Within the palace grounds, Austin's entourage stood before the royal couple who remained seated on their raised platform. The two guards handed Eva's parents over to the royal guards.

Since her parents knew that they were on their way to their deaths, they were acted boldly and tried hard to drag another down with them. "It seems our daughter will be let off."

"They must have liked her smarts. Didn't we experience it ourselves when she tried to advise us in our schemes? "

"I didn't know that simply not staining your hands in blood makes you less guilty of something."

However, they were met with silence. Even a cricket's chirping would be heard in the large room of people. Somehow, this made them look, sound, and feel stupid. They turned red in the face and gritted their teeth. 

"Well done, Austin, you've caught the murderers and avenged your parents." The old king with wrinkles and a head full of grey hair commended him. 

"Perhaps I'll let them be our toy. Stupid people who don't know when to stop can be entertaining to watch." The queen who managed to maintain her charm despite her old age smiled deviously. 

"Be careful to check that their stupidity is not contagious." Austin added on with a serious look on his face, making the royal couple laugh.

After her disgraced parents were brought out of the room and to the dungeon, Austin spoke again. "I thank you for your graciousness and support this whole time. Now that everything is accomplished, I can return you the bodyguards you have loaned me this whole time."

"Oh, why're you still this formal with us, Austin? We've known you since you were young and we practically see ourselves as your grandparents. Just treat us like one." The queen said with a rueful smile.

"We may be old but we're no fools. We know that the gifts you've given us over the years amount to how much we've given you when your parents passed on. There's no need to return even the bodyguards, they've even been with you for so long."

Austin bowed. "Thank you for your kindness and understanding."

The royal couple smiled helplessly. "Oh, but is that someone new I see among the bodyguards?" The queen noticed a person with a pretty face and small build among the men.

"He can't be your bodyguard, is he?" The king said.

"Dear, I believe that the person's a girl."

"Well, that's even more unthinkable. How's she fit for the role?"

"I ask that you trust my judgement. I believe that she's fit to be my bodyguard." Austin said confidently.

"Do you mind if she fought with one of our guards then? It's not that I don't trust you, I'd just like to see it with my own eyes. It would be quite a sight, don't you think so?" She looked at the king.

The king nodded with a twinkle in his eyes.

Austin looked at Eva to see what she thought. Eva took out her notebook and scribbled something on it, making the royal couple look at each other in confusion.

"Can I fight with one of your bodyguards instead? I don't want to cause trouble if I injure one of their guards."

Austin relayed the question to the royal couple. "Would it be alright if she hurt her opponent in this match?"

The royal couple looked surprised to hear that question.

"Did she ask that?" The king roared in laughter to know of her confidence. She looked so weak in comparison to their guards. "If she really can hurt him, so be it!"

"Can she not speak?" The queen asked with genuine curiosity.

"... She's a mute." Austin revealed.

"Ah..." The queen felt even more baffled why Austin would choose someone like that as his bodyguard. She noted how Eva would have been the first bodyguard that Austin chose for himself if they had taken back the bodyguards they gave to him.

Feeling some sympathy for Eva, she chose the smallest sized royal guard that was present. 

To their surprise, Eva managed to hold her ground. They had been equally deft and precise in their movements. Although Eva lost in raw strength, she made it up with her flexibility and reflexes. She started to experience more close shaves when the guard stopped underestimating her. Having only practiced for a week after years of no practice, her body was still not in the optimal condition. She knew that she would have to end it soon. With a final burst of a flurry of attack that startled the guard, she managed to knock him out with a chop to his nape.

Deafening silence filled the room before the king roared in laughter. "That was good! You! You're next!" He chose the brawniest man among the guards.

Austin frowned at this. Are they getting carried away?

Eva looked back and nodded at Austin to convey that she was fine with this. This was a good chance to prevent people's mockery. Austin reluctantly held back from intervening.

Although the man was much bulkier and stronger than the previous one, his dexterity was lower and he did not seem to put as much thought into his attacks. She betted that he often overwhelmed his opponents either by sheer strength or stamina.

This was not much more difficult for Eva as it appeared to be on the surface. After all, she had not won the previous match due to strength. 

However, she did have to change her method of winning this round. Due to his strong build, she did not have enough strength to hit him hard enough on the nape to make him pass out. She also lacked the strength to restrain him with a certain hold. In the end, she subtly whipped out a small knife that easily concealable within her palm and cut him each time she glided past each of his attacks or slipped out of his grasp. 

To the audience, it was only a matter of time before he finally caught hold of her. Just as he twisted her arm around her back, prompting everyone to think that the match concluded with him as the victor, the guard collapsed onto the ground.

The king leaned forward in his seat in surprise. "What happened?!"

The head of the guards ran forward to check the body and realised that he was knocked out cold.

"What's wrong with him? Why would he suddenly pass out like that?" The king asked.

"Does he need a doctor?" The queen voiced her concern.

"Just in case." The head of the guards answered.

However, Austin spoke for Eva since no one noticed that she shook her head in response to the queen's question.

"My bodyguard's responsible for it. No harm's been done. There's no need for the doctor."

Everyone looked at Austin and silence hung in the room once more. Nobody could believe what they were seeing. Austin actually had a smile on his face. To be more precise, he was actually smirking out of pride.

"Young brat." The king chuckled. "Looks like you've really found a decent bodyguard."

"Who knew that a girl was capable of something like this?" The queen was astonished. "It's different from knowing that a woman was one of the murderers. Witnessing that a woman can fight like that is just... something else."

"I hope we've entertained your majesties adequately. May we be excused?" 

"Of course. Of course. Just one more thing. We've been very rude to her and we're really impressed with her skills. I'd like to gift her something to make up for it." The queen looked at her husband to seek his approval.

The king nodded. "Indeed. Is there anything you want, child?"

Eva thought for awhile. What am I still lacking in this world...?

There is no end to knowledge and you can ask for access to rare materials for your experiments. BaoBao suggested.

With that in mind, Eva started writing on her notebook. "Is there a royal library?"

Austin nodded. He could already predict what she would ask for so he asked on her behalf. "She would like to be granted access to the royal library and be allowed to read anything she likes in there."

The royal couple looked surprised once more. "What an odd request. Does she love reading? If so, you should know that our library is more like an encyclopedia than a storybook."

Eva nodded.

"That's precisely what she's interested in." Austin elaborated.

"What an inquisitive girl. Just what might you be interested in learning specifically?" The king questioned.

"She's been reading up on botany, science, and weapons."

"I would understand why botany since I'm a woman as well." The queen wondered aloud.

"And why weapons. But, science?" The king added in.

"She's been doing some experiments." Austin held nothing back. If they wanted something, he would have to be completely transparent with the royal couple.

"Experiments?!" The couple exclaimed.

"You never cease to surprise me. And all in less than a day!" The queen said with with wide eyes.

"What are you hoping to achieve?" The king inquired. Suddenly, a stroke of inspiration flashed in his mind. "Could it be that the result of your experimentation is related to why that useless guard of mine is still knocked out cold on the floor?"

Eva nodded then wrote. "He'll wake up after awhile. I'll share my findings with the royal family."

The king laughed once more, thoroughly entertained by her confidence. If it had been any other run-of-the-mill girl, he would have been displeased and have less tolerance. However, she had already proven herself to be exceptional and she had Austin's trust. "Alright! If you really manage to find out anything new, show it to my scholars!"

"Here's a token that allows you access to what you need. If you need anything for your experiments, let our scholars know too. After all, all of these are for our dear Austin, right?"

Eva nodded once more, received the gold token that was shaped as a brilliant sun, then bowed in thanks.

"Alright, don't let us hold you back anymore. You are free to go about your business."

Everyone took their leave and went their separate ways at the foot of the long flight of staircase leading down to the front garden, except Drey. Drey was one of the two guards that escorted Eva's parents. He caught hold of Edwin then asked if he could speak to Austin privately. Edwin had replied on Austin's behalf as he usually did for such matters. "I'll pass the message on to him."

"... It's about that girl. Eva, was it?"

The mention of Eva made Edwin hesitate to make the decision himself. After all, he knew by now that Austin seemed to be more touchy and explosive whenever it came to Eva. "Wait here."

Edwin went to the carriage to whisper into Austin's ear. Austin told Eva to wait in the carriage, while his other bodyguards followed him to meet Drey who was still waiting at the foot of the staircase.

"This better be worth my time." Austin said in a low voice as soon as he stood before Drey.

"How can you trust her enough to make her your bodyguard? Didn't you hear what her parents said? How can she really be innocent in everything that has happened? It's just not possible."

Austin gritted his teeth in annoyance at having his time wasted on such talk. He turned to walk back to the carriage without a word.

"I was the one who held her back from leaving the premises that day at Esmeralda's estate! She tricked me into thinking that she was so weak she could not even hurt a fly, but look at what happened earlier! She's a master of disguises! How can you trust her?! How can you forgive her?! Please tell me! Otherwise, I can never let go of my fiancee's death!" He begged with tears in his eyes while two bodyguards held him back. 

Drey loved his fiancee with all his heart and soul. He had been such a socially awkward person to boot that he had no friends. Only she had the patience and compassion to seek to understand him and enter his world. It was like a dream come true when she agreed to marry him. However, tragedy struck days before their wedding. His fiancee took her life due to depression that was triggered by the death of her father. She had been brought up single handedly by her father, so was incredibly close with her father. Despite his awkward support, she was still unable to move on, so the only other person he could direct his hate towards, besides himself, was the person who caused her father's death.

Austin did not want trouble to come knocking on his door because of this matter, so he walked back to Drey to speak to him in a warning tone. "The ones who killed your fiancee's parents were her parents. The one who killed your fiancee was herself. All these happened when Eva was stuck alone at home. Tell me, how could she have stopped all those from happening? How much could she have possibly contributed to the assassinations as compared to the other daughter whom they treasured and trained up to be strong? Think about it and use your damn brain." Austin lightened up and left Drey with an advice. "My childhood friend told me that the trick to moving on was to find meaning in their deaths. I hope you find one. ... Also, find someone you can trust again."

Drey was left there feeling distraught and standing alone in the dust kicked up by the leaving carriages.