The idle is always defeated

The last thing I remember was holding Crystal tight as I felt my mind rest upon her. Crystal has helped me find hope in myself and in this world. Perhaps I could really try being a new man despite all have done in the past, in this life and the other. My peace of mind however became short lived as from Crystal's room as I rested in tranquility, armed knights of the highest order came barging in.

"Spade Escroc, by the ruling of the king you are found guilty of attempting to assassinate the royal family and are held responsible for all the damages that have occurred"

"What are you talking about-"

Before I could defend myself the soldiers overpowered me and although Crystal tried to defend me, the knights threatened to kill me if she made any sudden moves and considering that these are special soldiers handpicked by Rexcarius himself, they most likely would be able to. I look at Crystal queuing her to stand down and let me handle the rest and she did so albeit hesitantly and followed us as we go to the king's chambers and on the way the Castle was in utter chaos.

Knights rampantly walking from all over, some servants exasperatedly coming back from the cathedral where healers and sages gathered, and as I passed everyone looked at me with an scornful glare. Someone had done something terrible and framed me for it, at the worst possible time too when I was out cold unwittingly resting. I may need to runaway if I get the chance.

As I am pushed forward to the chambers, Rexcarius and several knights gazed at me. From afar I could see Blade beaten very badly and things for my room scattered, this is not good, catastrophic even because I saw Rexcarius for the first time with a very displeased face.

"Your highness, we have found the suspect in bed with your daughter Crystal and he resisted and used even Princess Crystal for his own safety"

Damn, this is not looking good for me. The knights are also making it worse than it seems because of their abhorrence of me. I didn't do anything and I could comfort myself with saying something like "The truth will always come out" but it is some utter bullshit and for the most part the truth doesn't come out and when it does it is often too late but what exactly happened and how can I prove my innocence?

"You ingrate! I have given you everything and what did you give to me in return? Poison! How dare you show your face and act as if nothing happened"

"Wait poison? What kind? I didn't do it!" So someone poisoned the castle, if its magic the I'm fucked but no if Rexcarius accuses me then it must be real world poison..but what kind? Smog? Food poisoning?

Rexcarius raised a hand and bent it slightly and in his signal the knights beat me vigorously, when Rexcarius raised it once more they stopped.

"Willing to talk now? Where is the antidote?"

"Show me the poison"

As if insulted the knights continued to beat me again.

"Where is the antidote?"

"Where is the fucking poison?!" If it's something like cyanide then I'm fucked but hopefully the basic knowledge about drugs that I have learned posing as a doctor might be of help to me.

The knights were about to beat me again but Pharise, Zyderine's maid interrupted and in a piece of cloth she showed a guava like fruit. Certainly it could be a poisonous fruit but what is it?

"Pharise!" a knight next to me got angry and slapped her.

"I'm sorry but he....he is the only hope we have at saving Princess Zyderine"

Oh shit! Zyderine ate the poison, no wonder Rexcarius is furious. Damn what do I know about medicine? I could probably concoct an antihistamine but I'm going to need some time and the proper ingredients and I do not have the convenience of having either. Damn....wait how about activated charcoal? Yeah that could work!

"Listen to me Pharise, if you can see rashes in her body apply dry ice on it and then I want you to burn a branch and when it becomes charcoal crush it, put some salt and water then have her inhale that" Cold compression have been known to offset some allergies and hopefully the salt she puts has some substances of calcium chloride and that the activated charcoal can neutralize the poison.

Hearing it from the ears of the uneducated it may have seemed to be some pagan crap which is probably why the knights continued to beat unhesitatingly, Pharise thankfully followed my instructions and immediately left, its all up to her now. Rexcarius won't see to reason now that his paternal instincts are getting the better of him and now everyone simply wants a head to roll and mine was the obvious and easier choice.

"Stop" I gasp in intervals while I am continued to be beaten to an inch of my life. Rexcarius and the rest of the audience looked with pleasure and Blade and Crystal looked at me with pity and regret that they could not do anything. As my eyes wander I could see Alfron's stone and I wondered if he could see me now. I bet he would like seeing his arrogant teacher being beaten like this. The beating went on for over half an hour and I could feel my body go numb from all the pain, I was bleeding badly but thankfully my teeth are still intact, my body however is thoroughly broken.

My beating was stopped by the most unlikely of persons, Sabre who had enough pull to have the knights to follow and be heard by the king without being completely shut down. Sabre saved my life and prolonged my sentence, the best offer he could give me however was being imprisoned in the deepest dungeons where not even the sunset could reach.

The knights with no care whatsoever threw my body into an old cell that smelled of rotten flesh and with the only light source being a dim candle at the farthest north where the gates are placed. I felt useless, but I probably deserved this.

"Why did you save me?" I ask Sabre still gasping from all the pain.

"I know you didn't do it and no one had the proper state of mind to see to reason. Tell me how I can help you then"

"I want information, anything you find useful and I want you to find Claudia and tell her to take my special notes to Crystal"

Sabre nodded and left me alone in the dark and silent dungeons. I hear that the solitary confinement often makes inmates go insane. I guess this time its my mental endurance that would be tested but who did this? Who had the knowledge in poison, access to the palace, and wits to pull this off? A Vengeance member? Perhaps a survivor from Bronsleyt? No it doe not matter now, what matters is what that person is doing now? If its a Vengeance member then perhaps they're causing more havoc to the palace soldiers in order to weaken their forces, a hell of a counterattack I will admit.

But after that stunt he just did the culprit who I'll call X for now shouldn't be able to attack the palace like he did earlier with everyone being completely on guard... If I was X where would I strike next? Come on Spade think, predict, and react... I want to do damage to the palace so maybe attacking directly? No, I should not assume that X has an affiliation just yet, considering how smoothly his attack here went it would be safe to assume he acted alone, if not people would have become suspicious. If I am alone and I wanted to attack the palace then what would I do? I would have the soldiers turn on one another which indirectly I prevented by being the scapegoat but wait what if I was the primary target? Could someone have found out that I'm the head of the anti-terrorist movement?

Then it could only be a Vengeance because the Bronsleyt wouldn't be able to know from just looks alone, it would have been someone from the inside, someone from the 150 the king sent me perhaps? Yes it can't be a Bronsleyt soldier because then he wouldn't have been able to get in and out of the palace undetected....

While I kept on speculating, Sabre came back with some much needed information. Apparently X started spreading rumors that the Palace has been cursed and that it needed to be destroyed lest the curse spread to the whole country, damn it! The longer I stay cooped up here the more damage X can do and he certainly did a good attack striking from the outside.

Other things that Sabre told me are that the poison is harvested from the forest south of the palace, the culprit was careful not leave his tracks anywhere, and that Zyderine's well being is starting to stabilize and that it won't be long now until he can convince the king to let me go, at the soonest would be tomorrow morning before the execution. Sadly for Sabre I'm the only one who can counter X, especially with the vulnerable state the palace is in.

Could Vengeance possibly start to attack now? No that would be a blunder even with a quarter of the guards incapacitated, an ambush would be close to impossible with the whole castle being on high alert and basing from the symptoms that Sabre reported, blindness, swelling, nausea, this is going to take a while to recover, enough time for X to prepare his men.

Damn it! My movement is limited as fuck. Crystal, Claudia and Blade are under close surveillance and there is only so little that Sabre can do before starting to look suspicious himself, my last hope now is Shadow who should have received the letter I told Crystal to give by now, if Claudia understood what I meant and Crystal could read enough English to understand. The letter I wrote to Shadow was a precautionary measure I made days ago in case that I become captured by the enemy, it involved doing something extremely risky, asking help from Lacquer.

My precaution was a bunch of untraceable letters to different people which was the most effective way to make sure I would only disclose information that were necessary and nothing more, to my relief I know that none of those I sent would read the letters that weren't meant for them. Crystal and Claudia trusts me and Shadow knows the custom of not asking too many questions, but perhaps the biggest hurdle here is Perseus, he is the only one who knows where Lacquer is so there is no other choice but to trust him. Hopefully he'll deliver being partially in my control already.

Damn it, this is one of the scenarios that Alfron or Zyderine would perform well at being leader types but perhaps this is fate telling me not to rely on someone far too much but now I'm comforted with the fact that there are people I could rely on and that I am not alone any longer.

If the letter reaches Lacquer he is sure to come to me, I am the only person who knows that his child is alive after all and I am the only person other than Anakin who can tell him where he is. I just hope that X doesn't get in my way this time and that he makes even the slightest blunder. If he plays everything well in my absence then all is lost, it is like in chess, he who takes the initiative have better chances of winning and now not only does he have the initiative, I am also down by 2 moves.