The sound of the outer gate opening caught Lucy's attention.
She thought she would need to undergo an interrogation before reaching the Royal Capital, but when she saw who entered, she immediately became excited: "Mr. Rhode!"
Lucy suddenly felt much more at ease.
Rhode glanced at Lucy, who stood up, and Natsu, who couldn't, and despite the dire situation, couldn't help but feel like laughing.
He asked, "How are you? Are you hurt? Have you been interrogated?"
Lucy shook her head. Aside from being forcibly fitted with the Demon Sealing Stone during the initial capture, she hadn't been punished.
She was just feeling wronged: "I was at home all night, I didn't assassinate the princess."
"I believe you, of course," Rhode said. "But they say it was Taurus and Kyansa who attempted the assassination. Have they been behaving strangely lately?"
"No way, Taurus helped us in a fight a few days ago, and Kyansa even trimmed my hair this morning." Lucy asserted firmly, "They would never do such a thing!"
People have their biases, both emotionally and rationally, Rhode was more inclined to believe Lucy.
He eyed Arcadios with suspicion.
Were the evidence fabricated? Could another Star Spirit have been mistaken for Taurus and Kyansa? Was Yukino coerced for some purpose?
"There is absolutely no mistake. The ones who attempted the assassination, one is a Minotaur with a large axe, always looking at women with lecherous eyes. The other is a crab with scissors, whose catchphrase is 'shrimp'."
Speaking, Arcadios struck his chest, "I swear on the honor of the Kingdom Knight that every word of this is true."
"How could it be..." Even Lucy began to doubt herself because the characteristics matched Taurus and Kyansa completely.
Rhode glanced at the Demon Sealing Stone on Lucy's hand and suggested, "How about calling Taurus and Kyansa out for a face-to-face confrontation?"
"No way, letting you meet the suspects in the princess's assassination is already my utmost concession," Arcadios said. "Before arriving at the Royal Capital, we can't let her use magic under any circumstances."
Rhode was about to say more, but Lucy interrupted him.
"Mr. Rhode, let's meet the princess!" Lucy said, "Princess Jade isn't someone unreasonable; she'll definitely understand."
"I totally agree on that point," Arcadios said. "His Majesty the King and Her Highness the Princess will surely make a fair judgment."
There is no prince in the Fiore Kingdom, only a princess. The Queen is no longer alive, and the King has no plans for remarriage.
The country does not oppose a woman becoming King.
In other words, Princess Jade is destined to become the Jade Queen.
An attempt on the life of the future queen is naturally a grave matter.
It is only right for such a matter to alarm the King.
Since they temporarily reached a consensus, the atmosphere was less tense—mainly because Natsu couldn't speak right now, otherwise he would surely argue more.
Rhode, not minding the surroundings, casually pulled out a picnic stove and ingredients: "You haven't had breakfast yet? Let me cook something for you."
He remembered Hapi mentioning that Natsu went to Lucy's place to scrounge breakfast.
Lucy hesitantly nodded. Mr. Rhode was very considerate, perhaps overly so.
Moreover, this was the detention room on someone else's ship. Is it really okay to be so casual?
Arcadios' mouth twitched, stopping him: "There is prepared food on the ship, don't start a fire here."
A few minutes later, Lucy was eating a marching meal from the Royal Knight Order's soldiers.
The taste might not be particularly good, but the nutritional balance was absolutely perfect.
Lucy felt a bit dazed—was she really imprisoned?
Rhode placed another portion in front of Natsu, coaxing him with a grin, "Natsu, time for breakfast!"
"Mmmph..." Natsu covered his mouth, his face turning green as he tried to turn his head away.
The food smelled wonderful, but he didn't want to smell it right now.
Rhode nudged the food box closer, pursuing Natsu's nose.
Lucy watched the two childish fools messing around, involuntarily laughing. How could they resemble being in a Guild even in a cell?
After thinking for a moment, she concluded: the most important part of a Guild has never been the building, but the people.
Arcadios didn't understand the bond between the mages nor why they seemed so at ease.
There was no doubt that an assassination attempt on the princess was a grave crime. If convicted, even if the Fiore Kingdom hesitated to use the death penalty lightly, it would at least mean life imprisonment.
Did they seem so relaxed because they were confident they could clear their names?
Could it be that they weren't the culprits?
With a multitude of thoughts in mind, the flying ship peacefully sailed to the Royal Capital, landing over 300 meters from the Royal Palace gate.
Two rows of fully armed soldiers stood in line along the road, escorting Lucy off the ship as she followed her escort forward.
Natsu was carried off by two soldiers.
Rhode walked alongside Arcadios.
Instead of entering the main palace, they proceeded to a side hall, heavily guarded by soldiers around and on each floor, even encircling the rooftop.
Lucy stepped onto the central judgment platform, and Natsu, having almost recovered, reluctantly climbed up as well.
Having just regained his composure, he immediately began shouting at Arcadios: "I already said Lucy didn't assassinate any princess! Release us right now!"
"That's not for me to decide. Please wait here for a moment." Arcadios greeted and left, likely going to personally request the presence of the King and the Princess.
Before entering, Rhode had used Void Divination to investigate, discovering several covert posts set up and some oddly shaped items, probably magic weapons.
This seemed normal enough.
He tapped Natsu on the skull, signaling him to quiet down.
Natsu protested angrily, "We haven't done anything wrong! Why were we arrested?"
Rhode said, "Lucy probably didn't do anything wrong, but you did hit the Knight Order's soldiers, and quite a few of them."
Natsu was momentarily speechless but quickly argued back, "That's because they were randomly arresting people!"
"Alright, we'll talk about this later. I have something to discuss with Lucy first." Rhode shared with Lucy the replies from Pegasus and the Mermaids, along with news of the recent tragic events involving Star Spirit Mages.
Just as Mira had suspected, Lucy's expression turned sorrowful: "How could the Star Spirits do... huh?"
Lucy looked at Rhode; why was he telling her these things at this time?
Rhode asked, "Do you remember Princess Jade's magic?"
"Ah, the princess is also a Star Spirit Mage!" Lucy realized. "Could it be that the Star Spirits were responsible for the assassination attempt this time as well?"
"It's very likely they were, but why they impersonated Taurus and Kyansa is unknown." Rhode scrutinized Lucy, "Have you become important enough for the Star Spirits to go through such elaborate means to set you up?"
Feeling uneasy under his gaze, Lucy complained quietly, "How would I know..."