"I have known Empress Lovington and her great grandmother, then her grandfather and her mother. That's an entire line of morally right rulers." I rested my palms against the desk and leaned toward Silas. "I'm not saying they couldn't be corrupt. I'm just saying that there's no proof of it, and they have shown us nothing but loyalty. Why not use this as a test?"
"What's to stop them from not taking the truth potion?" Aimon tilted his head.
"Consider it another loyalty test. If they take the truth serum, then they have nothing to hide." I threw up my hands and waved them around the office. "We have searched this manor up and down, even the emperor and empress's chambers. We have come up empty. It's no surprise that Matthieu was wrong, or at least there's no proof of him being right. But therewillbe proof of him being wrong if we do the truth serum."
"I do have a couple extra vials of truth serum," Bastian mumbled, his rune glowing purple.
A smile spread across my face as I glanced at the guys.
Jasper shrugged. "You know I'll listen to whatever you say, goddess."
"I agree with my brother, sunshine." Casper smirked.
"I couldn't agree more," Aimon stated. "You know them better than we do anyway."
"Since majority rules, we'll go with Fawn's idea," Silas said begrudgingly. "We may as well go get ready for the dinner and see how it goes."
Jasper shadow-jumped us back to our room, and we spent the next hour getting ready for dinner.
Empress Lovington gifted me a beautiful dress that had been sitting on our bed, along with five suits for the guys. I didn't usually like dressing up, but it was nice to wear something so fancy.
The rose-gold gown had a deep V-neck line without sleeves, and it was adorned with glittering lace embellishments. I pulled my hair back in a messy bun and let a few pieces hang down to frame my face. It had been a long time since I'd put this much effort into my appearance. It was amazing what a pretty dress could do to a woman's confidence, even if they had been around a while.
I stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where the guys were waiting, and my heart flipped when I saw them.
They had matching suits that consisted of a black blazer, slacks, and shoes, and a cream button-up with a rose gold tie.
The suit complimented Aimon's red hair, and his green eyes twinkled as they met mine. He had even trimmed his beard. "Bless, bug. You are so stunning, it makes my heart hurt."
My face flamed with heat, and I wanted so badly to wrap myself up in his arms. "Thank you."
"It's true," Bastian murmured. "Your hair looks beautiful up like that, love. I don't think I've ever seen it up."
"Oh, thank you." The heat spread from my cheeks to my ears and down my neck.
Bastian's blue hair contrasted beautifully with the suit, much like my light blue hair. It could've clashed with the colors, but somehow Bastian made it look sophisticated.
"You look like a ray of sunshine," Casper whispered as he summoned a wisp of light to ruffle through the hanging pieces of my hair.
A dark wisp tickled my other cheek. "You look so pure that I want to defile you," Jasper rasped.
Casper and Jasper both looked delectable. Their ties hung loose around their necks, and Jasper didn't even bother buttoning the blazer. The two of them looked effortlessly attractive, like always, but something about the suits made me want to rip the garments off them.
"Thanks, guys." I swallowed the lump in my throat with a hard gulp.
Silas looked the most put-together in the suit, but that wasn't a surprise to me. His purple hair was pulled back in a small ponytail, and his face was clean-shaven. The way his eyes bore into me made me shift on my feet. I couldn't help but love the way his gaze made me feel.
It made me worry that I was truly falling for all five of these mages, not just four of them.
"Each one of you looksextremelyhandsome." I complimented them, reaching up and running my fingers through the piece of hair on my right side where Casper's wisps had tangled it up.
"You look breathtaking," Silas murmured, his cheeks tinging pink. "Shall we go?"
"Thank you, Silas." I turned toward Bastian. "Do you have the vials?"
He rolled his sleeve up to reveal the rune and pulled the two vials of truth serum out of his arm before depositing them into my palm. "Of course, love."
Jasper moved toward me, leaning down and running his nose down my neck as he inhaled. "Your scent is always so sweet," he murmured as Casper did the same to my other side.
