That evening
After the royal family finished their dinner, the research results came for the gifts they received.
The tea from the three people, Ellie, Minister Hans, and General Lester all had the same effect; nourishing one’s health. The vitamins were also normal. However, when combined, Ellie’s and General Lesters’ gifts had mild brainwashing effect which may cause the body to become uncontrollable at times.
Ellie’s gift was of course, prepared by the enemy. However, General Lester’s gift made the king feel. Little depressed. To think that his longtime friend may have possibly been poached by the enemy already…
“Maybe there was a mix up?” Kazuki asked, even though he doubt it.
All three gifts had different packaging so there was no way that they could be mixed up, unless the gifts ta were sent at the same time were mixed up before they reached the receivers.
“Let’s ask the both of them then.” The king spoke up as he took out his phone to call General Lester.
“Lester. I need to ask you some questions.” The king spoke after the call was answered.
“Sure.” General Lester replied casually.
“Where did you get the tea from? The one in the light green packaging that i just received today.” The king got straight to the point.
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“Light green packaging? The one I gave you was in a black tin box though. There are only tea leaves inside the box too. There shouldn’t be any light green packaging.” General Lester replied, feeling a little confused. Did he send the wrong box?
The black tin box that was mentioned was also in the gifts. However, it was one of the gifts from Minister Hans, not General Lester. Did this mean that there was really a mix up?
“Anyways, where did you get the tea from?” The king asked, testing his friend.
“I mentioned that I went to the northern region recently, right? I got it as a souvenir for you from there.” General Lester replied honestly.
“I see. Thanks, I really liked it.” The king replied.
“That’s great then.”
After that, the king hung up and proceeded to call Minister Hans next.
“Minister Hans, good evening. I’d like to ask you some questions.” The king said after MInister Hans answered the phone.
“Good evening, your majesty. What do you need to ask me?” Minister Hans answered.
“I heard from my son that you’ve gifted him some gifts. You’ve never done this before so I’d like to know what’s the occasion.” The king asked.
“This humble servant of yours just felt like he should gift some gifts to the royal family as he had heard news about the upcoming birth of the little prince.” Minister Hans replied respectfully, guilt creeping in his heart.
“I see. Also, there’s been some mixed up between the gifts we have received so I would like to know which gift was yours. As you know, it seems like it is now a trend to give out teas and vitamins together.” The king said sarcastically. In truth, it was the first time he had heard of such a trend but since that was what Minister Hans wrote in the note, he was going to go along with the story.
When Minister Hans heard this, he thought, ‘It was actually a real trend?’
“In the paper bag that I had ordered to be sent to the first prince, there should be a black tin box with some tea leaves inside and a small box filled with vitamins.” Minister Hans answered politely.
“It seems like there are many tea boxes that are black. May I ask where you’ve purchased the tea from? It should help differentiate the boxes.” The king asked.
“I specially asked my people to import it from the northern region as I have heard that the tea grown there were well known for nourishing one’s health.” Minister Hans answered normally, even though he was now sweating from fear.
‘What if my lie had been discovered by the royal family? No, that’s impossible. The young lady had told me what kind of tea General Lester had bought for the king so there shouldn’t be any mistake. I had even personally put a note inside the bag from General Lester to make it seem like it was me who sent the gifts. I also know that there’s no way the maids had messed up since they were sent by the young lady herself.’ Minister Hans tried to calm his nerves down.