Prince Aidan was taken away after all.
Did the Elven Royal Court and the Paem Kingdom have an ancient feud? Annan didn't know, but surely the Elven Royal Court wouldn't resort to torture...
As the Elven Guard Officer was leaving, Annan followed him. "Do you know what caused that explosion?"
The tall Elven Guard Officer said nothing.
"So you do know. What happened over there?"
The Elven Guard Officer shot Annan, who wouldn't stop following him, a sidelong glance. "I won't tell you."
"Why? Because I tried to stop you just now?"
Annan persisted. "I had three reasons for trying to stop you from arresting him. First, I'm a prospective ally, so I have every right to intervene when I see you making a mistake. Second, Prince Aidan isn't an ordinary man. He's a prince of the Paem Kingdom and the son of one of the Thirteen High Kings. Arresting him is a serious diplomatic incident. Third, he was with me most of the time, and he has an alibi for when it happened."
"He's human."
"That's your reason? Suspecting him because he's human is as rude as assuming I sleep around because I'm a sorcerer!"
"Being human is your original sin," the Elven Guard Officer said coldly.
"Fine, I won't argue about that. But you could at least tell me what happened. Maybe I can help."
The Elven Guard Officer had never met anyone so persistent. His stance softened, and he recounted the explosion with indignation.
"...If Lady Emerald hadn't intervened, that explosion would have killed or injured at least one elder and hundreds of elves."
"You're saying the culprit even left a warning that people would die, just to taunt you?" Annan asked thoughtfully.
"Do you know who the culprit is?"
"No, but if you take me to