"What happened?" Laplace questioned. Laplace stood up and walked closer to the king. His tone seemed curious and concerned.
"There were some assasins in the parade near the crowd. That is why I canceled the parade early. Luckily, I managed to catch two of the four before they caused any serious harm." The king whispered to Laplace in a serious tone.
Laplace was shocked. I didn't notice any thing strange? Being the king is much harder than I thought. How did he manage to notice the assassins so quickly?
"What did you do the other two assassins?" Laplace said curiously. The king took a moment to answer.
The king had somewhat of a sad look on his face as he replied. "Unfortunately, they ran away. But don't worry, they're nothing the king of Crystal can't handle."
Laplace was speechless. These are the true duties of a king. "Oh…"
The king said no more and walked out of Laplace's room, to give Laplace some time to think.
Laplace tried to take his mind off the assassins for a moment. He forgot about the upcoming trip. Just then, Laplace realized he knows nothing about the location they're going to.
Laplace opened his door to the red hallways. He was trying to find his father. He searched the main room, the other bedrooms, the dining room, and on the court yard.
Laplace thought: Where is father? Laplace walked back to his room but suddenly crossed paths with Sapphire. Sapphire was walking next to a black haired woman with red eyes and tall slim build. She was wearing a silk black dress with a black panty hose.
…
The interrogation room, beneath the palace. There was a jail cell surrounded with cobblestone walls. In the cell, there were two men hanged to a wooden chair with ropes. Their hands were tied back to the chair, and there was cotton in their mouths.
Their fingernails were torn off, and they had bruises all over their bodies. The king, who stood in front of the two hostages, was filled with thoughts:
They still haven't spoken a word. How loyal could they be? At this rate, we aren't going to get anything out of them.
The king pointed at the two guards who were behind the hostages, then pointed at the wooden tweezers.
One of the guards immediately grabbed a tweezer and handed it to King Maxwell. The king moved closer to where the hostages were held.
He focused on the eyelashes of the hostage on the right. He slowly plucked out eyelashes one by one, leaving him with no eyelashes.
Then, he moved the hostage's eyelid up, and poked his pupil with the tweezer. The hostage tried to resist, but he could not overpower the ropes that were tying him down.
The hostage's eye turned red and he spilled tears. His eyesight was cut in half. The king put the tweezer down on the stone floor.
King Maxwell looked at the guards again, and spoke in a low tone. "Knife." The guard closest to the knives pulled out the sharpest knife and moved to the king. He held the knife out and bowed.
King Maxwell took the knife and pulled on an eyelid of the hostage's with his empty hand. He slowly cut the eyelid, but did not cut it fully.
He gave the hostage one more chance. "Where is your boss?" The king removed the cotton from the hostage's mouth.
As soon as the cotton was removed, the hostage panted and gasped for air. He took a moment to catch some of his breath.
Still panting, the hostage croaked. "Lumian..." The hostage wept tears knowing his fate, but he couldn't stand this any longer.
The king took a step back and pondered: Lumian..that's where the merchants and Laplace are going tommorow..I'll let him solve this problem..
The king nodded and turned around. He ordered the guards to cut the rope off them and fix them up. He made sure to tell them to keep them in the jail cell.
The king left the jail cell first and went up the stairs to the main room.
…
Laplace looked at sapphire and asked in a concerned tone. "Hey, have you seen father anywhere? I've been trying to look for them."
Sapphire was curious about Laplace's interest in her father but set that aside. "If my memory serves me correct, I saw him in the main room a few minutes ago.
Laplace was confused. I was just there, and sapphire was no where near the main room.
Laplace shrugged and looked the the woman in the black dress. "And you must be?" Laplace asked.
The tall woman smiled and tilted her head. "Your mother, Alicia!" She reached her arms out, seemingly asking for a hug.
He was speechless and full of thoughts: She… is my mother? Where has she been all this time, no, all of my life?
Laplace zoned back in and cleared his thoughts. Sapphire pushed him into his mother. Laplace understood the moment and hugged her back.
"It's good to see you again, son." Alicia's eyes became watery as she smiled. She hugged him tighter and rested her head on his shoulder.
Laplace felt emotional after feeling warm droplets of water on his shoulder. He held back his tears and hugged his mother tighter.