THE CONSPIRACY OF THE MURDER

THE CONSPIRACY OF THE MURDER

I sent Orol back to the Mithridocus family because he stubbornly insisted on coming back here. The Mithridocus family ignored him for more than a decade and the moment they decided to talk to him, Orol was thrilled by it. This was Orol's dream, of being reunited with the main family.

"Oriese, I haven't seen you since you were about seven or eight. You have grown to become such a competent young man", Prince Geoffraie said to me when we returned to his family.

"I don't recall coming here", I replied to him.

"There was an unfortunate incident, an accident and you lost your memory because of that. I didn't remind you about this place because I was afraid of reminding you about your accident", Orol told me.

"Back to the murder of Prince Stamatis in your home, what actually happened here?" I asked Prince Geoffraie directly, not interested with the family chit chat.

"Someone put the dead body of Stamatis in our family mansion, hoping to get us framed for his murder. Your father unfortunately walked into the crime scene", Prince Geoffraie told me.

"Why didn't you report the murder to the king for three days?" I asked the prince.

"I wanted to but Kimon, acting for Prince Samlee, took over the investigation of this murder. Prince Samlee was trying to blackmail me into his terms", he told me.

"What kind of blackmail?" I asked him.

"He wanted our family to support his fight for the position of crown prince, but we are not committed, and he also wants the hand of my daughter, in return of washing our family from any implication to the murder of Stamatis in our home. I will not accept his terms, which was why the matter got delayed for three days", he explained to me.

"They also want to embarrass me in front of the whole kingdom during the king's wedding", I said to him.

"That could be another reason", Prince Geoffraie said to me.

"That fool. Because of the delay and how they stumbled on the evidence to frame father, they made themselves look culpable to Stamatis' murder, whether they are involved in this or not", I told the prince.

"The Appolokis family will never take kindly of Prince Samlee's actions", Prince Geoffraie told me.

"And he didn't get the Mithridocus family's support either with the blackmail", I added.

"It seems the real windfall of all this is with Prince Raslee. Samlee now look like a fool in front of the king and would be boycotted by the major families of Drachia kingdom. He will never become the crown prince at this rate and Raslee's position is secure", Geoffraie explained to me.

"Who do you think killed Prince Stamatis?" Orol asked us.

"There are few forces in all of Drachia kingdom who has the ability to kill Stamatis in Eloora city without raising hell", I told them.

"Who do you suspect?" Prince Geoffraie asked me.

"It is either the Church of All-seeing or the agents from the Demon army", I replied to them of my suspicion.

"Why will either of these two powerful forces want to kill Stamatis?" Geoffraie asked me.

"Another question. When you reported the murder of Stamatis, didn't others in the Royal Guards or the Courts of Justice know about it. Why didn't the king catch wind of the killing of the patriarch of a major family?" I asked him.

"Well, we didn't report to the Royal Guards. Minister Kimon and his men were patrolling in the vicinity of our residence at the time, and he responded to our call for help immediately and took over the murder case. His men surrounded our residence for three days and no news of the murder got out", Prince Geoffraie told me.

"That sounds too convenient to be true", I replied to him.

"Is Prince Samlee and Minister Kimon involved in this? Did they try to frame us right from the start?" Orol asked.

"They definitely are involved although they might not be the real killer. The real killer wants them to arrest the Mithridocus family for some reason. But who is the mastermind behind all this?", Prince Geoffraie told us and asked.

"Usually, the mastermind is the person who gains most from the situation", I replied to them.

"Prince Raslee?" Geoffraie asked.

"It may be", I replied to him.

"Son, we will get a room for you in the residence, it is getting late", Geoffraie said to me.

"No, I'll have to go. There are things I need to do", I replied to him.

"Don't you want to see Xene?" Prince Geoffraie asked me.

"Erm… maybe another time", I replied to him before I said goodbye and left the mansion.

----

As I left the Mithridocus mansion someone walked toward me to my surprise.

At around seventeen years old, the girl exuded regal grace, adorned in a lavish pink gown embellished with intricately crafted pearls fashioned into delicate flowers. 

Her long hair was elegantly braided, topped with a crown fashioned from shimmering gems and dazzling diamonds, marking her as a princess among the noble houses. 

Her beauty was undeniable, captivating all who beheld her.

-----

"Oriese, is that you? Why did you leave without talking to me?" the pretty girl asked me.

"Yes, and who may you be?" I asked her in return.

"Have you forgotten about me, I am Xene", the girl said to me.

Xene was the name of the girl that was betrothed to Oriese, my alter ego. She wasn't a stranger to Oriese because they knew each other since a young age although for some reason, he forgot all about it.

"I forgot. I'm sorry", I replied to the girl.

"It's alright. It was a shock what happened to us. Even I was bedridden for a year after that", Xene said to me.

"What happened to us?" I asked her.

"Did you really forget everything in that year, about ten years ago?" Xene asked me.

"I have no memory about that", I told her.