<Royal Palace, the capital city, Livstad>
Currently, the royal family was having dinner together with their beloved guest Lady Karenina from Hauntingen. She had stayed in the capital for several months now and the queen was very fond of her. So, she was often invited to dinner at the royal palace.
"How is Uncle Joseph by the way?" Nicholas asked his mother. His words caught the queen who looked shocked at her son's sudden question.
"Um, pardon me, your grace, but who is Uncle Joseph?" Karenina batted her eyelashes innocently. She thought the name must be someone important to the family, seeing the queen's reaction.
Queen Marianne swallowed for a moment and then tried to scold her son. "Nicholas, you mustn't bring up people that our guest doesn't know. It's important that you don't ostracize a person during a conversation by choosing a topic she's not familiar with."
"Oh, it's not a problem, Your Majesty," Karenina smiled at the queen as she cut some of her steak and ate. She didn't actually mind just listening to Nicholas talk while she ate well in the royal palace.
The daughter of the viscount hadn't been able to taste such succulent and delicious food even at her own house. More importantly, she could just stare at Nicholas and be happy because the prince was so handsome.
"Ah, so you also don't remember what happened?" King William asked. He raised a brow and said, "Do you remember that you always went there when you were a child?"
"I can… and I faintly recall being happy when I was there," Nicholas cleared his throat but then looked at his father's way. "But I can't remember the exact reason why."
Queen Marianne was a bit fainthearted and knew that Nicholas came to her uncle to hide his lycanthropy from his father. She really didn't have the heart to tell him but she was only sad that he remembered the man.
"He is your favorite uncle," Queen Marianne said softly.
Lord Joseph Ferdinand was the original owner of the Wolfstone Castle in Hastings and was one of the few people that Nicholas managed to remember in his childhood. There were clear incidents that he couldn't remember like being kidnapped and the queen insisted that it wasn't brought up.
"Yes, how is he, by the way?" Nicholas smiled a little. "We came all the way from Hauntingen but didn't even drop by there at all. I'm actually surprised and hoping that the old man can come to visit me on my birthday this year."
"He is dead, Nicholas." King William frowned.
"Your Majesty!" Queen Marianne looked at her husband aghast and then turned to Nicholas to see that his smile was frozen on his face. Her son looked like he was traumatized and that worried the queen greatly.
"Fine, your beloved uncle has passed away with one of your third cousins, I think." King William shrugged and ate his meal. "You were still in Hauntingen when that happened and your mother insisted that we do not bring it up."
"I know that you are fond of your uncle and he was of you," Queen Marianne explained. "I had hoped that you would figure it out when you are all better, my son. You were still in recovery back then so I didn't want to aggravate you."
Nicholas' expression became cold and icy.
His smile disappeared and he felt his heart stop at the realization that the faint memories he had with his Uncle Joseph in Hastings would now only remain as memories now that the man was gone.
However, based on how Nicholas' father had spoken, the crown prince could tell that it was not simply the old baron passing away in his castle, especially because they talked about one of his cousins.
"What happened?" he asked.
"An unfortunate carriage accident," Queen Marianne said.
King William snorted as he ate his steak and chewed. He looked at his wife and shook his head because she refused to trust anything that he said.
"Do you actually believe that? A simple carriage accident took out both Lord Ferdinand and a young man plus the carriage driver and guards accompanying them? Did the earth swallow them whole?"
"Then you think it is foul play, father?" Nicholas suddenly asked and leaned towards his father with a frown. There was a look in his amber eyes that glinted with hot anger and furiousness. "Is it rivals of my uncle or assassins sent to dispose of him? Are you conducting investigations?"
King William Hannenbergh looked at his son and, for once in his life, actually liked seeing that the young man seemed finally fired up by the death of his uncle. In the past, Nicholas was always happy-go-lucky or rather chose to waste his days in Hastings.
It frustrated the king to no end. Now, King William [a1] could see that the crown prince perhaps had the strength to actually become king and took the mantle after him.
Now that the young man was no longer soft after forgetting that he was kidnapped by lycans before, it was time for Nicholas to step up.
"Would you want to help lead the investigation?" King William asked his son.
Queen Marianne shook her head rapidly and refused to bring her son into a wild goose chase just to please her husband.
She frowned and looked at Nicholas. "The evidence is scarce and close to nonexistent. It would probably be a waste of your time perhaps…"
"No!" Nicholas slammed his hands on the table with a frown of his own and glowered at his mother. "Whoever dared attack my uncle knows fully well that he is related to you and thus the royal family."
"And so…?" King William asked.
Nicholas frowned. "If there are actual people involved in my uncle and cousin's death then it is only right for the royal family to investigate this matter. We cannot let these people think that we will let this thing slip by without repercussions."
"Good."
.
.
___________________
From Missrealitybites:
Since the names are quite similar between Katarina (the viscount's daughter who saved Nicholas) and Katherine (Sophie's tutor), I decided to change Katarina's name into "Karenina" to avoid confusion.
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