The prince immediately shook his head.

"I don’t know."

Atheline watched carefully. The man had answered too fast and the fear in his face couldn’t be any more visible.

Lilith noticed too. And unfortunately, that did not improve the prince’s situation.

Both of them had hoped to at least get something, just anything about the royal family that might have been spoken behind closed doors.

"Let me make the question simpler. Tell me where they might go. You must have known, right?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The prince stole a glance at Lilith before lowering his gaze, his face paler.

"I’m not really sure your majesty, I..."

He flinched. Lilith’s pressure filled the small room.

"Do not take me in circles."

He nodded.

"The borders, I heard snippets while father spoke with Silas," he rapidly said, almost word vomiting," I heard him saying Terah kingdom, ships, beast kingdom... I... I left when the guards noticed my presence."

"Really, Silas, huh, the head Manipulator. It seems he had fully planned their escape. But the time is too little to allow them to cross into the beast lands..."

She left the words hanging in the air as they both fell into thought.

The prince lowered his head.

"I never expected things to reach this point."

Atheline nearly laughed.

That sentence summarized half the continent’s problems. Nobody expected things to reach this point and yet here they were.

Lilith leaned forward slightly, golden eyes fixed upon him.

"How did you amass people so quickly?"

The prince froze which Atheline noticed immediately. That reaction mattered. Lilith noticed it as well.

Her voice softened, dangerously.

"Answer."

The prince looked genuinely conflicted.

For several moments he remained silent, then finally answered.

"I had already planned a rebellion, I just needed a trigger."

Neither Lilith nor Atheline externally reacted. Internally, however, both reached the same conclusion.

He had the worst timing.

Atheline felt a small amount of sympathy. The prince wasn’t some mastermind. He wasn’t even particularly useful just another power-hungry noble but stupid to the fault.

Lilith eventually stood. The movement immediately marked the end of the interrogation.

The prince noticed too and panic returned.

"Wait."

She paused.

The prince swallowed.

"If I tell you everything I know..."

"You already have."

The answer crushed whatever hope remained.

The prince stared pitifully as his eyes visibly lost hope, then he slowly lowered his head.

Lilith turned away and without another word, she left the chamber. Atheline followed after her.

The heavy prison door closed behind them. The prince remained alone, waiting for the execution platform already being constructed in the middle of the capital.

"What a waste of time," Lilith said between clenched teeth.

Atheline chuckled slightly." We still have something, even though it’s a little. "

She nodded.

The moment, the prison gates closed behind them, a shadow rose from the ground and knelt before her.

"Intensify the search around all the borders," she said quietly.

The shadow nodded and disappeared.

"Are we going back then?" Atheline asked.

She nodded and immediately after, darkness gathered around them.

Space twisted and the familiar sensation of long-distance teleportation followed. The underground cells vanished and the teleportation chamber returned.

Atheline released a small breath.

Lilith noticed.

"Hungry?"

"No, just mentally exhausted."

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"I don’t know. I’m partly worried that we’re going to cause a continental war, or accelerate the calamity that happened to you in the novel. "

She stopped and took his hands into his.

"Stop worrying over such trivial things. You’re too handsome for that frown on your face."

Her other hand rubbed between his brows, smoothening them. Atheline smiled.

"I know, but I cannot rid myself of this feeling easily," he pulled her into his arms and mumbled against his hair, "Let’s finish this quickly then we can travel somewhere nice and just enjoy each other’s company."

She hugged him back then pulled out of his arms.

"You want to travel in winter?"

"Any time is fine."

"Okay, aren’t you determined. "

He laughed. Lilith almost smiled.

As they continued deeper, Atheline noticed that the palace felt busier than before. Servants moved through corridors carrying decorations, artisans he had never seen before walked down the corridor carrying their tools and officials hurried between departments.

He couldn’t place a finger on it, it was as though he had forgotten something important. The atmosphere, preparations, and urgency didn’t feel like a preparation for war.

Then realization struck.

"The coronation."

Lilith nodded.

"You seem to have forgotten?"

For several moments neither spoke. It was the truth, he had almost forgotten though not intentionally. It was simply because everything kept attempting to collapse around them.

His coronation was scheduled before winter. Before roads became difficult, trade routes slowed. The date had been selected before their wedding.

A careful and meticulous plan but now war threatened to arrive first.

Atheline looked around. Workers hung banners bearing both royal crests. The dark elf crest and the high elf crest united as one. A symbol that would have seemed impossible a few years ago but now it decorates half the palace.

Lilith silently walked beside him.

Eventually, he spoke.

"Are we still doing it?"

The question lingered between them.

She looked forward, toward workers preparing the future.

"The coronation?"

A small silence fell between them.

"I don’t know..." she said quietly.

The honesty surprised him. She rarely admitted uncertainty. Yet this wasn’t simple.

The coronation mattered. Politically, symbolically, and personally.

A future king officially ascending beside the ruling queen. It was an event meant to stabilize the kingdom for decades.

Unfortunately, the continent had chosen an inconvenient moment for a crisis.

Lilith touched him briefly.

He continued to watch the workers arranging decorations, preparing feast halls, and constructing ceremonial platforms.

Months of planning and thousands of hours would finally come to an end.

It was a little ironic since the entire kingdom was expecting a celebration while simultaneously preparing for war. A very strange contradiction.

Lilith noticed his expression.

"What?"

"It feels strange."

"What does?"

"Everyone is preparing for a coronation and a war at the same time."

The queen considered that and then nodded.

"Fair."

For several moments they continued walking. Eventually, they reached one of the palace balconies overlooking the court.

Below them, the city remained alive, bustling and hopeful. The people clearly expected the coronation to happen. He could practically feel and see it.

The burners were also being put up around the court while those from the hunting competition were being removed.

Lilith rested her hands against the balcony then her gaze moved across her kingdom.

He joined her. They stood side by side. For a while neither spoke.

The wind carried distant sounds from the city below. Laughter, music, and life.

Atheline eventually glanced toward her.

"What do you want?"

She looked surprised.

"Regarding what?"

"The coronation."