The next day in the Palace.
"Emperor Father." He called his father casually. Crown Prince Rayzen did not even care to announce his arrival prior to entering the Emperor's study room.
"Greetings to the Emperor!" Attendant Ling announced.
"Attendant Ling, I need to talk with my son privately."
Attendant Ling bowed then excused himself leaving the father and son to talk.
The emperor smiled at his son. He just felt proud of his successor. His child, was the most amazing thing that happened to him next to his wife, ofcourse. But since he was the Emperor, father of the whole Southern Kingdom, he needed to show his fair treatment to all his fellowmen. That is why, he dotes on his son discreetly and only the Empress knows about this. His Concubines and other siblings did not know of this matter.
"Your Majesty, I am here to report the matter of the successive murders happening in the kingdom this past few days," he said.
"Son, you do not need to be formal with me. What's the status of your investigation?" The emperor inquired curiously.
This chain of murder was making his fellowmen afraid of going outside. Furthermore, they are becoming restless because it can happen to them anytime and anywhere. So many complains were being received by the palace everyday.
"We are already close to catching the culprit Father, but the one we captured still wouldn't want to talk. We already gave him all types of torture but still refuse to talk," he responded.
There was a sudden silence in the room. He was contemplating if he would tell the new information he just had but he decided to tell him anyway.
"Father, my shadow guards got a new information but we do not know yet if this is a diversion or part of the murder," he spoke.
"What is it?" The emperor was more curious now.
"There was a woman. Every murder scene we went to investigate leads to a trace of a woman which we believe can be either an accomplice or the mastermind. Either way, the woman is still a witness. We do not have any concrete information for why she was always there. I think she might be involved in this but as to the reason why she was doing this is not yet clear." The Crown Prince was also puzzled with this information because it creates another set of headache. But it doesn't matter since it was a challenge to him.
"I see. Carry on with your investigation. Whether she is involved directly or indirectly might be another clue for the real mastermind. You do not need to worry about our people, you have your brothers and sisters to control the crowd." The Emperor is a wise man. He knows that his son will get to the bottom of this. And he already had a plan to counter the worries of his fellowmen.
After a while, the Emperor suddenly rememberd someone.
"Son, Lady Melina was here awhile ago. She was looking for you. Did you already meet her?" He informed.
"I was out all day father. I did not meet her," he responded indifferently. He suddenly knitted his brows because he remembered the woman at the restaurant.
Noticing the look his son has, he queried. "What's the matter son?"
"Father, I would like to ask something." He wanted to clarify his feelings this afternoon so he decided to ask his father for an advise.
"Tell me what it is," he commanded.
"Father, I think I felt something thump here uncontrollably." He points towards his heart and continued, "What is this called father? Is this the thing they called love?"