Uncovering The Truth

Brunia questioned with an angry and perplexed look on her face, "You, Mistress? A criminal?"

Leonora burst into laughter, and so did Licha. She then pointed out, "Aw! Come on, Brunie! Why are you taking this so seriously? Obviously, the Professor is joking! You're supposed to laugh now."

Brunia realized and screamed in frustration, "UGH! I'm so gullible! Forgive me, Mistress, I didn't comprehend that you were jesting." Heidi left the room without another word without anybody noticing.

At night, she was writing a letter as the Countess's words flashed black into her memory once again, "I found out the truth; I know who you really are."

The next morning, Professor Heidi assembled all the Princesses in the reception hall for a special group lesson. Professor Heidi took out a tabloid article and stated, "THE FALLING PALACE: A criminal has slipped behind the palace walls; or so this article supposes. Your Highnesses, I would like you to investigate the truth of this claim."

Leonora responded, "It sounds like an utter waste of time!"

Licha replied calmly, "Agreed. Plus, I'm quite busy, to be honest. I'm seeing a man tonight."

Leonora added, "Also, there is no truth to it, what's the point of looking any further?"

Professor Heidi reminded, "Your Highnesses, it's true that tabloids often lie. However, assuming whatever one hears is an outright lie, it's just as dangerous as believing that everything is accurate. Say that you have become Queen, your successor is born, if you heard rumors about a criminal inside a palace, would you dismiss them? They could be targeting the successor or even you. If you become a monarch, you only wouldn't have responsibilities to the kingdom, but also to your citizens. Always remember that a single error in judgment could cost you the throne, it would also jeopardize the royal line, and it could hurt the people you're about to serve."

Leonora shrieked in surprise, "Wait a minute... Heidi! Won't you investigate it with us?"

Professor Heidi answered, "No Princess, but although for protection, I have asked Ludhiana and Maximilia to accompany you should you leave the palace grounds. Get started Your Highnesses and good luck to all of you."

After saying that, she walked out of the room silently, clearing something troubling her and her state of mind.

Following her departure, Licha scoffed, "Aw!! This is no fun! What on earth are we supposed to do now?"

Kaira rose up from her seat and proposed, "Let us meet with the person who wrote it. Though the author might not be mentioned, I can ask the newspaper company about it."

The Princesses quickly disguised themselves as commoners and left for the newspaper company with the palace guards in a carriage. Kaira entered the establishment and came out with the information, "The author has suddenly resigned due to some personal reason, his name is Gregory Wilson. The company gave me a photo of this man." The other three Princesses scrutinized it.

After a careful glimpse, Brunia stated, "The disappearance of someone who wrote gossip about the royal family, it should be no surprise that he resigned."

Licha added, "Yeah! Maybe he had to do it because of writing that garbage! But Kaira, do you know where we can find this man?"

Kaira answered, "No, the company is not authorized to give out other personal information."

Brunia affirmed, "Then we must dig deeper! We need to locate this Gregory, we have to split up and ask about his whereabouts."

They have been to Gregory's favorite stores, his neighborhood, we interviewed countless witnesses, but they had nothing of substance to show for it. Leonora, Brunia, and Kaira sat in the reception hall in the disappointment of not being able to hunt down the man.

At that moment, Licha came squealing, "YAY! I found him!!!!"

Brunia asked in disbelief, "Truly, sister?"

Licha answered, "Apparently, he's been spending time at a local social hall on the outskirts of town. He basically looks like the same man in the picture, but he changed his name to Charles Lee. People say that he's been going on about how he made a small fortune at a newspaper company."

Leonora acknowledged, "That's amazing! Well done, Licha!"

Brunia asked, "Shall we go?" Kaira nodded her head with approval.

They soon arrived at the outskirt hall by carriage. Brunia and Leonora sneaked inside the premises to find their man. They spied on him for a while, and when he walked out, they confronted him.

Brunia spoke, "Hey, Gregory."

The man was surprised to see them and flinched at their sight, he stammered, "Umm... I-I-I'm afraid y-you got the w-w-wrong name." Before he could turn and run away, Kaira blocked his exit and glared at him, thus scaring him even more. Kaira lifted him in thin air, dumped him on the carriage seat and responded while the man was screaming at the top of his voice, "Let's talk, Gregory!"

The man yelled, "Gregory!? You got the wrong name! Listen, my name is C--"

Brunia completed his statement by saying sternly, "Charles Lee? You sell yourself as a businessman who recently came to Vermillion. I took the liberty of looking into your bank records. A bank account with a decent sum was opened under the name of Charles Lee shortly after this article was published."

The man defended, "Look, I don't know what you're talking about!"

Licha suggested, "Oh! Then we should change the carriage's destination. How about an isolated graveyard?

Brunia affirmed, "Gregory, tell us everything you know or else... Licha? Would you do the honors?

Licha gave out an evil grin and commanded the carriage driver, "To the graveyard, please!"

Gregory gave in and shrieked, "Okay!!! I will talk!! But to be honest, there's not much to tell! I was told if I would write an article about the palace, I could make a small fortune."

Brunia asked in curiosity, "By whom?"

Gregory answered, "I don't know her! At first, she prostituted herself at me. And then when I confessed to her that I was unwealthy, she gave up her act and then ordered me to do this, immediately resign and move out of Vermillion and never return. I wanted the money, so I didn't ask any questions."

Kaira asked, "What did she look like?"

Gregory replied, "I don't really know, it was very late that night, so it was too dark to make out her face. She gave me the money and told me that the rest of it would be deposited in an account under the name of Charles Lee."

Leonora inquired, "If the woman wanted you to leave town, why didn't you obey?"

Gregory sighed and said, "Because I have no else to go!"

Brunia posed another one, "What about the claim that there was a criminal inside the palace?"

Gregory gave one word, "FABRICATION!"

Licha sighed with relieve, "I knew it was false!"

But at that moment, Gregory added, "A few years after the King died, and the Queen was the major commander of the throne, a criminal caused an incident at the harvest festival in which a tall child of eight years old was involved. That very came criminal now lives inside the palace walls. That's the story she wanted me to publish!"

Brunia asked, "After the King died?"

Gregory responded, "Yes, that's right! I wanted the money, so I didn't pose any questions. But I looked into it first, and there was no collaboration at all. You might not believe me, but I do my research."

The four Princesses released the man and then drove away from the area. Brunia knew a place where Vermillion's criminal history was stored. When the facility was closed, Licha hacked into the security system and shut down the CCTV's for four hours.

Leonora yelled, "That article is pure garbage!"

Brunia shushed her and whispered, "Not so loud! Even though Licha hacked into the system, there is no guarantee that no one would hear us during the night, so don't create a ruckus." Kaira and Brunia pulled out a bunch of files which consisted of the people who were arrested during the harvest festival after the King's death. Brunia added, "A journalist cannot access these files." Licha cried,

"UGH! Are you going to look over all of these, Brunie!!??"

Leonora scoffed, "I'm starving! What a colossal waste of time!? Wait, huh!?"

Brunia replied, "Once we're finished, I promise you that I will feed you with as many sweets as you can eat."

Leonora inquired, "Umm... dearest sister Brunia, quick question; what is Heidi's full name?"

Brunia answered, "Heidi Witzenberg." Leonora screamed, "OH, NO!!!!! I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!"

All the sisters gathered around as Brunia examined it. Her eyes widened with shock, and she responded, "This says that during the harvest festival, after the King died, Mistress was arrested!

Licha shrieked in a quiver, "You have to be kidding me!!"

Kaira asked, "What was the crime?" Brunia couldn't read it! Not in a million years, she was so shocked that her voice got stuck in her throat! She merely handed the paper over to Kaira and was at a loss for words. Kaira lost her composure and fell on the ground with disbelief with her whole world spinning around. She doesn't even have the foggiest notion of who she is anymore. Brunia was at a loss of words to console her.

Licha finally lifted the paper and read aloud, "An attempt of assassination of the second crowned Princess of Vermillion!"

Leonora asked, "Wait a minute... does this mean what I think it means? No! This can't be true!"

Brunia affirmed, "I'm sorry, Leonora, but we all have to face the harsh reality. She--" Brunia trailed off as she didn't dare to continue further."

Licha explained with all the courage she could muster, "This means that she tried to kill KAIRA!!"

The Princesses returned home and were discussing at the reception hall. Licha yelled, "Kaira! How can you hide something like this from us?! If we knew that she tried to kill you, we would never accept her as our imperial mentor in the first place!"

Kaira screamed, "I DON'T REMEMBER A THING!!! GREGORY SAID THAT I WAS EIGHT, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING!! I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE!!!!! I---" Kaira trailed off as she burst into tears for the first time in front of her sisters.

Brunia raised the question, " I don't understand! Why would she ask us to look into criminal hiding into the palace if she knew that she was the guilty party?"

Licha proposed, "This must be a mistake! Why on earth would she ever try to kill Kaira? And how come Kaira doesn't remember any of this? We need to ask mother! I believe that she has the answer to our questions."

Kaira wiped off her tears and said, "I'll ask her, right now!" All of the other sisters followed her and knocked onto Heidi's room, but there came no response. When the Princesses creaked the door open, they found that the Professor wasn't in her chambers at all! They assembled at the window to see their mother arrive back at the palace from her duties and turn in for the day. As the Queen entered her study, her children barged in.

Brunia spoke, "A thousand apologies for interrupting your evening, only we have a question; especially Kaira."

The Queen sternly replied, "Oh, you do? Well... it seems that you don't have any gratitude for a ruler who has just concluded her duties."

Leonora asked, "It's about Heidi! We know that you're aware of the Professor's past, we know you do! Kaira, say something!"

Kaira couldn't help but glare at her mother in a fury, her voice was stuck in her throat; she didn't want to pose the question. It was way beyond her to believe that Professor Heidi would do such a thing.

The Queen stated, "Even if I did know something about her past, I couldn't vault it to you."

Kaira whimpered with tears overflowing her eyes again, "D-D-Did P-P-Professor Heidi t-t-tried to kill m-m-me?"

The Queen closed her eyes with pain and replied, "I have nothing to say on the subject."

Before Kaira lost her composure and began to lash out at her mother, an attendant entered and gave the Queen a letter.

As she read it, the manservant left, and The Queen gave in and started narrating, "Sit down my girls, from now on, I am not conversing with you as the Queen, I'm merely talking to you as your mother. I'm going to tell you a story. I met Heidi many years ago when your father was alive. He was the one who introduced me to her as she was his stepsister. Heidi was actually an orphan and was adopted only at the age of 17. No one really wanted to take teenage children as they were fussier and always had mood swings. But my husband's parents were kind enough to do so, as they visited the orphanage often and Heidi occasionally ran errands for them and guided them around the city in disguise. The King and she became fast friends, and soon enough, they even started to care for each other like healthy siblings. After I got married, Heidi and I got along more swimmingly than she and her brother as we were both women. We both made a deal that after the King's death, she would facilitate me in running the kingdom in any way she could."

The Queen continued, "But after the death of her stepparents and her stepbrother, her title was descended, and she was a commoner yet again. But that never fazed her true identity. My first orders of business as the significant monarch of the kingdom, I drafted a plan to construct a church for the orphan children. Heidi took n the responsibilities of being their mentor. Heidi could never read or write until the age of 18 when the rulers of Vermillion adopted her. She soon became a fine educator who was recognized far and wide. She must have spent an unimaginable amount of effort. Many years later, which would be nine years ago, when Adam was newly born, I wanted to disguise myself as a commoner and go shopping for baby clothes, rather than having the servants doing it for me. Kaira insisted that she wanted to come and do the same for her baby brother. I was touched on the sentiment, and so we went out shopping during the harvest festival. I casually met Heidi one day and introduced her to Kaira. She and the Professor got along so well that she kept nagging me to meet the Professor at least every once a week."

Brunia asked, "Wait for mother, I don't understand, if everything went on so well then how did Mistress get arrested!?"

The Queen proceeded, "One day when I was away to Glossandia to meet up with the Queen there, Kaira sneaked out of the palace to meet up with Heidi. There was one problem, though, the castle was out of panic over her disappearance. They believed that Kaira was kidnapped, so they sent out the guards to look for her. Kaira and the Professor were wandering around as usual and having a great time together. They saw the guards of the palace coming their way and made a run for it. The guards came behind them, and they presumed that Heidi was the abductor. When Kaira saw that they were about to shoot Heidi dead, she jumped and blocked the bullet which hit her instead. The guards assumed that Heidi used the Princess as a shield and they came to a conclusion that she wanted to kill her. But in reality, Kaira sacrificed her life for the Professor, even though Heidi was touched, she also got aggravated, lifted up a log, and knocked down all the guards. Heidi seized one of their weapons, and before she could shoot down the final guard, Kaira screamed with whatever strength she had left in her, "H-H-He-i-di p-please d-d-don't!" And as she said those words, she collapsed on the ground with her eyes shut.

Heidi shouted at the top of her voice for Kaira to wake up, while the guards seized her. Kaira was unconscious for days, and even I returned from my duties to see her. As the guards narrated me the incident, I couldn't merely believe it. In the meanwhile, Heidi was jailed for kidnapping and attempting an assassination of the second crowned Princess of Cudmore. She never defended her innocence, she only sat down quietly with her handcuffs and prayed for Kaira's well-being. Suddenly, a cell door opened behind her, and when Heidi turned around, she was relieved to see who it was. It was Kaira and me here to get Heidi out of prison. Kaira narrated the entire incident to me, and Heidi was promptly pardoned. However, Heidi didn't want that Kaira should hang out with a person with a criminal record so for her sake when Kaira was sleeping, I was the one who injected the medicine in her blood so that Kaira could forget who Heidi is. A few years later, recently, I invited Professor Heidi to be our imperial mentor, and I made a promise that if her past ever became public, she would leave the palace without a word. She cared enough about all of you that she didn't want to tarnish your prospects or your chances of securing the throne. This is the truth."

Brunia asked, 'Why did you bring us under the trust of a matter as sensitive as this? Wasn't this confidential?"

The Queen answered, "Before unfounded rumors of Heidi began to circulate, you needed to know the truth before you can make a judgment for yourselves in the future."

Leonora asked, "What's this letter on the table?" The Queen revealed with pain and disappointment, "Heidi has resigned from the post of the imperial mentor."