"You!"
Sky raised her hand crossbow with trembling hands, its tip less than half a meter from Seraphina's forehead.
Every patron in the tavern held their breath.
"Sky." Xia Lin stood up, his tone calm. "Calm down."
"Calm down?!" Sky's voice shook. "She—what did she just say?! That's slander! An insult to an Inquisitor of the Empire!"
"But she was telling the truth," Sera added mercilessly.
"Shut up!" Sky turned to glare at Sera.
Kade covered his face in despair, groaning through his fingers. "Mother—please—stop talking—"
"Oh my." Seraphina tilted her head, looking utterly innocent. "I was only stating the facts. Young lady, you really were holding on tight. You even wrinkled our handsome Xia Lin's clothes."
Sky's face had gone red all the way down to her neck.
"Th-that was because of a charm spell!" she said through gritted teeth. "It was mental contamination caused by your high-risk magic experiment!"
"Yes, yes." Seraphina nodded with a smile. "Blame me. It's all my fault. So, are you going to arrest me now?"
"Of course!" Sky drew a deep breath, forcing herself to regain her composure. "You're suspected of—"
"Wait." Xia Lin interrupted her. "Sky, calm down. She did cause what happened at the Botanical Garden, but—"
He paused, choosing his words. "Strictly speaking, there were no casualties. Those plants mutated, but in the end, she personally—dealt with them."
"Exactly!" Kade hurriedly grabbed Sky's arm and pulled her back. "Inquisitor! My mother—
"She meant no harm! Besides, look, no civilians were hurt, and the pests in the Botanical Garden were cleared out. That—
"That's a good outcome, right?"
"The outcome was—" Sky took a deep breath, trying to put her reasoning back together. "This is too chaotic! None of this follows procedure! This—"
"Oh, young lady." Seraphina put away her lute