Angelica and Valerie had been successful in retrieving information from Spyke. He had returned to Regis with missing fingers, a broken leg, a shattered kneecap, and multiple deep scrapes and burns across his torso. He spilled every secret about the rebellion. Regis sent his Glaives to capture every member of the resistance so that they could all be confined behind bars alongside Spyke, who was first given medical attention.

As for Angelica, she had avoided Ignis the rest of the day. She knew he would question her if he saw her. She did not want to speak about the event. She planned to play dumb for when they did run into each other though. Pretend it never happened. Act casual. He'll never find out. She kept repeating those things in her head.

But Ignis was smart. The girl knew that if anyone could piece together everything or gather information, it was him. Ironically, that's one of the things she really liked about him - his intellect. Who would've thought his brains would cause the possible end of their friendship?

The following day, Ignis was already heading to the throne room. He had kept an eye on the time since early that morning, anxiously awaiting his meeting with the king. He had so many questions and theories. He wanted - no, he needed - to know the truth. Angelica had been a friend for many years, he sure didn't want to believe that she was hiding things from all of them, but there was too much evidence that said otherwise. Once in the throne room, Regis and Clarus stood by the steps, waiting for the young advisor.

"Your Majesty," Ignis greeted with a bow.

"To get straight to the point," Regis began, "how much do you already know?"

"Well for starters, I've seen Angelica training with her mother, yet neither of them are in the Crownsguard or Glaives. Then there was that whole event yesterday with that man of the rebellion. Angelica disarmed him with such speed and skill. I have to ask, just who is she really?"

Regis sighed. "You'll understand better if I start from the very beginning. 19 years ago, I was attacked by an assassin here at the Citadel one night. Her name was Valerie Solani." Ignis rose his eyebrows slightly with surprise. "She was pregnant at the time, and easily defeated. She begged for forgiveness and pleaded for me to spare her child."

"So, His Majesty showed mercy on her," Clarus added. "He took her in and gave her a job, even though I urged him not to trust her. Fortunately, my judgment was wrong, and Valerie became a faithful ally alongside her daughter, whom she raised to be equally as loyal and skilled."

Regis gave a nod. "It has been a well-kept secret among the four of us - their assassin heritage. They wished for no one to know of it. But I trust you'll keep this knowledge to yourself, Ignis. It would cause nothing but panic if the public knew that their king had assassins working for him."

Ignis's mind was processing everything. But slowly, he nodded in understanding. "Yes, I see your point. But I do believe Noctis should know about this, as well as Gladio and Prompto. Angelica is a good friend of ours, I feel it's only right she should've told us this long before now."

"You may be correct," Regis replied. "Valerie had mentioned that her daughter didn't make friends easily and that she was often alone. Perhaps what Angelica really needs is those who fully know and trust her. That was my hope for when I allowed Noctis to go to her school."

Everything was finally making sense. Ignis had every piece of the puzzle now in place and could clearly see the whole picture. Another thought struck him as well. Is this why... Angel became more distant and cold the older she became? The advisor bowed.

"I thank you, Your Majesty, for entrusting me with such knowledge."

Regis smiled lightly. Ignis was quick to leave, knowing the king was a busy man. Walking through the halls, his mind was going over everything he had learned. All those years, they had known and trusted Angelica. She was their friend, and yet, they had no idea of her secret lifestyle. She was an assassin - a silent killer who could take someone out in the blink of an eye. With her reflexes, Ignis had suspected she was a warrior of some sort, but never had he imagined she'd be an assassin.

He still had a bit of time before he had to head back to Noctis's apartment, so he went to Angelica's work room. He stood at the door, hesitantly knocking. He heard a call from inside that said, 'it's open'. He slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Music was the first thing to meet his ears. He stepped inside where Angelica was standing before an outfit in the making, her back turned as she hummed to the music on the radio.

"Straight up now tell me do you really wanna love me forever oh, oh, oh," she quietly sang as she stitched along the sleeve. As soon as she finished that part, she finally turned to see who had entered. "Ignis. Do you need something?"

(That's an old song, by the way. "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul, in case you didn't already know.)

"If you're not too busy, I'd like to speak with you. I didn't know you listened to music."

She quickly turned off the radio, her neutral expression never changing. "Mostly just when I work. I've got the basic outline of the king's clothing finished, but there's still quite a bit to be done. Well? Go on, I'm listening." She returned to her work, turning her back to him once more.

Ignis pushed up his glasses, carefully watching her. "I met with His Majesty just a while ago."

"Really? What an honor." Angelica was trying her best to sound interested while still focusing on her sewing.

"He informed me of you and your mother." Upon hearing that, the girl nearly stuck herself from the slight jerk of surprise she made. Ignis slowly closed the door behind him, making sure no passerby would hear them. "So, you're an assassin? That explains many things."

Angelica froze, her eyes wide. The needle in her hand fell to the floor. Very slowly, she turned to look at him, her eyes portraying her shock and fear. "How..." The corners of her lips turned down in a frown. "They promised! They both promised they'd never tell anyone!"

"I'm to blame, not King Regis or Clarus. I insisted on being entrusted with whatever knowledge they had on that whole incident yesterday."

Angelica's face slowly turned into an angry scowl. "Well? Are you afraid? Afraid I'll stab you in the back? Scared I'll sneak into your house at night and slit your throat?" She turned away and hugged her arms.

"No. Angel, this doesn't change a thing. You've been a friend for so long, and you still are. I trust you all the same. I'm not afraid of you."

The redhead whirled around and snapped, "Yeah, right! No one was supposed to ever know, not even you! Assassins are feared for being unfeeling monsters! Don't you understand that if this were to get out, there's no telling what may happen?!"

Ignis sighed in slight frustation at her overreaction. "Angel, the only people I'd entrust this to are our friends, no one else. I assure you, they'd feel the same way. Trust in us."

Angelica hung her head down, covering her watery eyes with the palm of her hand. "Get out." After a moment of Ignis not budging, she removed her hand and yelled, "Get out of my room!"

She forcefully shoved him out and slammed the door. She pressed her back against the thick, ornate wood, sliding down it to sit on the floor. She was already having flashbacks of her school years. Her body was trembling with a mixture of rage and terror as tears leaked from her eyes. She didn't want this to happen again. She didn't want to be looked at like a monster. She ignored the man's pleas on the other side of the door until he finally seemed to leave.

"That could've went better," Ignis muttered to himself as he walked down the hall.

Since a simple discussion didn't work so well, he was already formulating alternative ideas. He understood just how important this was. For Angelica to feel like she was feared and alone was something the advisor couldn't relate to, but he sympathized with her nonetheless. First things first, he needed to discuss everything with the others. Together, they could all figure out a way to get through to her. They had to, not just for her sake, but for all of theirs as well.