Chapter 179

“Prince Joshua.”

Guided by the trembling maid, after entering the room of the Freckled Prince, Emma, who replaced Leon as the main interrogator, ignored the mess in the room that looked like it had been hit by a storm and politely greeted first:

“It’s been a long time. You seem to have grown quite a bit since the past.”

Hm? After hearing the tall and beautiful woman’s words, the Freckled Prince couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, looking at her with surprise for a while, then hesitantly said: “You’re… uh… the woman who joined the Clearing Bureau six years ago?”

“Yes.”

Emma smiled gently with a serene expression, then gracefully threw out a bandage, neatly setting up the furniture that had been kicked over in the room. Then, she calmly introduced the purpose of her visit: “Prince Joshua, our Virgo Subdivision received a request for help this morning regarding an assassination attempt on the royal family by rebels. We need you to answer some questions.

You know, our subdivision also bears the responsibility of guarding the royal family, but we’ve always been short-staffed, so there are occasional oversights. Therefore, to better protect you and your family’s safety, we hope you will cooperate with our investigation.”

“Tsk… another person from the Clearing Bureau…”

After hearing Emma’s words, the Freckled Prince couldn’t help but touch his face, a trace of residual anger flickering in his eyes.

However, considering the strange moving bandage that resembled a snake, he ultimately refrained from saying anything offensive and instead questioned with dissatisfaction:

“You people even know you have the duty to guard the royal family? Then why do other kingdoms’ royal families always have employees from your Clearing Bureau following them closely, and even some powerful nobles get protection, but we get nothing?”

“For this, I ask for your understanding.”

Facing the Freckled Prince’s accusations, Emma remained calm and responded steadily: “Our subdivision has a rather special situation; our personnel numbers are only a fraction of other subdivisions, sometimes even less. Moreover, with the recent increase in abnormal events in the kingdom, we are extremely understaffed and unable to assign fixed personnel to guard the royal family.

However, our bureau director is always stationed in the capital city, almost never leaving far away, and constantly monitors important areas around the palace using anomalous items. Therefore, unless it’s an extremely special situation, your and your family’s safety can be ensured.”

“Hmph!”

Emma’s response seemed to still leave the Freckled Prince unsatisfied, and he continued to pick faults with a sour expression:

“If it’s just normal situations, what use would you be? The existence of the Clearing Bureau isn’t meant to handle special situations? If I say so, your director clearly doesn’t understand priorities. When manpower is insufficient, shouldn’t you prioritize the safety of the royal family instead of dealing with all sorts of weird abnormal events?

If something happens to our royal family, the entire kingdom will fall into chaos! As for those anomalies happening in other counties, even if they escalate, it’s just ordinary people dying, which won’t cause much disorder. What’s the harm in handling it a bit later?”

“…”

Enduring the Freckled Prince’s lengthy rant, Leon couldn’t help but take a deep breath, his wrist involuntarily shaking.

Shit, I really want to hit him right now. What the hell? Who raised this guy? How can someone be so damn annoying? Speaking of which, did you inherit the talent for pissing people off from your sister’s intuition?

“Alright, regarding your suggestions, I’ll truthfully relay them to the director when I return.”

Without getting angry due to the Freckled Prince’s accusations, Emma simply smiled warmly and gestured toward the sofa lightly.

“Prince Joshua, are you ready to answer our questions now?”

“Ask already! Ask already!”

Satisfied with Emma’s compliant attitude, Prince Joshua walked to the single seat on the sofa and sat down first. Leon and the others followed and sat opposite him.

Looking at the man covered in robes and masks who seemed terrified of being recognized, the Freckled Prince suddenly felt an inexplicable wave of disgust and glared at Leon’s mask, rebuking,

“She is a great noble and has the qualification to sit before me, but who exactly are you? You didn’t even greet me upon entering and just silently sat across from me without a word. Wasn’t anyone ever taught you about etiquette?”

“…”

The etiquette you speak of—wouldn’t it be more appropriate if your face got acquainted with my palm? Seriously clashing with this 2B prince, Leon clenched his jaw under the mask, laughing at his absurd behavior, and was about to remove his mask, transforming the inquiry into a full-blown interrogation.

But at that moment, a warm, soft hand grasped his, lightly pulling him back as he prepared to reveal himself, then gently pressing on his knee, signaling him not to act impulsively.

“Prince Joshua, if you continue like this, you’ll make things difficult for me.”

As if she could never lose her temper, facing the Freckled Prince who acted like a hedgehog rolling in poop, poking and stabbing everyone while simultaneously being disgusting, Senior Emma still smiled gently: “He is my colleague and could be considered a junior I’m mentoring. He’s just usually shy and doesn’t fully understand the proper etiquette when meeting royalty, so please bear with us.

Also, he has extensive research in areas such as soul, will, and spirit, complementing my abilities. In the future, if you encounter any small issues related to these aspects, you might need his help.”

“…”

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Faced with Emma’s gentle persuasion, which carried an aura akin to a ‘calming halo,’ the Freckled Prince hesitated for a moment before finally retracting his sharp thorns, leaning back against the couch with a humph, somewhat impatiently urging:

“I have things to do later, so hurry up with your questions.”

“Alright, the first question.”

Gently patting Leon’s hand, calming him down for now, Emma opened her mouth with a voice as soft as clouds, speaking tenderly:

“Do you have any history of private contact with members of the rebel group?”

“What kind of ridiculous question is that?”

The Freckled Prince furrowed his brows, looking displeased:

“How could I possibly be connected to those people? They’re trying to assassinate me! If I privately contacted them, wouldn’t that be suicide?”

What he said turned out to be true.

Watching the steady flame of the Freckled Prince’s soul, Leon silently extended his hand and, through the plain silk skirt, softly marked a checkmark on Senior Emma’s supple thigh.

“Sorry, it’s just routine questioning. Now let’s move on to the second question.”

Her thigh unconsciously trembled slightly after receiving feedback, and Emma smiled faintly before continuing:

“Prince Joshua, if you had a sister who excels in every way and is the first heir to the throne, how would you view her?”

(Chapter End)