The moment Schneizel finished speaking, Xiao Ran narrowed his eyes. He gave Schneizel, who wore a calm smile yet carried a serious expression, a long look and began considering what he meant by suddenly bringing this up.
What Schneizel had revealed was indeed rather unexpected. Charles actually intended to send Bismark to Area 11 to take over Governor Euphemia's position. Generally speaking, no one outside the Royal Family could become a governor, but the Knights of the Round were exempt from that rule—especially Bismark, whom Charles trusted most. Any other Knight of the Round probably could not replace a member of the Royal Family and directly become governor, but Bismark happened to possess that qualification.
Bismark was being sent to Area 11 ostensibly to investigate the Black Knights, but perhaps that was merely the official reason. Why Charles was doing this—whether he had noticed something unusual about Area 11, or whether there was another reason—was unclear. It might also have been Pandragon's appearance that made Charles sense something. That did not necessarily mean he knew what Lloyd and Xiao Ran had done; perhaps he simply valued Lloyd's current project more and wanted someone he could trust completely to keep an eye on it. Of course, there could have been multiple reasons.
Once Bismark went to Area 11, Euphemia would likely have to return to the capital. After all, there had never been a case of a prince or princess serving as the deputy of someone outside the Royal Family. Thus, if Bismark went to Area 11, Euphemia's return to the capital would be inevitable. Then the things Xiao Ran had done in Area 11, especially emptying more than half the Sakura Stone reserves, could no longer remain hidden. Xiao Ran certainly did not want that to happen—not only because of