Sue had raised the fourth prince since he was little, so she knew a lot about him.
She knew how much the young prince disliked violence and combat.
And she knew how he feared his three older brothers as well, so it wouldn't be surprising if he had chosen his safety over hers and that of his loyal servants.
Nevertheless, she was curious to know what his decision had been.
"So...what did you say to him?"
Austin leaned back slightly as he held his teacup in one hand and looked at her straight in the eye.
"I said no." He replied simply.
"Huh? You really said that?"
"Yep. Why would I ever allow anyone to take my beautiful aunt away from me? You're stuck with me, Aunt Sue, whether you like it or not, so you better get used to it."
Austin's mind was made up and nothing was going to change that, but Sue could only stare at him in momentary shock before looking down to hide the small, silly smile on her face.
But she couldn't really hide her feelings as her cute cow-like ears twitched a bit and her tail swished sideways behind her.
Of course, Austin noticed this, and he smiled as he continued to drink his tea.
But as regarding what the fourth prince really said the previous night, some things were better left unsaid, because, unlike the fourth prince, Austin knew how incredibly important his aunt was to him.
Furthermore, even if the fourth prince was willing to lose everything around him for the third prince's protection, the latter was prepared to end the fourth prince regardless of what choices he made.
Leaving those thoughts behind, Austin swiftly called out to his aunt.
"Aunt Sue?"
"Hmmm?"
"I need your help with something."
Sue's eyes widened, and her expression turned serious immediately.
Her adorable little nephew needed something from her, so she was definitely going to listen to what he had to say. "What do you want?"
"I'm looking for someone."
Sue's brows furrowed slightly. "Is it someone within the palace?"
Austin shook his head. "No. Someone who might have been caught up in the fall of the three magistrates."
Sue's expression darkened immediately because everyone knew the brutal fate that had met those three households.
"But Austin, their families were probably enslaved or even… " She trailed off, but Austin nodded in understanding.
"Yes, but do you think the Ministry of Punishment has a list of the people who were taken?"
Sue fell silent and began to think about it.
"Most likely, yes. The Office of Penalties would have documented it. Prisoners, slaves, property seizures – all of these details would have been recorded somewhere." Sue replied as she looked at him seriously.
"But you'll need someone on the inside. Someone discreet. Those records aren't open to just anyone, you know."
Austin furrowed his brow and nodded in understanding. "Do you know someone who can help us?"
Sue closed her eyes briefly and began to think again.
After a long moment, she whispered, "I'll discuss with Eunuch Po if you like; I'm sure he'll know a retired scribe who might be able to get us what we need."
"Thank you so much, Aunt Sue. You're the best." Austin praised his aunt, and a beautiful smile appeared on Sue's face because his words reminded her of when he had been a little boy, always hugging her, clinging to her, and calling her the most beautiful aunt in the world.
As Sue reminisced about the past, this only helped to steel her determination to make sure she didn't disappoint her cute little nephew.
Although her task was quite risky, she was ready to make sure that it was carried out discreetly and quickly.
"What is the name of the person you're looking for?"
"Lily," Austin replied, and Sue didn't ask anything else.
She could already guess that the girl he was looking for was someone important to his wives, so she was prepared to carry out her task diligently.
However, Sue was worried about two things right now.
Out of the three magistrates' households that were punished, two of the families had produced a Writ of Protection Against Execution to save themselves from being killed.
So instead of facing execution, they were enslaved. So, Sue could only hope that Lily's family wasn't part of the family that was killed.
As for the second reason why Sue was worried, it was related to how important Lily's family might have been before they were punished.
Every noble household and wealthy aristocrat in the empire had something special that made their families very important to the empire.
It was a family secret, and it could be in the form of combat techniques, special cooking recipes, alchemical recipes, and even rare healing methods that were passed down through a family's bloodline.
These secrets were very important to each family, so if two disgraced families were about to be spread out through the empire as slaves, there was a high chance other aristocratic families and wealthy nobles would come to their rescue by freeing them from slavery in exchange for their most precious secrets.
And this was why Sue was also interested in finding Lily.
If she could help Austin find her, he could get the chance to obtain valuable recipes that would benefit him as the new Lord of the West, especially once he moved to his new home.
And so, with her mind filled with the things she needed to do, Sue stood up from her seat while saying. "I'll be taking my leave now, Your Highness. I'll meet with Eunuch Po tonight and inform him about what we've discussed. Then we'll leave the palace first thing tomorrow morning."
"I'm coming with you."
"Huh? But there's no need for you to accompany us; Eunuch Po and I will be enough, and if you are still not satisfied, I could ask three of your guards to accompany us. Or are you worried about me speaking to the eunuch?"
Eunuch Po was one of the ten retainers Austin currently had in his pavilion, but thanks to Sue's influence, Po was equally as loyal to Austin as all the other retainers in his pavilion.
In other words, Austin had nothing to worry about concerning where Po's loyalty lay.
"No, it's not that. I know the eunuch can be trusted." Austin replied.
Although she wanted to question and discourage him from leaving the palace, a part of her felt like Austin wanted to be a part of this so that he could use it to impress his wives.
However, her reasoning was flawed, as Austin simply wanted to see what the capital city looked like.
The fourth prince had never stepped out of the palace before, so he knew nothing of what the outside world looked like.
"Very well. We'll be leaving in the morning, so you need to rest and sleep early, okay?"
Austin smiled and nodded in understanding. "You see, I told you, you were the best aunt in the world."
A faint blush appeared on his aunt's cheeks, but Sue acted as though she wasn't flustered by his words.
"Hmph. Your aunt is still not fully happy about you leaving the palace. But I understand your desires, so I'll do my best to support you, but it's only because you're my cute little nephew."
"Thanks, Aunt, and goodnight."
"Goodnight, Your Highness." Sue smiled before picking up the trays and leaving his room.
Austin swiftly crawled onto his bed, but just before he could relax or even fall asleep, a new screen suddenly popped up in front of him.
[Congratulations to the host. Sue's loyalty level has risen to level 4.]
[Would you like to take a look at Sue's profile?]
"What? I can view her profile as well?"