Daren's Return

Investigating the late King's possible murder?

Laif was not been expecting that the reason the King had left the palace in a hurry was to investigate his father's death.

The first time he had heard that the King went missing, Laif had thought that the King was similar to him. He had thought that the King simply wanted to escape the suffocating Palace's life.

For outsiders, they might see the royalties as the person who had everything—wealth and power.

Laif had been crowned as the Crown Prince of Hase for almost ten years when he realized that he had no actual power against the nobles. Those old people might seem as if they were listening to his command, but the person who was controlling everything behind them were also those nobles.

That was why he had chosen to step down...

Laif kept his eyes on the Princess as she sat down on the throne, facing the nobles before her.

The nobles stood up straight and greeted the Princess without giving away their thoughts at the moment. Everyone presented in the hall knew what the Princess was about to announce on that day and they were waiting to hear the Princess's decision.

Amelia closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. Then, she turned to the secretary and motioned him to come closer before she handed the scroll in her hand. "I have made my decision regarding my brother's situation."

The ministers began to turn towards each other and gossiped in a hushed voice.

"After listening to your opinion, I am going to—"

Her words were left unfinished as someone had entered the door without any pleasantries. A frown appeared on her face and the frown deepened when Adviser Damian suddenly barged in.

She quickly noticed his solemn expression and suddenly began to feel uneasy. Her heart thumped wildly against her ribcage.

"Your Highness, Princess Amelia" Damian greeted. He then turned to look at the nobles who were staring at him. "I'm sorry for my interruption, but someone is here for an audience."

"Can't it wait? We're in the middle of an important meeting." One of the nobilities voiced impatiently.

"I'm afraid not." Damian flashed a faint smile. "This is very important," He turned to face the door and seconds later, the hall was filled with gasps and murmurs when a familiar man stepped in.

"Greetings to Your Highness, Princess Amelia. All glory to Noa Kingdom, " the man greeted.

Amelia stood up slowly with a hand covering her mouth. She knew the face and that voice so well. "Daren?"

Laif stood up straight when he saw the reaction from everyone when the stranger entered the room. Suddenly, he had a hunched that something important was going to happen.

The Princess continued to stare at the Knight for a long time. Then, as if something crossed her mind, Amelia shifted her gaze to the door, expecting that someone else will step in into the room next.

"Where is my brother?" Amelia asked when the person she hoped to see did not show up.

Daren closed his eyes, feigning his sorrow. "Your Highness. I am sorry. I have returned to report that His Majesty, King Asher has passed."

Amelia slammed her hand on the armrest. "No. You're lying." Her hand stung with pain, but she did not have the time to mind it.

"Your Highness, I am telling you the truth."

"No! My brother is still alive. I know he is."

"I know you are grieving, Your Majesty, but you have to believe me." Daren quickly searched into his clothes and produced the King's crest. "I have His Majesty's crest as proof."

A maidservant approached the Knight and took the crest from him to the Princess.

Amelia took the crest into her hand and her body began to tremble. Her eyes and nose began to sour as tears threatened to come out. But at this time, Amelia had simply refused to believe what was in front of her.

She inspected the crest and noticed that it was slightly dented. The ornament which usually hung with the crest was gone, and there were a few blackened spots on the crest.

"It does not prove anything," Amelia said sharply. "I will not accept that my brother is gone until I see his body."

"Your Highness," Damian stepped up with a gloomy expression. "Please. Stop. Daren brought along His Majesty body as proof."

Amelia felt her body shook with fright. She clenched her fist to control her emotion and refused to believe in the adviser's words. "Then let me see him." She stepped down from the throne and walked over to the door.

Damian held up his hand to stop the Princess from marching forward. "No. I wouldn't recommend you to see him. His Majesty died in a horrible fire. His body..." he took a deep breath and continued. "His body, his face was charred until he was unrecognizable."

Amelia shook her head. "No," her voice trembled. Her gaze switched from Damian to Daren. Her hand went to cover her mouth as a sob came out. "No," she repeated. "How? Why?"

"His majesty was investigating the late King Louis death. He suspected that the late King was murdered," Daren spoke, causing a commotion among the nobles. "He went to meet an informant in Green Valley. He went into this warehouse but it was a setup. It all happened so fast. I couldn't help him. I couldn't rescue him. By the time the fire went down, I," he made a dramatic pause. "It was my fault," Daren knelt before the Princess. "Your Highness, I have failed to protect the King. I deserve to be punished. I deserve to die."

Amelia took a step back. She swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to the nobles. Her gaze was piercing as she turned to look at everyone in the hall. "I told you that I won't declare my brother as dead unless if you bring me proof. So you took a stranger's dead body and presented it to me?"

"Your Highness," Damian held the Princess's arms and tried to calm her. "Please."

Amelia stiffened when she saw Damian's expression. The adviser too believed that her brother was dead?

Of course... why wouldn't anyone believe that the King has passed? After all, Daren was the one who brought the news. Daren was one of his brother's most trusted Knights. He will not lie about such matters.

"I have seen the body," Damian whispered. "Although it was unrecognizable, the body built was the same as His Majesty's, and the coroner had agreed."

"I," she bit her lips, trying very hard to hold her tears from streaming down her cheek. She pulled her arms away from Damian and flee from the hall.

...

Asher closed his eyes and clenched his fist to control his anger. When he saw the people in town were wailing, Asher knew right away that he was just a little bit too late.

Daren and the nobles had tricked the Princess into believing that he was dead before he could send a word to warn her.

"It's just as you suspect," Leo said when he reached to him. "The guards have started to post an announcement that you have passed. The Kingdom is grieving."

"We are too late," Eileen lowered her gaze. "But there's still hope. Let's hope that the Princess has read your letter and refused to believe this hoax."

Doctor Dansey looked up. "I'm sorry. This is all my doing."

Leo glanced towards the old physician in disgust and quickly turned away before he started to do something that he might regret. "What are we going to do now?"

"How far are we from the city?" Asher asked.

"At this pace, we might reach the city tomorrow." Leo cast another spiteful glance towards the old man.

If it wasn't for him, they might reach the city quicker. But the King wanted the physician to travel along with them.

King Asher has gone through a lot to get the old man into his custody and he had no intention of letting the old man out of his sight. But this old man was not able to walk for too long and they ended up taking a break countless times.

"Then we should get going if we want to arrive in time," Asher said and turned around to continue walking.

"Are you going back to the palace once we get back to the city?" Eileen asked as she picked up her pace with the King.

"No. Not yet," he glanced towards her. "The situation has changed. I need to learn what is going on in the palace before I can return."