Bab 66: Chapter 65
Kingdom of Alba…
Avery's pov;
After the Eunuch broke the news to us , we rushed outside to take a carriage and go to 'the crime scene' I would call it.
We don't know who got killed exactly but the damage will still be the same no matter who it is and plus I don't personally know these ladies and from what they have done to Ethera maybe it's karma. That sounds very mean but truth nonetheless.
Anyways I rode alongside Tobias and he was panicking the whole way. I tried my best to calm him down and try to uplift him with jokes but I should have known that was not the way to go.
Wrong timing even for my jokes. Eric wouldn't have minded.
Why am I even bringing him up? Eric is Eric and Tobias is well Tobias plus he is a king so he has to take himself more seriously.
We arrive to our destination and I see the two adjacent gates with the names lady Grace on one side and lady Chantal on the other.
We quickly understand they are the women the Eunuch announced dead.
"Your grace!! This is a tragedy! We must get justice for this was not an accident" A woman close to her 40s say , I think she is the one responsible for maintenance in one of those lady's house.
She kept bawling and yelling justice , she knelt down i front of Tobias begging for justice to be served.
"Your grace , please provide justice for our lady as well" another head of maid says as she kneels as well.
Poor Tobias , he is not even given time to accept the event that just occurred.
How can they just throw themselves at him like this without even giving him the time to mourn?
These women really *sigh.
I come closer to Tobias and hold his arm in support. He looks at me and his face instantly relaxes a bit.
He then looks back at them "Where are the bodies" he asks.
They stand up and lead us to a big room inside one of the lady's house and there lies two bodies on sort of tables , they are covered in a white cloth.
In the room we are met with the Queen who was talking to a man whom I assume is a doctor/physician.
Once she finishes talking to him she comes directly to our direction, pushes me slightly away and takes my place by the king's arm.
Rude. I look back at her with anger and honestly if it wasn't for this situation that is tragic I would have ripped her hair off her scalp.
Tobias looks at her and then back at me , I just smile and nod telling him it was okay.
I am glad he checks up on me still , I guess he is used to her being like this at this point. Attention seeker much and a little insecure I would say, I mean if you are the Queen you shouldn't feel the need to affirm your place because it is secured but consider how she acts towards Ethera I know she must be jealous and scared I or rather Ethera will take her place, doesn't seem like a bad idea to me and it is very possible considering the close relationship Ethera has built with the king.
I just smirk at her and ignore the rest of her show focusing on the matter at hand. The dead consorts.
Then the physician comes to us and gives his apologies and presents his condolences to the king.
"What was the cause of death Mr.Li?" Tobias asks.
The man sighs and says "It seems to be poisoning but there are no traces of the poison, it was done quite clean. Nothing is left but considering there are no cuts on the bodies it means it can only be poisoning"
Tobias sighs as well "I do not understand how this could happen. All the food is first tasted before given to my consorts so how could this happen?"
"Guards! Bring all the maids of my late wives here right now" Tobias commands.
Good call the maids must have something to do with this, they are the closest to the ladies.
The maids are brought forth and are questioned.
All of them feign innocence and say they don't understand what happened.
Apparently the ladies didn't have any meal in the harem right before dying as they came from the Queen's quarters and so no one brought anything to them.
"Perhaps then we should interrogate the Queen's maids as well your majesty" I say.
He looks at me and nods in agreement, the Queen doesn't look happy about this , she sends me a glare and it looks could kill I would be six feet deep right now.
"This is ridiculous! Are you perhaps trying to accuse me of poisoning them lady Ethera?" The Queen yells at me about how I am insolent and that I am trying to run her name in the mud.
I don't know why she is so fired up , I just gave a suggestion plus I didn't make any accusations. It's not her we are interrogating but rather her maids.
When I open my mouth to answer to her provocation I am stopped by Tobias who tells me to calm down with just a simple tilt of his head and warmth of his eyes.
I'll listen just cause he is cute.
He ignores the Queen's sulking and blabber and calls for her maids. Straight to business I like that, serves her right. She be really thinking she owns us all sometimes , she needs to be humbled and he does a good job at it.
When the maids are called in , a particular girl shows up as well . Helga. I kind of expected her to appear eventually since she works in the harem , at least now I know she works directly under the Queen. I guess birds of the same feather do flock together. Evil to evil. Great match I must say.
She kneels alongside the other maids as they are questioned by Tobias.
Conclusion is none of them knows anything either. They all claim to have seen them last when they were exiting the meeting with the Queen.
This just doesn't add up and the fact that Helga is involved and all this is happening is fishy.
What has she been up to?
After this I should try going to her , I still have to take back my amulet after all.
The interrogation ends with no clear conclusion and Tobias decides to dismiss the case and just proceed with burial since this was leading no where.
Their respective families will be informed of this and a ceremony will be held at the palace to send them off to the after life.
As we go outside I try to find Helga but she suddenly disappeared. Shit. Now what?
I can't just go to the Queen's quarters to find her , I will look suspicious. Think Avery, think…
I look towards Tobias and see the Queen is still by his side , she is doing some dramatic stances and looks like she is dehydrated.
Maybe if I use that and fake trying to escort her back to her quarters I can go without looking weird.
Okay let's get it.
"Your grace! You look pale , the events of today must have shocked you . Allow me to escort you back to your chambers" I say taking her from Tobias.
He looks at me like I have grown two heads , he knows I don't like her so he is confused but he just lets me take her even after she makes a scene and demands he be the one to escort her. Such a crybaby.
"I refuse to be escorted by you. Who knows it might have been you who poisoned them and now you want to do the same with me. I will not give you the chance" I gasp actually shocked she is now accusing me.
This woman really knows no limit does she?
Tobias steps in and puts his hand on the back of my waist calming me "What are you on about Thelma? Why would you accuse others without proof? And plus I already dismissed this case . We will now start the mourning period , I don't need you going around pointing fingers. Let go of past grudges for this is not the time or place to make such claims"
I look at him with a calm smile , I am grateful he takes my side when it comes to her.
"Tobias you are really being biased right now. Every time it concerns her you always take her side!" The Queen yells in desperation.
"You can't blame me when you act so recklessly Thelma" he answers.
He then takes my hand and we move away from her going towards the carriage.
"Where are we going?" I ask as I sit inside.
He sighs and rubs my hand in his "I just want to take you away from the harem for now. I am sure you don't want to deal with this and I am sorry for Thelma. She really is in a daze right now with everyone dying around her so she easily points fingers" he tries to explain and I understand , just not the part of her being mean because of her trauma though. That is no excuse.
"Just because someone goes through hardships it still doesn't give them the right to be mean to others" I say .
"Okay okay , I don't want you to get mad. Let us just go take a walk to release some tension" he says and I actually laugh.
"What?" He asks clueless.
"It's just that, you said we should go on a walk to cool off some steam as if the breeze is supposed to just make all the dissatisfaction disappear" I chuckle some more.
He just looks at me and I start to feel self conscious, did I say something wrong? Wrong joke perhaps?
"Your laugh… it is the most beautiful sound to me" he suddenly says with a sweet smile on his face.
*blush *blush *extreme blush.
What do I say to that? How does Ethera survive this man on a daily basis?
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone