Chapter 13
The High Court was a place of discussion between the royal families and the high nobles of the land such as the Dukes or Duchess. This place was so sacred that only these people can be summoned into the grounds of the High Court. No other people were allowed into this space including the representatives and guards of the royals and high nobles. This place was intended for discussions in emergencies, forming alliances, and making peace. It was founded by a hero who was a representative to the humankind in the kingdom as he brought unity for all people and helped defeat the demon king. The High Court consisted of one round table with seven chairs for each duke; with each one representing their respective faction. All of these factions were ruled and blessed by one king; namely King Francis.
Tiara arrived at King Francis' castle. She was directly assisted by the royal guards. There were only two guards beside her but she was also followed by ten more guards behind her. She was secured more tightly since the bomb and assassination occurred in these past few days. Because of that, King Francis gave an order to increase the security and to close down all gates except the main gate to avoid easy trespassing by any criminal. Furthermore, people who were invited by the king to the castle had to go through a full-body check-up by the castle guards should any of them carry prohibited items.
Tiara followed the guards all the way to the hall and through a single big door. The door was so special because it was built completely using iron and gold which was welded together by dwarf blacksmiths who were known to make strong and sturdy creations. This door had carvings about the hero who led all the people to defeat the demon king with a holy sword. The history of the hardship that their ancestors went through in order to obtain peace remained in the hearts of the people. When the door had to be opened, strength from several men were needed to push the door because it was so heavy that one single man would not have been able to do it himself.
After the door was opened, all the guards stopped at the front of the door. Only knights with a high rank may enter the door. Tiara walked inside followed by two knights. Past the door, Tiara had to walk another stretch of another hall area. A few moments later, she reached another door. This time the door was shaped just like any other normal door but it was made from the same material. One special thing about this door was its frame because there were words written on it. However, the strange thing was that no one knew what those words on it meant as it was said to originate from an elvish language. This door was opened for Tiara by two knights.
Tiara got inside; she saw a half of the round table, one seat was meant for the king and seven seats were meant for the dukes. Each seat had been filled, except for Tiara's seat as she had just arrived and the seat assigned for Duke Peter as he was killed a few days ago. His seat remained empty. They stood beside their seats while they waited for King Francis to arrive. A few moments later, he came with his advisor Briggard. "You all may take a seat now." King Francis proceeded to take his seat first. "May God bless you, my king." They said uniformly. They then bowed down and took their seats. Briggard served them drinks that he had already prepared.
"You all know what purpose you are summoned here for is." They all nodded their head in agreement with what King Francis said. "Before we start, I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Duke Peter's family. King Francis stood up and placed his chalice up to show respect. "May he rest in peace." They all followed King Francis' footsteps. After that, they were all seated again. "We now can start our discussions about the assassination of Duke Peter." King Francis raised his hand slightly up in the air to signal Briggard. He then automatically brought in the documents to be read.
"This document that I hold is the full report about the assassination." Briggard explained. "A few days ago, Duke Peter Gregor was found dead, the one who found his body was his wife." He read slowly to make sure that all of them could understand it. "The cause of his death was the poisonous tea that he drank." They all started to talk among themselves about it but Tiara and Ruddy just kept calm and kept listening. Even when they were seated beside each other, they did not talk or looked at each other ever since she entered the room.
"We investigated and suspected that the main culprit was his maid who had served him his tea. She also ran away when we wanted to arrest." The dukes started whispering about the maid and the whispers became increasingly loud after they concluded the case. "Silence!" Francis shouted. The whispering noises slowed down and were under control. "Unfortunately, the maid that has been suspected of murder was found dead in the woods behind Duke Peter's house." He looked at all the dukes who seemed to be focused in listening now. "Cause of death; three stab wounds to her chest, time of death; one day after Duke Peter died." Briggard closed the report and placed it back to its original place.
All of the attendees started their own group of discussions while Tiara and Ruddy just watched. "I'm sorry if I was blocking you." Tiara tried to made space for Ruddy to join the group discussion. "There's no need, there is nothing to discuss." Ruddy kept maintaining his calm. "You should join them; perhaps it will help you get some information." Ruddy tried to persuade her. "I'm just like you, I have nothing to discuss." Tiara repeated Ruddy's words but it was unknown whether she was telling truth or just trying to mock him. "Very well." He just let her be. After that, their conversation just ended like that and the two of them was just immersed their own world.
Tiara felt strange while she observed Ruddy because he did not join that group. They were supposed to be friendly or maybe it was only she who thought that way. "My Lord, may I have your permission to speak." Duke Kevin spoke. "You may." Francis gave him permission to speak. "A few days ago, I got a letter from an unknown person." He brought out the letter and showed it to everyone. The envelope was pure white in colour but there was no seal of any family crest on it. "The letter said; "I am watching, waiting and when it is time, I will be coming to you." He read the letter out loud.
"At first, I thought this was some sort of prank trying to scare me but it seems that our friends also received the same letter as me with the exact same words." All the dukes showed the letter to the King. Francis rubbed his beard while pondering on some thought. "How about the two of you, did you get the same letter like the rest of them?" He asked. "I did…" "I didn't." Tiara's answer made Ruddy cut his sentence short. Francis looked at him. "I also didn't receive it. Too." He tried to show the letter but after finding out that Tiara didn't receive any letter, he pulled back his letter and kept it back inside his coat.
Francis tilted his to the side as he tried to understand the situation. The dukes in the room started to whisper to themselves but excluded Ruddy and Tiara. They all stared at both Ruddy and Tiara and started to suspect that it was the two of them behind all this. "My Lord, I am not trying to accuse them but it is strange that only these two did not receive the letter." Kevin voiced his opinion and other dukes strongly agreed upon what he has said. "But what you are said comes across as trying to accuse us." Ruddy was against Kevin's words. Kevin's face looked angry.
"Enough." Francis stopped them. "Duke Ruddy was right, this is not the time to accuse each other; we must think fast because the criminal is still somewhere out there." His voice started to sound angry. "Please, someone, give us some resolution before one of us gets killed." He continued. "My Lord, my suggestion is that we need to increase our military force to maximize our security." Kevin presented his idea. "This way is a lot safer to us and hard for other people to commit any crime." He continued. "I agree with Duke Kevin, we can mobilize them for inspection more often." One of the Duke supported Kevin's idea.
"My king, Duke Kevin's idea is really great but there is some sort of problem to it." Ruddy seemed to be against Kevin's idea. "Tell me." Francis kept listening. "Pardon my rudeness but that is not the best suggestion we can do in this situation." Ruddy told the King as he stood up. "Firstly, it's a waste to increase the military in labour and to increase military expenses because the suspect is sneaky hence his identity is still unknown." "Secondly, our economy will go down because the traders will be afraid to come by for business which will cause food shortages. The traders and even our people are at risk of losing their jobs. All of this may make the people revolt against you." He explained.
"Do you have any other solution?" Francis asked. "No, my King." Ruddy answered. "It's hard for us if there are no suggestions about this situation." Francis looked disappointed. He kept watch on Tiara as she had kept silent from the start. "Tiara, you seem quiet today maybe you can share your opinion with us?" Francis was curious about Tiara. "My apologies my king, I've been quiet because I don't have any solution as there is still no evidence, known motives and clues regarding his next target." She answered. "We may have many ways to solve it but we are still at a disadvantage if we do not have this information." She continued. They all agreed to what Tiara has said without any objection as they though she spoke the truth.