In the prince's study and inventions room...
Fiona crossed her legs on the icy chair and looked at Prince Eduardo, whose eyes held a dangerous glint, and said: "The matter I came personally to tell you about is something that might sour your mood even more than it already is."
"And why would it sour my mood more!" Prince Eduardo walked towards Fiona, who was sitting on the icy chair, and stopped two steps in front of her.
"Because it's something that might threaten the kingdom's safety!" Fiona said this, her voice full of worry.
"And what is it that threatens my kingdom's security!" Prince Eduardo spoke coldly.
"It's a matter related to the aristocrat Banker Frederik Kolasin!" Fiona said, raising her voice slowly.
"What about him?" Prince Eduardo's tone was seemingly indifferent, but inside, a foreboding feeling gripped and twisted him. How could he not feel this way when there were important things he had placed inside that bank!
'I bet you won't keep pretending this facade once you hear the rest!' Fiona thought to herself, scrutinizing the prince before her, and continued: "The manuscripts for the Royal Fleet, the Dougma, have been stolen."
Her words fell like a thunderbolt on Prince Eduardo, but he composed himself and said: "What are you talking about?" He was unwilling to believe those words coming from Fiona's mouth. Yet, beneath that foreboding feeling, a faint smile appeared on his face... more like a mocking smile.
"As I said, but more precisely, your secret manuscripts for the Royal Fleet and shipping routes have been stolen, by an employee from the archive of that bank!" Fiona said in an alarming tone. She continued: "I know this news is shocking, but I learned that the Viscount doesn't know about this yet. Also, according to my superior intelligence, a relative of the fugitive has placed a monetary reward for anyone who finds evidence or can capture his fugitive relative!"
"Oh, that's splendid!" Prince Eduardo suddenly said with utter coldness.
"Splendid? What's splendid about your manuscripts being stolen?" Fiona was surprised by the prince's reaction, which she hadn't expected.
'Haha, you cunning woman! You truly are that fox Faust's daughter! You want to gain another point for yourselves by doing me the favor of informing me that my manuscripts were stolen? Haha, they are fake anyway, so no need for the act!' Prince Eduardo thought to himself and said: "They are just manuscripts, nothing more, nothing less! Also, they are only preliminary manuscripts, not the final ones!"
'What? Unimportant manuscripts?' Fiona thought to herself, not believing what the prince said. She couldn't imagine that the manuscripts for making fast and strong royal ships, which had terrified pirates on the maritime borders, were merely preliminary in the prince's view.
"And despite this, you don't feel anything?" Fiona said, scrutinizing him closely.
"Yes, some disappointment!" The prince put his hand on his forehead and acted the part of the sorrowful one.
'However preliminary those manuscripts are, that doesn't matter, for I believe he spent a lot of time writing and drawing them!' Fiona thought to herself and said: "Even if they are just preliminary manuscripts, I don't think they are simple. Therefore, if you want to recover them, I have strong candidates!"
'Strong candidates? She still wants to interfere, even after I told her they are just preliminary manuscripts! But let's hear what she has.' Prince Eduardo thought to himself and said: "Candidates? Who are they?"
"Yes, candidates, and they are from the elite investigators of the entire Kingdom of Lusiana and the best investigators in the city of Frendenstream! If you want to catch the fugitive before he delivers those manuscripts to the pirates, you must enlist their help!" Fiona said with full confidence.
"From the way you praise them, I think they are great investigators! When was the last time I saw you praising other people like this!" Prince Eduardo said while looking at the window behind Fiona, and suddenly, he made all the flying wood splinters shoot towards it.
Whooosh!
A strange wind blew inside the room at that moment, and all the flying wood splinters stopped and fell to the ground behind Fiona, who was looking deeply at the prince as if praising him.
"You two are better than I expected!" Prince Eduardo said, looking at the persons hiding behind the void who appeared behind Fiona... and they weren't wearing masks on their faces.
One was a large-bodied person wearing glasses, with brown hair and a strangely designed suit. The other was a person with long blond hair resembling an African lion's mane, his face emitting an unnatural light, and he also wore a strangely designed suit. But both he and the giant person bowed and said in unison: "We are honored by your praise, Your Highness the First Prince!"
Eduardo looked at them deeply, before advancing towards them and saying: "Are you two interested in taking on such tasks? You can refuse! Also, what are your names?"
Fiona froze Prince Eduardo's feet when he tried to pass by them, still sitting on the icy chair, and said: "That person is called Naru, which means 'giant' in the language of 'Virdan', and the other is called Kaizen, which also means 'lion's pride' in the language of 'Virdan'."
"Oh-ho! That's a very detailed introduction, my fiancée! But why are you freezing my shoes! They are made of the finest leather from the city of Sanyon, and I've only had them for one day!" Prince Eduardo complained with a grumbling expression, then heard the sound of ice shattering off his feet and advanced towards Naru and Kaizen, who still had their heads bowed to the prince.
'He truly is a monster!' Fiona thought to herself and said in a warning tone: "What are you planning to do? I advise you not to play with your luck, even if you are my fiancé!"
"Ooh, that's very scary!" Prince Eduardo said sarcastically, then looked at the two men before him and said: "Stand straight now, no need for all these formalities... let's get to the point! Did you conduct any preliminary investigations today?"
"Yes, Your Highness! We investigated the serial killer who is murdering innocents, especially the voters of Viscount Frederik Kolasin!" Kaizen said with all humility.
"Great work! And did you find any evidence?" asked the prince.
"No, we didn't, even though we agreed with the Bishop and the Priest to take their place today at the Shining Words Church, which is about fifty meters from the city center!" Kaizen replied.
"Ah! You played the roles of Bishop and Priest in that church? So, if you didn't find any evidence, did you find anything unusual about the people who came asking you to perform certain rituals?" Prince Eduardo asked again, putting pressure on the two men before him.
"Yes! We found that all the attendees in the church were bodies without souls! Also, we performed a reverse protection ritual for the biggest supporter of Viscount Frederik Kolasin, who attended the ceremony the Prince proposed to be held every month of the year... and there's something else!" Kaizen said while looking at the prince before him with respect.
"So you knew why you chose that church! Because you wanted to meet that famous lady who supports Viscount Frederik Kolasin! And perform a reverse ritual on her! But how did you do that and what do you mean by 'something else'?" Prince Eduardo said, ignoring the matter of the people who had no souls inside their bodies, but he clenched his fist tightly.
"As expected from the genius prince of our glorious kingdom! Your guess is correct!" Kaizen said this while taking out a strange lantern from under his strangely designed suit and continued: "With this! It's a third-level artifact, called the Pillage Torch! And it can reverse everything literally, but on the condition that there has been physical contact with the person it recognizes as its master, and that they are not more than forty meters away! And it can strengthen its effects depending on its bearer... and because we are two people at the peak of the lower levels, we were able to increase its range to sixty meters and its effects were strengthened... As for the 'something else'... it's that there were two strange persons who asked me and Naru for a protection ritual and a purification ritual! Strangely but suspiciously at the same time... and the timing of their arrival was more than that!"
"What do you mean by 'more than that'?" Prince Eduardo spoke, asking Kaizen before him.
"I mean, they arrived one minute after the famous lady entered!" Kaizen said.
"So that's how it is!" Prince Eduardo looked at the small lantern in Kaizen's hand and soon looked away from it. He said: "Just from hearing about such things you did today to catch that serial killer who threatens my people's safety, you deserve praise and a reward!" Prince Eduardo put his hand into his brown coat and threw a bag of gold coins towards Kaizen, who caught it quickly.
"I thank the Prince for his great generosity!" Kaizen said this while bowing, then put the Pillage Torch and the gold coins into his strangely designed suit.
"This is what you deserve!" Prince Eduardo said, snapping the fingers of his hand. At that moment, more than five transparent persons appeared in every corner of the room, except for one who advanced towards the prince, knelt on one knee, and placed his powerfully pulsating sword in his hands, handing it to the prince.
'I can't gauge his level!' Kaizen and Naru were surprised to see that person kneeling on the ground, and the room's atmosphere changed as the lights went out.
They were thinking what would have happened to them if Miss Fiona hadn't brought them with her. Just thinking about it made them unsure what they would do in that situation.
Kaizen wanted to kneel as well, when Prince Eduardo stopped him and signaled for him to just stand before him without kneeling. Prince Eduardo placed the sword at his right side and said: "From today onward, you will work under my wing! I want you to carry out the mission, which is to capture the fugitive with the secret manuscripts!"
"As you command! Your Highness the Prince!" Kaizen replied with all nobility.
Naru stepped forward and did the same thing, then the two looked at their mistress, who was sitting on the icy chair and looking ahead of them, so they only saw her back.
Suddenly, she stood up, and the icy chair melted in an instant. Then she turned to face their gazes, but she didn't say anything; she just stepped beside Prince Eduardo and then said: "From today onward, you are to remain under the orders of the First Prince of the great Kingdom of Lusiana." She looked unconsciously at the person kneeling before the prince and shuddered internally.
'She truly is a flattering woman!' Prince Eduardo thought to himself, then said loudly: "From today onward, these two are your colleagues, so make sure to take good care of them!"
At that moment, Kaizen and Naru didn't know why their bodies suddenly trembled for no reason, but they realized something was suspicious.
"As you command, Your Highness the Prince!" all the transparent persons in the room said, then two of them moved to where Naru and Kaizen were, quickly placed their hands on their bodies, and all of them disappeared, taking Naru and Kaizen with them in an instant.
'If their prince is a monster! Then they are a herd of monsters too' Fiona thought to herself as she walked towards the window without saying a word.
'Does that woman think she can leave before I complete the plans for her coming? Haha, not that easy!' Prince Eduardo thought to himself, then said: "Don't you want to bid farewell to your beloved fiancé? This wounds my heart!"
'What is he trying to do with this uncharacteristic behavior?' Fiona internally doubted and said: "I don't think we need a farewell because—" Fiona wanted to complete her words when she felt a hand embracing her from behind and another hand on her backside.
"What are you doing!" she shouted in embarrassment, trying to push the prince's hand away but couldn't.
"I just want to bid you farewell!" Prince Eduardo said this while skillfully lifting and turning Fiona in his arms and quickly removed her mask, revealing her beautiful face and her purple eyes that lit up in the dark room under the crimson light emanating from the large window.
But the prince didn't wait long because he soon kissed her passionately.
"Mmmmm..!" Fiona was surprised by the prince's action and wanted to scream but couldn't. Then she tried to gather the comprehensive energy in her body but couldn't for some reason, and soon surrendered in his hands.
After two minutes, Prince Eduardo moved his lips away from Fiona's, who soon pulled away, her cheeks extremely red.
"You bastard!" Fiona said this, showing an embarrassed expression on her face.
"I didn't think you could show such an expression on your face!" Prince Eduardo said this while continuing: "And even though your tongue utters bad things, its taste is delicious and sweet!"
"If you dare do this again in the future, I will do something you won't like." Fiona said this while throwing an ice bullet at Prince Eduardo and stood up. Her strength had returned strangely, but she didn't wait for anything from the prince and soon left through the large window without breaking it.
"I look forward to it!" Prince Eduardo said this while catching the ice bullet in his hands and advanced towards the large window. He looked at all the palaces below the imperial palace and the beautiful lights, free from any internal pollution or haze. Then he looked at the crimson moon in the sky and felt a great refreshment inside him... then cold smoke came out of his mouth, which was the effect of absorbing Fiona's energy, which was like frost.
Then he looked towards the large window, but this time he looked closely and saw his reflection in the window glass. But it wasn't like his shape; it was a skull with six bloody eyes, and frost was coming out of its mouth with every breath the prince took in and out of his lungs... The prince wasn't shocked, but he put his finger on his mouth as if ordering that six-eyed bloody skull to be quiet in a spine-chilling scene.
Then he said in a cold and low voice: "Man... is like a tree... its roots in darkness... and its branches in light... but darkness and light... both are from the same tree! But I am the one who nurtures that tree until it grows and bears fruit, so I may pick it and then cut it down to become firewood for my own purpose!"
…
End of Chapter ~ To be continued