Cassy pov

Upon questioning the guards, we realised that the driver had entered the throne room, saying that he had to do some inspection. He was rather busy around the seat. Since he was one of the few who was trusted, they didn’t expect anything wrong from him.

“Driver? But why?” I frowned. Why would he want to plant a bomb in there? I couldn’t understand why he would want to hurt any of us. If he wanted to get rid of us, he could have poisoned our drinks in the royal car. Or he could have simply led us to our doom on one of our trips. I couldn’t understand a good reason for him to have anything against us.

“Woah. Now that’s a surprise.” Mom exclaimed.

“Wait…wait. We cannot conclude that it is him yet. I want to be certain a hundred per cent before we do anything. I think we already have learnt a good lesson about jumping to conclusions.” Dad stated, making me gulp.

Yup. It was a hard lesson I had learnt.

“We need to investigate.” Elliot sighed. “Maybe I and dad can look around the place? Perhaps we can take fingerprints and any other proof.” He added, looking in my father’s direction, who nodded and showed that he approved of it.

Sir Harold was lost in deep thought. A frown was constantly on his forehead, while at times he kept tapping his finger on his chin.

“Harold, what is it?” Dad asked, making him let out a deep sigh.

“There is something wrong. Why did he go there in the name of inspection? I don’t think any of you had given out such orders. Not to mention that he was among the people present in the garage area that day. He is someone who would have easy access to everything in there. And yes, I don’t think there is a reason good enough for him to do it unless someone else is making him do it.” He said, making my mouth open in shock.

“You mean …..” my father trailed off, his eyes wide open, flabbergasted.

“Yes.” Came the reply.

“But…….”

“Open your eyes, Richard.” Sir Harold cut him in, addressing him casually. “There isn’t any other possibility. Why else would he do it? And how does he get all of it, the poisoned wine, the bomb…. And the heavens know what else they have up their sleeve.” He stated, still frowning deeply.

My eyes widened, as I realised how true his words were. He was right. It all clicked into place. But the real question was, who was making him do it if he was the one responsible for all of this.

“But our driver had been driving us everywhere since…… forever.” My father asked, bewildered about the situation. “He could have easily hurt us. I just don’t understand why….. this is hard to believe.” He sighed.

“And that is why we won’t confront him until we have done a thorough investigation. I am going to check for fingerprints. I honestly wish that we hadn’t thrown those wine bottles away before looking for fingerprints.” Sir Harold uttered. “So I propose that we start our investigation now. Elliot? Let’s go.” He said, gesturing at Elliot, to follow him.

Even after they left, I kept thinking about it. Every word Elliot’s father had said was true. So the driver is our prime suspect. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering off to the trip to the ski resort. He was the one who drove us. And he had obeyed every order of ours without resistance. Like mom said, it was hard to believe that he might pull such a stunt.

Everything had been going smoothly, without any problems on that trip. He had even helped Elliot give me that surprise, and left us for two days to come back to fetch us on time. Everything was perfect…….until…… the rogues attacked on our way back! My eyes widened. My heart skipped a beat when I remembered that it was him who had suggested taking the route through the woods, saying that it was a shortcut. The flashbacks of that unpleasant ordeal started to flood back. There were about ten to twenty rogues in their wolf forms, baring their yellowed teeth at us, snarling and snapping their jaws. Several of them had tried to break the windows of the car, some had even left scratch marks on the vehicle, which we had to repair later on. Ever since Elliot had convinced me that the rogue attacks were nothing but a mere coincidence, I had let myself forget about that day. And not to mention the sudden rogue attack while we were in the pack. However, now it seems to me that the rogue attacks were somehow linked to this.

“Dad!” I gasped frantically.

“What if the rogue attacks are part of this? What if the rogues who attacked while we were in the pack and on our way back home from the ski resort were sent by the same person? What if there is a lot more hidden than what we see?” I asked hysterically.

Mom and dad gaped at me, their faces showing obvious signs of being completely shocked.

“I mean, it was the driver who suggested that we take the shorter route through the woods. I’m sure this isn’t the first time royals have travelled on that road. Have you ever encountered a rogue attack there? What if he had deliberately led us there because he knew it was an ambush?” I exclaimed. By now, my heart was pounding hysterically.

Mom and dad exchanged wordless glances.

“But who would want to hurt any of us like that?” He asked.

Heaving deep a breath, I slumped into my seat. Now that question was what has left a complete mystery to us.

“There certainly is someone dad. It could be someone who hates us just because of jealousy and wants to witness our downfall. And the other possibility is that there is someone who believes that we haven’t been fair to him or her, and maybe that person wants revenge.” I said.

“Yes. That makes sense to me. Ask dad to try to remember anything he could. Maybe he could have unintentionally hurt someone.” Izzy cheered for me through our link.

“Dad? Is it possible that you have unintentionally hurt someone? You have been king for a long time.” I asked, looking at him.

He frowned as he buried his face in his hands, as he immersed himself in deep thought.

We remained silent for some time when I glanced at mom from time to time. She too seemed to be bewildered by the events. Finally, dad sighed deeply.

“I…I don’t know what to say. I am completely lost here. I honestly cannot think of anyone besides Zander.” He muttered and leaned back in his seat.

“Zander?” I asked.

“Yes. My nephew, I told you about. The one who kidnapped you. But I am sure that he is no more. I mean, I had broken all of his bones and left him to bleed to death. There is no way he could survive.” He replied as he massaged his forehead.

“He is the only one who could be jealous of you, or hate our family, or perhaps believe that we had been unfair to him. But what could he do if he was no more? Even if did live, he would be completely crippled. He wouldn’t be able to do anything.” He said.

I gulped.

Just then the door opened and entered Elliot with his father.Material © .

“We have done a quick investigation, and compared the results we got with the fingerprints of our employees on the database. The driver’s fingerprints were found, along with an unknown fingerprint.” Elliot stated.

“An unknown?” Mom asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Yes. This means someone had granted access to an outsider, without our knowledge. And the proof is pointing fingers at the driver. Now the question is, when did he do that? Guards will always be on standby. He couldn’t have done it without being seen by anyone.” Sir Harold stated.

My father leaned back, sighing.

“Looks like it is time to drill the driver with questions. I can’t believe he would betray me. After all those years of service.” He sighed.

“Looks like we need to do some serious interrogation.” Sir Harold agreed.

“Allow me,” Elliot muttered, narrowing his eyes.

****

NARRATOR

The driver was asked to meet the royal Prince Elliot in the interrogation room. He obeyed at once, not suspecting a thing. He had been among those who the royals trusted blindly because he had always been dutiful. So there were times that they asked for his help while attending to different issues.

The driver sat on the chair beside the desk in the interrogation room, waiting for orders, or for the prince to come.

Elliot watched his actions from the observation room. He saw that he was rather relaxed as he sat slumped on the chair, while he tapped on the desk with his fingers. He didn’t seem to be bothered or tensed.

“Maybe he doesn’t realise that he is in trouble.” He mumbled to himself.

“Either that or he is good at acting.” His father, who was beside him in the observation room muttered in response.

“Well, let’s see what he has got to say.” Elliot stood up and walked through the door that conjoined the two rooms.

“Hey.” He said, as soon as he entered the interrogation room.

“We need your help.” He added.

“Sure your highness, I’m at your service.” He replied, and Elliot felt like rolling his eyes. However, he held back and maintained a straight face.

“As you know we have been having some attacks lately, and all of them are seemed to be aimed at our Queen. Which is something we are very concerned about.” Elliot spoke slowly, carefully studying any changes on his face.

“And we suspect that someone among us is betraying us.” He added, just as carefully.

The driver was trying his best to stay neutral. However, the little gasp of breath that escaped him didn’t go unnoticed by the sharp eyes of the young Prince.

“Do you have any idea who it could be?” He asked.

“Huh? No! I don’t know anything…..Why would I know anything?” He suddenly started to be defensive.

Smirking to himself, Elliot leaned back. “Maybe because we have found your fingerprints beside the seat in the throne room and the wine bottle.” He stated, narrowing his eyes at him.

“What? …… Why? I don’t u…….understand! No! I didn’t ……..do it! It …….wasn’t me! I swear!” He started to stutter, as his eyes looked everywhere except into Elliot’s eyes.

“Hey. Look. We know you have something to do about this. Your fingerprints were found. We just don’t understand why?” He said softly.

“I…I… wouldn’t hurt anyone….” He was now sweating profusely, and continued to wipe away the sweat, with his hand.

“Why? We trusted you.” Elliot gazed deeply into his eyes, and for a split second their eyes made contact and that was enough for the driver to feel completely trapped.

“I…I….” He stammered. He suddenly grabbed the pen and paper on the desk and started to scribble on it. Elliot waited for him to do whatever he was doing. The driver passed the sheet of paper with a few words scribbled on it.

Frowning, Elliot looked at the scribbled words. The creases on his forehead deepened.

It said,

I AM BUGGED.