Annan leaned forward slightly in his seat, showing that he was listening closely.
"Do you know Princess Sails?"
So it is about her...
"I've heard a little."
"Princess Sails is the King's older sister. She was imprisoned in the Dungeon after becoming entangled in the Second Prince's case..."
Alone with Annan in the Lounge, the Council Chairman began recounting secrets of the Royal Family.
Annan had already heard the story from Princess Sails herself, but this time he was hearing it from another perspective.
As Princess Sails understood it, the Kingdom had deliberately abandoned her to be tormented by the Ratfolk. According to the Council Chairman, however, it had been an accident.
Someone had deliberately left Princess Sails to the Ratfolk. Or rather, they had left a princess with a pure Royal Bloodline to the Ratfolk. Or, more precisely... they had left the Montreal Golden Family's bloodline to the Ratfolk...
The terrible implication was hard to put into words. What had seemed like negligence and forgetfulness now pointed to a Ratfolk spy among the Kingdom's leaders. Annan already knew that much. Wasn't the King one of them?
"I need you to investigate. Find whoever betrayed the Princess, and root out the Ratfolk spy hiding at the top. This is far more important than catching a few members of the Blade of Freedom." The Council Chairman gazed gravely eastward, as though he could see through the snowstorm and mountains to the ruined Old Royal Capital.
Confusion showed on Annan's face, and he was not pretending.
Had the Council Chairman escaped the Ratfolk's Corruption, unlike his brother?
But how could he have failed to notice anything strange about Clo?
Or were two different groups of Ratfolk working against each other?
"Why me?" Annan could not help asking.
"I need someone as loyal