Damon was in charge of leading the investigation the next morning. But with one look at him, anyone could tell that something was wrong with him. He wasn't his usual stoic self, who was always angry. During this period, it seemed like his ego had taken several hits, and now he looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than in this place.
Harold was also in the meeting, but he didn't involve himself in anything that happened there. He let the others handle it because he trusted that Alicia didn't have a hand in it so they were going to draw out the culprit somehow.
"We received information that just before the banquet night, the queen left the palace alone with a guard," Damon informed the others, his voice no longer as loud as it used to be.
Before he could continue, the door to the assembly room creaked open, and he fell silent, his eyes going to the door, the same as all the others, as they all felt a certain, unexplainable chill similar to what they had experienced yesterday. Some of them had heard the rumours about who was causing it, so they kept their gaze on the door.
The door swung wide, revealing the figure of none other than Prince Harold's wife, Princess Amber, standing tall in the doorway. Those who didn't see her or hear the rumours were confused by this strange person standing there, but a close look at her face and her smell told them who it was.
She was dressed in a manner that was unfamiliar to the noblemen: a black man's tunic, black breeches, and black boots. Her hair was cut short, and her face was painted with black eyeliner that accentuated her piercing eyes and black lipstick.
As she stepped into the room, a chill ran down the spines of the noblemen. Some of them shifted nervously where they stood.
They knew that she was not supposed to be there, for women were forbidden from participating in the assembly unless they were being questioned. And yet, there she was, standing in their presence, her eyes blazing with determination.
For some of the noblemen, the fear was even greater, for they had agreed to execute Alicia just a few days prior. They weren't sure what they had been thinking then by following the Queen's lead, and since then, it had been difficult for them to sleep with both their eyes closed and eat without getting suspicious that they were being poisoned.
They knew that they were at the mercy of Prince Harold, whom they feared would be wrathful should they harm a hair on his wife's head. And looking at her now, it seemed Prince Harold wasn't the only one to be feared.
They didn't believe a mere human could exude this much scariness. She had to be a witch. But who were they to judge now?
As Alicia stepped into the room, the assembly of noblemen fell silent. All eyes were on her as she made her way to the front of the room, her eyes never leaving the faces of the men gathered there. She refused to be intimidated. She stood tall, her chin held high, as she spoke.
"I am aware that my presence here is not in accordance with the usual protocols of the assembly. However, this matter concerns me deeply. Therefore, I deem it necessary to be present here." She turned to look at Damon as she said, "After all... I almost died because of it."
The noblemen's eyes kept flicking back and forth between Prince Harold and Alicia. No one dared say a word about it, especially after the last thing she said. Yes, they had all watched when she almost died. They also knew that should they offend her, they would be offending the prince himself. They could not even raise an issue about the way she was dressed because, as much as they wanted to call her out on it, some of them were fascinated.
Meanwhile, Harold acted like he could not sense their unease and discomfort at her joining them. He was just staring at her as though she was the only thing in the room, much to their annoyance.
Seeing she had passed her message, Alicia stepped back and stood beside Harold, her eyes scanning the room one final time. She could see the displeasure in the faces of many of the noblemen. However, they could only keep their words to themselves.
When her gaze fell on Harvey, who was staring at her, the words "LOVE HARVEY" echoed in her head.
Amber had written that.
Her trail of thoughts was however broken when Damon spoke up loudly, "WE WILL CONTINUE THE ASSEMBLY!"
Many unpleasant looks went his way. It was obvious that, at this point, he had lost favour with the rest of the noblemen.
However, Damon's skin was already thickening, and he pretended not to notice.
"As earlier mentioned, we received information that just before the banquet night, the queen left the palace alone with her guard." He repeated.
"The guard will now be brought in for questioning in place of the queen, as is the custom of the Moon Kingdom." As he announced, the door opened, revealing Damian with his hands tied in front of him. His face was rigid, and the air around him was cold as usual as he strode inside the hall.
Beside him were two other guards leading him inside.
Damian was placed in the middle, and the two guards returned, closing the door behind them.
"You are standing here before the royal court in place of the queen. Therefore, you will present yourself to the house to be known." Damon said.
Alicia was kind of disappointed. She would have loved to see the queen standing there instead, just like they have done to her.
Even if it were her last breath, she was going to make sure the status quo would be broken and the queen put in that position.
"You may now introduce yourself to the assembly before the questioning." Damon gestured at Damian, who gritted his teeth, trying to hide his annoyance as he said, "I am Damian. The loyal guard of the queen."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-five."
Twenty-five? Alicia reasoned. So he was seven years older than Tyra and even older than all the other young people within the palace? Since it was difficult to tell their ages by their looks, she had always assumed he was the same age as the others but only a little more mature because he was a bodyguard.
"How long have you been in the palace?"
"I have been in the palace for 12 years."
"Have you been serving the queen for that long?"
"I'm sure everything you are interested in knowing is in the book you're holding. Why don't you just read it out of there?" Damian said in an annoyed tone that made most of the noblemen frown in irritation at his disrespectful tone.
"YOU ARE STANDING BEFORE THE ROYAL COURT. YOU WILL SHOW RESPECT!" Sir Richard bellowed. He was still one of the few men who was not intimidated by Harold and Alicia's presence.
Alicia still wasn't sure how she felt about Damian. He just gave off a certain kind of vibe. Even after being scolded by Sir Richard, he still had a rebellious look on his face.
Was this simply because he was blindly loyal to the queen? Or because he had a forbidden relationship with Tyra, the queen's daughter?
"Go on. Read it," Harold said calmly to Damon, who was burning with rage. Now, even mere guards disrespect him.
The book was usually in the royal archives, which were unattainable to anyone other than the King and his Beta. It had the details of everyone in the palace. Of course, he could have just read out Damian's profile, but wasn't Damian here to be questioned?!
He gritted his teeth too and opened the page with Damian's profile, reading out, "Damian." He spat out the name as though cursing him in his head.
"25 years old. An orphaned beggar brought into the palace at the age of 13. After proper training, he was assigned as the personal guard of Prince Harry, the first son of King Eli and Queen Arya. After Prince Harry passed, he was locked in the dungeon for 2 years, and at the age of 16, he swore his life to the queen to pay the debt for not protecting the first Prince." Damon read out.
Hearing his unpleasant profile even made the other noblemen scowl. He wasn't even a thing, yet he dared act rudely toward them.
"Is everything correct?" Damon asked him.
"They are," Damian answered.
"In all the years you have served the queen, do you think she has any reason to kill Beth, hurt Princess Tyra, and also frame Princess Amber for it?" Damon asked him.
"I don't see any reason for that. The queen harbours no such grievances towards either of them. Beth was her loyal maid, just like her mother, who protected the queen with her life. Princess Tyra is her only daughter, and Princess Amber is the bride of Prince Harold."
"Then who did you meet outside the palace before the banquet?"
"We didn't meet anyone."
"You left the palace, didn't you?"
"The queen was tired of being in the palace and needed to breathe fresh air. So we went outside."
Damon looked at him, not sure what he was supposed to do about this. Damian seemed bent on not saying anything regarding their outing. On one hand, he could not stop remembering the encounter he had with the queen, and on the other hand, he could not also stop thinking about what happened after he left the queen's chamber.
He had met Tyra.
And that had not been a pleasant meeting.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦