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Although he had almost believed on his own that there was no way Everard was innocent, he still wanted his friend to defend himself and clarify that the whole thing was simply an unfortunate misunderstanding or probably a step taken by some enemies to pull him down.

Alexander looked out of his bedchamber window which directly overlooked the large gates of the castle. And he melancholically mumbled, “I really hope that you were not in cahoots with those murderers, Eve. Please make me believe that you are not like them. Please…”

The Crown Prince kept on pacing back and forth in his bedchamber. Every time a horseback rider entered the premises of the castle, he would eagerly look out of the window and then wait for the footsteps on the corridor to stop in front of his door.

When the message didn’t arrive as he had expected, Alexander was slowly growing restless.

He looked at the large clock that was hanging on the wall. ‘Shouldn’t the reply letter be here by now?’ he wondered. ‘It’s already been three days since I sent the letter to Xanmar.’

After pacing back and forth while gluing his eyes at the gate for a few more hours, Alexander saw yet another horseback rider entering the castle gate.

‘I wonder if this rider is the bearer of Everard’s message,’ Alexander thought to himself and kept on following the messenger with his eyes until he disappeared from view.

He then rested his forehead on the window pane and heaved a sigh. He felt tired just from pacing around the room for half a day.

.....

When nobody approached his door even after considerable time had passed since the arrival of the latest messenger, Alexander now gave up hope that the letter would arrive at all.

‘He wouldn’t send a letter if he was behind everything just like how everyone’s suspecting, right?’ Alexander gloomily scoffed to himself and then finally sat down on the sofa to ease his tired legs.

Unexpectedly, he heard a set of footsteps rushing down the corridor and stopping in front of his door. After he heard a soft knock on the door, someone announced from outside, “Your Highness, there’s a message for you.”

“I’m coming,” Alexander huffed and jumped out of the seat in an instant. He was too eager to read the letter, or more precisely, he was too eager to prove himself wrong.

He opened the door to find one of his messengers standing with extended hands that were holding a sealed envelope.

The messenger bowed when Alexander took the letter from his hand. “His Majesty has requested you to come and meet him as soon as you finish reading the letter.”

“I understand. You’re dismissed. Thank you!” Alexander quickly closed the door to his chambers and turned on his heels.

He didn’t waste a second in tearing off the seal and sitting down on the sofa to read the reply from Everard.

Alexander’s eyeballs moved from side to side at a great speed since he was skimming through the contents of the letter way too fast.

When he reached halfway through the letter, he finally let go of the breath that he was holding for quite a while now. A sense of relief lingered on his face and the deep frown that was carved on his forehead finally started to disappear.

‘So… that was the work of some rouge people from his clan huh! That’s right… the Everard I know would never send those monsters to attack us. He is not that heartless…’ Alexander thought to himself while a great sense of comfort slowly began enveloping his heart.

And he quickly resumed reading the rest of the contents of the letter.

Everard had written how he still was responsible for the action of those rouge men since he was half responsible for the fight that occurred in the ballroom. And he also apologized for the part he had played in giving rise to the fight between him and the King of Sorvando in the first place.

Everard also mentioned how he had already punished the main perpetrator of the attack. And finally, he had asked Alexander to meet in person so that they could clear any leftover misunderstanding between them.

‘If you still doubt what I’ve written in this letter so far, I hope you will give me a chance to clear my name, Alex. I am ready to meet you at the time and place that is preferred by you.’

Alexander gulped and continued to read the remaining contents of the letter. ‘I will try my best to answer all the questions that you might have about me and my clan. I would like you to see for yourself that we are not monsters, that I am not a monster.’

The Crown Prince felt a slight prick in his heart upon reading that sentence. He even felt somewhat guilty and ashamed of himself for calling Everard a monster in the fit of his rage.

He uneasily breathed out from his mouth and resumed again. ‘I am still the same person whom you’ve known since your childhood. I will be waiting for your letter. I hope we will meet soon.’

‘Your friend, Eve.’ Alexander rested his head on the headrest of the sofa and closed his eyes after finishing reading the letter.

He pressed the letter on his stomach and questioned himself. ‘Should I trust this letter or not?’

“I think I should…” Alexander mumbled as he breathed heavily. He opened his eyes to stare at the familiar handwriting of the letter again. “If he indeed had any bad motives then he wouldn’t sound so desperate to prove his innocence, would he?”

“I agree that he has somehow become something that is beyond my comprehension. But even then, I don’t think that he would easily forget all the moments that he had shared with me and send a horde of that creatures after me… after us.”

Alexander looked determined about his decision to trust his friend. “I should inform His Majesty about this recent development. He was even more disappointed in Everard than me. I should clear the air before the ministers corner His Majesty to strike back on Xanmar for attacking me.”

The deep frown on his forehead returned when he further thought, “And I should also send a report to Sorvando before King Caspian buckles himself for war. It would be a shame if regional war sprouts from a misunderstanding.”

He quickly folded the letter and put it in his waistcoat pocket. He got up on his feet and then mumbled with all seriousness as he walked towards the door, “Eve, I am putting my faith in you one last time. Please don’t make me regret this.”