「 Several days earlier 」
As Blake enters the room he sees Ophelia, sitting on the couch with a crimson dress that enhanced her figure. Her breasts popped out, contrasting with the dark attire as she drank some tea, gracefully.
“Glory upon the royal family who guides and provides, Ophelia Criswell, greets the crown prince,” she states right after noticing the entrance of the prince.
‘You should know your place,’ he thought as he purposedly made her wait while bowing. Even then, she looked unbothered, contrary to the majority of the nobles that would begin complaining.
“You may rise,” Blake says as he noticed a slight tremble on her lower half of the body after several minutes pass.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience I am causing, your highness,” even though she was the one that requested an audience with Blake, he could tell she was being extremely cautious with her words, almost as if she was scared of speaking too much.
“I heard the Earl removed the claim against Millicia Swan,” he declares right before seeing the letter that had been written.
'So the main witness now claims to have been mistaken...' Blake notices the letter on the envelope did, indeed, belong to the Earl, 'Do they think this is another stage for their stunts!?'
“Yes your highness, she is innocent,” the prince's eyes connect with Ophelia’s as she finished saying these words. She looked away carefully but the prince could notice her uneasiness rise.
‘So annoying...’ he thought as he saw the fear behind her eyes.
Silence is settled as the prince begins reading the letter carefully. In it, the Earl claimed that the maid was indeed innocent but, due to the pressure created by the guests, she was used as a scapegoat during the party. He also stated that Millicia was a maid that had been working under the Earl's mansion for a short amount of time and thus, she wasn't able to be recognized by him or the rest of his family.
“Do you take the royal law for a fool my lady?” the crown prince was tired of seeing Ophelia with such an expression since it only made him feel conflicted within himself. He throws the letter onto the floor as she tries to justify her claims, “The crown made a verdict stating that Millicia Swan is guilty of the crimes of attempted murder of a noble lady and slander of a Duke; this claim was both supported by Duke Criswell and Earl Hillgarden... Are you accusing the crown of negligence?”
“No your highness,” her voice became lower as she struggled to avoid Blake’s cold stare.
“Then Millicia Swan is guilty of those crimes and the crown made no mistake, I think we are done here,” as he was about to leave the room, Ophelia speaks up.
“Your highness, the fool is the one whose pride is too high to see the truth”, as the prince turns around he sees her light crystal eyes shine with the determination he had seen when he first met her. She had gathered up her courage and spoke high words with high risks.
“Are you, perhaps, calling me a fool?” he was intrigued by this new resolve she had arranged but, even then, he did not enjoy her well-thought insult to the crown. Blake sits back down and Aldrich lets out a small sigh as he felt the environment in the room lighten.
“Your highness, Millicia Swan is innocent and you shouldn’t consider the Duke’s accusation,” her eyes looked sure of her words, almost as if no doubt clouded her mind, almost as if she was willing to bet her own life on her statement.
“And why is that?” Blake had to consider the Duke’s accusation, after all a title equals status and is not only a word in a small piece of paper. It was necessary to have a strong element to remove the Duke’s testimony.
“The Duke was accused of poisoning my tea and my sister attempted to murder me,” as she finishes these words, her small hand brushes her hair off, showing her naked neck as a big crust protected a wound in the middle of healing, “Wouldn’t it be wrong to continue holding his claim into account since I am the victim?”
Aldrich lets out a gasp as his eyes widen with surprise at her sudden movements. He couldn't understand how she could talk about such a serious matter with such a straight face and correct posture.
‘What is going on...?’ as Blake's eyes saw that wound his mind became involved with several different thoughts. He clenches his fists strongly while he tried to find an answer, frustrated.
Looking by the deepness of the cut, it was very likely that Ophelia Criswell would become scarred for life and that may be enough of a reason to stop her engagement with Terrel Wharton since, at the end of the day, he values perfection and beauty above everything else in a woman.
'Did she do it with that in mind...?' he then remembered Lady Catherine's words, stating that the tides of power would shift and that this young girl would be in the center of it all. Even then, he didn't want to believe Ophelia had done it to herself.
Alvin Criswell was well known by the crown for his dirty schemes but, if this girl's words were true, he had reached a new peak on how low one can play.
'He attempted to kill his child?' Blake's mind was twisting and turning as he kept on trying to find an answer.
“I understand, I will personally investigate this matter further,” Blake declares and she portraits a relieved smile on her pink pale lips.
“I’m sure you will be able to bring true justice, your highness, thank you,” she gets up and heads towards the door, saying something to Aldrich before leaving.
“Your highness, are you really going to look personally into this matter?” Aldrich questions him as he started to collect the teacups on the table.
“I gave her my word,” Blake lets out a long sigh as he finally realized how complicated the situation at hand was.
✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽
「 Two days later 」
“Did you bring me the information?” the crown prince questions as he rumbled through some paper sheets in his study room.
“Yes your highness,” Aldrich places a piece of paper filled with names of nobles on the desk, “This is the list of guests that attended Lady Ophelia's gathering.”
As Blake goes through the names he realizes the headache this matter was about to become. The list was extremely long, since a lot of noble families attended, especially the ones with the lowest status. To make matters worse, there were several servants to consider as well since every guest brought at least one with them.
“Are you regretting your decision your highness?” the aide comments as he notices the troubled expression on the crown prince’s face.
“Did you find who were the people closest to the incident?” Blake ignored his remark as his eyes traveled through the list.
“Yes your highness,” Aldrich approaches the desk once again and starts pointing out several names, “Lord Bradley Trace, Duke Criswell, Amanda Criswell, and the three sons of the Wharton’s were the closest to Lady Ophelia at the time according to my source.”
‘I can’t go to the Criswell’s or even to the Wharton’s since their stories will completely contradict themselves,’ the prince knew that Bradley was the only choice that, among all the available resources was unbiased.
“Send a letter to the Trace’s, I will visit them tomorrow,” Blake gets up and looks towards the trees, remembering about Ophelia’s figure as she climbed them, “In the meantime send some guards to question the rest of the guests and their respective servants.”
“That is a lot your highness, are you su-...” as Aldrich was talking he feels a shiver run down his spine and he immediately understood his opinion wasn’t necessary anymore.
'What exactly happened at that party...?' Blake had heard the rumors regarding Ophelia's bravery in drinking the poisoned tea and how lucky she had been in surviving the event but he was now discovering the matters regarding her father's and sister's murder attempt, 'No one told it to the guards...'
The crown prince chuckles as he begins to comprehend that Ophelia's words might have been closer to reality than he thought. If such an event happened at the gathering then it would be quite natural that rumors would spread but everything is silent as if they had been bribed by someone with extensive wealth.
'She is filled with bad luck, isn't she?' he thought about her wonderful fiancé's reputation and now, her family crisis.
"Go into town, I want to know the rumors circulating around, even the ones harder to find," Blake declares just to see one of his personal elite guards, a shadow, run into his errand.
✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽
「 The next day 」
“Your highness, it is an honor to receive you in our humble home,” Duke Trace was waiting by the front gate of his property with his blonde hair and beard. By his side stood his son, Bradley Trace, bowing down respectfully.
“Thank you for accepting my request on such short notice,” Blake smiles politely as he focuses his attention on Bradley. He looked displeased and unattentive as if his mind was wandering on something else.
“You mustn’t your highness, it is our joy to be able to assist you,” the Duke’s endless blabber and flatter were making the crown prince’s patience grow thin, “Shall we head inside then?”
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“Anything you might need your highness, please let me know,” the Duke smiles politely and, as the door is closed, the environment grows heavy.
Bradley Trace looked uninterested in the presence of Blake, in fact, he found it troublesome. He had been so busy obeying his father's orders, he hadn’t been able to find a way to meet with Ophelia and that made him extremely unmotivated. Even after learning everything that happened from his son, the Duke didn't seem interested to annul his engagement.
“What can I help you with, your highness?” Bradley asks politely as he drank his cup of coffee.
“There are new leads on the case of Millicia Swan and so I am doing some further investigation on the matter,” the prince declared just to see the charming emerald eyes of his host become tainted by several different emotions.
'And he came to investigate himself? That's unusual,' Bradley's attention shifted from his frustration to the man standing before him, analyzing him thoroughly.
“New leads? I understand...” Bradley's brows furrow down as he felt his anger agglomerate. He was trying to keep his emotions in check but still, he couldn't quite hide them, “Well, what can I do then?”
“Please explain the events of that afternoon thoroughly,” the crown prince asks and Bradley begins explaining everything from its beginning, including Criswell's bad deeds, which he was supposed to keep a secret. He didn't care about Amanda and he thought that this was a great opportunity to screw her over, making it easy to cancel their engagement.
“So you are saying that Amanda Criswell pointed a knife at her sister’s throat?” Blake looked at Bradley carefully, as he analyzed every movement and every word that came out of his mouth but, no matter how he saw it, he didn’t appear to be lying.
‘If this matter comes out... Of course, he would try to baffle the rumors...’ the prince kept on thinking about the consequences of Ophelia’s request.
It was likely that both the Earl and the Duke, tried their best to cool the damages done, especially to Amanda’s reputation by silencing the nobles with some handsome sums of money, preventing the crown from learning the truth.
‘That is why I only knew that she was poisoned, the rest was left out on purpose...’ he chuckles as he realized how he had been made a fool of. He understood that Ophelia was indeed right, Blake Virden was being nothing more than the clown of this play, where all the information displayed was completely filtered.
“Yes, that is the truth, I wouldn’t dare to lie to the crown prince,” Bradley’s eyes glare at Blake as he sighed deeply, “Then Millicia placed poison on Lady Ophelia’s tea at the command of someone.”
“Did she say who?” the crown prince frowns his eyebrows as he understood the subliminal message his host was stating.
“She bit off her tongue before we were able to know,” Bradley placed down the cup of coffee while his eyes portraited pure hatred, “As you can see she is guilty of this crime, and so is Amanda Criswell.”
‘Isn’t Amanda his fiancée though?’ the prince noticed that Bradley was bringing Amanda’s name into the conversation abruptly, almost as if trying to state that she also needed to be punished for her crimes but both of them knew that touching the daughter of a Duke was no easy task.
“Did you witness her poisoning the tea?” Blake wanted to be sure of her innocence or her guilt.
“I did not but she admitted it publicly, or so I heard,” he glares with a cold smile at the prince, “I think you have more than enough evidence to work with don’t you think, your highness?”
“Indeed,” they both get up, “Thank you for your help, Lord Bradley.”
“I must question though your highness, why are you investigating this matter so suddenly?” Bradley was extremely intrigued by this situation.
‘Why would the crown prince invest his own time in investigating a simple maid?’ he couldn't help but feel an uneasiness grow within him as if something was missing.
“Earl Hillgarden removed his claim and I got a request from Duke Criswell’s daughter,” he declared politely as he fixed his attire.
“Lady Amanda made a request?” the host stares at his guest, filled with suspicion, while they shook hands.
“Lady Ophelia did,” as Bradley heard these words his grip on the prince’s hand grew stronger but somehow he kept on smiling coldly, “She is claiming that Millicia is innocent.”
“And your highness decided to personally investigate this matter further after her request?” the crown prince understands the situation and tightens his grip on Bradley’s hand as they both carried smiles that could freeze oceans.
“Of course, she is my subject after all,” he asserts respectfully.
“I'm relieved to see how concerned your highness is,” Bradley’s cold expression fell on Blake and he knew he needed to leave. He wasn’t here to start a fight with the house of Trace.
“Well then, have a good day my lord," after a couple of seconds of silence, they both remove the strength, and their hands split.
✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽
「 Some hours later 」
“What did they say, Aldrich?” Blake was sitting in his study room, holding his right arm over his head as he felt an intense headache from the overwork he was experiencing. During the day he had to take care of Ophelia’s request and the kingdom affairs, he barely had any time to sleep or eat.
“According to the maids working on the Hillgarden mansion, there were three unknown people that entered the kitchen during the party, excluding Millicia, your highness,” he swipes over the several sheets of information as he related the most important details.
“So you are telling me that those four people could’ve done it since no one saw Millicia do it?” the prince stares at Aldrich that lets out a long sigh.
“Yes, that is exactly it,” besides Millicia confession there was not enough proof to prove that she was the one behind the incident, “Do you think she might have seen the person behind the poisoning and was threatened not to speak, your highness?”
“It is a possibility... Have you questioned them?" Blake pushes his bright red hair back.
"I couldn't... They were all found dead in their residences, your highness," at his aides words, the prince painfully grinned.
'So someone is hiding their tracks is it...!' he understood someone was purposely trying to frame Millicia whether or not she was guilty of this incident.
"Where is her family?” Blake sits back straight as Aldrich delivers him the papers.
“Her parents are deceased but she has a brother, a young boy named Charlie, that is extremely sick,” Blake stares at the sheet, analyzing its contents thoroughly.
"What did you discover?" suddenly, a man hiding his appearance enters, startling the aide.
'The prince sent...!?' he couldn't believe his eyes. Everyone knew that every royalty member had guards working for them but, the only one with professional assassins, hired by money and contracted by loyalty, was the Blake Virden.
"It is as you suspected master," the man's voice was rough, as if he had a desperate need for water, "There was an underground rumor stating that Criswell's child was filled with bad luck due to her curse and that her days were numbered."
“I’m going to the prison,” Blake immediately gets up, startling Aldrich.
“Your highness, you shouldn-...” he didn’t even finish his sentence since the prince was already walking down the hall towards the dungeon.
✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽
“Do you know who I am?” Blake questions Millicia but she remains in her corner, without paying too much attention, “You don’t want to make me mad if you value your life.”
‘Why is he here?’ as he said these words, she turned her body towards him and only glared.
“Good, I will ask you some questions and you will reply by nodding, do you understand?” his cold deep blue eyes made Millicia feel a shiver down her spine. She nods her head affirmatively.
“Did you poison Ophelia Criswell’s tea?” the crown prince asks clearly.
‘I see... So Lady Ophelia did something,’ she smiles slightly and nods negatively. If they were investigating this matter further it meant that she wouldn’t be executed anytime soon and she couldn’t show any clues regarding her false innocence.
“Did you saw someone else poison the tea?” he questions while Aldrich stood beside him with his furrowed brows. It was clear he didn’t believe Millicia.
She nods negatively.
“Did Duke Criswell ask you to poison Ophelia’s tea?” his eyes were like piercing knives and Millicia felt the pressure rising. She denied it.
Millicia knew she couldn't accuse the Duke, not yet. She couldn't risk losing her little brother to her thirst for revenge.
“Do you know of someone who might want Ophelia Criswell dead?” sweat was dripping from her pores as her body grew hotter. Several minutes of silence go by, “Answer me!”
“Your highness I think she...” as Aldrich was speaking Millicia falls, unconscious, to the floor. Her cheeks were completely red and her breathing was rough, it was clear she had a high fever.
“We won’t be able to get more answers from her,” he sighs as he realizes that speaking with her had also been a dead end.
‘Even then I learned something interesting...’ he started to think about the last question he had made and now he was aware that someone was indeed trying to murder Ophelia. All the evidence was pointed towards her own family but none of them were concrete since they were all based on other people’s points of view.
“Give her some medicine, we’ll continue this tomorrow,” Blake states right before leaving towards the inner palace once again.
✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽
「 Back to the present 」
Finally, the crown reached a conclusion and a letter was delivered to Ophelia Criswell, summoning her to the palace grounds.
“Thank you for having me Aldrich,” she states politely as he poured her a cup of tea.
“I’m sorry but your highness has a busy schedule and so he can’t be present today,” he affirms respectfully, “After investigating the matter further it was concluded that there is a lack of proof regarding Millicia’s Swan guilt and so she is allowed to return to her usual life, however, she can’t approach the Criswell’s house in any circumstance.”
“Of course, it is completely understandable,” Ophelia’s warm kind-hearted expression made Aldrich feel slightly flustered.
“We will be releasing her soon, so you may rest at ease,” he gets up and heads towards the door.
“Would you allow me to be there when it happens?” Aldrich looks behind surprised.
“If you’d like, I can escort you,” he didn’t understand why she intended to go back to the dungeons in the first place.
✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽ ✼ ✽
Some hours pass and we head to the dungeon where Millicia was being kept. She was inside her cell, laying on the floor with her cheeks completely flushed. Her eyes open slightly and she appeared confused. Her fever should be extremely high.
“I’m opening the cell,” a guard states right before pushing the iron bars to the side.
I stretch out my arms and Millicia immediately gets up right before dashing with all her leftover strength straight towards me. Like a moth to a flame, she saw me as the angel who took her soul out of despair.
“Lady Ophelia!?” Aldrich looks at me dumbfounded as I held the girl close, not allowing her to fall.
“Let’s go home Milly,” I noticed the weight in her legs beginning to waver and so I placed her arm around my neck, helping her walk after placing a cape around her frail body.
“Milady are you sure you should be doing that? You might get ill...” Aldrich follows me and I glare at him.
“So?” he grows quiet and we continue walking.
As we leave the building all the guards looked at me astonished, almost as if I was nothing more than an illusion. After a long while and several struggles from the lack of strength on Millicia’s body, we reach the entrance and Jade hurriedly grabs her.
“Master are you alright?” he questions me as he notices the sweat running through my face.
“Put her inside the carriage, we’re going back,” Jade nods and obeys my orders, “Once again thank you for everything you’ve done so far, I’m eternally grateful.”
“It was my honor milady,” Aldrich asserts, still clearly confused.
Millicia was sleeping in the carriage peacefully while Jade was sitting next to me.
“Did everything went according to your plan master?” he questions, making my attention shift to him.
“Of course Jade,” I grin as I notice the busy capital turn into nothing more than plains.
‘Is she a Curse or a Blessing?’ was the question that would soon haunt the heads of the members of the high nobility, including Layton Verne, my next prey.