Crisis (6)

This was after the conversation with the Maishal siblings had completely ended. Even after Isaac and Nicole left first, the imperial siblings remained in their seats.

The seating arrangement had changed slightly. Rina had originally been sitting beside Leort, but she was now seated across from him—in the seat Nicole had occupied.

Rina gazed at Leort, who was leisurely drinking tea across from her. With a soft smile on his lips, he looked like a model posing for a portrait.

"Brother."

"Hm?"

At Rina's call, Leort set down his teacup and looked at her. He raised one eyebrow, his expression asking why she had called him.

Seeing that there was no one else in the room, Rina tossed her poker face aside and began grumbling with a displeased expression. She looked almost like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Why did you tell them the truth so plainly? Honestly, you could have just kept it hidden."

As she said, there had been no need to deliberately give the siblings this information. In fact, keeping it hidden could have been a win-win for everyone.

But Leort had not done that. He claimed he had arranged the meeting to confirm things, yet had instead left them full of suspicion. Even Rina, who had been watching from beside him, could not figure out what he was plotting...