Chapter 17

The part of the house that was shattered by the explosion was seen by Ruddy and Tiara even from a distance. As seen from the outside, the blast of the explosion left a big hole in the building's structure. The guards of this household stood in a defensive formation and surrounded the area whilst they had their heavy armor on in anticipation of any threat or enemies.

Tiara and Ruddy rushed to the captain's guards. The duo kept an eagle eye on the situation, as they had yet to identify the enemy's spot and the total number of them. Ruddy tried to turn his face from the left to the right while his eyes were still fixated on the area. "What's happening here?" "Please forgive me, duke, we cannot let outsiders get involved in our problem." The captain slowly rotated his watch to cover the area.

Ruddy draw his sword. "This is a big matter, we shall work together." He slowly changed his stance and turned his body to another side. "Restrain yourself, duke. Don't make me do things the hard way. Follow our order and move to a safe place. " The captain made a signal to point at two guards to assist Ruddy and Tiara to a safe place.

Ruddy's shoulder was touched by Tiara. When he turned his head, he saw Tiara shook her head to signal to him to constrain himself and to not do anything. Without a single word uttered, Ruddy kept his sword back and followed their order.

"Captain! There is movement at two o'clock. It is only one man." All the guards focused on that area. "Heavy shield, come forward." Captain shouted. The guards in heavy shield moved fast to form a formation by surrounding the area to seclude the enemy and to ensure that he had a hard time running away from this place.

"Don't let your guard down." The captain was worried because they still did not know how many explosions he was capable of executing. He tried to run further to the dead-end of the road but he eventually reached the end of the wall. There was no escape for the enemy because it was a high and sturdy wall, much like a fortress which made it hard for him to escape.

"Please surrender, you have been surrounded." A warning was heard from the captain. The enemy did not respond with any answers. Maybe he was thinking of another way to escape or maybe he was trying to launch an attack. After a few moments, there was still no answer from him. So, the captain made a move; he signaled the army to march forward. The guards slowly cleared the path by cutting down the bushes so that they could easily see the enemy.

Tiara and Ruddy followed the guards silently from behind. Both of them were curious to find out who the person behind this was. They just kept watching from afar because they did not want to be sent away by the captain. The path was made clear from the bushes. They saw a criminal struggling to climb the wall with his bare hands. That criminal knew that his efforts were futile but he still kept trying to climb until he injured himself.

There was nothing the criminal could have done. He draws his sword and pointed it at the guards. The guards did not spare him any chances and prepared to attack him. That man's hand started to tremble and his eyes started to water. But yet, he still did not surrender. Perhaps he was too scared that it caused him to not be able to think rationally.

"Please drop your weapon to the ground." The captain tried to calm the criminal. Unfortunately, that criminal shook his head in disapproval and did not cooperate with the captain's order. Strangely, the criminal wept but he did not beg to be shown mercy as he knew he was about to be sent to the gallows.

The criminal suddenly froze with his eyes wide opened. His weapon suddenly slipped from his hands and fell to the ground. When the criminal looked at his body, he saw an arrow had punctured his chest. He did not felt any pain but his heart slowly stopped beating and his breath slowly faded away. He collapsed to the ground.

Ruddy tried to run to the scene but he was stopped by Tiara. His blood boiled, he stared at Tiara and questioned the reason she stopped him. He was not angry at her, instead, he was angry at the person who killed the criminal because he knew that only this criminal had clues that may provide answers for the motives of the bombing at the princess' coming of age event and the death of Duke Harris.

Tiara used her head to point to the direction where the arrow came from. When Ruddy looked up, he saw Duchess Ariana with her knight standing at that place. The shot came from them because the crossbow was held by her knight.

The captain bowed down. "Please forgive us for what has happened almost killed you." All the guards also followed their captain to beg for forgiveness. "We will accept any punishment from you." The captain continued.

Duchess Ariana looked at all the guards very strictly. "Clean the area, I don't want to see any of this in my sight." She walked away and left all of them. But before she left, Tiara realized that the duchess gave one last stare at her and Ruddy. She felt the duchess stared at her with an aura of hatred and that made her felt threatened and uncomfortable.

Tiara got closer to Ruddy's face and she placed her hand right in from of her mouth to speak to him in a more discreet manner. "If we can't interrogate the criminal, we will try to investigate the surroundings of the accident." Ruddy seemed annoyed after he heard what she said. "I know what I am doing, don't give me orders as you wish." Tiara sighed as she was disappointed by Ruddy's behavior. He thought more of his ego rather than teamwork.

After that, Tiara and Ruddy came to approach the captain while he and the guards started to clear up all the mess. "Captain, let us participate in this investigation." Ruddy tried to persuade the captain. Unfortunately, they were not allowed. "I am very sorry duke, we will not let any stranger involved in this as we wish to handle this on our own." The captain denied his invitation without any leniency.

"Upon the decree of King Francis, we order you to let us get involved in this case." Ruddy showed him the letter from King Francis which he used to prove that he spoke the truth. The captain felt pressured. "Fine, do what you want. Don't take or steal any evidence." The captain warned Ruddy. "We're not thieves!" Ruddy arrogantly left the captain and started his investigation.

Not long after both Ruddy and Tiara started their investigation, the captain approached Duke Ruddy. Behind the captain, stood a butler. Judging from the age and appearance he seemed like a veteran and a professional at his job. Perhaps he was positioned as the head butler.

"Our apologies to Duke Ruddy and Lady Tiara, I have been ordered by the duchess to stop your investigation." Both Ruddy and Tiara were shocked. "Why? We worked under the permission of King Francis." Ruddy was not satisfied. "Are you all trying to defy the king's order?" Ruddy continued. Ruddy and Tiara were confused about the duchess' action.

"For the sake of keeping a good relationship on both sides, the duchess will send a letter of apology to King Francis and she will provide a full report of this incident." The butler who stood behind the captain moved beside him to explain the situation. "Right now for the sake of the safety of the both of you, we were ordered to assist both of you back to your carriage to send you back home." He continued.

Ruddy still had not accepted the order. He wanted to fight for his rights but he needed some support. He looked for Tiara, the only person on his side. But when he found Tiara, she had already walked away as per their order. Ruddy felt disappointed and finally, he had to give up on their mission.

When they got into their carriage, someone chased them from behind. "Wait!" Someone called out to Tiara and Ruddy in an effort to stop both of them from leaving the house. When both Tiara and Ruddy turned to face the direction the voice came from, they saw that it was the twins; Billy and Milly who called them.

"Are you leaving already?" Milly asked Tiara with a sad face. Tiara lowered herself to Milly's eye level to make it easier for her to face Milly. "I'm very sorry dear, we must leave now because we have something urgent coming up." Tiara gave Milly a smile to cheer her up. "When will you be coming back?" Milly's expression showed she was hopeful that Tiara and Ruddy will come back.

"I can't answer this because I know both of you are clever kids." Tiara knew her answer will hurt those kids but it was the truth. "How about this, I have something to give you before I depart." She started to search for something inside her pocket. A few moments later, she pulled it out and showed it to Milly. "I know this is not too valuable but I hope this item will be the symbol of our friendship. Will you accept it?" In Tiara's hands, she held a bracelet that she intended to give Milly.

Milly happily nodded her head as a sign of agreement. After that, Milly hugged Tiara. "Even though it was just a short amount of time since we met, I'm very happy that we're friends." Milly whispered to Tiara which made Tiara smiled gratefully. Tiara cleared her throat while she looked at both Ruddy and Billy. "What about you boys, any last words before we depart?" Both Ruddy and Billy looked at each other.

"I don't have any expectation of goodbye wishes from him." Billy chuckled. Ruddy got annoyed. "This kid has no right to receive my goodbyes." Ruddy countered Billy's words. Both Ruddy and Billy gave each other a sharp death glare at each other. Tiara and Milly laughed looking at them.

When the carriage slowly departed, the carriage door was suddenly opened. It was Ruddy who opened it. "Hey kid, catch this." Ruddy threw something at Billy. Billy caught it and saw that it was a dagger in his hands. "Use it when you want to protect someone you love." Ruddy advised Billy. Then he closed the carriage door as the carriage continued to move. "Stupid old man." Billy smiled as he appreciated the gift from Ruddy.

At the same time in the carriage. "I don't think you care about the kids." Tiara mocked Ruddy's action. "Shut up." Ruddy was embarrassed and could not face Tiara directly.