She Belongs To The Devil

Adeline raised her brows and gave a questioning glance to Bennett. She didn't know how or why he had those papers. But what she knew was that it could have been worse if someone else had gotten their hands on them.

Bennett proudly glanced at the Princess and he began to explain how he got the papers, "I found them in Prince Edwin's workroom. I think Prince Edwin is planning som-"

However, Adeline abruptly closed her eyes and made a stop gesture with her palm. She then gave an angry stare to Bennett, for the first time, and then asked sternly, "Did you show this to anyone else?"

Bennett was not expecting that kind of glare from Adeline. So he shook his head in a confused state and denied. "No, Your Highness. You are the only one that I was going to show this to."

Adeline then asked in the same harsh tone, "How did you get a hold of these papers?"

"I…" he looked down and continued, "I broke into Prince Edwin's workroom yesterday after he left from there."

Adeline slammed her palms on the armrest of her chair and exclaimed, "You broke into his workroom! Why would you do that Bennett? That also without any instruction from me or the King!"

Bennett thought that the Princess would praise him for bringing her such crucial pieces of evidence of Edwin's evil schemes. However, he couldn't understand why she was scolding him.

Hurt, he tried to defend his actions, "Princess, he has always been your enemy! And somehow he manipulated you into giving him an important position right after he got out of the house arrest. That is why I have been keeping an eye on him ever since."

He sat on the edge of his seat and tried to emphasize, "And he has been doing suspicious activities ever since he started working under you. I even saw him send a messenger somewhere."

He pointed at the paper that Adeline was holding and said, "And that somewhere turned out to be Mihir! There's their Royal seal at the backside of that paper."

Adeline was gently massaging her forehead while closing her eyes and listening to him. She was already anxious because of what she was about to do today, and hearing Bennett made her feel agitated.

"Bennett…" she was trying her best not to shout at him.

She took in a deep breath in an attempt to cool her mind. And then she slowly said, "Look, I don't want to be mad at you for breaking into someone else's workroom. I know that you were trying to do that for me."

"And I really appreciate that you always try to look out for me." She glanced at Bennett and leaned a bit forward.

Then she desperately tried to emphasize that she was not a dumb Princess who needed a man to constantly look after her, "But have you tried to understand that I am not a damsel in distress who always needs someone to look out for me."

She leaned back on her chair and folded her arms. To be honest, she was a little offended when Bennett said that she was being manipulated by her brother.

So she said a bit smugly, "And why did you assume that Edwin has manipulated me? Have you ever considered that I could be the one who is manipulating him?"

Bennett was dumbfounded by the Princess. For a while, he raised his brows and just kept on staring at the Princess.

And after a while, he deduced what the Princess really meant by that. "You mean you already know about this war? And everything that Prince Edwin is doing?"

Adeline nodded her head and lifted the piece of paper with Mihir's seal on it. "Yes, I was the one who asked Edwin to send this to Mihir. And I am well aware of what Mihir is planning."

Bennett had a betrayed look on his face and Adeline took notice of it immediately.

And she spoke in a little softer tone, "Bennett, I was not trying to keep things from you. I had told you that I would ask for your help when I was ready. If you had just waited until tomorrow, then I would have made everything clear to you and a few others."

Adeline looked at the burning candle and then carefully burned the pieces of those papers to crisp.

She dusted off her hands and said, "You have to understand that there are things that I need to keep as some secrets, yes, even from you. So, please, don't go around breaking into others' workroom."

Bennett was about to say something when Hawisa knocked on the door of the meeting room.

Adeline had asked her to bring her the breakfast a little early today and she was there to inform the Princess of the same, "Your Highness, I have already set the breakfast in your personal chamber. It is getting cold so…"

Adeline glanced at Hawisa and nodded, "Thank you, Hawisa. I will go and have it soon."

After Hawisa left, Bennett looked at the Princess apologetically and said, "I didn't know that it was already time for your breakfast." And he added in a sadder tone, "I am sorry for taking your time for no reason."

Adeline could feel that Bennett was hurt. She was well aware that this was the first time she had raised her voice against him.

So she also apologized to him, "I am sorry if I went a little too overboard. I am on edge today because there are things that I need to do today. And I am sorry that I can only tell you what it is only after I do it. So, please be patient until tomorrow. I will explain everything."

"I will be patient and wait for you to keep me in the loop." Bennett smiled and said in an embarrassed tone, "And you don't have to apologize to me, Princess. I was at fault here. I shouldn't have acted like a thief."

Bennett got up from his seat to take a leave. He bowed to the Princess and said, "I will leave for now."

He glanced at the Princess questioningly and asked, "I am assuming that you won't be coming to the Court today?" He had already noticed the different getup of the Princess so he assumed that she was going somewhere else.

"Yes, I will be out mostly. You will have to deal with the affairs of the Court alone today."

"I will," Bennett nodded his head.

Before he went away, Adeline also added, "And about the war, don't mention anything about it to anyone else, especially to the King."

Bennett would have asked why, but he already knew better than to question the judgment of the Princess. He thought that there was some valid reason behind it so he simply agreed. "I won't tell anyone about it.. You can rest assured."