"You found something?" Lionel lifted his head quickly at the mention of that.

Eiden swallowed at Lionel’s gaze before nodding hard.

"Yes, my lord." He reached into his pouch with shaking hands and pulled out a small pouch wrapped in clean white cloth.

Eiden held it out with both hands, as if afraid to touch it too firmly or even accidentally stain it.

"We found this hidden in one of the bushes in the area. It was well kept," Rylan explained how they saw it. "It contains animal bones from the monsters..."

Eiden clenched his fists. "My lord, this is obviously a royal sachet. Only the royal family is allowed to carry something like this, right?"

"This is a great sin!" Rylan also muttered sharply. "Keeping a monster bone is forbidden, my lord. We shall report this to the duke immediately!"

The air in the tent grew tense as the two knights talked. Even the maids became frozen in place. Their eyes were wide, and they looked bothered by it but chose to remain silent, knowing their position.

"I agree with Rylan, my lord. Someone obviously tried to conceal this by hiding it."

"Whoever did this should be punished at once."

"Ye—"

"That is enough." Lionel’s voice interrupted the two.

The knights stiffened at once before standing straight and tall.

"Calm down," Lionel muttered as he looked at each of them in turn. "And lower your voices."

"Yes, my lord," they answered quickly.

"You did well by bringing this to me first." Lionel let out a slow breath. It was his honest thoughts about it.

Lionel’s eyes stayed on the pouch for a moment before he looked back at them. Fortunately, these two were smart!

"I already know about it," he said calmly.

The two knights quickly glanced at each other.

"Y-You do, my lord?" Eiden asked, unable to hide his shock.

"You knew?" Rylan’s eyes widened.

Lionel nodded and sighed. "I have seen it before I collapsed."

The knights exchanged uneasy looks because of that.

"Then we should report it at once more!" Rylan said. "If this is connected to the royal family—"

"No," Lionel firmly shook his head to stop them.

The two knights hastily stopped.

"You will not report this as your own discovery," Lionel seriously instructed them. "You will give that sachet to the other knights who are searching the forest, but make sure it’s not the knights that Cassian brought with him."

The confusion on their faces became obvious.

"My lord?" Eiden asked carefully. "Why would we do that?"

"Because of who is involved." Lionel let out a sigh. He had already thought of it since he saw it.

When Rylan and Eiden thought of it, they quickly realized what Lionel mean.

"Cassian is my cousin," Lionel said plainly. "If this comes from us, it will look like we are pointing fingers at him. Worse, they will say that I’m jealous of him."

For Lionel, it was too early to make an enemy of his cousin. He needs to wait since he still has other plans. And it’s not like Cassian can do anything more than provoke him right now.

Aside from that, Cassian might deny it. So one way to go around it will be making sure that talks and rumors will surface. Those things will surely still damage his long-standing reputation. It will still be a scandal that the nobles would surely talk about.

With Lionel’s explanation, the knight’s expressions changed at once.

"How could we forget that..." Rylan said slowly.

"If we submit this ourselves," Eiden added, "our lord may be dragged into the matter."

"Exactly," Lionel replied. "I do not want my name or all of you to be tied to this." He looked at them seriously.

"The best course is to let the other knights find it and report it. Let them make it as if it were their first discovery. Now go and put it back where it belongs. Everything will now depend on you two."

Rylan and Eiden quickly nodded.

"We will do everything, my lord," they said together.

Rylan carefully wrapped the pouch again and placed it back inside his pocket.

"We will return to the forest at once," he said. "And we will act as instructed."

"Good," Lionel said. "Be careful, you two."

"Yes, my lord."

The two knights bowed deeply, then turned around and ran out of the tent.

As the flap of the tent closed behind, Lionel leaned back against the bedding. His eyes slowly closed.

"My lord, are you alright?" A maid quickly rushed to his side.

"Do you feel dizzy?" another added. "Should we call the royal doctor?"

Lionel slowly opened his eyes. He just wanted to rest for the meantime.

"I’m fine," he said softly. "Really."

The maids still looked worried, but Diana straightened and raised her hand.

"That will be all for now," she said gently to the maids. "You may step outside. Stay close in case he needs anything."

"Yes, Diana."

One by one, the maids bowed and left the tent. After everyone left, Diana sat down beside Lionel’s bed. For a moment, she said nothing. Then she let out a long and tired sigh.

"Are you really alright, my lord? You don’t look the same..."

"What do you mean?" Lionel frowned. Does he look bad now after sleeping for so long?

"I..." Diana hesitated for a moment. It seems like there was something more with his words. "Forgive me, my lord. I did not mean to overstep."

Lionel turned his head to look at her. "You are not," he said. "Go speak."

Diana met Lionel’s eyes for a second before looking away.

"I... just thought that you looked different, my lord," she said softly. "Not just today but for weeks now."

"You are more careful in the way you speak and act... I mean, you have become more reserved now." She paused and thought of it. "And earlier, with the pouch..."

"I thought you would protect your cousin even then," she admitted before letting out a sigh. "Because you always did..."

’Was I that bad, back then?’ Lionel’s eyes narrowed slightly at those words.

"You two used to be close," Diana said. "You always stood by him, no matter what, even if he was wrong." She glanced at him. "But today, you did not."

Right...

Lionel stared up at the ceiling for a moment. He knew what he meant. Slowly, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"I see," he said. He turned back to her, his smile deepening more. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"I guess I just realized that I need to grow, too, Diana."