Chapter 101: MURDER IN THE HOUSE
MURDER IN THE HOUSE
One of the reasons I came to Eloora city was to find Oriese' father, Orol. He was taken by the Mithridocus family to their family mansion in Eloora city. Previously I had some beef with the Mithridocus family, and I wondered if Orol's situation had something to do with them.
Orol was brought into the banquet hall of the king at the order of Minister Kimon, bringing a murder case to the banquet of the king.
"Must you do this now on my wedding?" King Laventios asked Minister Kimon impatiently.
"This is an urgent matter for the state, your majesty. We need to deal with this with utmost urgency", Minister Kimon reported to the king.
"Now, what did you bring to me?" King Laventios asked the minister.
"Oriese, why are you here?" Orol asked me the moment he saw me in the hall, but he was stopped from speaking by the templar knights who escorted him.
"Don't worry, we will get down to the bottom of this conspiracy", I replied to Orol.
The crowd listened in on the case, wondering what the conspiracy was all about.
Suddenly, a coffin was brought into the hall.
"Damn you, Kimon. Why must you bring a corpse into my wedding?" Laventios asked the minister.
"The corpse belongs to Prince Stamatis of the Appolokis family", Minister Kimon told the king who was shocked by the revelation.
"Prince Stamatis is the regent of the Appolokis family, and his death carried repercussions throughout the kingdom. This matter must be dealt with urgently like what Minister Kimon said", Prince Samlee said to the king, and he merely kept quiet.
"You shouldn't have brought this matter out now in front of all our guests? This should be dealt with in a Royal Inquiry," Prince Raslee chided the minister.
"Like Prince Samlee said, this matter is of utmost importance to the state that the king must attend to immediately", Minister Kimon told Prince Raslee.
"I object. We are shocked by the murder of our patriarch but at the same time we must get to the bottom of this, and our family must be a part of the investigations", Duke Kiriakos from the Appolokis family voiced his objection to the private enquiry.
"Let them proceed. This matter is now known by every family in Drachia, they will question our impartiality if the matter is brought to a closed court, especially to the aggrieved Appolokis family", King Laventios told his son.
"So, what happened here?" Prince Raslee asked Minister Kimon.
"The Duke of Orol murdered Prince Stamatis in the Mithridocus residence. We have proof that the magic that killed the prince belongs to the duke", Minister Kimon presented the case.
"I am innocent, the prince attacked me from behind, I merely retaliated in self-defense", Orol shouted out to explain.
"So, you admit that you killed Prince Stamatis?" Minister Kimon asked Orol but he denied killing the prince.
The King looked at me who didn't look too concerned about the case that involved a murder by my father. That was rather surprising to him.
"Earl Oriese, do you have any thoughts about this murder committed by your father?" King Laventios asked me.
"Yes, there are things that puzzle me", I replied to the king.
"What is there to be puzzled about, Duke Orol killed Prince Stamatis", Minister Kimon screamed at me.
"Let the Earl continue", the king said to the minister who stopped his shouting.
"When did this murder happen?" I asked.
"The murder happened three days ago", another witness who came with Orol said.
"Who is this?" I asked.
"I am Geoffraie, the Grand Elder of the Mithridocus family", Prince Geoffraie replied to me.
"Did you witness the murder of the prince?" Duke Kiriakos asked Prince Geoffraie.
"No, I didn't and neither did any one of my servants", Prince Geoffraie told us.
"Did anybody witness the murder of Prince Stamatis at all?" King Laventios asked.
"We don't have a witness, but the evidence points to the Duke of Kaleon. His magic killed the prince", Minister Kimon replied to the king.
I was surprised by Geoffraie's response.
Initially, I thought Orol was framed for murder by the Mithridocus family. But if he was so framed, the Mithridocus family must bring out a fake witness to frame Orol.
However, the murder case was determined by circumstantial evidence only and the Mithridocus family did not offer any incriminating evidence against Orol.
The one who was bent on prosecuting Orol was Minister Kimon.
"Who the hell is this Kimon? Is he one of my enemies?" I asked myself and wondered.
This minister Kimon was rather against me and my newspaper the moment I came to this banquet.
"Do you have anything to add?" King Laventios asked me.
"Yes, your majesty", I replied to the king before I asked, "Minister Kimon, when did you first discover this murder case?"
Minister Kimon was shocked that I would bring the questioning to him.
"That is my prerogative, I do not have to answer that", Minister Kimon told me trying to avoid my question.
"Answer him Kimon", the king commanded Minister Kimon.
"I knew about the case three days ago", Minister Kimon replied to us.
"Unbelievable. How can you not report the killing of our patriach to us immediately when it was discovered", Duke Kiriakos questioned Minister Kimon angrily.
This matter was getting interesting.
"Minister Kimon is busy with the preparations of this banquet. He must have forgotten about this", Prince Samlee said to the defense of the minister.
"Preposterous, all the major families are here in the banquet, didn't you decide to let the king or any of us know that our patriarch was killed?" Duke Kiriakos asked Minister Kimon.
"This murder investigation is not about me, it is about the Duke of Kaleon", Minister Kimon replied to the duke.
"You sat on this case for three days. A matter of utmost importance to the state involving the death of the regent of one of the noble families. You decided to keep this matter from the king for three days and decided to bring this matter out in front of all the families in the kingdom now at the king's wedding. What is your damn motive and purpose?" I asked Minister Kimon to the shock of everyone around us.
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