What firm willpower? They were simply too full to eat another bite.

"The Mad Hatter" did not say anything more.

As a member of the independent special operations agency under the jurisdiction of the military, he naturally understood the temperament of this imperial princess.

When she made a decision, it was best not to go against her.

Not to mention that the current military was firmly held in the palm of this seemingly harmless imperial princess.

It could be said that even if she were to order a direct military rebellion now, it would not be impossible.

He was curious how she had achieved this, how she had made those stubborn old fogies at the top obey every word, and how she had won over a large number of mid-level officers.

Yet, he was not curious at all.

Because those high-ranking officials who stood on the princess's side practically never showed their faces again after issuing their statements and expressing their stance.

Recalling the legends surrounding this imperial princess... he felt it was better for his own good not to remain curious.

Still, necessary protection was required.

He vanished into the night once more, following behind Iluvia while maintaining a distance that allowed him to provide timely assistance.

Iluvia quickly walked up to Kalia. After observing her carefully for a moment, she spoke up: "Miss Kalia, can you hear me?"

Kalia: "..."

Kalia gave no response, not even a slight movement.

"Have you forgotten me? We met this afternoon."

This time Kalia showed a tiny reaction; her eyelids twitched twice.

Seeing that it worked, Iluvia began searching through her pockets.

She then pulled out a ring that looked crude to the extreme, as if it had been fashioned by bending a thick piece of copper wire into a circle.

However, compared to the rough ring that could hardly even be called a circle, the chain threaded through it was extraordinarily luxurious.

Without needing to think, anyone could tell the chain had been added later on.

Together, the two formed a barely passable necklace.

"This is a gift Roland gave me, you know! You're Roland's friend too, right? Did he give you any gifts?"

"Click, click."

Kalia's neck began to make two creaking sounds, as if she were trying to turn her head toward Iluvia.

"Oh my, he actually gave me this gift during the examinations!"

"Just thinking about that scene..."

Iluvia began to endlessly recount to the frozen Kalia her and Roland's examination experiences, along with the origin of the ring.

After a heavy dose of exaggeration—ah no, after turning the entire story entirely into exaggeration and embellishment—Kalia's fists slowly began to tighten.

The Mad Hatter, hiding in the darkness on the side to watch the show, thought it was simply too explosive.

He never expected to be able to eavesdrop on the imperial princess's gossip; this alone made risking his life worth the price of admission!

Wait, was this gossip something he was even allowed to hear?

The Mad Hatter, who had originally planned to take some snacks out of his pocket to eat while watching the drama, suddenly shivered.

Iluvia's attempts on her end also yielded obvious feedback.

Kalia suddenly returned to normal, squatting down to gasp for breath while muttering indistinctly to herself.

"Terrible, it feels like I had a nightmare..."

"I won't allow Roland to be snatched away by another woman!"

"Not even in a dream!"

"Wait, where is this? Wasn't I sleeping in my bed?"

Realizing the situation belatedly, Kalia suddenly became aware of her surroundings, then instinctively looked toward her right.

Seeing Kalia look at her, Iluvia bent down and waved: "Hello there, Miss Kalia. Fancy meeting you again."

"Did you miss me?"

"Not at all! Why is a woman like you here?!"

Kalia leaped backward to create some distance, then glared at Iluvia vigilantly.

"Oh my, how rude, considering I just helped you resolve a massive trouble."

Iluvia didn't mind Kalia's attitude too much.

After all, she was well aware that Kalia, as someone close to Flam, had already ended up on certain people's hit lists.

Moreover, unlike the simple desire for Roland to die, those people seemed to place much greater importance on Kalia, and the plans they had formulated were far more complex.

Judging by the current situation, the other party had already made a move.

If there was any good news, it was that the moment Kalia broke free from a certain control, a faint wave of magical fluctuation had appeared.

Not far from this dormitory area.

The moment the fluctuation emerged, the Mad Hatter responsible for her security had given chase.

Presumably, there would be results soon.

"Don't be nervous, Miss Kalia. Do you remember what you just went through?"

"What I went through..."

Realizing that she seemed to have suffered something as well, Kalia began struggling to recall her experience.

"I was getting ready to rest and sleep, and then I had a dream..."

"A dream?"

"Yeah, a somewhat strange dream."

Kalia rubbed the space between her eyebrows, trying to recall the dreamscape that was rapidly fading.

"I saw so many delicious things, delicious food was everywhere in the dream, laid out right in front of me, just a step away from being able to eat it..."

"And then?"

"But I ate my fill at the cafeteria tonight, I really couldn't eat another bite, so even when I walked right up to the food, I could only watch helplessly."

Hearing this, the corners of Iluvia's mouth twitched slightly. Was this the reason why this fellow had been standing in front of the streetlamp in a daze?

After finishing, Kalia noticed the subtle expression on Iluvia's face.

As expected, this woman was thoroughly annoying!

Not wanting to be misunderstood, Kalia hastily explained herself: "The cafeteria is free, you know! So much delicious food didn't cost a penny! It's totally excusable for me to eat until I'm stuffed!"

Iluvia continued to maintain her smile.

For the first time, she felt that the court etiquette she had learned in her childhood was actually useful.

At the same time, she finally understood why, in Roland's eyes, such a beautiful witch was viewed as nothing more than a "pet."

The remarks the other party was making right now did indeed sound somewhat like those pet cats that only knew how to eat and act cute.

Drawing upon her rich assassination survival experience, Iluvia had basically arrived at a conclusion; now she was just waiting for the Mad Hatter to return and confirm her hypothesis.

After chiming in with Kalia on some topics related to the cafeteria, Iluvia half-cajoled and half-persuaded Kalia back to her dormitory.

Only then did she return to her own room.

Before long, the Mad Hatter returned, dragging a half-dead woman by the collar.

"Your Highness, it's a member of the Chaos Brotherhood. She used a medium left beside that young lady to cast an illusion remotely and control her."

"Had it not been for that young lady's firm willpower, which prevented her from being overly affected, coupled with your timely interruption, the culprit likely would have succeeded in planting a spell similar to a control switch in her consciousness."

"So it was indeed an illusion, though as for having firm willpower, I wouldn't go that far."

Iluvia recalled her conversation with Kalia and the content of the dream the other party had recalled.

She suspected that the other person might not have had strong willpower; she was probably just stuffed with food.

Following that, Iluvia looked at the Mad Hatter in front of her with a hint of amazement.

It was her first time witnessing the Mad Hatter's methods. "In such a short amount of time, you managed to extract this much information?"

"Just some interrogation techniques, Your Highness."

"Can you identify what that medium was?"

The Mad Hatter shook his head. "No leads. This woman was merely a cannon fodder sent to die; she didn't know much and was only responsible for remotely triggering the spell."

"Your Highness, do you need me to go into that young lady's room and search for the medium?"

"No need, she's considered a friend of mine after all... I'll figure something out tomorrow. Someone will take care of it."

"By the way. You eavesdropped just now, didn't you?"

A professionally trained Mad Hatter naturally wouldn't be startled by Iluvia's words into making any obvious reaction.

Besides, he was wearing a mask, so Iluvia couldn't see his expression.

"What eavesdropping? What are you referring to, Your Highness? If there's nothing else, I must hurry back to headquarters and hand this woman over to my colleagues so they can further interrogate her for useful leads."

"The appearance of Chaos Brotherhood members in the royal capital is no trivial matter."

Iluvia said softly, "You'd better hope you didn't. Whether you did or not, you know best. Some things should rot in your stomach; don't let a second person find out, understand?"

"Understood, Her Imperial Highness!"

"Go on, I need to rest."

"Right away!"

Feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death, the Mad Hatter vanished in a flash.

As for Iluvia's security detail, others would naturally step in to take over.

This was an imperial princess's protection mission, after all; anyone could figure out that he couldn't possibly be the only one assigned to it.