Chapter 576 - Five Hindred And Seventy-six: A Lighter Sentence
"Would you believe me, your loyal lord who stood by you for years and fought alongside during the invaders or a kid still in diapers, your royal highness?! "
That question carried a lot of weight and everyone turned in the direction of the queen to know what her decision would be. Most of them believed Lord Albert, however, something must have happened for the kid to come up with such an allegation. Hence, it was suspicious.
To their surprise, the queen didn't reply, rather turned to her son, Prince Kai, asking, "What is the result? What did you find?"
At once, everyone returned their gaze on Judy recalling he was with the evidence.
Judy looked down on the phone and then at the audience before he shook his head sadly, "There's nothing here,"
"What?!" The kids shouted from shock.
There was a great uproar from the crowd. Even the queen was struck dumb. Above all, the kids were the most confused.
"How is that possible!"
"No way!"
"It can't be possible!"
"Are you sure you checked well?" Reina stood up this time. If this was wrong, then her children were in deep trouble.
"Gone over twenty contacts and their chats to the time even before the kids arrived here, there's nothing close to treason or even a hint of it, "Judy disclosed.
No one dared to doubt him, not even Reina. Judy was the prince and the victim of this treason, there was no reason he would lie about such a huge matter unless he was courting death.
"How is that possible?" Ailee turned to Neon at once, "Wasn't it supposed to be in his phone?"
"You said you saw it," Allen began to doubt him, "Are you sure you even knew what you saw?"
Neon bit on his lips, feeling overwhelmed and confused. He was sure of what he saw but with the number of stares boring into him, he was beginning to doubt even his own reality.
"I don't know," He shook his head, unsure.
"God," Allen groaned, palming his face, "We trusted you blindly and you led us into deep shit?"
"Neon doesn't lie, something must be wrong," Ailee felt it strongly. She wondered, what would her sister, Isabella do in this situation? She would probably think of all the possible loopholes they missed.
What had they missed? What had they missed in a haste to solve this matter?
Neon was sure he had seen the chat about treason and she trusted Neon was speaking the truth. The only person she didn't trust was Lord Albert and...
At once, Ailee turned to Lord Albert as something clicked in her head, "You knew Neon had seen the chat and the fact this situation might arise, hence you tampered with the chat!"
The uproar in the crowd increased, but this time their opinion was against the kids. Since the evidence was ruled out, they all believed the kids were at fault. However, so-called kids still didn't realize their mistake? How outrageous!
"Your highness!" Lord Albert called the queen's attention at once, "Not only have the kids accused me wrongly, they still go ahead to slender my name? What have I done to deserve this, my queen?"
"But your highness - " Ailee still pressed.
"That's enough!" The queen silenced her even before Reina could make a move to stop her.
Queen Roselle stood up, her eyes traveling across the room and meeting everyone's gaze. They all held their breath, knowing she was about to pass judgment. Even the kids didn't dare make a move - as reckless as they were, they knew this was a critical moment.
"This dinner is over. I want the parents of the kids in my office right now!" The queen said and strode away without looking back.
Niklaus and Reina stared at each other, and they sighed. They knew this would happen if the evidence was invalid.
"I'll speak to her," Judy offered to go first knowing he would be able to calm her down. With the state of anger his mother was in, he was sure she would make a?reckless judgment.
But Niklaus shook his head, "No, that would depict cowardice and inability to live up to expectation and that would anger the queen more. Moreover, it's our fault as parents for failing to train our kids well," He tapped his shoulder, "It's our burden as their parents,"
"Fine, if you say so. However, I'll be there to help,"
"Thank you," Reina was touched by his kind gestures.
"You should have known your place and stayed there," Lord Albert said to the kids - to Neon in particular - when no one was looking.
Allen frowned, realization dawned on him, "Neon was right?"
Lord Albert chuckled and then squatted down in front of the kids who were giving him a defiant look. To others, he looked like he was giving the kids a word of advice, but the kids knew otherwise.
He tried to pat Neon's cheeks but Ailee stood in front of him defensively, glaring at him.
"You kids are smart enough to know you shouldn't involve yourself in this matter," He spoke with a kind smile - what a huge pretender.
"You are not going to get away with this!"Allen promised him.
However, the man wasn't bothered by their ordinary words, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,"
"What?" they were all confused.
"Things wouldn't have come to this if the queen hadn't triggered an action and now, this is the expected reaction. You can tell her the truth all you want but thanks to you two, there would be no waiting anymore,"
"No waiting?" Allen had a bad premonition about that statement.
Albert threw closer, saying, "If I were you, I'll leave right away with your parents because there will be a bloodbath in Lincolnshire soon," and with that, Lord Albert structured away with his hands behind his back.
As if on cue, their parents appeared and their gaze fell at once - they were embarrassed. Not only had they disgraced and disappointed their parents, but they also put them in trouble as well.
"Mom, we didn't mean....." Ailee was just about to explain when she quieted her by raising her hand.
"Wait for us, we'll be back," Niklaus said this time and they knew they would surely get it from him this time. They were toasted.
"We are in big trouble, aren't we?" Neon could sense it.
Allen shook his head with a look of disdain in Neon's way and left.
"Don't mind him," Ailee said to Neon when she saw his heart sink, "He's just frustrated that the plan failed -"
"And the fact the both of you will be punished because of me,"
"Yeah, sort," She nodded, yet added, "But it's not because of you. We knew the risk of carrying out this operation and yet we went ahead as a team. So, it's not your fault, Neon,"
He smiled.
Meanwhile.....
Niklaus and Reina made their way into the queen's office. She had not changed out of her clothes and looked more stern than she had been earlier - maybe it wouldn't have been a bad idea if Judy had come in before them.
"Can you explain to me what the hell happened tonight?!" The queen roared, finally letting out the anger she had been holding in.
Niklaus and Reina didn't say anything, rather they hung their heads low in shame, refusing to meet their gaze.
"They insulted me in front of my guests and lords!. Do you know how shameful that was?!"
"I'm sorry about your highness, but I can assure you they never meant to disgrace you,"
The queen scoffed, "They never meant to disgrace me?"
"Our kids can be naughty at times but I can assure you they didn't intentionally sabotage the bouquet," Reina said.
"What are you trying to say? That their accusation was right? You heard my son, there was no evidence of treason!"
"Doesn't it seem strange? That a kid suddenly accuses a lord of treason?" Niklaus pointed out, "It seems suspicious to me,"
"So you are claiming what your kid did was right?"
"Mother?" Judy interfered this time, "Lord Albert does seem suspicious,"
The queen faced her son, "Lord Albert is the reason why this throne you would occupy soon is possible, and yet you accuse him of treason? If he desired the throne as you all accuse him, why didn't he snatch it from the very start?"
"Because he now has a reason to," Reina blurted out.
"What?"
"Human beings react only when they are pushed to the extreme. I heard about his daughter Fiona and I have come to this realization that this might be an act of vengeance," Reina explained.
"So in one word, you think I'm dumb enough not to realize when my subjects are plotting against me?" the queen was offended by her words.
"Of course not, my queen," Reina was quick to say.
"Mother, she's just pointing out the chances -"
"And protecting her children who accused a lord of treason, a crime punishable by death. Do you know the gravity of what your children almost did? Had Lord Albert been persecuted carelessly, I would have destabilized my rule?!"
"Mother-" Judy attempted to plead for their sake, but she cut him off.
"Your children committed a big offense, accusing a lord of treason wrongly - that's punishable by death here,"
Reina almost collapsed at the news.
"However, I've taken into account your kindness and help towards my son Kai when I was unable and the fact we are about to be in-laws. Hence, I've come up with a much lighter sentence for the kids,"
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