Sied, even though he was a prince, loved adventure and fighting.
This was one of the reasons why he used his authority to make the general in charge of this operation place him in the company of soldiers that were going to take over the castle.
He wanted to be certain that nothing would be missed and that the evidence against Orsted would be found together with the evidence that would condemn the other nobles.
Even the commander had no idea that the 3rd prince was in his company, and contrary to his belief, none of the nobles and higher-ups of the dukedom would get to evade their charges, Sied was going to make certain of that.
The old duke was his teacher, the person that taught him everything he knew.
He had a very close relationship with him, and even though he tried bonding with Orsted in the past, it was obvious that Orsted disliked him very much.
Perhaps it was because he was more talented and thus was able to spend a lot of time with the duke, or maybe it was simply because he was everything that Orsted wished to be.
There was a point in time when Orsted was angry at himself, his father was his idol and he wished nothing else but to follow in his footsteps, but his meager talent in both magic and swordsmanship made that impossible.
After some time, the hatred that Orsted harbored for himself disappeared as he started hating his father. He was quite a hypocrite, he hated his father because he was so talented and revered by others, but had no qualms about using his identity and wealth to do anything he wished to do.
Sied's heart broke after he learned of the old duke's death, he was one of the first to go to the place where the battle took place before going to the castle to express his condolence and pay his respect to his late master and his wife.
Orsted looked heartbroken as well and the two actually spent some time together, they talked and shared stories of the old duke before Sied had to leave.
He had already lost his teacher, one of the people he cared about the most in the world, he wasn't going to lose anyone else.
The funny thing was that the soldier that Sied commanded didn't realize who he was until he arrived at the commander's office to give out a report.
The other soldiers were all staring at Sied in awe and shock as they were able to recognize him. The third son of the emperor was a major figure in the empire and many knew his face.
They all quickly kneeled down before Sied told them to get up.
"M-my prince, why, why are you here, s-since when were you-" One of the senior soldiers suddenly stopped talking as Sied lifted his hand.
"I was here since the beginning, I will explain everything later, I'm going to the castle first."
"To the castle, why my lord?"
"I am taking over the operation, this has become much bigger than we anticipated," Sied said before his figure turned into a blur as he sped to the castle.
The soldier and the commander had just started talking and the soldier was telling him of the knight who looked incredibly similar to the prince before the door opened and Sied came in.
"My prince!" The commander hurriedly stood up before trying to kneel down, only to be stopped by Sied.
"No need to kneel, we are all alone here, stand up commander, let me hear of what you have found out."
The commander simply nodded before the soldier behind them bowed and left the study.
The next 30 mins the commander spent by telling Sied everything he had uncovered from the tens of documents they had taken, and there were still more that he needed to go over.
"Those bastards!' Sied suddenly said as he controlled himself in order not to let his mana flow out.
He was in the study of his late teacher, he would never forgive himself if he unintentionally destroyed anything here.
"They really took their positions for granted huh, not even bothering to hide their crimes, as if the crown didn't exist," Sied said with a dangerous smile before looking at the commander.
"You said that you already found evidence on all the perpetrators, commander?"
"Yes sir, the other documents are just more crimes the same people had done, this is already enough to lock them up." The commander said as his hands were clenched into fists.
'I'd like to see those bastards try and slither their way out now, the prince will never let them go off the hook, no matter who their backers are.' The commander thought as a slight smile formed on his face, he knew that the prince was someone that had high moral standing and was not one to let evildoers off lightly.
"Call them over, all of them, tell them that I am here," Sied said before turning around and walking towards the door.
"I will be in the main hall."
"Yes my lord." The commander said as he bowed down.
"My lord?"
"Yes, commander?"
"What are you going to do?"
Suddenly an evil and twisted smile appeared on Sied's face whose back was turned to the commander.
"Some will die, some will spend the rest of their pathetic lives in a cell, while others, others will serve as my dogs until the end of their days, is that a fine solution in your opinion, commander?" Sied asked as the commander gulped from the coldness he felt coming from Sied.
"It is more than a fine one, my lord."
In less than 1 hour, all the nobles, ministers, and other higher-ups of the dukedom had gathered in the main hall. They had heard that the 3rd prince had personally come here and was expecting them.
All of them were scared senseless, they knew just what kind of a person the prince was and that he definitely knew what they had done in the dukedom.
As all the people in the hall were wondering where the prince was, a door that was to the side of the hall opened as the prince entered.
He didn't bother changing and was still wearing his armor while his helmet was being held in his left hand.
He calmly walked through the hall before sitting at the 2nd biggest chair that was at the head of the hall.
The largest one was the one that the duke himself had used, Sied didn't want to sit on it simply out of respect for his teacher.
The people in the hall suddenly trembled as the temperature inside dropped by a few degrees. Upon looking at the prince, they were scared senseless by the cold and murderous look in his eyes.
"Good, you are all here." The prince suddenly said as he looked down on them all.
"May I ask of you, esteemed gentlemen and ladies, why do you all look like you have seen a ghost?" Sied asked them as he put his right leg over his left one and leaned back on the chair. He leaned his head sideways and propped it up with his left hand while looking at them all from above.
The people were speechless, they knew that the prince had definitely found out about what they were doing and that they wouldn't be let off easily. Even holding on to their titles and land would be an almost impossible task.
"M-my prince, may I ask what your esteemed self is doing here?" One of the people, the head of one of the most powerful noble houses in the dukedom asked as he slightly bowed to the prince.
"Why am I here, well, it is because I found out that the son of my late teacher was assassinated, I arrived now in order to help the soldiers with uncovering what had happened."
"I see, and may this humble servant ask why you have gathered us all here today?"
"A simple question, the answer is even simpler, I wish for your cooperation, all the manpower you have, all the connections you have, I want you to use them all and find out who it was that killed Orsted, furthermore, I need a personal favor from you and a couple of others," Orsted said as he suddenly pointed at the man, alongside a couple of others.
They were the ones whose crimes, and the crimes of their family members, were the least atrocious when compared to the rest.
As for finding out who killed Orsted?
It was a futile quest as the crown itself had shielded the Midnight Dagger, no matter who tried to investigate the matter, they would get no information at all.
"The rest of you are dismissed," Sied said as the nobles looked at each other in confusion.
They were all ready to be arrested tonight, for their titles to be taken and heads to roll, instead, the prince only gathered them to ask something so simple from them.
All of them were relieved, except for some that were a bit more tactful and experienced, they knew that this matter was far from over and was in fact only starting.
Amongst the people in the crowd was one person that glanced back at the prince with an interesting glint in his eyes.
The young man simply walked out with the others before his presence disappeared as he climbed the side of the hall, his body hidden completely thanks to the large cloak he brought in order to cover himself.
After he had gotten high enough, Lyle who had just disguised himself as a noble quickly crawled into the hall from a small opening and listened in to the conversation the prince was about to have with the nobles that had stayed inside.
Sied, even though he was a prince, loved adventure and fighting.
This was one of the reasons why he used his authority to make the general in charge of this operation place him in the company of soldiers that were going to take over the castle.
He wanted to be certain that nothing would be missed and that the evidence against Orsted would be found together with the evidence that would condemn the other nobles.
Even the commander had no idea that the 3rd prince was in his company, and contrary to his belief, none of the nobles and higher-ups of the dukedom would get to evade their charges, Sied was going to make certain of that.
The old duke was his teacher, the person that taught him everything he knew.
He had a very close relationship with him, and even though he tried bonding with Orsted in the past, it was obvious that Orsted disliked him very much.
Perhaps it was because he was more talented and thus was able to spend a lot of time with the duke, or maybe it was simply because he was everything that Orsted wished to be.
There was a point in time when Orsted was angry at himself, his father was his idol and he wished nothing else but to follow in his footsteps, but his meager talent in both magic and swordsmanship made that impossible.
After some time, the hatred that Orsted harbored for himself disappeared as he started hating his father. He was quite a hypocrite, he hated his father because he was so talented and revered by others, but had no qualms about using his identity and wealth to do anything he wished to do.
Sied's heart broke after he learned of the old duke's death, he was one of the first to go to the place where the battle took place before going to the castle to express his condolence and pay his respect to his late master and his wife.
Orsted looked heartbroken as well and the two actually spent some time together, they talked and shared stories of the old duke before Sied had to leave.
He had already lost his teacher, one of the people he cared about the most in the world, he wasn't going to lose anyone else.
The funny thing was that the soldier that Sied commanded didn't realize who he was until he arrived at the commander's office to give out a report.
The other soldiers were all staring at Sied in awe and shock as they were able to recognize him. The third son of the emperor was a major figure in the empire and many knew his face.
They all quickly kneeled down before Sied told them to get up.
"M-my prince, why, why are you here, s-since when were you-" One of the senior soldiers suddenly stopped talking as Sied lifted his hand.
"I was here since the beginning, I will explain everything later, I'm going to the castle first."
"To the castle, why my lord?"
"I am taking over the operation, this has become much bigger than we anticipated," Sied said before his figure turned into a blur as he sped to the castle.
The soldier and the commander had just started talking and the soldier was telling him of the knight who looked incredibly similar to the prince before the door opened and Sied came in.
"My prince!" The commander hurriedly stood up before trying to kneel down, only to be stopped by Sied.
"No need to kneel, we are all alone here, stand up commander, let me hear of what you have found out."
The commander simply nodded before the soldier behind them bowed and left the study.
The next 30 mins the commander spent by telling Sied everything he had uncovered from the tens of documents they had taken, and there were still more that he needed to go over.
"Those bastards!' Sied suddenly said as he controlled himself in order not to let his mana flow out.
He was in the study of his late teacher, he would never forgive himself if he unintentionally destroyed anything here.
"They really took their positions for granted huh, not even bothering to hide their crimes, as if the crown didn't exist," Sied said with a dangerous smile before looking at the commander.
"You said that you already found evidence on all the perpetrators, commander?"
"Yes sir, the other documents are just more crimes the same people had done, this is already enough to lock them up." The commander said as his hands were clenched into fists.
'I'd like to see those bastards try and slither their way out now, the prince will never let them go off the hook, no matter who their backers are.' The commander thought as a slight smile formed on his face, he knew that the prince was someone that had high moral standing and was not one to let evildoers off lightly.
"Call them over, all of them, tell them that I am here," Sied said before turning around and walking towards the door.
"I will be in the main hall."
"Yes my lord." The commander said as he bowed down.
"My lord?"
"Yes, commander?"
"What are you going to do?"
Suddenly an evil and twisted smile appeared on Sied's face whose back was turned to the commander.
"Some will die, some will spend the rest of their pathetic lives in a cell, while others, others will serve as my dogs until the end of their days, is that a fine solution in your opinion, commander?" Sied asked as the commander gulped from the coldness he felt coming from Sied.
"It is more than a fine one, my lord."
In less than 1 hour, all the nobles, ministers, and other higher-ups of the dukedom had gathered in the main hall. They had heard that the 3rd prince had personally come here and was expecting them.
All of them were scared senseless, they knew just what kind of a person the prince was and that he definitely knew what they had done in the dukedom.
As all the people in the hall were wondering where the prince was, a door that was to the side of the hall opened as the prince entered.
He didn't bother changing and was still wearing his armor while his helmet was being held in his left hand.
He calmly walked through the hall before sitting at the 2nd biggest chair that was at the head of the hall.
The largest one was the one that the duke himself had used, Sied didn't want to sit on it simply out of respect for his teacher.
The people in the hall suddenly trembled as the temperature inside dropped by a few degrees. Upon looking at the prince, they were scared senseless by the cold and murderous look in his eyes.
"Good, you are all here." The prince suddenly said as he looked down on them all.
"May I ask of you, esteemed gentlemen and ladies, why do you all look like you have seen a ghost?" Sied asked them as he put his right leg over his left one and leaned back on the chair. He leaned his head sideways and propped it up with his left hand while looking at them all from above.
The people were speechless, they knew that the prince had definitely found out about what they were doing and that they wouldn't be let off easily. Even holding on to their titles and land would be an almost impossible task.
"M-my prince, may I ask what your esteemed self is doing here?" One of the people, the head of one of the most powerful noble houses in the dukedom asked as he slightly bowed to the prince.
"Why am I here, well, it is because I found out that the son of my late teacher was assassinated, I arrived now in order to help the soldiers with uncovering what had happened."
"I see, and may this humble servant ask why you have gathered us all here today?"
"A simple question, the answer is even simpler, I wish for your cooperation, all the manpower you have, all the connections you have, I want you to use them all and find out who it was that killed Orsted, furthermore, I need a personal favor from you and a couple of others," Orsted said as he suddenly pointed at the man, alongside a couple of others.
They were the ones whose crimes, and the crimes of their family members, were the least atrocious when compared to the rest.
As for finding out who killed Orsted?
It was a futile quest as the crown itself had shielded the Midnight Dagger, no matter who tried to investigate the matter, they would get no information at all.
"The rest of you are dismissed," Sied said as the nobles looked at each other in confusion.
They were all ready to be arrested tonight, for their titles to be taken and heads to roll, instead, the prince only gathered them to ask something so simple from them.
All of them were relieved, except for some that were a bit more tactful and experienced, they knew that this matter was far from over and was in fact only starting.
Amongst the people in the crowd was one person that glanced back at the prince with an interesting glint in his eyes.
The young man simply walked out with the others before his presence disappeared as he climbed the side of the hall, his body hidden completely thanks to the large cloak he brought in order to cover himself.
After he had gotten high enough, Lyle who had just disguised himself as a noble quickly crawled into the hall from a small opening and listened in to the conversation the prince was about to have with the nobles that had stayed inside.
