Getting rid of ants 2

 Ministers and officials were brought into the throne room, not knowing what was going on when they heard a voice.

- "The Queen is here."

- "Your majesty." - Everyone kneeled to greet the Queen.

Queen Eliza walked to her throne and sat down. Then she said, - "You may raise."

One of the courageous dared to ask, - "Your majesty, why have you called everyone so suddenly?"

 Eliza looked at her, not saying anything, and for a few minutes, the hall was very quiet, after which footsteps could be heard - "You sure are courageous to dare to question the queen." It was Ivy who talked, she walked in the hall together with Dea, whose gaze was as cold and piercing as ever.

 The official who talked finally felt some fear and stuttered, - "I … I did not mean it like that. I just do not understand why the Queen would call everyone in such a manner."

- "Are you someone who can question the queen?" - Ivy's gaze turned cold as well.

- "O...of course not. I did not mean to offend. Please, your majesty, believe me. This lowly one is stupid and made a mistake." - She trembled in fear as he was kneeling, unable to look Queen in the eyes, cursing herself.

- "There shall be no second time. Now we have more pressing matters to attend to."

- "Thank you, Your Majesty." - The woman stood up while sighing in relief. 

- "As you all know, not long ago, someone tried to kill us, so I gave the job to investigate this matter to the crown princess, and by her words, the culprit behind this has been found." - As the Queen finished speaking, she looked at Dea.

- "We were able to catch one of the assassins alive, and after interrogations, finally she gave in and said the name of her master."

 Hearing her words, everyone was stunned, including the queen, as she knew better than anyone that no assassins were caught.

A few seconds of silence were broken by a voice - "Her Highness, Princess Anita."

Everyone heard the announcement, and Dea's lips curled upwards for a second, but no one noticed.

 'So he sent his daughter to spy? He sure got the news fast. Well, if he was that easy to deal with, it would be boring.' thought Dea.

Anita came in with a concerned face as she asked Dea, - "Sister is that true? Did you find out who tried to harm Mother?"

- "Yes, but as you know, I can't just trust an assassin's words, so I did more investigations to make sure, after all, I didn't want to accuse the wrong person, and everything was confirmed. Only then did I go to the queen."

 Hearing her words, no one could say anything more, and Anita's hands clenched for a second, cruelty and hatred flashed in her eyes, but it was so quick that no one noticed except Dea, of course.

Anita quickly went back to her acting and asked, - "So who is so daring?"

- "Well, as you know, Mother is very magnanimous, so she decided that if the culprit comes clean, we won't be killing children of the family for betrayal."

 Hearing her words, the audience was stunned once more, and so were Anita, Ivy, and even Eliza. After all, who would be stupid enough to believe that bluff? Everyone was thinking if this princess injured her head and became stupid, Anita snickered a bit as she thought, 'Idiot, I was worried for a bit, seems like she has nothing, hah what kind of idiot would believe your words, and come out and say they tried to kill the queen.'

 Ivy and Queen also were stunned, 'a moment ago she was so confident did she hit her head on something on her way here and become confused?' Thought mother and daughter at the same time, as they were worried.

 But what happened next almost gave everyone a heart attack.

 Seconds after Dea finished her words, the woman came in the front as she said, - "I was the one who tried to kill the queen, it was all my scheming, I wanted the throne, so I tried to kill the queen."

'There is the idiot', the audience almost dropped down with their mouths gaping, Eliza, Ivy, and Anita almost simultaneously fell from their seats but barely managed to keep their composure.

A second ago, everyone wondered if the crown princess became an idiot as even a child could see through her schemes, but now, their own general was admitting the crime.

'Since when did social views change so much, and why no one informed them.' (they still have not closed their mouths.)

They were woken up by Dea's next words - "Guards, you heard the confession. Bring this criminal to the dungeon before her execution."

- "Y… y yes Your Highness" - They barely managed to keep their composure, thinking whether they were in some kind of a dream.

- "Well, since the culprit admitted her wrongdoing, my job is done. Your majesty, I will retire for today"

The queen finally came to her senses - "Yes, go and rest well. We have tired you out." - She did not know what was going on, but looking at her daughter, it seemed like everything was settled, and one of her biggest thorns was removed.

As Dea was leaving, Ivy caught up to her and all the way to her palace did not remove her eyes from Dea.

Finally, she gave in to curiosity and talked first, - "Just what did you do to her? How come she admitted everything?"

Dea's lips curled up as she looked at her sister, - "Do you think I am such a person? It must be that the general felt very guilty and admitted everything."

Dea looked at her pitifully as if she was wronged, mockery and amusement were obvious in her eyes.

'Yes, you are exactly that kind of a person' was what Ivy wanted to say, but she kept quiet even though these words were obvious from her expression.

- "Ahhh. Whatever, if you don't want to say anything, then don't, like I care." - Said Ivy as she quieted down for a bit before asking again, - "So what do you plan to do now? Will we go to the villa again?"

- "You should go if you want to. I have a few things to settle before going."

- "It's fine, I will stay with you and go back together."

They did not talk anymore as Ivy could see that her sister went back to her thoughts while Dea was planning the next game.