Meanwhile, at the same hour, Ephnic paced his bedchamber in the royal palace of Onyx, compass in hand, standing up and sitting back down again and again. He spent days turning the matter over in his mind after meeting Marianne in Hailey’s body, but no answer came.

His secretary Lian, watching him the whole time, was just as frustrated. But today, Ephnic finally seemed to make up his mind and gave him a certain instruction.

“Your Highness…?”

“Yes, go to bed first.”

But Lian had no way of understanding the reason behind that instruction.

“No, please reconsider.”

“I’m doing it. Send it as is.”

“Can you not tell me the plan?”

Ephnic answered with silence. He just instructed Lian to deliver a letter. A letter written to ‘Marianne,’ the one who carried the compass. The contents went roughly like this.

[Miss Marianne Schrant.

I know well who the owner of the compass you were carrying is, but it occurred to me that I may have been mistaken. So please come to the palace in three days to collect the compass. I will be waiting.]

But Lian sensed something. Ephnic had no intention of simply handing over the compass. And when he gave him the letter, he asked ‘The Flame of Truth, it hasn’t gone out yet, has it?’ which meant he intended to put ‘Marianne’ to a cruel test to find out whether she was lying or not.

“Your Highness…”

“Lian, do you not trust me?”

In the end, he failed once again at ‘figuring out what Ephnic was thinking.’ It was honestly a common enough occurrence for Lian, but tonight of all nights he wished Ephnic would just tell him. The ‘Flame of Truth’ was that dangerous a thing.

***

Three days later, the day Ephnic and ‘Marianne’ agreed to meet arrived. The moment Hailey saw the letter that came for Marianne, she saw it as her chance to get the compass back and counted down to this day. At last she stepped out of the palace carriage and walked up to the palace entrance with confident strides.

‘All right. I will get it back no matter what. It’s the only proof that I’m Hailey.’

She set her resolve and bit down on her lip.

“Could you let His Highness know that the carriage he sent to the Schrant house has just arrived?”

Shortly after, Ephnic heard the news of her arrival and walked briskly toward the guest annex. Midway through the walk, he suddenly called out to Lian and raised one eyebrow.

“Lian.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“The thing you asked me to explain three days ago.”

“The flame I’m currently holding in my hand?”

“Yes, that.”

Lian furrowed his brow with a displeased look, as though to say ‘you’re telling me now?’, and quietly made his objection known.

“Your Highness, are you truly going to use it?”

Lian held a small glass vial that fit neatly in the palm of his hand. Inside it, a tiny flame burned. It was the Flame of Truth, ‘Shobina,’ which forced anyone who swallowed it, willingly or not, to speak only the truth.

It was an imported item from another empire across the sea, one that no current of water or wind could extinguish. It was commonly used in the Kingdom of Onyx on criminals who refused to confess, but since it was used discreetly, not many people knew of the flame’s existence.

“Want me to tell you?”

“If you have no intention of telling me, please don’t tease. I will simply… follow your lead, Your Highness.”

“Lian, as you know, I have no desire to use something meant for criminals carelessly.”

Lian stopped walking and covered his mouth. It was sudden, but he seemed genuinely moved. It truly felt like a long-standing knot in his chest finally came loose.

Then why on earth did Your Highness ask for the flame in the first place?

“Is that right? Then shall I set this aside? Yes, that would be best.”

Lian answered his own question, and Ephnic said nothing in return, simply holding out a small box.

“When I tell you to bring the flame, bring this instead.”

“What is this? May I open it?”

“Open it.”

The moment Ephnic finished speaking, Lian clicked the box open. Inside a pretty silver jewel case sat a single red flower.

“A flower? It’s a flower.”

“Yes. Bring this when I give the word later.”

Another question rose in him, but Lian quietly closed his mouth and nodded. Somehow it felt like Ephnic had a plan for all of it.

“Let’s not dawdle. You’ll see when we get there.”

Ephnic urged Lian along and quickened his pace.

***

“Is the tea to your liking?”

“Yes. The scent is very soothing. It feels like it’s warming me from the inside.”

Hailey arrived at the guest annex and was being served tea by a palace maid.

‘The guest annex.’

She came here once when she accompanied the princess to receive a guest. Back then, she was the one who prepared the tea herself as a lady-in-waiting, gathered various gifts, and tended carefully to the guest. Sitting here as a guest in a place this grand felt a little strange.

Just then.

“I’ve kept you waiting.”

A familiar voice came from behind Hailey. She quickly rose from her seat, and sure enough, Ephnic stood there.

“Your Highness, blessings upon the Kingdom of Onyx. Thank you for the invitation.”

“Think nothing of it.”

He strode over and settled into the seat prepared across from her. They sat, each adjusting their clothing, and spent a brief, wordless moment taking stock of each other.

Either way, Hailey knew she would appear to him as ‘Marianne’ right now. Her plan was not only to retrieve the compass but to make Ephnic understand that she was Hailey.

How should she bring it up?

“Was the road difficult?”

“Not at all. It’s winter, so there aren’t many people on the streets.”

“And the tea? Is it to your liking?”

“Yes. It’s very war… m… Your Highness, actually.”

Ephnic sent her a languid look at her call, then slowly nodded as though the time had come.

“Shall we get to the point, then?”

“The compass first…”

“One moment. This concerns a national project, so I imagine discretion is important. Would everyone except Lian please step out?”

A national project?

The moment Ephnic finished speaking, every servant in the room withdrew at once. Caught off guard, Hailey looked at him in silence and pressed her lips shut.

I need to watch what he’s trying to say. And the moment an opening appears, I move in.

“I tend to be quite suspicious by nature, you see.”

She felt she could now roughly read his intentions.

“The compass is a rather important object, so you chose to phrase it as a ’national project.’”

She pretended to take a sip of tea and watched his expression. Ephnic froze, visibly startled.

“I also didn’t expect you to simply hand over the compass, Your Highness. I understood your position well enough. So I will prove that I am the owner of that compass in a way you can accept.”

Seeing no sign that Ephnic was about to respond, she decided to take the lead. Whatever question came her way she would answer, and even if she couldn’t prove she was ‘Hailey’ right this moment, she was confident she would manage it eventually. Ephnic seemed to read her expression and let out a small sigh.

“I thought I’d be the one leading this, but not at all. Then shall I hear your side first? No need to go the long way around, I suppose.”

He closed his mouth, which had been slightly open, and leaned forward. His blue eyes fixed on her with a sharp, steady gaze.

“Of course.”

To settle her nerves even a little, Hailey took a sip of the tea in front of her.

“First, I know how to use that compass.”

She spoke as calmly and clearly as she could manage. But at that moment, Ephnic raised his index finger and pressed it to his own lips.

“Wait. There’s still one thing I’d like to verify. Have you ever heard of the ‘Flame of Truth’?”

‘Isn’t the Flame of Truth a t*rture instrument used only on criminals? Surely he isn’t thinking of making me swallow it?’

Hailey was horrified. As a child, visiting the palace as a lady-in-waiting, she once saw a criminal who swallowed the flame. His mouth was charred black, and the sight of him writhing in agony, rasping for water, was deeply shocking.

And at that time, Ephnic was standing right beside her. She remembered hiding behind him to calm her frightened heart… Countless thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, but she also understood that they were no longer children. And he was the Crown Prince, the one who would bear responsibility for the kingdom.

‘If the compass has abilities I don’t know about. And if he’s worried that Marianne may have discovered them…’

It made sense that Ephnic would bring out the Flame of Truth.

“I know of it. You want to verify whether I’m lying. Are you planning to use it?”