Chapter 14

Francis stayed put, while he looked at everyone who were still thinking. "It looks as if there is no end to this, but we can't take this issue lightly." More disappointment was seen in Francis' face as the others lowered their head to avoid facing their king.

Tiara looked at her surroundings and followed it with a sigh. "My king, I have one suggestion that may help us out." Everyone started to give her their full attention and Francis started to become impatient. "Go on." There were some people whispering beside Tiara and Ruddy. However, nobody knew exactly what they said except the fact that they targeted Tiara.

Tiara stood up and then she bowed down to Francis. "Please forgive my rudeness; my plan will offend the deceased family." Francis became curious as was seen through his eyes. "I need all the medical reports about Duke Peter and his maid's death." She then took a deep breath. "I need your authority to let me investigate Duke Peter's house."

Kevin used his hands to hit the table. "This is madness." Everyone in the room was shocked. "Your majesty, this disrespectful behaviour not only breaks our etiquette but Peter's household will make us, and you, my lord, their enemy." The people in the room started to fuss about it. Everyone who sided with him started to get angry at Tiara.

"We will miss the clues." The fuss of the people who were against her arose after she made that statement. Kevin started to smirk. "Now, you are questioning a man's work?" The people agreed to his provocations. She directly looked at Francis. "My king, I am just stating that we lack evidence."

Kevin blurted a short laugh. "Don't you see why women can't join us? It is because they don't understand how men work." He continued to laugh and this time it was followed by the laughter of the other dukes and duchess. Tiara got a hard time with her suggestion while Ruddy just sat quietly with his eyes closed.

"My king, give me a chance, maybe we can track down this murderer faster." She tried to convince him but Francis did not show any reaction towards her. "I think you still don't understand. "Lady, my advice is that you better just stick to doing your own job." She was mocked by Duke Kevin. Tiara kept quiet after getting laughed at by them yet again. Tiara took in all of their mockery and ignored them.

Kevin faced King Francis. "Your majesty, the suspect must be that thief." After that, he looked at Tiara. "This thief frequently stole treasures from the nobles and people called this thief Robin Hood." He continued. Francis stroked his own beard. "You mean like the Robin Hood who steals to help poor people like in the story?" "Indeed, your majesty." Kevin nodded his head.

"How did you confirm that it was a thief?" Ruddy suddenly spoke. Francis looked at Ruddy when he spoke and then he turned his head back to face Kevin expecting answers. Kevin looked confused. "Why are you even asking that question? They were the only ones who dare commit these crimes against the nobles." He received somewhat of a silent solidarity from his surrounding as people looked at him with convincing eyes.

Ruddy placed his hands on the table and stared down at it. A few moments later, he started to grin. All of the people were confused after looking at Ruddy. "I think you're not well informed." Kevin's face changed. "What do you mean?" He felt that he was being insulted.

"Well, maybe it's true but you missed a point there. "Why did they suddenly change their motives from stealing to killing? And even if they wanted to kill, why did they not commit thievery at the same time?" The court became silent. Ruddy's words were true. There was no mention of thievery inside of the reports. These strangers were the thieves and they had not committed any murder before. This was the first time a thief committed murder as well.

Almost a month ago, thievery occurred and the victims were among the nobles. Some eyewitnesses said they worked in a group. They also saw that one of them was a beast folk. They were very clever; as they took the most valuable treasure and sold it to the black market. These cases can't be solved in a trivial manner.

Their job became infamous as word had spread among the citizens that they stole to help people in the slum. They were hated by the nobles but loved by the people and gained support from them. The people called them Robin Hood just like the fairy tale story that was told to children.

"My suggestion is that we need to revaluate this case." Ruddy opened up his idea. Kevin looked at Ruddy. "Maybe we should catch those thieves without wasting any more time." Kevin tried to object that idea. Ruddy responded to Kevin's stare by staring back. "Merely presenting ideas verbally without much thought will be the cause of our downfall. We will have to make strategic preparations before it's too late and another one of us gets murdered."

Even the king could not finalise his verdict. The others fought their argument in an attempt to persuade the king regarding their ideas that they thought would be useful. Some papers started to fly across the room. Because of their curiosity and impatience, the court became out of control but only Ruddy and Tiara have kept their calm and remained seated watching all of this terror.

Tiara glimpsed at Ruddy, as she had a strange feeling about him. Never once did he stand up for her and this is the first time, had he supported her. She wondered if he did it sincerely or perhaps there was something behind this." I need to keep an eye on him and remain vigilant."

Briggard walked closer towards Francis, while he whispered something to Francis. Nobody knew what Briggard told Francis but Francis kept nodding his head to either show understanding or merely to show his agreement to the chancellor's ideas.

"Silence!" Said Francis as he slammed his hands on the table. He then stared at everyone to ensure they were calm while he waited for the right time to speak. A few minutes later, he said "I have given these ideas some thought, and there are two options which I will combine." Everybody tried to make sense of Francis' words by discussing with each other.

Kevin stood up. "Your majesty, I apologize for not understanding your words. I hope some explanation will help us to know what you really mean." Francis made a single firm half nod to show he understood the question.

"I agree with both opinions and we will use both of it." Francis explained. "Your majesty, please accept my apology as I would like to disagree with this decision of yours." Kevin voiced his disagreement. "This is an order, not negotiable." Francis raised his voice which then echoed in the court room. "But, your majesty…." Francis directly pointed his fingers at Kevin in an attempt to cut short Kevin's' words. "If you stand in my way, your status will be revoked."

Francis stood up, as he seemingly wanted to end the meeting. Before he left, he stared at both Tiara and Ruddy. "One week, and if we lose our men you know the consequences." Both Ruddy and Tiara knelt down without saying a word. After that, the door of the court opened and Francis stepped out to leave all of them.

They all talked to each other in the hallway. Ruddy looked at Tiara walking in front of him. 'I need to talk to her.' He tried to figure out how to start the conversation. While he practiced and walked towards her, he suddenly hit something and fell on the floor. He looked up to see what it was. He was surprised that there wasn't anything but only Kevin in front of him.

Ruddy grunted after the fell. He knew that Kevin intentionally made him fall but he could not do anything at this point. Kevin took a few steps closer towards Ruddy. Kevin stopped right in front of him with his shining silver cane almost hitting Ruddy's face. The head of the cane was embedded with diamonds and resembled a growling wolf.

After that, Kevin faced down to Ruddy and gave him an evil smile. "You know the consequences." He arrogantly left Ruddy behind. Tiara saw what happened. Both Tiara and Kevin gave him the death stare when he walked pass them. He fixed his coat and somehow, he smirked.

Ruddy took a deep breath after that accident. A shadow suddenly covered his body. He looked up; and it was Tiara who tried to help him by extending her hand. He took her hand, stood up and dusted off his coat from any dirt. She silently left him without accepting his word of thanks.

"Wait!" He tried to catch up to her pace. Unfortunately, she ignored him as she kept walking. Several times he tried to stop her but failed. At some point, he finally gave up. He stopped chasing her. He stood there with a disappointed face.

"I need your help, Tiara." His voice echoed through the hall but only both of them were there. She stopped but she just stood still without turning her face as if she was waiting for something. Ruddy made another sigh as he understood what she actually wanted.

"Please." He felt relieved because she finally turned around and walked towards him. "How can I help you, Duke Ruddy?" With such politeness, she gave him a sweet smile. Sadly for Ruddy, he felt humiliated as he felt that he had to beg for help given his status as a noble. Nevertheless, he did not want to stir the pot. So, he just kept his composure.

Somewhere in the corner, Ruddy looked at his surrounding to make sure that they were alone. Tiara felt strange but she also followed suit. After that, he leaned a little towards her. "You were right." He took out a letter, the very same letter that she received and showed it to her.

"That's all?" She felt unsatisfied but she proceeded to read the contents of the letter. After she finished, he gave her another letter which looked the same as the first one. "You got two?" She responded. "Read it first." He forced her. Her face suddenly changed to show much interest after she read the second letter.

"Thank you for sharing it with me." She said while she returned the letters. She stood up. "Have a good day, Duke Ruddy." She tried to leave him. He was shocked. "I thought we're a team?" Upon hearing that, she took a turn and faced him. " Peace." She extended a handshake as a sign of agreement.

He stared at her hand for a while and then looked back at her face. "Fine." He grabbed Tiara's hand. "You made a good choice." Tiara shook his hand happily.