After a brief silence, the queen continued her steps to Arata's room. Her step picked up speed as she hears Arata's crying the closer she got to the room. Once she pushed the door open forcefully, she almost leaped to Arata's crib and picked him up.
Arata gave a small pause in his crying but continued immediately after. Aster, with fluid moments, loosened her top and brought her breast to Arata's mouth. Both Wendy and the maid were a step away, looking at the queen of Summers Bloom like she was a sculpture of Flora herself.
After calming down his hunger, Aster put Arata back into the crib slowly.
Arata felt like he woke up again, [huh! what happened? ... I had this caving feeling in my stomach, and it felt like the quagmire in those 2..years?! what.. two years? What is happening... I feel like crying]
As Arata started to cry again, Aster rocked the crib a little and started to hum. Slowly Arata stopped crying and fell asleep. Lifting her hands from the crib, the queen looked at the maid once, and the maid suddenly came out of her reverence to the queen's stature and made herself as small as possible.
Seeing this, Wendy thought [ah! she screwed up. The prince is as normal as any brat]
But the queen did not say anything but slowly brought her hand up, and a light flashed. Aster's empty hands are now holding an uncut silver stone. Both Wendy and the maid are aware that the stone is called Niflheim Gold. An ore so hideous in nature that not just possessing but even witnessing it might get people to incriminate by order of Gemini, yet Aster knows that the people in this room would rather burn at the stake than betray her.
Aster brought the stone near the sleeping Arata and said an incantation "Find those that stole the salts paid on the grounds of Niflheim."
Mana inside Aster started to drain as the stone started to spin chaotically just a millimeter about Arata's head. After a couple of minutes, the stone stopped rotating, and now visibly perspiring, Aster recalled it back.
Wendy took a step forward and presented a wooden flask. Aster took the flask and drank it.
With a sigh of relief, Aster said, "He is not possessed or controlled. Old man!".
A shadow dropped from the roof and kneeled immediately and said, " Her highness, we neither found anyone sneaking the castle or the prince chamber. I can assure you this was not induced by anyone outside."
Aster's warm gaze dropped by a degree and asked, "so it could be from someone inside?"
The old man knows that Her highness Aster hated to doubt her subjects, but he and she both know that not all could be vouched for, like those in this room. The old man remained silent. This leads Aster to understand that the answer to her previous question is a yes.
With a restrained voice, Astra asked, "who?"
"Duke Westwind"
The room temperature immediately fell to sub-zero. With more restraint than before, Aster questioned, "Old man, did I hear you say, Duke Westwind?"
"Yes, your highness."
"so you are saying my husband and father of prince Arata is harming his only son that he is yet to see?"
The pressure exerted by the queen led the shadows hiding in the room to flinch and the maid to take a step back and kneel, but both Wendy and the old man remained unmoved and are as steady as before.
Yeet