AFTERMATH

The Palace was then filled with a flurry of activities. Generals and Commanders deployed squads towards the house of that noble.

"Commander Zhang! Who among your Captains are available?"

"Captain Gilbert of the Fourth Squad, Sir!"

"Captain Gilbert, round up your squad," ordered General Luther. "You will be the advance party. Cordon the whole vicinity of the place of incident. Make sure no one goes out."

"Yes Sir!"

"You, four knights! Follow the advance party. You are to apprehend whoever is found guilty and take them immediately to the Truth Court," General Luther then added.

Crown Prince Amon watched the whole spectacle. He said to himself that being a General sure is really hard, but there was an inner desire in him to become one.

He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder.

"Son,"the King said. "I want you to come with me."

"Where are we going?" Crown Prince Amon asked.

"We need to see the source of that light. We should see with our own two eyes what it is. It is a breach of our security, a threat to the Kingdom. A King must know first-hand the problem in the Kingdom."

Crown Prince Amon nodded in understanding. "Yes Papa."

And off they went with General Luther towards the Noble District.

***

At the Noble District, Captain Gilbert was listening annoyingly to a fat noble who was constantly pestering him about the light. He really wanted to listen to him, but the noble's pitiful crying irritated him. He had the urge to cut the noble's tongue.

"Oh Captain, help me! My servant, she is a witch! She wants to kill me!" the Lord said in a rain of spit and saliva, sobs interrupting each word.

"Lord Lochan," the Captain implored. "Please calm down. I cannot understand what you are saying. Please take a breath first. Don't worry; the whole District is cut off from the rest of the Kingdom."

Lord Lochan sat down and took deep gulps of air. Captain Gilbert watched him in disdain. This is the type of nobles he hated the most; those who didn't improve their magic and just wasted away the money given by the Kingdom. 'Such scoundrels,' he spat in his mind.

"Lord Lochan, can I now ask you what really happened?"

The Lord took a deep breath and started retelling the events that transpired in that afternoon.

"I had a servant who I ordered to provide me food at that moment because I felt hungry. And then, she just shouted at me and then that light came out."

"Just shouted? Servants never do that unless they were provoked. What did you try to do to her?" Captain Gilbert icily said. He thought that this guy wasn't just a freeloader; he was a pervert as well. He spat many times at the noble in his mind.

Lord Lochan fidgeted; he was sweating in buckets now.

Captain Gilbert smirked. "Lord Lochan, you have violated the law stating that servants should never be harassed in any way. You shall be taken into custody. Bien!" the Captain shouted at one of his subordinate. "Tie him up; he is for questioning in the Truth Court."

He faced back at the noble. "And by the way, where did your servant go?"

Lord Lochan trembled in fear and stuttered an answer. "She- She's passed out inside my-my room."

Captain Gilbert nodded and went straight inside the Lord's house.

***

Inside the Lord's room, he found a trembling girl in the corner. She was curled up like a fetus, her hands covering her ears; quiet sobs filled the air. She has withdrawn from the world, seemingly traumatized of whatever that happened earlier.

Captain Gilbert slowly approached the girl. "Young lady?"

The girl stopped trembling, her sobs also abruptly ceased; but she still didn't look up. And so the Captain asked again, "Young lady, are you alright?"

This time, the girl looked up. And what the Captain saw would haunt him for the rest of his life: a glowing pair of yellow eyes.

He swallowed his fear and admiration and continuously talked soothingly to the girl. "Young lady, I am Captain Gilbert from the Knights of the Red Dragon. I am not here to hurt you. I am here to learn of what happened here."

The girl stared at him. He swallowed his bashfulness and asked, "What is your name?"

The girl replied in a hoarse voice, "Lyra."

"Okay Lyra. Are you alright?"

Lyra nodded. "Will I be questioned?"

Captain Gilbert sighed. "That would be inevitable. But if you answer truthfully, the Truth Court will not resort to harsher methods."

He saw the girl swallow, fear painted in her eyes.

"Don't worry. They will not hurt you if you did not do something wrong."

And the girl was filled with even more fear, because what she did might bring down the whole no-mage community.

***

King Vasillia, Crown Prince Amon and General Luther arrived at the scene. They saw Lord Lochan tied up, sitting in a chair with fear in his eyes. The General sought for Captain Gilbert, who immediately appeared from the mansion with a girl in his arms.

"Report," General Luther ordered the Captain.

The Captain first left the girl to a knight and faced the General.

He saluted and said, "Reporting to the General. We found out the light came from this house. Lord Lochan here alleged that the light came from his servant girl after he attempted to harass her."

King Vasillia went down from his horse and spanked the noble. "You are a disgrace to the nobles of Oniro," he said with venom.

General Luther was looking at the noble with contempt. "And the girl, Captain?"

"She has yet to leave a statement. She was shaken up by the happening this afternoon."

Crown Prince Amon found it urgent to know how the light came about. If he found that the girl made it with magic, then there is a possibility that his Denaire wasn't the only one. And that there is a possibility that no-mage possess some kind of magic.

"Papa," the Crown Prince said.

The King looked at him and asked, "What is it son?"

"Could you give me the task of asking the girl?"

"You want to do the interrogation?" the King asked in wonder.

"Yes. You said we should be able to know first-hand the situation. So, I'd like to do it myself. Of course, you would still be present during the interrogation."

The King smiled. "Very well son, very well. General, Captain, follow us."

The General left some instructions to the knights to send the noble to the court before following the King.