Chapter five

My only lead is dead! I noticed a strange line on his neck; it seemed he was strangled to death. How could this happen? This only means one thing: we have a traitor in our midst. I don't even know who to trust anymore. I left for the palace immediately; our only hope was gone!!!

When I arrived, I met my father in the throne room and explained everything that had happened. He was really surprised and told me that the enemy isn't an easy one, that I shouldn't be discouraged and must find the other one who ran away.

I left his room to take a bath and relax for a while. After few minutes, I dozed off but jolted up when I suddenly heard my name by the window. I opened it and was surprised to see Stellar wearing a maid's dress. Her voice brought me back to life. She said, "Are you going to continue staring at me like that?" I shifted back from the window, and she flew in.

I told her everything that had happened, and her jaw dropped. She hugged me tightly and said everything would be fine. She mentioned that she might have found a lead on how the poisoned fruit passed through security undetected. She heard some maids gossiping about a maid in charge of fruits who had been acting weird recently and was missing since the day the king was poisoned. "We just need to find her."

We chatted for a while before she left. I went outside for a quick evening stroll, but my head was filled with different questions. My head started aching, so I retired to bed early.

I woke up early feeling relieved and went to my father's room, where I saw him preparing for a meeting. He told me to prepare and join him in the throne room. I quickly prepared and followed him there. All the officials were already waiting for us. They bowed as we walked in, and I locked eyes with the general.

The meeting began, and suddenly the royal chief guard walked in with a woman. The guard said this woman was the maid who brought the poisoned fruit into the palace and had something to say. The woman started crying and begging to be pardoned, saying the prince forced her to do it. I couldn't believe my ears; I hadn't seen this woman in my life. "This is nonsense!" my father thundered from the throne, his voice echoing down the hallway.

The royal chief guard signaled, and three other guards walked in with a wounded guard. The guard said they found a letter with him, and it was sent from the prince, instructing the guard to kill the suspect in the investigation room. "Anyone could have written the letter and framed me!" I shouted.

The royal chief guard brought out the letter, and lo, my personal stamp was on it. "Whoever tries to harm the king must be punished," the law upholder said while staring at me. "You can't go soft on him, my highness, because he is your son," the general added.

I was arrested and taken to the cell; I still can't understand why and who is doing this to me. Later that night, a masked creature knocked out all the guards and came to release me from the cell. We ran into the bush, and I stopped running, asking who this was and why they were saving me. The creature removed the mask, and I realized it was Stellar who came to save me.

Suddenly, we were surrounded by weird-looking creatures, about 10 in number. We started fighting but were overpowered. I felt energy surge through my body, sending the creatures away in different directions, then I fell unconscious.

When I woke up, it was already morning. I was surprised to find that I wasn't in the forest. Instead, I saw Stellar sleeping peacefully beside me. I woke her up and asked her what had happened the previous night and where we were. But before Stellar could respond, I was surprised to see my dad's personal guard walk in. He bowed to extend his formalities. I started asking him questions: "Where are we? Will the guards find us here?" But he told me to calm down and look around. I stood up, went outside, and then realized we were in an abandoned crib deep in the forest.

When I discovered we were in an abandoned crib in a forest, I was kind of relieved yet curious about which forest we were in. I asked him which forest we were in, but he said, "Eat first, then ask questions later, my prince." He urged me to stay, but I insisted on helping Stellar. Stellar and I went to gather dry wood while he prepared other things. We quickly returned from gathering wood and began cooking. Though I wasn't used to it, I helped them in every way I could. As soon as we finished cooking, my dad's personal guard hurriedly left without eating.

After he left, Stellar and I started eating. After we finished eating, we took a little rest before she left. I didn't plan to waste this precious time doing nothing, so I started practicing some fighting techniques since there were many effective targets available. When I went inside, I saw what seemed like a handle, so I pulled it, and behold, it was an underground basement filled with weapons! The room was brimming with electricity, and there were many weapons, like freeze rays, sound amplifiers, and many more. I took one freeze ray and two cromite swords, then went up and closed the underground basement, and began my self-imposed training outside the crib.

During training, the head farmer and a creature were coming in my direction. I was on my guard, but the head farmer told me they weren't there to harm me. Instead, they were there to reveal the truth about the perpetrator behind the poisoning of the king.