The room stayed silent for several long seconds after the word dragon was spoken.

Princess Elena simply stared at the young investigator as if waiting for him to suddenly admit it was a joke made after too many sleepless nights in the snow.

He did not.

Finally she lowered the teacup slowly onto the table.

"...An actual dragon?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You saw it personally?"

The investigator nodded immediately.

"Several times."

That somehow made the situation worse.

Morning sunlight filtered softly through the royal garden windows while distant palace servants moved quietly beyond the corridors outside, completely unaware that somewhere in the northern frontier a dragon was apparently sleeping on fortress walls like an oversized house cat.

Elena leaned back slightly in her chair.

For once, she looked genuinely caught off guard.

"...How is the kingdom not panicking already?"

The young investigator almost answered immediately.

Then paused.

Because honestly—

After spending time in Elarion, that question had become difficult to explain.

"They should be," he admitted.

"But?"

He hesitated again before speaking carefully.

"It doesn’t feel... chaotic there."

The princess frowned slightly.

"What does that mean?"

The investigator searched for the right words.

"The reports make it sound dangerous. And it is dangerous. But the territory itself feels stable."

He looked toward the window briefly, remembering furnace smoke rising across snowy valleys.

"Alive, maybe."

Elena listened quietly.

"The people trust him?"

"Yes."

The answer came instantly.

Too instantly perhaps.

The investigator realized that himself a moment later.

The princess noticed too.

A faint expression crossed her face before disappearing again.

"You respect him."

He blinked.

"...I don’t know him well enough for that."

"That wasn’t a denial."

The young man suddenly understood why palace officials became nervous around intelligent royalty.

He coughed awkwardly.

"The situation in the north is complicated."

"So I’ve heard."

A small smile appeared briefly at the corner of Elena’s lips before fading again.

Then her expression softened slightly.

"...Was he truly poisoned?"

The question sounded quieter now.

Personal.

The investigator remembered Lucien standing near the fortress gate beneath falling snow. Calm. Controlled.

And somehow tired in a way difficult to explain.

"Yes," he answered honestly.

"At least... I believe he was."

Elena looked downward afterward.

Her fingers rested lightly against the edge of the untouched teacup while sunlight reflected faintly across the silver rings around her sleeves.

"He always looked exhausted during the last year in the capital," she murmured softly.

The investigator stayed silent.

Because this no longer sounded like royal curiosity.

She noticed eventually and straightened slightly again.

"Continue the report."

The young man nodded quickly.

"The northern territory is industrializing rapidly."

That word immediately drew her attention back.

"Industrializing?"

"Yes."

He frowned slightly while remembering the workshops beneath Elarion.

"I don’t fully understand everything they’re building. But there are furnaces operating day and night, expanded mining routes, steel production..."

Another hesitation.

"And experiments."

Elena looked suspicious immediately.

"What kind of experiments?"

"...Explosive ones."

That answer earned him a long stare.

Then unexpectedly—

The princess laughed quietly.

Not loudly.

Just enough to surprise him completely.

"I’m sorry," she said while shaking her head faintly, "I was trying to imagine Lucien managing explosions."

The investigator relaxed slightly seeing the tension ease from her expression.

"He doesn’t actually seem surprised by them anymore."

"That sounds concerning."

"It probably is."

For a few moments the atmosphere became lighter.

Then the princess asked quietly:

"Did he ask about the capital?"

The investigator thought carefully.

"No."

Something flickered across her eyes at that.

Brief disappointment perhaps.

But she hid it quickly.

Instead she stood from her chair and walked slowly toward the open window overlooking the royal gardens below.

Warm southern sunlight covered the palace grounds.

So different from the frozen north.

"Elena."

The investigator nearly jumped hearing the voice from the doorway.

Prince Cassian entered the chamber moments later wearing formal dark noble attire lined with silver embroidery. Confident posture. Calm expression.

Perfect royal appearance.

Until he noticed the investigator.

Then his eyes sharpened slightly.

"You returned already."

The young man bowed immediately.

"Your Highness."

Cassian glanced between both of them.

"...Northern reports?"

Elena answered calmly before the investigator could.

"Yes."

The prince walked further into the chamber afterward.

"And?"

The young investigator suddenly felt like he’d walked into a dangerous room without warning.

Cassian’s smile remained polite.

But something behind it felt cold.

"Elena always worries too much about northern politics," the prince continued casually.

"I was simply curious," she answered.

The prince looked back toward the investigator.

"Well then. Satisfy our curiosity."

The young man hesitated very briefly.

Then chose his words carefully.

"Elarion is stabilizing rapidly."

Cassian’s expression did not change.

Though the silence afterward lasted slightly too long.

"Stabilizing," he repeated softly.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The prince walked toward the nearby table afterward before pouring himself tea.

"And Lucien?"

There it was.

The investigator suddenly understood why Seraphin distrusted southern nobles so much.

The question sounded casual.

But it wasn’t.

"He appears healthy."

Cassian smiled faintly into the tea.

"That’s fortunate."

No warmth behind the words.

None.

Elena noticed too.

The room became quieter after that.

Then Cassian asked lightly:

"And the rumors?"

The investigator stiffened slightly.

"Rumors, Your Highness?"

"Dragons. Industrial growth. Armed patrols."

Cassian took another sip calmly.

"The capital has become very imaginative lately."

The young man suddenly felt very aware of every word leaving his mouth.

"El... Elarion has grown stronger."

That was safe enough.

Probably.

Cassian looked toward him for several seconds afterward.

Still smiling.

Then finally nodded once.

"I see."

Simple words.

Yet somehow the investigator felt colder afterward than he ever had in the north.