Kallen said, "This won't work, that won't work either — so Rulu, what exactly do you pn to do?"

  Rulu said, "My idea is to have Nana stay behind, while C.C., Kallen, and I infiltrate the Emperor's direct territory from the ground. That should improve our chances of success. But I'm not comfortable leaving Nana alone, so for now I still don't have a concrete pn. I guess we'll just have to figure it out as we go."

  Kallen said, "So you're saying we won't take any action for the time being, and we'll keep staying with this Sanctuary tour group?"

  Rulu said, "That's right. All we need to do right now is maintain the status quo — as long as our identities aren't discovered, we're fine."

  Over the next few days, Rulu and the others settled into the castle, joining the tour group in all kinds of activities.

  One morning, Rulu and his companions joined the tour group as usual in the castle's grand dining hall for breakfast. At some point, a young woman entered the dining hall — she wore a long white dress and had long, pink hair. Behind her walked a young brown-haired man with a sword at his hip.

  This pair drew the attention of several people in the dining hall. As the other guests studied them carefully, they noticed that both appeared quite young — the woman looked to be around seventeen or eighteen, and the man somewhere around twenty-five or twenty-six.

  The pink-haired woman had fair skin and delicate features, and she wore a pure, innocent smile on her face. The brown-haired man had a tanned complexion, a sturdy build, and strikingly handsome looks, though his expression carried a hint of sternness. Together, the two made a striking pair — like a young couple straight out of a storybook.

  Without warning, a rge, heavyset man rose from his seat and stepped out into the aisle. At that moment, the pink-haired woman happened to be passing right beside him. Seemingly unaware of the man who had just stood up next to her, she walked straight into him.

  The pink-haired woman let out a startled cry and was knocked sideways by the collision. The brown-haired man beside her quickly reached out to steady her, preventing her from falling to the floor.

  "I'm sorry — are you all right?" the heavyset man said, an apologetic look on his face. He was apparently still in the middle of his meal, for his right hand still held a gleaming dinner knife.

  "Step back!" the young brown-haired man shouted at the heavyset man, his voice young but full of authority. Startled by the sharp command, the heavyset man hurriedly took several steps backward.

  However, his bulky frame made him clumsy, and as he retreated he caught on something and stumbled badly. Filing his arms wildly to keep his bance, his hand swung outward — and the dinner knife flew from his grip with a swoosh, hurtling straight toward the pink-haired woman. The brown-haired man reacted with lightning speed, instantly knocking the knife out of the air so that it cttered to the floor.

  "How dare you attempt to assassinate Lord Euphemia! Seize him!" the brown-haired man bellowed at the heavyset man. The words had barely left his mouth when four Sanctuary soldiers seemed to appear from nowhere and surrounded the man. Two of them grabbed him from behind, twisting his arms and forcing him to the ground.

  "What's going on over there? What happened — why is there a commotion?!"

  "I thought I just heard someone mention Lord Euphemia — is Lord Euphemia actually here?"

  The rest of the dining hall erupted in noise as guests took notice of the scene. People talked over one another, craning their necks toward the pink-haired woman. Many rose from their seats and began making their way toward the commotion, trying to find out what had happened.

  "Everyone quiet down and return to your seats," the young brown-haired man said, sweeping his gaze across the crowd. His tone was that of a command. A squad of soldiers rushed in through the main entrance of the dining hall, shouting at those moving about and ordering them back to their pces.

  Faced with this, the guests quickly sat back down — though their eyes remained fixed on the pink-haired woman's direction, watching closely for any further developments.

  "Suzaku Guard Captain, what should we do with this man?" a Sanctuary soldier approached the brown-haired swordsman, his expression respectful, and posed the question to the young man.

  The brown-haired man addressed as Suzaku Guard Captain replied, "This man just attacked Lord Euphemia with a bde and nearly caused Lord Euphemia harm. Take him away and have him detained. Investigate his identity and find out whether he is a spy who has infiltrated our Sanctuary."

  "Yes, sir." The soldier acknowledged the order, and two of them grabbed the heavyset man by the arms and marched him toward the door.

  "No — don't arrest me! I'm not a spy! I didn't know she was Lord Euphemia — please, let me go!" the heavyset man cried out, struggling with all his might as they dragged him away.

  "Stop squirming and hold still," one of the soldiers barked at him, then drew back his leg and delivered a hard kick to the man's backside. The heavyset man immediately lost his footing and crashed face-first onto the floor with a heavy thud.

  He must have hit his lips and nose on the way down — when he lifted his face from the ground, the onlookers in the dining hall saw that it was covered in blood. The two soldiers hauled the heavyset man back to his feet, seized him by the arms again, and continued marching him toward the exit.

  Having witnessed the whole scene, the members of the tour group couldn't help but murmur among themselves:

  "What's Lord Euphemia's problem? It was just an accident — there's no reason to have someone beaten and thrown in a cell over a bump."

  "We came to the Sanctuary as tourists. How could we possibly be spies? Besides, none of us even knew what Lord Euphemia looks like — how could anyone have tried to hurt her on purpose? This is completely out of line."

  "I've heard that people in the Sanctuary look down on outsiders like us. And Lord Euphemia is the Emperor's own daughter — of course she doesn't see us as worth anything. Looks like we'd better watch ourselves. One wrong move, one accidental offense against Lord Euphemia, and we might be next."