THE MURDER OF A DUKE
THE MURDER OF A DUKE
"Someone will raise Hell about this in court tomorrow. You don't need to worry about this", he replied to me as he and Orol walked back to their games room.
"Did you go down the Well after you came back?" I asked Xene.
"When I came back, the family already went down the Well. They were looking for us", she replied to me.
"Did they do something with the Terracotta warriors?" I asked her.
"That is the strange thing. They didn't find any Terracottas under the Well. Even the buildings and city of clay were gone. I went there myself to check", Xene told me.
"Teacher must have taken the clay with him when he left his Underworld realm of Shura", I replied to her.
"The Terracottas belong to your Emperor teacher?" Xene asked me.
"Yes, they are his immortal puppets", I replied to her.
"How can one person command an army of puppets?" Xene asked me.
"People don't call him the Emperor for no reason", I replied to her.
After I rescued Emperor Tian, my teacher from a previous life, he rested in my Shangri-la space. He needed time to recuperate from the shock of returning to the mortal world.
"Are we going to enroll in the Knight Templar's Academy? All the brightest scions of the major families will study there", Xene asked me.
"Of course, there is something I have to do there", I told her.
"What is it that you need to do?" she asked me.
"Spiros is there in the Academy?" I asked her.
"Spiros is already at the peak of Saturn tier, and he has the Angel Affinity. Don't mess with him", Xene advised me.
"Nobody bullies the Bully of Starri city. It is bad for the profile if this is not remedied", I reply to her.
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[In the Court of King Laventios of Drachia]
"Your majesty, Minister Kimon must be accountable for the killing of Duke Kiriakos", Prince Fotis of the Demetriodes family pleaded with the king.
"The death of Duke Kiriakos is an accident, Minister Kimon is only doing his duty", Prince Samlee replied to Fotis.
"This is preposterous. Duke Kiriakos committed no crimes, why did Kimon arrest him in the first place?" Prince Antonias of the Hermaios family asked.
"The Duke Kiriakos was spreading malicious gossip and lest-majesty against the Royal family", Minister Kimon accused the dead duke again in court.
"What evidence do you have against Duke Kiriakos that he commited a lest-majesty against who?" I asked Kimon.
"You have no right to question me here, you bastard", Minister Kimon shouted back at me.
"Minister Kimon, you cannot be rude to the Earl of Kaleon. You should answer his question, we who are here will like to hear it too", Prince Markos of the Gamanos family asked Kimon.
Kimon glanced at Prince Samlee to seek his orders before he said to everyone, "I have witnesses".
Then Kimon brought out a servant who worked for the Appolokis family and he served in the residence of the family.
"Tell us what you said to me in your statement?" Minister Kimon asked the servant.
"The duke invited important guests to the house. I heard him telling the guests that Prince Samlee is the murderer of our deceased patriarch", the servant told the court who were stunned by the statement.
"See, you hear it now. Duke Kiriakos is guilty of insulting and defaming the integrity of Prince Samlee. His death is well deserved", Minister Kimon said to the court.
"Well-deserved? Do you mean you killed the Duke of Appolokis?" I asked Kimon which made him angry.
"What if I did kill him, he should be sentenced to death for lest-majesty against Prince Samlee", Minister Kimon replied to me furiously when Samlee gave him a sign to stop his self-incrimination.
"Minister Kimon, did you cause the death of Duke Kiriakos?" King Laventios asked the minister.
"It was an accident. The interrogator was too harsh with his whips", Minister Kimon replied to the king.
"This is an outrage. How dare you torture a Duke of the major families and kill him in your prisons?" Princess Polina of the Diabolese family asked Kimon.
"I am only acting within the laws of Drachia. Duke Kiriakos committed lest-majesty, I can use whatever force that is necessary on him", Kimon replied to us.
"What makes you think that Duke Kiriakos committed lest-majesty?" I asked Kimon.
"I told you bastard already, we have a witness", he replied to me angrily again.
"Now, servant of the Appolokis family. Can you tell us again what really happened in the family residence?" Prince Raslee asked the servant.
The servant looked at the prince but remained silent.
"Are you afraid of being implicated if you tell the truth?" The prince asked him, and he nodded.
Then the King said, "I will pardon all your transgressions if you tell the truth in my court today".
Suddenly, the servant took out an Aur stone and presented it to the court.
"What is this Aur stone for?" Prince Raslee asked him.
"This is the money that Minister Kimon gave to me. He wanted me to say all the bad things about my master. If I didn't accept the money from him and did as he says, he will kill me", the servant confessed to the court.
"Outrageous, lies. You were the one who came to me to report about your master", Minister Kimon shouted at the servant before the whole court were stunned by what transpired.
"So, Duke Kiriakos is innocent, and Minister Kimon is guilty of malicious prosecution and murder of the duke", I said to the court.
"Yay" "Aye"
All the officers and nobles of the king's court determined that Minister Kimon was guilty.
"Minister Kimon must be punished to the full extent of the law", Prince Antonias told the court.
"Bring him away", King Laventios ordered the guards to take Minister Kimon to prison before he said, "Court is adjourned", before he walked out of the court.
The king's sons quickly walked out with their father.