Caught in Action

And in silence, the physician has been sent out by General Julius to go ahead and express a conversation with the Crown Prince about Zina's progress in healing up. General Julius could only imagine less about the physician's way of explaining the triggered wounds, and he would just bet that some important words probably won't come out of the physician's mouth. General Julius was not expecting any good news about the physicians' opinion. Still, he remained loyal to their Crown Prince.

It was staring at the ceiling; Zina had thought bitterly about what had happened.

Until Zina can hear a long sigh from General Julius, he has been thinking about the kid Dante not minding much about Zina's existence. But then he watched the stubborn Crown Princess trying to stand half of her body up—if she had died, it would be a double problem—Well, even now that she survived, she was indeed a handful. He left his chair, and a sequence of elegant curses from Zina's mouth was unpleasing for his ears.

"Are we back on this game?" General Julius asked with no resentment in his tone.

Zina tilted her head a little with a frown, "I did say I can help you find her; I meant right now."

"With all due respect, I am not convinced. Lie to me more, and I will make sure that this will be the last time you step foot in this place, Crown Princess."

Zina groaned, not because she was feeling pain but because General Julius' words were more painful than she was currently feeling. She could not continue lying to a loyal General. Zina marked a series of escape plans 'X' in her thoughts, and it was an insignificant method, along with another problem to both him and her—their reality. Aimed at that purpose, Zina had advanced her mind with a decent amount of trying to be convincing in acting differently from an ordinary person in front of the General. Yet, a woman like her had no exceptional character because she was rumored to be distant and behind doors in every party that her mother tried to drag her in to win some man that best matched her in the past parties.

Her duty as royalty was to be wise in building a new business, understanding the laws, and studying more about papers, community, and mostly the people. She even presented an outstanding presentation of reviving the damaged goods as a recycled one instead of burning all of them. At times, Zina felt, at the least when she was with her sister Sabi somewhat helpful. Carried up with a sudden memory of her sister Sabi, she gazed at General Julius, who was standing and looking at her straightly, a serendipitous moment for both of them to tell the truth with a simple talk.

She started to speak about the previous days that she was with her mother and sister, and then she admitted that she was indeed the future Crown Princess; General Julius listened to her thoughtfully, he was searching for a tangible expression and if there were a lie detector she would be busted, well, obviously she was already out of action.

And General Julius did not say a word after Zina told him the truth about her side. She had failed to accomplish her part in concealing her real identity. The goal of pretending was now unnecessary in the General's eyes, and in stillness, she just buried her disenchantments.

General Julius nodded in agreement to his thoughts. And Zina guessed that it was about how many percent her honesty was. Of course, she was not desperate to know, but with him being convinced, it was one problem solved—she might be relieved with it.

However, she was confounded when General Julius spoke about the incident and its scene. Learning that she was asleep for five days, her critical stage finally passed; her sister Sabi went missing, her mother died, and she could not distinguish which line she should stand on. Yet, even though the discomfort wreaked on her skin due to her unhealed wounds, her face remained steady as if pride came first, then the bravery of facing a tomorrow without her mother and sister. It was not like her emotions gradually became empty; foster's headlock of sentiments was their most fantastic origin's superiority. Any signs of being affected or weak would make their records and reputation less thrilling, and the hope of being powerful would not be necessary anymore. And with her engagement sandwiched between the Crown Prince and the person she wishes to be in love with, there was less activity than the country's delinquents.

General Julius concluded that the future Crown Princess would be an appalling ruler. She was not a good match for their Crown Prince. He would be interested and disappointed at the same time if he learned about her attitude. It was weird for a Crown Princess to think about her mother's death. General Julius expected Zina to scream or cry.

He would not judge her as a weakling for that; its activity is a regular activity for a person with emotions. Really, normal.

Zina assumed that General Julius would speak ill about her, but she speculated that he kept his opinions without help as private in his views. So both of them had a reason to lie. Same as telling the truth. Only the alteration of observance got out the finest of them. Besides, there was no valid reason to continue lying for the rest of their days. Was that even an option that General Julius tried to use against her so she would tell him the truth?

"I have to go out now, Princess. If you need anything, use this little bell." General Julius moved his left hand and reached out to one of his pockets. Zina just watched him taking out the little bell. With no disagreements, General Julius left.

And she was, again, alone.