plenty of time to stealthily prepare. It was intentionally not everything, but it was just enough to appear like he genuinely gave it his all.

“I did just as you asked me to and greatly inflated the renting prices of the underground rooms you asked me to,” she announced and also took out a rather thick folder, it was almost ironic how she took credit for things she lacked the influence to do “inside are the list and the pictures of all the rooms the mage guild rented, about 6 of them belong among the inflated prices. There are over 100, so they are definitely making sure that your meeting cannot be properly tracked.”

“I expected as much,” Irwyn smiled as they exchanged the folders.

“Is this really fine with you?” the princess asked “I am definitely gaining far more on this deal,” rather than a kind heart it was likely a suspicion. The person who actually initiated this trade likely had similar doubts.

“Of course it is,” Irwyn sipped the tea “why do you think they paid for the rooms with ridiculously higher prices?”

“To throw us off,” Rebecca answered without missing a beat.

“That would be the case for 5 of them,” Irwyn nodded “but not for the 6th. You see, I found a rather ancient scripture which implied that there might be something special about one of the rooms. If my guess is correct I will be able to predict in advance which room the guild master intends to meet me in,” Irwyn just smiled

“And that information is so valuable to you?” the princess didn’t quite get it. She apparently wasn’t involved in the plan to ambush the guild master, but that was not unexpected. In fact, only someone who could maintain the level of surveillance like Avys would even dare to announce that in front of the entire household. Surveillance which Irwyn could thankfully borrow.

“Of course,” Irwyn smiled. The question was not whether the guild master wanted to use that room for their meeting, but rather if he even knew about it. If Irwyn’s guess was correct and the mage guild rented a certain specific room, his plans would come into fruition, “There is nothing quite as scary as the unknown. And just knowing automatically removes my disadvantage.”

“I naturally understand the value of information,” she waved the folder Irwyn previously handed her, before hiding it beneath the table. A hollow gesture considering the information was not really meant for her in the first place, but he could let her pretend that she mattered in the great scheme of things.

“I believe that concludes our business,” Irwyn said as he mirrored the prince and hid the folder in his clothes “since that is the case I will take my leave,” Irwyn said and quickly finished the rest of his tea. There was not much to begin with so it was not a difficult task.

“Leaving so soon?” the princess said before Irwyn could stand up.

“What else do you have in mind?” Irwyn allowed Rebecca to explain herself.

“I heard that you got into a scuffle with your brother yesterday,” the princess now also finally sipped her tea, but Irwyn noticed a very minute tremble in her hand.

“It was nothing major,” Irwyn just waved his hand as one of Rebecca’s maids stepped closer and poured him more tea.

“It sure didn’t look like that. The capital is already full of rumours about how Brite attacked you in broad daylight,” Rebecca smiled “does that have anything to do with the healer which followed you here today?”

“No, of course not,” Irwyn did not let something like this make him nervous, likely to Rebecca’s disappointment “those two things are completely unrelated.”

“Is that so? But he seems bothersome,” she took another sip of her tea “did you ever just want him to… disappear?”

“You are suggesting dangerous things, princess,” Irwyn frowned for a second before his expression recovered into a smile, that intentional momentary falter was a perfect bait to lure Rebecca in. He didn’t think that she could be dangerous, but he might as well confirm his intentions.

“He attacked you just like that. Are you not going to retaliate in any way? That will definitely damage your reputation,” Rebecca grinned as though she believed she already had Irwyn entangled in her schemes.

“You seem to have a plan in mind,” Irwyn went along with it.

“Of course. It is in fact rather simple: He had shown interest in me in the past. I could discretely bait him somewhere far away and quiet. And then...” she kept a sweet smile on her lips as she suggested horrible things.

“So that you can then expose me and get rid of me?” Irwyn just crackled “I was taught by Avys von Blackburg herself. Do not take me for a complete fool, girl.”

“I wouldn’t…” Rebecca who thought that she already had him entangled was taken aback.

“I am not worried about Brite because he is not a threat. I am certain about that because there are people watching his every move. Naturally I would also know that the two of you meet quite a bit more often than would be appropriate, that suggests that his interest isn’t so one-sided, doesn’t it?” Irwyn’s expression was completely tranquil despite his words.

“You knew from the start and still went along with the trade?” the princess was stunned.

“You are just a proxy in the end. A proxy who overstepped her bounds, but still a proxy. I will trust the information in these documents,” Irwyn patted his chest, hitting the thick folder “because you wouldn’t dare alter them. But even if I didn’t know about you and Brite, I wouldn’t have a reason to agree anyway. As I have said before: He is not a threat. And if he ever becomes one…” he left the last few words unsaid.

“You!” Rebecca gulped as she stared at Irwyn with sudden hatred in her eyes “I will not let you,” she eventually squeezed out through gritted teeth, her face had turned red.

“You are not as smart as you think, girl. There are far bigger fish in my sea, I am not bothered by a pond salamander,” Irwyn was completely calm, “Just like Brite, you are simply not important enough to be worth antagonizing me for. So go ahead, threaten me more and fight your meaningless war with a foregone conclusion. I will make sure to watch your every move and dodge every blow before you even swing.”

Rebecca stared at Irwyn with fury, but deep down she understood, that she couldn’t refute his words, “Let’s not meet again,” Irwyn said as he downed his second tea in one gulp and stood up “we are done here,” Alice and Elizabeth gave a deep bow before following him out of the room. It would seem like Irwyn made another enemy today, or rather than he had another enemy for quite some time. But that was fine. The girl wouldn’t dare do anything, and if she did he had his methods of dealing with it. In the end, he could summarize it with simple words:

She was not a threat.