You suspect he had a hand in it?

With the name Felix provided her with, Astin was able to find his sister within that day. Her name was Quinella. A petite and inferior looking girl in her sweet sixteen.

She had quite the plump cheeks, brown eyes and black hair, just like her brother. And she resembled him quite a lot.

Knowing her brother had been freed and was under the princess, Quinella wasted no time to pledge her loyalty and her life to Astin and Astin trusted her with her life as well.

This was pleasing. Her plan was in motion. She needed two people to go with her and that was set.

Astin made a list of all the corrupted Minister's and those who were secretly colluding with Jude to take control of the throne.

They succeeded in ridding her but too bad Jude was a backstabbing snake who did not hold on to his promises to them and killed them before they could even perceive the throne up close.

After compiling the list, omitting the wicked things they were up to at this point so as not to look too suspicious, she gave it to her grandfather, telling him that these guys looked suspicious.

Even if Fedrick concluded that it was simply her mind playing games on her, he decided to just check it out. There was no harm in being careful. And surprisingly, each one of the minister's listed were involved in one corrupt deed or the other.

Shocked that even the ones he thought were trustworthy were involved, he decided to check out the rest of the Ministers. Luckily, they were clean and the bad ones were immediately exterminated from their positions.

'My granddaughter has such a good eye for people.' he thought and was relieved that she was a clear minded person who knew how to differentiate bad from good. 'Ah, I see her becoming a wonder queen.'

Fedrick had the mindset that Astin was making a clear road for her future reign but in reality, this cunning girl was making sure her grandfather had many more peaceful years ahead. Thus, he'd have no problem in staying on the throne for a loooong time.

During dinner, Astin felt disgusted as she sat next to Jude. She forgot she had invited him for dinner at the beginning of the week. But that was her old self. She would never dare to invite him with her present memory.

She took down heavy gulps of water and didn't dare to drink her wine. If she did, she would inevitably blurt out how much she hated and despised him in front of everyone.

She glared at him all through the meal, showing her disdain and Jude could feel it but he had no idea why she was glaring at him. As confused as he was, he thought it best to stay quiet.

"Ahem!" Fedrick cleared his throat and this reminded Astin of something.

"By the way, Jude, I heard that the Leo family were murdered." She brought up and Jude flinched. "According to what was found, it was said that they were robbed of all their family treasures." She glanced over at him.

It was clear he had a hand in it. No, she knew he had a hand in it. She continued,

"Isn't it unlikely that such a superior family be slaughtered overnight?" She asked and finally took a sip of her wine.

Then, she smirked.

Jude was feeling a bit uneasy. All he had to do was respond like he always did but why did it seem he was being looked down on by a predator?

He loosened his collar and gulped hard.

"I think it's too mysterious." He managed to say but the sweat kept dripping down his forehead.

"Jude, you look pale. Are you feeling alright?" Astin asked, feigning concern.

"Ah, yes. I'm fine, your highness." He said. "I'm just feeling a bit hot. Maybe I drank too much wine." He smiled awkwardly. "Um, please excuse me, your majesty, your highness. I'll just go out to relieve myself."

With that, he got up and started walking away and Astin snickered.

"You suspect he had a hand in it?" Fedrick asked once Jude was out of sight and Astin responded,

"I don't just suspect him, grandfather. I know it." She played with the locks of her hair with her index finger. "How's the investigation on him going?" She asked and Fedrick lowered his head to continue his meal.

"We found a few 'bad' deeds but there's not enough evidence to call him out for." Fedrick responded and Astin gave it a thought.

"No evidence, huh?" She glanced at his empty seat. "Then I'll be sure to work hard." She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Add this charge to his name, grandfather." Astin said.

"Astin, my dear. Are you a hundred percent sure he was the one behind it?" Fedrick asked a bit worriedly.

It was only right that he was worried. Accusing someone of such a huge crime could have its setback if the accusations proved false.

But Astin wasn't scared. She knew for a fact that Jude indeed was the one behind it. But if that wasn't going to work in their favour, why not have him commit a crime in broad daylight that would definitely tag him as a criminal?

"When have I ever been wrong, grandfather?" Astin asked, smiling sinisterly.

Fedrick had no choice but to trust his granddaughter. He let out a sigh.

"Very well." He nodded.

"Ah, and just in case, I better set out the 'net' in order to catch this big slimy snake in the water." She chuckled and gulped down the rest of her wine. "It's going to be a big catch, grandfather."

Fedrick watched her and wondered,

'When did my lovely granddaughter become so cunning?' he thought and then beamed a smile. 'Anyways, I like it. With this, she'll be able to take care of herself and the kingdom once I'm gone.'

Astin stared at her grandfather and rolled her eyeballs.

'What kind of fantasy is my old man thinking of this time?'