Framed

The days passed by with Damian's busy schedule getting busier as the intensity of the wars and the losses they suffered continued to escalate. And though he could just wipe out resistance from all the battlefield he decided to not intervene and just let the kingdom do what it can. Having the whole kingdom being saved by just one person will result in both admiration and fear amongst the people which was something that he didn't want to be bothered by at all.

And seeing how the resources of the kingdom were depleting, he was busy looking out for alternative sources, but deep down he knew that the kingdom might not survive much longer, that was also evident from the fact that people, both nobles and commoners were secretly trying to go to another continent to save themselves which troubled him even more.

But it is not like he didn't try to save the kingdom. He once went to the battlefield to destroy the dragons in one go, but that was not a good idea since the dragons who were from Dragonof's side were not able to evacuate since moving back from the battlefield meant that the other dragons got the chance of invading the kingdom faster which totally failed the plan that Damian had in mind and he decided to just continue how they were fighting earlier.

".... Yesterday's work is finally finished...now only today's work is left." said Stella as she took the last set of documents that Damian went through and piled them up.

She looked at Damian with a sad expression on her face and was really worried about him.

The Damian who always had a bright face and a confident aura around him was nowhere to be found in the Damian sitting on the desk with the towers of papers all around him...and it was even more heartbreaking seeing five of them, as his clones were in a similar condition as well.

"Oh....tell them to not prepare lunch for me." said Damian as he picked up another stack of papers and was soon followed by the clones.

'...It has been a week since you last ate something. How long are you going to live on those potions?' thought Stella as her eyes became slightly wet seeing him looking like that.

All of a sudden Damian and his clones looked up towards the door making Stella surprised by the sudden actions.

Damian and his clones immediately transformed into echo echos and became one before he turned back to his human form and sat back on his seat.

A few seconds later the door was knocked noticing which Stella realised why Damian did that.

"Damian it's me Irene."

"Come in." said Damian as Irene opened the door and came inside and stared directly at Damian emotionlessly.

Seeing that both Damian and Stella were surprised and Damian stood up from his seat and asked, "What happened Irene? Is somethi-"

"Belserion....Belserion died...." said Irene as she looked down.

Damian's tired eyes widened a bit as he too got shocked by such a news.

"...Why?" asked Irene.

Damian and Stella looked at her with pity since both of them knew that Belserion was a father figure for her, and though Stella haven't met Belserion yet, she knew very well how losing one's father felt.

"Why Damian?" asked Irene once again.

Damian looked at her with a puzzled look on his face making Irene look at him with a pained expression.

"Do you know how Belserion died?" asked Irene.

Damian who received the news just now didn't have any idea of what happened to him and shook his head.

Irene took a deep breath seeing Damian shaking his head and said, "... Apparently, there was not enough resources on the battlefield so the dragons were fighting without any energy non stop for quite a few days....No food no water for them..."

Both Stella and Damian got shocked at that and Damian asked, "How can that be? The resources are sent to the battlefields at regular intervals so as to prevent these sort of situations."

"... Apparently all the funds that we had have been exhausted, even a part of the royal treasury is missing." said Irene.

Irene then took a deep breath and asked, "...Damian....did you smuggled th le funds?..."

Damian and Stella both got shocked as Irene asked that question.

"...Do you think I will do such a thing?" asked Damian.

Irene lowered her head and said, "...No I don't.....but these things are saying something different." said Irene as she took out some papers and showed it to Damian.

Damian took the papers from her hand and started looking at them.

"...Those are your signatures and seal, right?....on the papers regarding withdrawal of funds." said Irene as she looked at him with a serious look on her face.

'...What the hell is this?...I know I have been drowning myself in these papers, but even I know I won't sign something this ridiculous.'

"I don't know about any of this Irene... Someone must have forged them." said Damian.

Irene looked at Damian for a while before she asked, "...And what about getting the ministers killed who came to know about this and were going to report me?"

"...Did something like that happen?" asked Damian.

"Damian you said you will look after my work so why aren't you aware of all this?" asked Irene.

"I am taking care of all this work but as you can see it is just too much." said Damian.

"Then if it is too much for you, then why aren't you asking me to help?"

"I don't want you to put burden on yourself you ar-"

"Stop with the sweet talk... saying things like you are doing this was me and all, stop with that..." said Irene as tears started falling down from her eyes.

"Irene, are you fine." asked Damian as he moved to get close to her.

But Irene raised her hand gesturing him to stop and said, "People are leaving this kingdom, the threat of the dragons is increasing day by day, funds are depleting at a very fast pace....and when someone who discovers all this and tries to inform about it to me, they are mysteriously killed....Damian what are you actually planning to do with my kingdom."

Irene was sobbing at this point as she looked at Damian with her tear filled eyes.

"I don't have any I'll intentions for you kingdom Irene, I am just trying to save it, like you wanted." said Damian as he walked towards her and held her shoulders.

"This is not I wanted Damian...I never asked you to do this." said Irene.

"Irene calm down a bit, you are not able to think rationally right now." said Damian.

Irene looked at him who was looking back at her with worry evident in his tired eyes.

Irene took a deep breath and wiped her eyes she then took a deep breath and sighed.

Damian sighed as well as he held his head and thought, '...What the hell is going on here, it is clear that someone is trying to frame me, but who the hell is this.....and does that person do not have any brain cells? We are currently in a war, how does smuggling will be beneficial big the kingdom itself doesn't survive..... I am getting a severe headache because of this.'

Damian frowned as he stumbled a few steps seeing which Stella came behind him to support his body.

"Damian do you know these people?" asked Irene as she clapped her hands and a few guards came inside along with a man who was being held down by the guards.

"...Now, who the hell is this?" asked Damian as he looked at the slightly chubby man.

"He is Count Arde. We caught him sneaking around the castle. Once he was caught and interrogated by us, he revealed that he was asked by someone to prepare some assassins to finish off the ministers...who were trying to report to me." said Irene.

'... Someone seriously is trying to frame me.....and piss me off along with it....the sad part is that he is doing a very good job.' thought Damian as he continued holding his head and looked at Chubby man who was beaten to pulp.