NOVEL NEXT Chapter 191: Someone is in trouble, big trouble
It wasn’t a good sign when Crown Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood walked into the Capital Investigators’ office with a folder of papers on Friday afternoon.
The junior investigator at the front desk directed them straight to Lead Investigator Henry White’s office.
Investigator White had worked on the Rosewood murders, so he was familiar with both the prince and the earl.
“Tea?” the junior investigator asked.
Investigator White glanced at the folder and said, “Yes, and call over Marais.”
Senior Investigator Louis Marais arrived promptly. After tea was served, Investigator White glanced at Prince Rian’s folder again.
Prince Rian pushed the folder towards him. “We’ve discovered an issue with several fiefs.”
Investigator White opened the folder.
The first page was a map with a cluster of three fiefs marked, all at the far north-eastern side of Sedaveria.
The three fiefs were: the Lavender fief overseen by Baron Lavender, the Dravite fief, overseen by Baron Dravite, and the Coral fief overseen by Earl Coral.
“I have reason to believe that the people have been intimidated into not leaving,” Prince Rian said. “Those who have attempted to leave have been charged with fabricated crimes and received unjust punishment.”
In the folder, the bulk of the papers contained lists of names of people and notes on what had happened to them.
Investigator White didn’t ask how Prince Rian obtained this information. Instead, he asked him to summarise the findings and the cause of their suspicion. He hadn’t expected the Rosewood census to be the first clue. And if Prince Rian was right, the lords of these fiefs wouldn’t expect this either.
“Thank you for informing us,” Investigator White finally said. “We will investigate this immediately.”
“I can fly you there in a few days, whenever you’re ready,” Earl Rosewood said.
Investigator White swallowed down his thoughts of—but this isn’t urgent. This wasn’t like the Rosewood murders, where the bodies were still burning. “Thank you for your offer,” he said. “We have several matters to prepare on our side, including investigations to be done here in the Capital. I’ll contact you ahead of time when we’ve formed a team to go out on site.” He closed the folder. “This information is already very useful.”
Prince Rian smiled faintly. “We understand and we’re grateful for your hard work, Investigators. Earl Rosewood and I are going to have an audience with my Imperial Parents on this matter. Would you like to accompany us?”
The Capital Investigators would need to have an audience with the King and Queen regardless, and Investigator White wanted to know what Prince Rian would say to them. “Please give us 15 minutes to prepare.”
“We’ll meet you at the Imperial Palace in half an hour from now,” Prince Rian said.
With that, Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood departed.
Investigator White and Investigator Marais gave each other a look. With Prince Rian’s personal concern of the case, the Capital Investigators couldn’t be complacent.
“I’ll led the investigations here,” Marais said.
“Fine, call in the rest of the team and we’ll divide them up,” White said.
Queen Mira and King Edric were sitting on their thrones in the throne room with Rian, Earl Rosewood, and Capital Investigators White and Marais came.
Queen Mira and her husband had already been alerted. They knew that there was some trouble, but not the details.
In front of outsiders, Rian was calm and clear, explaining how the lack of migration to the Rosewood fief from certain fiefs had led to them investigating further, and what they had found.
It wasn’t clear whether the commoners had been restricted from leaving before and or after Earl Ayden Rosewood came to power.
Queen Mira was fully aware that many nobles disliked Earl Rosewood. Several nobles had complained to her about their commoners leaving their fief and heading to the Rosewood fief instead, leaving empty fields and forcing them to pay commoners more to work their fields. But commoners migrating wasn’t a criminal offence, so Earl Rosewood couldn’t be taken to court over the matter.
Queen Mira could tell that Rian and Earl Rosewood cared about the people who had suffered punishment; Earl Rosewood might even feel guilty, if those people were punished for trying to head to his fief. They both looked ready to head out to those fiefs and mete justice by their own hands.
But Queen Mira’s focus was different: less on the exact specifics of what occurred, but rather what it implied.
From her perspective, these nobles were positioning themselves as the ultimate authority and blatantly disregarding and disrespecting the integrity of Kingdom’s laws and justice system.
If what Rian said was true, they were, arguably, defying Imperial power.
And she was suspicious if it was “just” restricting the movement of commoners.
Queen Mira didn’t need to look at King Edric to know that he wasn’t happy.
“I will go,” Queen Mira said.
Earl Rosewood bowed his head. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
After a weekend of preparation and planning, a large group left early Monday morning on several floating carriages. In addition to Queen Mira, Prince Rian, Earl Rosewood, and the Capital Investigators, there were their associated staff, Royal Guards, and a mage healer from the Healers’ Association and a mage healer from the Capital Hospital.
Once they left the Capital, Prince Rian cloaked the carriages with shields and Earl Rosewood took over magical control of the carriages. He raised the carriages high up into the air, far beyond their allowed limits and propelled them forward.
Looking through the window, they didn’t appear to be going fast, but that was deceptive. The fact that Queen Mira couldn’t spot their shadow on the ground made her realise just how proficient Rian was in casting shields.
No doubt he had used them for other reasons, i.e., whenever the Royal Guards lost track of him.
Back in the Capital, the information that Earl Rosewood, Prince Rian, Queen Mira, and a group of Capital Investigators were missing spread very fast.
This was no coincidence, something was up. There was trouble, big trouble. What was the trouble?
And most importantly, who was in trouble?
The nobles across the kingdom were put on edge. They didn’t know where Queen Mira and the Capital Investigators would pop up. They tried to act normal and unaffected, at least in public. Acting out-of-the-ordinary could make them seem guilty. They had to resist checking—just in case, not because they were guilty!
These nobles were right to act cautiously.
Rian, King Edric and Queen Mira had separately sent out their agents to investigate the other fiefs of their kingdom too. If they had missed what had happened in the Lavender, Dravite, and Coral fiefs, what else could they have missed?
Meanwhile, the travelling group made it across an entire fief in the morning and stopped at one very shocked and very nervous noble’s house for lunch. The entire household was sworn to secrecy for a week.
Earl Rosewood ate twice as much as usual and commandeered the carriages once more.
In her carriage, Queen Mira sat with one of her most trusted lawyers and with one of her ladies-in-waiting who also worked as her secretary. Together, they planned what they would do upon arrival.
Her network of agents was even larger than Rian, so she could mobilise them to obtain information about Baron Lavender, Baron Dravite and Earl Coral, and their fiefs twice as fast.
It didn’t take much to confirm Rian’s investigations.
There was evidence that these three families had been preventing their people from leaving by enacting physical punishment such as cutting off hands if people tried to ‘escape’ and falsifying criminal records to justify the punishments.
And there were hints of more unsavoury practices underneath.
However, Queen Mira couldn’t pass this information directly to the Capital Investigators. The Capital Investigators were independent of their agents and would need to independently confirm the situation before Queen Mira could have a public reason to charge these nobles.
The group stopped at another shocked and frightened noble’s house for dinner and to rest overnight, before they continued once more.
The Capital Investigators in their own carriage discussed via mirror-call the findings made by their colleagues back in the Capital. The tax records and other records of the three Lavender, Dravite, and Coral families were being combed through very carefully. Almost every noble engaged in some level of tax fraud, but usually it was small enough that Their Majesties turned a blind eye. But when it came to developing a case, the Capital Investigators gathered every bit of evidence and charge they could find.
They could already tell by Queen Mira’s behaviour that she had confirmed what Prince Rian had found. Now, it was the Capital Investigators’ job to officially record and document that evidence in a way that could be presented in court.
A minimum one-week 24-hour travel time was condensed down to three days.
At the moment, only Baron Dravite was in residence at his fief, having just returned from the Capital after attending the Imperial Council Gathering and evening social event. Baron Lavender and Earl Coral and many of their family members were still in the Capital—the Capital had better weather and many more peers and connections to be made.
The reason Baron Dravite typically returned was due to the mine in his fief. As a stone mage who owned the mine, he was needed to scope out where the miners should work next.
The group reached the Lavender fief first. Up north here, the days were already very cold.
Earl Rosewood released his control of the carriages, and Queen Mira directed them at a normal pace to the Lavender family’s main manor, while the Investigators headed into town.
Currently in residence were the relatives of Baron Lavender. Their hearts jumped out of their chests when their guests arrived.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness, Earl Rosewood, welcome to our humble home! How can we help you? We will prepare quarters for you right away.”
The only person who gave a return smile was Prince Rian, but it made them feel worse.
Dinner that night felt like walking on a tightrope. Given the rumours in the Capital, this was one time they didn’t want Queen Mira’s attention! And where were the Investigators?
The next day, the Lavenders did their best to serve their visitors. The most senior and well-respected Lavenders accompanied Queen Mira and gave her a tour of their fief. Two younger adult Lavenders accompanied Prince Rian, who wanted to visit the local towns and markets.
Hereward Lavender who was assigned to Earl Rosewood was the most relaxed but least happy, as Earl Rosewood wanted to see the fief’s farms and talk to the farmers.
“I can go by myself,” Earl Rosewood said.
“No, no, how can I let a guest do that?” Hereward said with polite concern, while internally annoyed. “Allow me to take you where our farmers work.”
The farmers were understandably fearful and hesitant when one of the Lord Lavenders ordered them to congregate. Aside from Lord Hereward Lavender, there was a group of unfamiliar people.
“This is Earl Rosewood, he’s visiting us and wants to examine the fields and talk to you,” Lord Hereward Lavender said. “Answer all his questions.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Some of the farmers glanced furtively at Earl Rosewood.
So that’s Earl Rosewood. He’s taller than the rumours said...But why is he here?
“You don’t have to answer any of my questions,” Earl Rosewood said. “I’m involved in the Royal Agricultural Development and Food Security Program, which is aimed at supporting farmers to ensure that you never go hungry, and to improve your quality of life. But first, I want to learn how you farm and hear what problems you have and determine what solutions we can offer you.”
The farmers remained silent.
Then, one swallowed, and said nervously, “My Lord, it’s already winter here. All our planting is done.”
“Has Baron Lavender set up any greenhouses to provide fresh vegetables in the winter?”
The farmers were silent.
“We don’t have a greenhouse ourselves, let alone the farmers,” Lord Hereward Lavender said.
“Then what vegetables do you eat during the winter?” Earl Rosewood asked.
“The steward manages that,” Lord Hereward Lavender retorted.
Earl Rosewood turned back to the farmers. “And do you have enough food to last the winter? Do you have enough heating and clothes?”
“My Lord, we’ve lived here for years,” the bravest farmer said.
Earl Rosewood’s gaze swept across the farmers. “Please, if you can, just show me around the farms.”
Silence.
Lord Hereward Lavender was reluctant to push. He didn’t want to go traipsing in the fields!
One of the farmers that had recognised Earl Rosewood’s finally took the lead. She led Earl Rosewood and the others, pointing out the fields, including the fields that had already been sown with winter wheat, the sheds, and the animals.
At the end of it, Earl Rosewood said thank you and asked the Lavender relative to take him to see another group of farmers.
After Earl Rosewood and the others left, the farmers looked at each other; more than one shivered. Without realising it, they had felt warm when Earl Rosewood was around.
“That…”
“We can’t stand and talk here.”
The farmers headed indoors and brewed a hot drink to warm up.
“You’ve heard of Earl Rosewood before?”
“Don’t you remember what happened to Teddy?”
Scowl. “What about him? If he hadn’t tried to steal, he wouldn’t be—”
“Steal? Don’t tell me you believe that! He was carrying his own things, he was trying to leave here and head to the Rosewood fief!”
“What are you talking about? How can someone like us even get to the Rosewood fief? And why?”
“Just follow the official road to the Capital…the Rosewood fief is near there.” Exhale. “I heard that Earl Rosewood gives out free food and free housing there, and everyone can learn to read, and no one goes hungry or cold…”
“Tch! Who believes that? Where did you even hear that?”
“There were some traders in the autumn markets…”
“Those traders could say anything and you’ll believe it!”
“If it’s not true, why would they be so concerned about Teddy trying to leave? And it’s not just him…”
“As long as you keep your head down and work, you won’t have to worry about anything, you lazy sod.”
“Go back to work.”
No one voiced the suspicion that something was going to happen. They were just small, weak farmers, and they had to behave.
At the end of the day, Queen Mira informed the Lavenders that she planned to leave the next day.
This gave them a sense of relief.
However, that relief was wiped out when Queen Mira said: “Baron Lavender is being put under house arrest, and the Lavender family’s management of this fief is currently suspended while investigations continue. I’m taking over in the interim.”
Meanwhile, back at the academy:
Dean Palatinate: The exam results have been finalised, wonderful! Wait, Prince Rian and Earl Rosewood are missing???!!
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