"Sorry. Bad habits die hard," Xion murmured.

He did not want to explain further what he meant by that. He glanced at Therius, who seemed to just realize his clothes were wet again and immediately got up from his chair, prepared to change his clothes.

"Please sit down. You're giving me a headache. I'm only here to talk, not to admire your clothes," Emma said curtly.

Therius looked very uncomfortable in his wet clothes. "I need to change."

"No need." Emma raised her hand and a moment later, Therius's clothes, which had been damped with wine, suddenly dried up. The wine spill on his s.h.i.+rt had disappeared into the air. Emma wave her hand and gestured the prince to go back to his seat. "Please ... I don't have time for your childish argument."

Therius was too surprised that he didn't bother protesting her when she called them childish.

He narrowed his eyes at Emma. Did this girl just use hydromancy to dry wine from his s.h.i.+rt?

His s.h.i.+rt was now completely dry, leaving only a red spot that was not too obvious on his black s.h.i.+rt.

Meanwhile, Xion was dumbfounded.

Last night, he witnessed how Emma admitted she was a telemancer. Yet, she also used aeromancy and pyromancy to deal with him.

His jaw dropped to the floor.

Wait... wait a minute.

This girl ...

Had four powers?

So.. she was a telemancer, aeromancer, pyromancer, and now.. also a hydromancer???

This is INSANE!

He had never met another human who was a multi-element mage besides Therius ... He and his best friends always considered themselves to be rare creatures.

But this girl ...

She had four powers at once?

Could it be ... she inherited all of Princess Arreya's powers?

This knowledge shocked him to the core. He forgot to share this with Therius, that's why the prince wasn't as shocked as he was.

Normally, mages couldn't pa.s.s down their powers genetically to their descendants. However, so far, Xion had witnessed almost all of Princess Arreya's powers in Emma Stardust.

What else did Princess Arreya have? Hmm...

Electromancy.

Was Emma also an electromancer?

Meanwhile, Emma immediately regretted her actions. She knew she shouldn't have shown her hydromancy in such a way. She was utterly annoyed by their argument and only wanted to quickly draw their attention to her and get them to treat her seriously.

Now she got what she wanted.

The two men were now staring at her intently and with very serious expressions.

Well ... too serious.

"Are you a multi-element mage?" Therius asked her. His eyes showed great interest. He knew she was a telemancer but didn't expect her to be an hydromancer as well. "Who trained you?"

"n.o.body trained me, okay," Emma answered, getting more annoyed. She was not here to discuss her powers. "And that is none of your business."

"All right," Therius nodded. He didn't know why he had a bottomless well of patience for this curt girl. He glanced at his s.h.i.+rt, which was now dry, and took a deep breath. "Please continue. I'm listening."

Emma looked at the two men with narrowed eyes. Both looked older than her and Haoran, but in her opinion, these men didn't act as mature as her husband.

Subconsciously, she touched her wedding ring and remembered Haoran was waiting for her in the lobby. She must not linger with these two clowns and immediately find out what she wanted to know.

"I have heard from Xion that my father was tried in a military court. He was found guilty of treason and is now in a military prison." Emma looked at Therius seriously.

"That's right." The prince nodded.

"Then, where is my mother now?"

"Princess Arreya returned to Thaesi."

"And... my sister? Where is she now?" asked Emma.

"Your BROTHER is also in Thaesi," Therius corrected her.

"Isn't Akkadia always taking hostages from their colonies? Why didn't you take my brother as hostage too?" asked Emma, ​​glaring at Therius as if she was accusing him of being responsible for keeping all the hostages somewhere in Akkadian dungeons.

"We are already holding your cousin hostage. She is the daughter of the current king of Thaesi, Princess Arreya's younger brother. Besides, General Stardust is already a good enough hostage to keep Princess Arreya at bay."

Emma sighed in relief. At least her younger brother was now safe with their mother in their home country.

"Okay. Next question ..." Emma continued. "Why do you want to take me back to Akkadia?"

Therius began to feel this interrogation was like a job interview with Emma being his potential employer. n.o.body had ever talked to him this way. However, he couldn't be mad at the girl at all. She wasn't raised in Akkadia and probably didn't know how to talk to a prince.

"I want to take you home to establish peace between Akkadia and Thaesi, and suppress the uprising of General Stardust's people who are still loyal to him, and of course ... your mother," Therius explained calmly.

He observed Emma and thought the girl looked even more beautiful as she pursed her lips in anger like this.

"Xion said you wanted to marry me to help you ascend the throne ..." Emma said again.

Therius nodded patiently. "It is true."

He won't lie about his purpose of coming here. She would know eventually anyway.

"Aren't you the crown prince already? Doesn't that mean you will sooner or later ascend the throne, no matter what? What does the Akkadian throne have to do with me?" Emma asked him again.

"I was appointed by my grandfather as the crown prince, but my position in the palace is not safe. I have two male cousins who are eyeing the crown, and they both come from influential families with strong supporters. If I do not secure my position quickly, they will be able to get rid of me," Therius answered honestly.

"I need Thaesi's support and a peace agreement with them to win support in Akkadia. I don't know if Xion has explained everything to you. The cancellation of marriage between your mother and my uncle was the root cause of the great conflict between our two countries. Many people believe that a new marriage between the Akkadian crown prince and a princess from Thaesi will be able to defuse this conflict."

"Then, why didn't you marry my cousin, the other Thaesi princess, which you are already keeping as a hostage in Akkadia?" Emma glared at Therius.

The man kept answering her calmly. "I cannot. She is only 10 years old. I don't want to marry a child. I need someone older."

His tone was always matter-of-factly and made Emma question if this man ever knew what it's like to fall in love. Did he even have feelings?

Emma bit her lip. "So for you, this is a political marriage?"

"It is." Therius nodded. "In return, I will pardon General Stardust and let him reunite with Princess Arreya. They will be able to live happily together."

"How can you marry someone you don't love?" Emma asked, looking at Therius in astonishment.

The man did not answer. He just looked at her with his stoic expression.