"The Night of Gold, an event where merchants, nobles, and the rich come to the palace of the king once every year. They would party, and drink and laugh. The finest of wine were used, the palace of the king was filled with exquisite foods from the best of chefs in the kingdom. The greatest of musicians came to play, as well as the jolliest of Jesters.

The palace of the king was one of the most beautiful of palaces, as it was made with the best quality of stone. Designed by one of the best architects: Enzo Massioni. It was considered as the most beautiful palace in the world. With more than 60 acres of land. The trees and gardens were beautiful. As well as a historical building as it was built during the start of the kingdom age after the Illnuin's great unification."

-From the excerpt of Petro Kugle's 'My Travels' (150 F.A.)

----------------------(March 9, 107 F.A.)

A medium-sized carriage with a solid red paint, and a yellow outline painted on both sides with what appears to be branches branching out. The windows of the carriage were covered by a thick fabric that acted as a curtain. Two horses pulled the carriage. It was headed to the entrance of the King's palace. Many more carriages were seen to be going to the palace as well. As the carriage arrived at the entrance, the coach of the carriage stopped the horses. Then the door of the carriage opened wide. The person inside left the carriage.

The person was Marquees Beni Sicilipo. The first son and heir of the House of Sicilipo. The son of Lopez Sicilipo, a noble, popular by the populace due to the social reforms that they have made and issued by the king. The Sicilipo family were loyal to the king. They were also smart, and most of all, their offspring always have a genetic condition which was dwarfism.

Beni Sicilipo, a dwarf with a height of 4'0. His hair was scruffy and had a light brown color. He was wearing a shirt which was covered by a black leather vest, some black pants and brown leather boots. He had a knack for insulting nobles and donating to the poor. He was described by many as an intellectual man, a respectable person, a philanthropist and a man with a way with words.

He stepped out of the carriage and went inside of the Palace. Many people glanced at him with anger. As Beni entered the palace, he was met with an old man with a frizzy mustache and white hair.

"Cockalorum…" Beni said calm and collected.

"Brat…learn some manners once in a while when talking to old men…" The old man said, annoyed.

"I shall only respect those who have benefitted the kingdom and its people. Not nobles whom use their riches for themselves." Beni informed. "And what is the worth of manners when I am talking to halfwit, idiot, chauvinists called nobles who insult me and my family?"

"I have wisdom, you have only knowledge." The old man retorted.

"True, you do have wisdom." Beni agreed. "I just can't see it over your big head."

The old man just grunted in annoyance and left. Beni meanwhile, chuckled. He then went to the stairs. It was a large semi-spiral staircase, with two on the opposite ends going up. He went up to the second floor. He walked through the first hallway to the left, then the second hallway to the right. Then he went straight until he stopped to pause because of the wall that ended the hallway.

A mysterious man in a cloak then snuck up behind him. The cloak blocking the face. Slowly, the person snuck closely. There was then a 4 feet gap between them.

"So, what are you waiting for? My permission? Open the door." Beni said bluntly. The man in the cloak then obliged. The man took a key from his right pocket, put it in the door to the left, directly to Beni's left side.

The door then opened, showing a dusty room with a spiral staircase leading down. The stairs were old, the walls were filled with spiders and webs. Beni then went down the stairs and the cloaked man followed, closing the door behind them. Sometimes the stairs creaked. It was dark, but down below the stairs, light was seen. As Beni reached the bottom, he saw the room. Two other people were there. A man with a scar in his right eye that reaches his nose. He was wearing a cloak that was black. His hair was black and only reached his ears, his hair was kempt. The other was a blond with a scruffy ponytail, he was wearing steel armor. A sword and it's sheath on the right side. He was tall as 5'8.

The two people were Aegan Vuzi and Miguel Tozzano. Aegan (the one in the cloak) was the head minister of the information's department, the logistics department and the Secret Circle. Miguel on the other hand was the General of the 4th Army. Aegan was sitting on a chair while Miguel was standing.

"Dwarf…" Miguel greeted.

"Child killer…" Beni greeted with a smile as he saw Miguel sigh in frustration. He then looked to Aegan. "Fat Bastard…"

"little brat" Aegan greeted.

"Well then, are our greetings done here?" Beni asked. Gaining the nods of both Miguel and Aegan.

"I still don't get why my codename's Child Killer and Pedophile…" Miguel mumbled. Both Aegan and Beni snickered.

"Well, it was a rumor one guy made and turned into a scandal." Aegan informed Miguel. Beni nodded.

"But why did one eve-Wait a minute….arrrghhhh!!" Miguel shouted the last part. Beni and Aegan both laughed.

Miguel sighed and rubbed his forehead. The laughing stopped after a minute.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Where were we again?" Aegan asked.

"That's what I'm asking. You called me here for a reason. Not for a good laugh." Beni replied.

The other man in a cloak cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the three.

"Oh right, I forgot he was here." Beni said with a hint of surprise.

"Oh yeah! You had the letter from king Feryuto!" Aegan chimed in. The guy only nodded and gave them the letter from his cloak. But as he was about to give it to the three, Beni interrupted.

"Can you read it for us dear Sir?" He asked. The guy only nodded then took it to read it.

"Ahem, I, King Feryuto, have called upon the Council of Three, my most loyal of companions, to investigate an occurring problem. In these past weeks, we have gained a total of 23 defeats. Some due to night attacks, ambushes and some to battles. But something was bothering the war cabinet and me, the new tactics we have implemented have been learned of by the enemy. I know of this thanks to one battle in which General Hiroti commanded. He had said that our new tactics were easily defeated. The thing is, it was a complicated one, and they saw a weakness in it and used it. This led me to calling the Council of Three, I ask of you to investigate this breach of special information." The letter stated.

The three that were listening then got serious. Miguel sat down on a nearby chair, Beni just stood there but it was evident that his brain was working.

"So, this is what we know of?" Beni asked.

"Yes, here are the reports." Aegan gave them the battle reports. The two then examined it.

"When did the first defeat happen?" Beni asked.

"Three weeks ago. Just a week after the first battle in Inoue valley." Miguel replied.

"When did the war meeting happen?" Beni asked.

"Just days before the first defeat." Aegan said.

"Who were the generals inside?" Beni asked.

"There were twelve. The high marshals as well as the top commanders and me." Miguel informed.

"The high marshals, did they act weird?"

"Of course not." Miguel said.

"Hmm…if this was something like magic then there would not be any need for spies. Yet, the victory at Inoue valley…If they used magic then they could just evade or use that to defeat our armies. That is a problem…but, the Dhosuss law stated that if there is a great power, there is something that can counter it. So, hypothetically they couldn't because another party may be denying them. From the reports of one Henry, he said that he himself defeated the enemy general. He was it's equal just as the defenders are to the orcs. So, it can possibly be impossible to have a leak of information via magic. So…" Beni stopped.

"Were there any orcs in the vicinity?" Beni asked again.

"No, the security was heavily guarded." Aegan and Miguel said simultaneously.

"Well, gentlemen…I think we have a problem." Beni informed the two as he looked at the table. The person watching them closed in on him.

"Yes…" Both people said. The air grew thick with sorrow.

"…"

"…"

"We forgot the beer." The trio said at the same time. The person watching them was gobsmacked.

"Hey….what was it again?" Aegan said, thinking of something. "Hey Julius! Can you get beer?"

Julius, aka the person with them, nodded. He then left to go up the stairs to get the beer. 'Alcoholics…'

As Julius left, the three then went back to talking.

"Now that he's gone…" Beni started. "We have a traitor in our midst. But that is not the problem, the problem is…who? Who would be the traitor?"

"To think one of the generals was the traitor…" Miguel started. "The question is both whom and why."

"Yes…our generals are loyal to the king, plus what would they gain from it?….but what if…it were one of the nobles' generals." Aegan spoke.

"Nobles…scums." Beni mumbled.

"Amen to that." Aegan and Miguel agreed.

"Now the first question, who?" Beni asked. "Old man Dreyfus is definitely not a suspect. Due to his loyalty to the throne, he would die for the king-"

"Why don't we stop trying to cross out names and just find who is the most suspicious?" Aegan interrupted.

"That sounds just like laziness." Beni replied.

"But it might get the job done!" Aegan cheered.

"We are taking a gamble because of that though. But if Miguel were to agree, then the most suspicious would be the house of Hishell. Since their family is the descendants of king Gregor the Mad. Plus I've been surveilling them, and one of my subordinates reported that they've seen a carriage going north with the silhouette of lady Melissa." Beni informed them. The two were dumbstruck because of it.

"Why? Just why?" Miguel asked curiously as he rubbed his temples.

"Because!" Beni said smugly, proud of his actions.

"What?!" Aegan shouted with anger clearly in his face. "Why didn't you invite me?!?!?!"

Miguel just looked at him with a neutral face.

"Well maybe later…" Beni invited him.

"Thanks" Aegan's angry face turned back to a carefree one.

"Anyways, Her son is here at the party right now. He's a very nervous kid. Probably because he spent his whole life inside their mansion. This is the only time he goes outside their property so if you guys can, you can ask him about his mother." Beni informed them.

"Nope." Aegan announced, scratching his head.

"You Miguel?" Beni asked.

"Nope as well." Said person replied.

"Why?" Beni asked.

"…I don't think people will like me talking to a 16-year old." Miguel said with seriousness. The two just laughed.

"Right, you are a rumored child killer and a pedophile." Aegan emphasized.

"Well, I might ask for an audience with his mother later." Beni said.

"Why? To be his father?" Aegan said, making Miguel sputter and laugh.

"Well if I can, I would…" Beni agreed to Aegan, making Miguel laugh more. "But I don't think I would be her…type."

"True" Aegan agreed as well as Miguel who stopped laughing.

"Back to the topic, next week, we go to their mansion. How does that sound?" Beni asked the two.

"Sure/Yeah." Aegan and Miguel announced. As the conversation ended, Julius came in with four mugs of beer and put the three down on the table.

"Well, now that that's over…" Beni said, grabbing one. "How have you guys been?"

--------------Later

"Nice one!" Miguel chuckled as he downed his 3rd beer. The trio were laughing loudly. As well as being drunk with the exception of Julius and Beni.

"Well! It was a good conversation. We better get going!" Aegan said, drunk. The trio then left the room, going upstairs. Julius just stayed there, sitting down. He sighed. Pulling out a broom, he stood up.

"I've been waiting for this." He said to himself with a maniacal grin. He then cleaned the place.

Meanwhile, as the trio left the palace, Beni was walking towards his carriage when he bumped into a blond person. Beni knew the guy he bumped into. It was Cid Hishell. He was 5'8 tall, he had straight hair that went towards the neck but was tied up into a ponytail. He was very scrawny for a rich sixteen year old.

"Ah, I beg your pardon for that, I wasn't looking at where I was going." Cid said, nervously smiling and chuckling.

"Ah, you don't need to apologize." Beni said to him. "Say, if I must ask, where was your mother at the party?"

"Mother? Mother's back at home, she was very busy, I don't know why but I think she's also paranoid because she won't answer my questions." Cid replied, scratching his hair.

"Oh, I get it, she is paranoid. Oh well, it can not be helped." Beni said, making his way towards his carriage. As he went inside, he waved goodbye to Cid. The carriage then left leaving Cid to look at it as it left the horizon. His nervous face then became into a blank one.