"Indeed, I was allowed to see him, not for much, but still."
"…!"
Teo sat down on the bed and spoke in a serious manner, making Miriette freeze with her hand outstretched for the food.
"And? How is he?"
The dark-haired girl asked impatiently staring at the attendant.
"He looks fine, it certainly doesn't look as if they are attempting to make him cooperate using force…"
"Bullshit – I bet he asked you to tell me that! Come on, Teo, I thought we were friends!"
The short brown-haired girl on a maid's uniform spoke in a calm and composed voice but was immediately interrupted by annoyed and slightly sad Miriette, which made her close her mouth and go silent for a while.
"…it doesn't look like he isn't being tortured, but I know for a fact that he can use healing spells…"
Teo breathed out and ended up spilling the truth while moving her head and pointing at her ear that until recently was getting more and more swollen because of the infection that Zoemi healed up for her.
"…?"
Miriette raised her brow and tilted her head but didn't comment, waiting for Teo to continue.
"I might be overthinking it, but I expect him to be healing himself or something, maybe even cleaning his clothes and the cell he is kept in, but I saw a few specks of blood on the wall outside his cell, that he – or someone else, could have missed…"
The brown-haired attendant pointed out with a bitter expression, making Miriette frown in anger.
"…do you know whose blood it was…?"
The dark-haired girl asked in a tense voice.
"…and how am I supposed to tell you that? I just saw that it was rather fresh – if it was caused by someone hitting sir Zoemi from inside the cell, then the hit must have been quite strong. Earth magician level strong at least."
Teo raised her brow and shook her head in disbelief at the naive question.
"Ah. So you expect that the old lady Auequas lost it and is trying to force Zoemi to admit that he had something to do with Xoenith's death… Yeah, I was afraid that it would be something like that – I contacted my mother and father and from what they told me it seems that the dearest queen of ours is doing her best to appease the anger of lord Derizno. Normally that would mean making sure that they would put more people into chasing after the murderer, but apparently, they want to turn Zoemi into a convenient scapegoat so that it would look like the royal family is actually doing something."
Miriette frowned and nodded with a solemn expression before taking a sandwich and biting into it in annoyance.
"…I… I meant that I think that some earth magician might have been too eager in their interrogation because lord Derizno was a transcended earth magician the other earth magician looked up to… Master's mother really is doing that? Why?! Derzino family is powerful but isn't the support from Espine and Moyena families enough to maintain the status of the Bellcephora family?"
"…"
Teo blinked in confusion and spoke anxiously, clenching her hands together with a terribly worried expression while Miriette was chewing silently feeling very awkward after talking too much.
"From what I know the problem lies with the neutral powers, Victureo and Lazaram families. Victureo holds the power in the military while Lazaram – especially the current head of the family who serves as the royal magician. While Victureo seems to be leaning towards Bellcephora in recent years they still tend to put their foot down and stubbornly block some laws from being passed that would favor the current rulers. As for Lord Lazaram – he keeps away from any and all important meetings using his research as a shield, and some people think that it is because he actually detests the current king and will give his supporter to the first person who will try to overthrow his entire bloodline."
Well, since she already said too much there was no reason to just hold back, so Miriette just went all in and just dumped all the definitively top-secret information onto the increasingly scared Teo.
"Wh… what…? Lord Lazaram hates master's father? Why?! They always talk with each other normally in public!"
The short brown-haired girl gasped in disbelief – she of all people would have known that as until recently she always stayed by the first prince's side, giving her free access to most places in the royal palace when she often could catch a glimpse of some important people.
"You got that one right – in public. Did you know that Horeo doesn't have only one half-brother?"
Miriette smirked and pointed at the shocked girl with her half-eaten sandwich.
"…eh…?"
Teo's jaw dropped at the revelation making Miriette's smirk grow into a grin.
"You definitely know about Surou being the child of the first wife of Horeo's father – but did you know that the king's current wife was in a relationship with another man and even gave him a son? Funnily enough, that was used as an argument IN FAVOR OF her assuming her current position."
The dark-haired girl seemed to be having fun sharing high-class gossip with her friend, although most of them weren't just rumors but a confirmed truth that was simply kept away from the lower-born people.
"I-indeed, but what does it have to do with lord La… oh…! Ooooohhhhhh…!"
Teo shook her head slightly and tilted her head in confusion before at one point her eyes widened in realization and she gasped.
"Yes. The current queen was in fact lord Lazaram's partner before leaving him for the current king according to her family's wishes. Apparently, lord Lazaram didn't take that too well – which is hard to say for sure, but since he didn't take another wife despite many marriage proposals from basically every single noble family in the kingdom sounds pretty plausible."
The dark-haired girl pointed out before returning to her meal
"That means the third-year student that can use the spells from all attributes is master's older brother?! But he never spoke about him, ever!"
Teo was already so invested in the story that she momentarily forgot about Zoemi.
"…now I wonder if this is something that I should tell you… Horeo might get grumpy if he would know that I told you about it…"
"…eh…?!"
Miriette finished her meal and leaned back in her chair with a concerned expression, confusing the brown-haired girl.
She already told her so much about really secret stuff, what information could be so dangerous that it could make her hesitate from revealing it?
"Oh well, just don't tell him that you know and it should be fine. I trust you."
"!!!"
Miriette ended up shrugging her shoulders and smiling cheekily at the stunned Teo.
"This will require just a little backstory – so listen."
Miriette cleared out her throat and looked up at the ceiling.
"This happened before you two showed up in the pantry in the royal palace so I am not surprised that you are not aware of it – but – in the past Horeo and Surou were inseparable."
"…wait… what…?"
The dark-haired girl revealed, making Teo furrow his brows in confusion – it was shocking information considering the rivalry and overall negative emotions between the two princes, but it didn't sound all that important.