"You are honest, Your Highness Mary."

It's different from what Mary imagined.

When Annan heard her words, there was no panic or fear on his face.

He just looked thoughtful and nodded slowly.

"That's right."

He muttered in a low voice, a look of concentration on his face, "You think so......"

As he spoke, Annan looked up.

He asked Mary earnestly, "May I ask, Your Highness...... When did you come up with such an idea? ”

Maria glanced at Annan suspiciously.

She was silent for a moment, thinking about something in her mind.

Annan only spoke slowly, in a gentle and friendly tone: "You don't have to be too nervous.

"You know, I've sealed my spellcasting abilities. This is obvious to all. ”

Annan stood in Maria's point of view and seriously helped her think: "According to the normal direction of thinking, even if I am really a murderer, I will definitely not be suspected at the beginning. So, Your Highness, think about it, where does your distrust of me come from? ”

His words are filled with honesty in helping others.

His purpose is obviously to help the other party find out the people or things that bother them, and effectively help the other party solve their worries...... With Annan actually helping herself, it was difficult for Maria to refuse Annan's kindness.

From the very beginning, Annan found out.

Perhaps because of the talent "Winter Heart", Maria's character flaws are very obvious.

She is guilty, fearful, angry, and nervous. It's like the opposite of Annan...... Just like a puppet, it's incredibly easy to manipulate.

Even with Merlin's protection, she must be chaotic and restless in the face of the current chaotic situation.

At this time, Mary is not so much analyzing as she is losing her temper. Vent your fears and turn the invisible hunter into a visible enemy.

It was normal for her to be wary of Annan. The Soul Reaver is too restrained by Winterheart...... Perhaps this is the meaning of the existence of the Hand of Winter. It's to counter these Soul Snatchers.

Annan had already guessed this from the beginning.

But the problem is that Annan has given up his ability to cast spells. It even seems to everyone that he gave up his spell-casting ability because of Maria's words.

And Maria Rindon does feel a little guilty about Annan.

So—

“…… Are you saying that my thinking may have been influenced by someone? ”

Maria immediately realized Annan's subtext.

She thought about it for a moment, and soon realized the problem:

"It's not impossible......"

As if because she misunderstood Annan's guilt, her tone softened inexplicably.

Because she knew that what "Gerald" said did make sense.

It stands to reason that Gerald has sealed his spellcasting abilities. Whoever killed Master Michelangelo and who killed Melvin is unlikely to be Gerald.

So Mary paused, but still whispered the answer in her heart: "Yes...... At the very beginning. ”

"In the beginning?"

Annan asked with some confusion.

He really didn't expect this answer.

…… Although Gerald is not good-looking, he is not so hateful, right?

"It's because of the eyes, Mr. Gerald."

Mary replied earnestly, "I see in your eyes the purity of a child, the indifference of an elder, and the well-hidden ...... Arrogant. ”

“…… Eyes. ”

Annan smashed his mouth, feeling a toothache.

Did Mary believe this?

When it comes to eyes, this is metaphysics.

Even Annan judged a person's psychology from many aspects, such as subtle expressions, words, movements, clothing, and recent actions. What you can see with your eyes is more of what you think you can see......

Surprisingly, however, Maria seemed to be quite accurate.

And what she saw didn't seem to be Gerald, but Annan, who was temporarily pinned on his body.

"I have an offer."

Suddenly, Gilandaio on the side spoke, "Why don't the four of us set up a spell here?" ”

"What's the content?"

Maria asked immediately.

"[Before this incident is over, the four people present must not attack each other], how about using this spell to form a temporary alliance?"

Ghirlandaio asked.

This proposal obviously surprised the other three.

This means...... Even if the murderer was really among the four of them, none of them could do anything to him, they could only help the murderer kill others, complete the inheritance ceremony, or watch others attack the murderer with a cold eye.

Unless one of the remaining three is the murderer.

To put it simply, Ghirlandaio's proposal is to bring the situation back to a "one-on-one" situation.

Originally, after learning that the murderer may not have killed anyone yet, the situation has been deadlocked.

But after Melvin's death, this equilibrium was disrupted again.

Annan understood what he meant.

- This is the way to win.

Unlike before, there were only seven of them.

As long as four people team up, whether Michelangelo's killer is inside or outside the team, the result is the same. They will definitely win.

What Ghirlandaio really meant by this proposal was ......

- If anyone here doesn't agree to form a team, they'll die.

Because they can totally go to someone else.

As long as there are enough four people, it is the "majority". Then the minority side has no power to fight back.

Not all the people on the team will survive.

But those outside the team are bound to die.

"—then we agree to form a team."

"I agree."

"Me too."

The other three people present reacted quickly, immediately agreed, and immediately drew up a spell as soon as possible:

"We're here to set a spell—"

They chanted in unison: "Until this incident is over, the four people present must not attack each other. ”

As their words fell, strange traces flashed through the air.

The power of the oath entangled their hearts.

If this spell is violated, the curse will break in the body.

Seeing that everyone had indeed set up a curse, the four of them breathed a sigh of relief.

After a short silence, Maria was the first to speak, and let out a cold and immature voice: "Actually, I didn't plan to inherit the throne of the tower master in the first place.

"The tower master can't leave the wizard's tower easily...... It's a hassle for me. My eldest brother cannot inherit the throne of Grand Duke, and I must protect my younger brother Annan well. ”

When Annan heard this, his heart moved.

He was roughly aware.

Mary may have had some kind of curse of "only telling the truth" or "saying whatever comes to mind".

Something unusual about her talkativeness.

So Annan looked puzzled, pretended not to realize the incident, and asked tentatively: "Speaking of which, the eldest son of the Grand Duke...... What's wrong? Well, sorry, if this is inconvenient to say......"

"It's not inconvenient to say, almost even the civilians of the Principality know about it."

Maria smiled self-deprecatingly.

There was still a dark cloud in her brow that had never gone away.

She said softly, "Because of the eldest brother, he started two years ago......

"I can't have children anymore."