Anna and the crown prince looked into each other's eyes, both having the same intention. They planned to crush the person in front of them.
"To think that the crown prince would come to this humble place personally…" Anna's expression became cold. "If you still think about me, then I will tell you again and again. It's impossible."
The crown prince's eyebrows twitched. He said, "Do you think Noel Ardagan is so great? Even if he is talented, he still can't be compared to the royal family. You should remember that the royal family once executed his parents because of you, Anna Stargaze. No matter how you're going to twist it, you'll always be the murderer of his parents."
Anna remained calm. She had learned that Noel's parents were still alive. While it didn't erase her past, she could finally move forward.
She raised her head and said, "Yet Noel forgives me. That's why, from now on, my only wish is to stay by his side, protecting this place for him."
"Do you think you can protect it?" The crown prince smirked. "With a single word from me, I can make the Ardagan family once again destroyed. Noel Ardagan, for the sake of his parents, raises an army to rebel. Do you know what will happen next?
"The marshal and a hundred thousand of the royal army will be coming toward this place. Even all the nobles who want a piece of this territory will join."
"You…" Anna gritted her teeth.
"It seems that you have forgotten about the basics. Don't outshine the Lord you serve." The crown prince's expression turned dark. "Your new invention? They are weapons of war. If you use it and strike the royal capital, people can imagine the destruction it will cause."
"That's all a lie! You're accusing us! Noel never has an intention to betray the kingdom. If he had that thought, he would have gone to another kingdom instead of remaining here." Anna stood up.
"That's for people to decide." The crown prince snorted. It was clear that the royal family could easily make people think about what they wanted. Rumors were easily spread, especially when the inquisitor worked in the dark.
The moment Noel was branded as a rebel, the royal family wouldn't spare any efforts in destroying the Ardagan family and seizing their new technology.
"You…" Anna clenched her fists.
"If you don't want that to happen… sit down first." The crown prince had a smug smile on his face.
Anna looked unwilling, but she ended up sitting down as if she had no other choice. With a distorted face, she said, "What do you want?"
"Now, we're talking." The crown prince smiled as he suddenly stood up so that he could sit next to Anna.
"Crown Prince, please respect yourself." Anna moved to the edge of the couch after raising her voice.
"So, do you want the royal army to flatten this place?"
Anna suddenly stood up and shouted, "Are you threatening me? We haven't done anything wrong. We have even repelled those demons and the Supreme Devil Organization. And you want me to abandon Noel? I would rather die!"
The crown prince was startled. He stood up, approached her, and said, "I'm merely granting you this opportunity. If you—"
Before the crown prince could say another word, the door was slammed open. Earl Jean should have stopped the mayor from doing anything, so there was no way the mayor could come to this room.
And because of their position, the crown prince could clearly see who was actually coming to this room.
"What is happening here?" The deep voice of Duke Lorelei echoed inside the room.
"Duke Lorelei… Is this really how the royal family treats their loyal subjects? Me and my husband have protected the kingdom from such a huge threat. But the crown prince wants to sexually assault me, the lady of the Ardagan family. This is the biggest insult to my Ardagan family."
"What?" Duke Lorelei's body shuddered. He had already known about the crown prince's obsession, but this was the first time he heard about Anna claiming to be the lady of the Ardagan family.
After all, according to his knowledge, she was still his fiancee, and the ceremony would still be eight or nine months away.
If Anna was lying, this was a bold accusation. But if Anna was telling the truth, the crown prince was in the wrong even if they ignored the treatment of the royal family.
"The lady of the Ardagan family? You…" Duke Lorelei looked at Anna, realizing the trap that she had set up.
She first asked him to wait inside the room next to her so that when she raised her voice, he would definitely come.
The second trap would be the way she intended to use the identity of the lady.
"Are you really…" Duke Lorelei suddenly remembered that Anna came to this city with the saintess. There was indeed one way for her to be identified as the lady of the Ardagan family.
While political marriages were common and it wouldn't be weird for the monarch to have several mistresses, stealing someone's wife was frowned upon morally and ethically, especially if it involved a noble.
As the oldest arbiter, he had seen at least three monarchs and learned a lot about history. It wasn't that strange for a monarch to have their downfall for a woman, their greed, or become a tyrant.
"If you don't believe me, we can go to the Moon Temple right now." Anna's expression turned grim.
"You're lying! I have never said anything like that!" The crown prince glared at her.
However, it didn't really matter. The moment the duke came here, there was only one course of action for all of them.
With a dark face, Duke Lorelei said, "We shall go to the Moon Temple right now."
"Duke Lorelei!"
"It's in your best interest to follow me, Your Highness. Even if it's His Majesty himself, he will definitely listen to my suggestion." Duke Lorelei glared at him, making the crown prince shudder.
The moment they came out of the room, Duke Lorelei saw the mayor and Earl Jean coming out of the room next door. In that instant, he realized that Earl Jean had fallen for their trick.
No matter how impartial he was, he had no other option but to seek the truth from the Moon Temple. The biggest mistake they had made was not pressuring her or coming to this place, it was the fact that Old Jean left the crown prince and Anna alone inside the room.
Old Jean didn't expect this to happen, thinking Anna was just an easy opponent. But it turned out, Anna wanted to make him think of her that way so that he would lower his guard.
Obviously, these five people gathered quite a lot of attention when they were storming the Moon Temple's branch.
"May I know the reason for your visit?" Paladin Lloyd stopped them with a grim expression.
"We wish to meet the Saintess. It is a very important matter."
"I am here, Duke Lorelei." Layla suddenly came out as if she had heard his voice from the very start.
"Saintess. I'd like to write down a complaint." Anna lowered her head.
"A complaint?" Layla fell silent as the atmosphere became grim.
Duke Lorelei noticed what Anna was about to say and immediately stopped her, asking, "I apologize for this sudden request, but may I know if the Moon Temple is responsible for the marriage between two individuals: Noel Ardagan and Anna Stargaze?"
Anna couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows. Duke Lorelei had just stopped her from making this matter worse for the crown prince. As expected of Duke Lorelei, who was known to be just. Even if they had gained his cooperation, he would still try to solve the situation without harming the kingdom.
Layla frowned before saying, "That's correct. The marriage certificate has been registered in the Moon Temple and has been acknowledged by the government. In the eyes of the Moon Goddess, they have become a pair of husband and wife. Lloyd, please bring the certificate to me."
"Yes, Saintess." Lloyd politely bowed and entered the temple.
Duke Lorelei pinched the bridge of his nose. It was a checkmate.
Lloyd returned in just a minute, giving her the certificate.
"Please check this, Duke Lorelei. The marriage certificate was issued three weeks ago. We were unable to form this marriage certificate previously, but because the marriage ceremony is scheduled in another two months, we can release it now since the ceremony is within three months," Layla explained, showing that they were working in a legitimate way. She even created a barrier around the certificate so that no one could destroy it. Duke Lorelei was strong after all, it wasn't weird for her to take such a precaution.
And more importantly, the certificate had been issued for three weeks. Noel and Anna actually used the fact that their city was isolated to hide this fact.
"This is impossible." Earl Jean gasped, realizing what had happened.
The crown prince looked at Anna as if he couldn't believe what he witnessed. Although it was for a moment, Anna actually smiled at him as if everything went according to plan.
Earlier, Anna said that she and Noel never had the intention to rebel. But the crown prince told her that what mattered was what people thought.
And she showed him exactly that. No matter how they were going to twist it, Anna could always claim that the crown prince tried to put his hand on her.
The moment Duke Lorelei appeared in the scene, their fate had been sealed.
With this, she could legally file a complaint through the Moon Temple. And Duke Lorelei had no choice but to do the same so that the royal family recalled the crown prince or the damage would become much harder to deal with.
In any case, the only people who witnessed it were the seven people in front of the temple.
As long as they kept quiet, the rumor wouldn't start. Even Noel didn't want Anna to have the image of being assaulted by another person even if it was not true.
Still, all this wouldn't have happened if they didn't actually leave Anna and the crown prince inside.
"Is there something happening?" Layla asked with an ignorant tone.
Duke Lorelei turned to Anna and said, "Lady Anna… Do you mind if I handle this situation peacefully?"
Anna could see that Old Jean was restraining the crown prince so that he didn't make a scene. Satisfied, Anna nodded her head and said, "In that case, I will enter the Moon Temple."
Her point was clear. She would definitely make a complaint without making this situation bigger than this out of respect for the duke. If Duke Lorelei didn't do the same, it would be clear that he still sided with the royal family instead of being impartial.
In fact, this plan could only be executed because he was impartial. Even if he wasn't impartial, Noel could use that excuse to prevent Duke Lorelei from entering the main city and making the purchase of rune technology. There was no way Duke Lorelei would sacrifice everything he had so far.
So, he planned to control the damage by being as impartial as possible.
Duke Lorelei sighed while thinking, 'I'm definitely going to retire after this. I don't want to meddle with politics anymore. It's exhausting.'
