"I see..."
After hearing Cui Ciyou's airtight answer, Ariel nodded thoughtfully.
She lifted her cup of slightly cooled black tea and took a gentle sip.
Light shifted in her beautiful violet eyes, leaving her thoughts utterly unreadable.
After a brief silence, she suddenly steered the conversation in another direction:
"I hear... that you and dear Alice... are already engaged, Lord Cui Ciyou?"
Ariel asked with an air of casual interest.
Yet her violet eyes fixed on Cui Ciyou's face with the precision of a hunting falcon.
She seemed intent on catching even the slightest flicker of emotion on his face.
The question startled not only Cui Ciyou, but Roxy and Sauros beside him as well.
Old Sauros reacted first, immediately answering with a hearty smile:
"Indeed, Your Highness!"
"That girl Alice holds Lord Ciyou in the highest regard, and I think very highly of this young man myself."
"The two youngsters share a mutual affection. Their engagement came about quite naturally."
Sauros deftly presented a political marriage as a match born of love.
Cui Ciyou said nothing. He simply watched Ariel calmly, waiting for her to continue.
He knew a princess as shrewd as her would never raise the subject without a reason.
Sure enough, once Ariel had received Sauros's "affirmative" answer,
she set down her teacup and gave a meaningful smile:
"Then... congratulations."
"Dear Alice is truly fortunate to have someone like you as her fiancé, Lord Cui Ciyou."
"However..."
Ariel changed tack, her gaze sharp as a blade as it settled on Cui Ciyou again:
"As far as I know, Lord Cui Ciyou, you do not appear to be a native of the Asla Kingdom?"
"In fact, your origins remain a mystery even to the Royal Capital's intelligence network."
"Would you be willing to indulge this little curiosity