After hearing her daughter's words, the second queen lowered her gaze slightly.
"If it were you... you could probably reach your goals even without using my influence, couldn't you?"
"Of course I could," Camilla said, her tone rising. "But this way, it's just easier."
The brazen way Camilla treated her mother like a servant made Ronnel wonder how she'd even made it this far.
She must've had her mother shielding her from countless threats behind the scenes.
...
Ronnel's eyes drifted to a certain direction, a lazy half-smile curling on his lips.
He wasn't the only one who had seen the exchange between Camilla and the second queen, Duazul.
...
Area 1002 – A small room that looked more like a prison.
"Heh... even if you strip me of my position, it won't change anything."
A soldier loyal to the First Prince Benjamin, now detained under Camilla's authority, sat at a table, watching footage of Camilla and her mother on a nearby monitor. He sneered with quiet satisfaction.
Benjamin had dispatched his men to monitor the other princes. The law didn't allow the princes to refuse them outright—but they had their own ways of dealing with the intrusion.
Those assigned by Benjamin could claim a guard was a threat to the prince and eliminate them, just like what happened when Vincent was sent to monitor the Fourteenth Prince.
But in return, the princes could detain Benjamin's soldiers under pretense. Camilla had done exactly that.
Of course, this tit-for-tat approach was blunt—and deploying it meant formally cutting ties with Benjamin.
And yet, just four hours into the voyage, most princes still treaded cautiously around one another.Camilla, however, had long been at odds with Benjamin. Her actions came as no surprise.
"With my ability, Secret Window, your conversations are completely off the radar," the soldier muttered with a smug grin, fingers flying across the keyboard as he recorded everything—audio, visuals, timestamps.
In a moment of crisis, this could be the piece of evidence that exposes Camilla's crimes.
"But... words alone won't be enough. Not without undeniable proof."
He knew the Second Queen's temper. She would likely defend Camilla to the bitter end. Anything less than hard evidence would be dismissed as idle gossip.
The soldier bit his finger, deep in thought.
"What we need... is physical evidence. A time, a place—something she can't talk her way out of."
He murmured to himself, "I'll have to deploy the bird directly to Camilla..."
As if in response, a Nen beast shaped like an owl—with barcode-patterned eyes—perched on his shoulder.
And then—
Smack!
...
Area 1001 – Inside Benjamin's quarters.
"Strange... this is already the first layer, but we've still got mosquitoes sucking blood. And it doesn't even itch?"
Captain Balsamilco stood with his arms folded, reporting with a frown.
"Your Highness, she refused your call—but let Babimyna into her room. How should we interpret that?"
"I'm fully aware of our current standing," Benjamin said from the couch, his usual arrogance replaced by intense focus.
"War is inevitable. I've accepted that. But we can't afford to give them any advantage. While we hold the line, we wait—ready to strike back the moment opportunity arises."
"They probably think they can chip away at our strength one by one," Benjamin continued. "If that's the case... they're walking straight into our trap."
He exuded the kind of tension that comes from underestimating no one, while preparing for everything.
Balsamilco furrowed his brows. "But if a stalemate is what they want, then provoking someone like Babimyna makes no sense."
...
Babimyna had gone into the Fourteenth Prince's quarters and hadn't made contact for some time.Though he'd checked in via earpiece to say he was safe, Benjamin—ever suspicious—immediately flagged him as compromised.
He was convinced now: the Fourteenth Prince had someone with the perfect counter.
Vincent. Babimyna. Both had been neutralized.
"It seems Queen Oito has gathered some impressive allies," Benjamin said calmly.
"We don't know the exact conditions of this ability, but we can't risk losing any more skilled soldiers."
He turned toward a soldier across the room.
"We need to probe the enemy's ability. And you'll handle that."
The man, sinister-faced, grinned wide as he saluted.
"Leave it to me~ Furykov won't disappoint, Your Highness!"
...
While Benjamin was making his next move, Kurapika was also on the move.
Along with two of Queen Oito's personal guards and a surveillance soldier under the Second Queen named Slakka, they were heading toward Room 1014.
When Queen Oito saw strangers approaching, her anxiety spiked.
Kurapika walked over to reassure her, while Slakka observed quietly. The blond guard in a suit beside him—Bill—glanced at Slakka warily, clearly on edge.
Slakka's gaze swept the room.
He paused when he saw Ronnel, lounging casually on the sofa as if nothing unusual were happening.
But Slakka's attention quickly shifted to the uniformed guards standing silent at attention—an obvious sign of military discipline.
He stepped forward.
"Have soldiers from the First Prince already arrived?" he asked calmly. "I'm Slakka, assigned to the Second Queen. There's something I need to confirm. Could you come with me?"
Babimyna, standing nearby, eyed him for a moment, then nodded without speaking.
"The situation seems stable enough… is it?" Bill muttered, watching the two disappear into a corner.
He turned to Kurapika, who had just finished briefing the queen.
"What about the other two over there? They've been quietly observing everything since we arrived."
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (799 chapters in total)