Seraphina and Celia were led toward Billard's study chamber. The men with unfamiliar uniforms confirmed for whatever reason was behind taking her there wasn't something up to her good. Her heart hammered against her chest but she maintained a straight face. She seemed to have mastered it well from Demian.

What was the reason? Why was she taken there with so many guards? Had something happened? Worry and confusion flooded together in her mind.

She looked behind and saw Celia was scared around them as she tugged behind her like a lost little girl.

A worry came crashing on Seraphina's mind. Why did they call Celia as well?

As she approached the chamber, the door was opened and behind it stood a bunch of unfamiliar men who had worn the same clothes as her escorts. Billard sat on the chair with a serious face as his eyes stayed low toward the papers on the table and Zenith and Master Valentine stood behind him.

Her chest tightened with worry as she saw Master Valentine's face. It was farmed in worried strands.

She curtsied as soon as she entered, "You Highness, were you calling me for an urgent matter?"

At first, he didn't say anything but the man before him looked at her with a disgusted face. The face which she recognised pretty well.

Even though she didn't need the answer, she could quite guess it already.

"Seraphina..." Billard mumbled in a low tone as his eyes moved up at her slowly, "or should I call you The Flame Queen?"

Celia beside her seemed to lose her composure as her face twisted in fear but Seraphina stood there with a face that bore no emotions. She was assuming it was the end of her days but she didn't expect it to come that soon.

There was a moment of silence as both Billard and Seraphina looked into their eyes with head on. Billard's golden eyes said betrayal and disappointment in them but Seraphina didn't say a word instead clenched his palms in fists.

"We should kill both of them this instant!" The man with thick bushy brows and mustache exclaimed as he slapped the table.

"Sir Houjou, please contain your emotions in front of My Prince," Master Valentine said in a composed yet irritated voice, "I would not tolerate such behavior inside of this castle. You may be the minister of this country's defense but you still have to obey Your Highness."

So, this man was the one who found out about her. It seemed it was the cause of her carelessness, she got caught. Master Valentine had warned her but she had no choice but to show her powers in front of people. But today, it was her powers which had called doom upon herself.

"She is the Flame Queen of Fire nation! The notorious wizards!" He said, pouring all of his anger in his sentences, "I bet, they have plans to send this witch here."

Seraphina may have sworn never to set foot in her nation but it was still her home. And she would not allow anyone to insult her home. Nonetheless, she would not allow anyone to reflect upon her own mistakes. It was her fault that they were doubting her home land where they didn't even give a single glance to the Dragon Nation.

"My nation never sent me here." She said, "Nor did they plan anything against this nation."

"You should keep quiet, you wench!" Sir Houjou spat as Master Valentine now seemed to be losing his composure.

"Sir Houjou! It is the last warning. No unlikely words shall be used here under any circumstances." Master Valentine said and added, "Would you please calm down and let her explain?"

Seraphina felt a little glad that Master Valentine was at least trying to calm everyone so they would listen to her. She knew very well that in front of the defense ministry branch, he could not tell that he knew everything from the start and he had granted her to stay here as it would label him as a traitor and Houjou seemed to be an irrational person.

In these two and half months, Seraphina gathered that other than Master Valentine, Alonzo and a few other persons, Billard and Demian would not be able to rule the whole nation. They needed them especially, Master Valentine and if the old advisor got cut out from this nation, they would be doomed. Seraphina didn't want that either so she didn't say a thing about their contracts.

Billard's jaw muscles clenched as he said in a deep voice, "I want you to tell me the truth and motive of coming here and no lies. If I find any lies I'm afraid I have to follow the standard protocol of the defense ministry."

Seraphina nodded but her heart thumbed. Billard's eyes hardened. It was the eyes of a predator, there was no delicacy in them, the ones she had been witnessing in Billard's eyes.

She had never witnessed that side of Billard and now that she was seeing this, she felt she had fallen into a dragon's den. He gave off a dangerous vibe that made Seraphina almost surrendering in submission. But she managed somehow.

"I had been hearing some words about you around here and there." Billard's voice was grave and Seraphina could feel the malice in them as he continued, "That you are a wizard but I had refused to believe it."

Seraphina's heart stopped beating and her whole body stiffened and it seemed she wasn't the only one, behind the crown prince, Master Valentine had stiffened as well. Both of their eyes went wide. It seemed Seraphina had hurt him and she was scared what would be the impact on Demian. Her lips trembled but she bit it.

"At first, I had felt odd but I discarded the thoughts since my little brother had taken a liking toward you," he said, "but, I sent my men and found out, the rumors weren't that false. Certainly it had some false saying but not every rumor is false."

Seraphina didn't say a word. Guilty and sadness replaced her hard outerior in a snap as she could see in Billard's eyes that he had been taking care of her as his own sister but now she had ruined it.

Seraphina's eyes lowered down as the door behind them opened. The familiar footstep made Seraphina stiffened in her place as her heart pumped in her ears.

*****

Demian was called to the study chamber of Billard's as he hurried there at a fast pace. The guard said it was something about Seraphina. Despite having pain all over his body, he rushed to his brother's chamber.

He didn't know what was happening as he fastened his speed but the pain made his steps falter sometimes. He took deep breaths as the growing scales burnt under his shirt. He clenched his teeth and dragged himself ahead.

As he reached he opened the door and found the study chamber in an unusual crowd. He washed his eyes over them and found the men from the defense ministry were there as well. It made him curious as they don't often visit the castle.

As his eyes spotted Seraphina in the middle and her head hanging low, his curiosity was replaced by a frown. Her maid, Celia was present there as well. Not to mention the atmosphere didn't sit right. He went inside and stood beside Seraphina who's eyes were glued to the ground and her maid shook with fear.

His brother seemed no less than an angry beast, his golden eyes blazing with fire and Zenith, she seemed like she had a little smile on his face. Very faint smile but it was still there which made him annoyed and more than that, worried.

He looked at Master Valentine who had no expression on his face but his eyes were saying something else. He was worried. But why?

"Dear Brother, have you asked for me?"

"Yes," Billard said, his voice was hoarse and his eyes stayed on Seraphina. What did she do now?

He looked at Seraphina who seemed to be avoiding his eyes. He looked at Celia who hid behind Seraphina as if she was her protective shield.

"What happened?" He asked.

"What happened? You should ask her that..." Zenith said with a cautious voice but Demian could see through her made up facade.

Demian felt irritated as he said through his gritted teeth to Zenith, "I am afraid I wasn't asking you but my brother. If he can't answer then I might ask Seraphina."

Billard said, "Demian... There are certain circumstances that may not be to your liking but it was all my fault to turn every little thing with a blind eye." He added, "I am asking for your apology beforehand."

Now this was getting annoying and worried him more as his brother's words felt heavier than a mighty sword. "Brother, can you kindly skip to the end?" He asked in a dry voice.

"She...she is a wizard!" He hissed.

Demian went still and from his peripheral view, he saw Seraphina flinching at the revelation. He looked at her and noticed her nose had become red. She felt like she was going to break at any moment. He had to praise her that in this room, surrounded by Dragons, the predators, she wasn't afraid but sad and ashamed. He could read her every movement as an open book that she wasn't surrendering herself but she was just feeling the heaviness of the guilt.

"How did you confirm that?" Demian asked.

"I had been suspicious about her for a long time and sent my trusted men to the human nation for an inspection while sent gifts to them." Billard said, "They had brought the actually Princess's portrait..." Billard's eyes ones again moved to Seraphina as he mumbled, "Which wasn't her..."

Sir Houjou added with a proud face, "And her name certainly isn't Seraphina but it is Naomi Campbell."

Demian didn't say a word as his brother continued, "I heard some rumors about our castle having a wizard and then heard Seraphina was a wizard." Billard clenched his teeth. It seemed he was angry.

He added, "At first, I didn't believe it, of course, then my men sent me a report on the wizard nations. But one report got my attention."

Demian heard everything with concentration and could feel Seraphina's uneasiness as if she wanted to hide under the stable.

Billard continued, "It was the fire nation's. We were getting reports on one particular wizard who created full disasters, the flame Queen." His eyes went toward Seraphina.

Demian still didn't say anything.

"Seraphina is the name of The Flame Queen." Billard finished as Demian stayed there unmoved.

Seraphina's body went rigid at the mention and it didn't go unnoticed by Demian.

Sir Houjou began, "I asked my men to send me the portrait of the flame queen and they sent her portrait."

"So?" Demian asked, making everyone silent than they already were.

"So? Are you going insane? She is a wizard!" Billard exclaimed, anger and disbelief coated his voice.

"What are you implying then?" Demian asked, his voice was in a dangerously calm tone, "Should we kill her immediately?"

Sir Houjou slammed the table as he said in a raised voice, "Yes, that's what we should do!"

It clearly made Demian furious and as well as Master Valentine as now the old advisor was on a verge of venting out his displeasure on him.

However, Billard said, "Of course not!"

It certainly made quite an impact on all of them, especially on Sir Houjou as his round eyes became more round, if that was possible.

Seraphina and Master Valentine looked at Billard with wide gaps in their mouths and Demian's anger evaporated immediately.

"We need to know what happened to the actual princess. That's our responsibility. And nonetheless, we need to know if the fire nation had sent her as a spy or not." Billard looked at her and said, "For that we shall conduct an interrogation on her."

A grin was slowly forming on Sir Houjou's face but it was gone as soon as it came when Billard announced, "The interrogation shall be conduct in our castle dungeons."

"What?" Sir Houjou seemed to be displeased with the order as he had thought he would be the person who would interrogate her in their ground as it would grant him to do whatever he wanted and nobody would know it even if he tortured her to death.

Demian, at first, seemed to be displeased at his brother but soon he understood that if his brother didn't take this matter in his hands, the defense ministry would take it in their hands and then it could be fatal for Seraphina. And as a future king, Billard had to give rational decisions based on protocols not on emotions otherwise, there would be rumors and there would be chaos.

Demian nodded. "I understand, Your Highness. Staying as an imposter and tricking everyone, she had broken many rules." Demian said as Seraphina looked again at the ground, "And for that she shall be punished."

Master Valentine nodded as he seemed to understand it well and was impressed at Demian as he didn't do anything that would taint their reputation in front of the ministry as the ministry never liked the royals to get all the powers.

"Sir Houjou," Billard said, "I shall thank you for your hard work and helping us out in this situation but I'm afraid this particular matter should be taken care of since she had come to get a lot of information about us."

Despite his displeasure, Sir Houjou understood but said, "Then I will leave some of my men here to guard her along with your guards, Your Highness. Since I have this duty under me to take action if any outside threat comes in this nation's way."

It seemed that man wouldn't let go of it easily as Billard nodded. The group of men from the dragon defense ministry went away and only when their footsteps vanished in the distance, Billard asked, "Now, tell us the truth."