Elizabeth got up from her chair & went to the balcony from where the vast garden filled with many beautiful flowers were visible. As she leaned on the stone railing looking towards the sky, a knock on the door was heard & Cadilla entered the room carrying evening snacks.

She placed the tray on the table & went towards the place where the princess was to give her some news she had received from her sources.

Elizabeth knew it was her maid, so she didn't turn or greet her. She kept looking at the sky, illuminated by the yellowish rays of the setting sun & the maid stood beside her looking at the same scenery.

"It's beautiful. Isn't it....?" asked the princess in a soft tone.

"Yes milady. It's beautiful." Replied the maid, looking towards a group of birds who were flying together to reach their homes before nightfall, for their children.

The duo kept looking at the scenery for quite a sometime before Cadilla broke the silence to let the princess know what had transpired in the sapan of few days & how the entire empire was on the edge to prevent something, which should have never happened.

"Milady?"

"Yes." answered the princess in a bored tone, leaning too much on the railing like a kid. She now had no suspicion on Leon that he could do something indecent like that, but still was upset because he couldn't even write her a letter to her explaining everything.

Yes, he disrespected her father & the whole noble society, but each of his words were true & carried weight, which was not liked by the crowds. No matter what anyone says, she supported him.

He ruined the lively atmosphere of her birthday party, still it was worth it as she was also getting bored & needed some distraction and the faces of those fat nobles did the job.

"I have some news about Lord Leon."

Hearing Leon's name, Elizabeth tilted her head to face the maid with a questioning gaze. "What did he do now?"

"He did nothing. It's just..." Cadilla knew Elizabeth would be more worried about Leon after hearing the news, but she had to know what was going on.

"It's what?"

"There had been an assassination attempt on him."

"What?" shouted the princess, standing on her feet perfectly. She knew Leon had many enemies but, there was no one who would go that far.

"Yes, milady..." Before Cadilla could complete her sentence, a barrage of questions were fired at her by the princess, who was now anxious to know what happened to him.

"How is he? Is he okay? Is he hurt...?"

"Listen..."

"What about the people with him..? Didn't they protect him? And who in their right mind would attack him? Who were the people...?"

"Milady... Listen to me..."

"I know Leon is a moron, but he is not that bad that someone would kill him, right? And even if they tried, there are other who would people protect him, right?"

"Listen Eli..."

"He is fine, right? He has to be fine. He hasn't even answered my question. Where is he? I should..."

"Eli...." yelled the maid on top of her lungs. She hadn't even told her the full story, but Elizabeth was asking needless questions.

Hearing the loud words of the maid, whom she had known for as long as she could remember, Elizabeth's feet landed on the surface. Now she realised she hadn't even finished telling her the full story, yet she was asking pointless questions which would require no answers after knowing everything.

"I am sorry... You know I was just worried..." said Elizabeth in a slow tone, as it was her fault for being impatient.

"Leon is fine. He is perfectly fine & can surely have a child with you." replied the maid in a teasing tone.

"Oh, thank God, I was just... wait... what did you say?"

"I said Leon is fine & you both surely can have a child together."

"What? NO... I am not having a child with anyone."

"Oh, you are."

"No, I am not."

"Then who was dreaming about holding hands, sleeping with him, kissing him & then he will bite you in the neck and...?"

"No, I wasn't."

"It just took a hug for our princess to fall in love. Wow, I am not surprised."

"No, I am not in love with anyone."

"Then why you keep rambling about hm all day & all night? Like how he smelled like flowers. His hands were warm. My heart was beating like crazy when he hugged me. We saw the stars and..."

"Cadilla..." shouted the princess with a red face full of embarrassment.

Yes, she dreamed a couple of times about him, where they were doing indecent things, which were just pure fantasies, she read in some books. There was no truth to it. Anyone could dream about anything.

Her chest tightened whenever she thought about the day when she hugged him & show her the world of stars but it wasn't love, right? Leon could be a jerk when he wanted by ignoring everyone else except him, but still was a kind person who stood beside the weak to help fight the powerful.

He never tried to misuse his authority nor ever tried to use commoner for his gain. He equally respected each & everyone, but his negative doings shadowed all his positive sides. Only a few knew about who the real Leonhart was & Elizabeth was one of them.

Hearing the loud words of the princess, Cadilla stopped teasing her & fixed her demeanor. She always like playing with Elizabeth & now it wasn't her fault because she had been hearing about Leonhart ever since the Elizabeth returned from the duchy.

Every word Cadilla said was true & it was all told to her by the princess herself, who clearly was fantasizing about many things before she heard about Lina. From that day, everything changed & she was like a broken painting until Sophia's words cleared the misconception.

She could clearly see that Elizabeth was slowly falling in love with Leon, which wasn't a bad thing as he was not that of a villain like how everyone portrayed him. Still, she was contradicting her own words, so there was nothing to be done here until she accepted the truth by herself.

"So he is fine?" asked Elizabeth, fixing her demeanour from a love-struck girl to one befitting of a royal princess.

"Yes, milady. But the people who were incharge of his security didn't make it. They all perished protecting him." responded Cadilla with a sorrowful expression on her face. Those brave men had lost their lives, saving their Lord, which was sad as it shouldn't have happened in the first place.

The princess's face stiffened after learning that there were casualties. Those brave souls served their ruler till their last breath, which was an honourable fact. But honour never brought dead ones back.

Those families who had lost their loved ones would only suffer, and no one could do anything. They were all gone for forever.

"How did all this happen?" asked Elizabeth, as the losses were too many for a small assassination attempt. There had to be more to this story.

To her question, the maid explained everything as per her knowledge & the princes nodded, saying nothing, carrying an expression devoid of any emotions.

There was no record of any attempts to kill Espers in recent history because of their mighty army & war tactics. So it came as a surprise for her, like everyone else.

If any members of the Esper family got even a slight bruise of their bodies, then there could be a war & this time there had been an attempt to kill their heir. No, it really was a bad idea for the person who planned it.

"Things are getting complicated, huh?" asked Elizabeth, looking towards the dark sky where the young stars were twinkling.

"Yes, Count Palatine & his family are in the duchy, waiting for the final verdict. No one knows what will happen to them. Duke Esper can do anything." Cadilla out voiced her honest opinion as it was the only truth.

"What do you think will happen now?"

"Like I said, no one knows. All we can do is hope that their deaths won't go in vain."

***

Leonhart was sitting inside his room, surrounded by his family members. He was on the sofa beside his mother & Heinrich was before him, sitting on the opposite side. As for Adeline, she was lying on the bed, as sitting was too much work for her. Still, she was listening to each & every word spoken by the trio.

"So anything happened, in this return trip?" asked Heinrich in a casual tone, leaning on his sofa.

"Nope."

After waking up & getting ready within half an hour he was dragged by Sophia to the carriage from where they departed towards the capital with the army, technically not an army but 300 soldiers were not any small number.

So they reached the city in evening & he was once again taken into a room where the physician of the house inspected him for any problems but like before he said there was no issue & James was free to do as he pleased.

And after that returned to his room but was soon disturbed by the family members, who were both worried & happy at the same time. He was safe & that was the biggest thing they ever wanted.

"Who do you think is responsible for this?"