As he arrived home, he found out that a ball had been thrown to celebrate his success. So, although he only wanted to speak with his parents about his day, he now had to speak with two hundred guests, receive presents and a lot of brown nosing, while smiling to everyone as if he was most delighted to meet them. Even if he didn't want to, that's how he was raised, so it came to him naturally. He found out that his father had announced before his arrival that he was probably tired after such a day, so the ball would last only for 2 hours. At the end of those hours, after sending off all the guests, William finally had the chance to speak to his father. He started his story with a little description about Oliver, whom he described as smart, athletic and friendly. He mentioned that he was form the village that was very close to the capital. As he was talking about Oliver, his father became suspicious, but William didn't notice. He moved on and talked about the written exam and then about the fact that he had lunch with Oliver, who loved everything and said that he had only seen those dishes in books. As the Duke heard that, he became even more suspicious... William continued his story, getting to the practical exam about which he said they both beat the martial arts master, ending his narrative with how Oliver beat him at the obstacle course. He said that Oliver moved through all the obstacles as if he was dancing and that it looked very natural when he did so. At that point his father simply asked: "Did he find out that you are my son?" to which questions William said excitedly: "Yes! He did! And the best part was that it didn't even look like he cared. That's why I like him so much! He's my friend only because he wants to and not for the benefits of it."
William was ready to continue his story after this short interruption, but his father suddenly shouted: "Guards, go to this village, capture that boy and take him to the dungeon! ... Actually... I'm coming with you! William, go to your room!" and he wanted to leave.
"What?!? Father! You're joking, right? What has gotten into you?!?" said William uneasy and nervous.
"My decision is final." said the Duke.
"You're serious?!? You can't do that! Please, stop!" cried out William as he blocked the door.
"William, move out of my way!" said the Duke on an even more serious tone while signaling the guards.
"You have absolutely no reason to do this..." but before he could continue his argument, the guards had picked him up and before he knew it, he was locked in his room. William just could't wrap his head around it. He felt like he was under house arrest.
Now he was furious. What was wrong with his father? His father had always been more than protective of him, but what could have determined him to go all out? It was true that his father inspected every family, parent and child, a thousand times before inviting them over to their palace, just to make sure that they couldn't bring any harm to anyone in their household and that he always had guards follow William everywhere he went, but could the fact that Oliver had not been checked beforehand be such a big deal?
Thinking about it for a while he realised something. Their country had been in conflict with the Kingdom of Tatras for some time, and although the Kingdom of Sapphire never wanted to get in a fight with them, their neighbors were a greedy nation, and wanted all the lands of this world to themselves. Given their greed, they had a big war many years ago and the Kingdom of Sapphire won, but didn't take control over the Kingdom of Tatras. They just wanted peace. However, the Duke had led the army then and he had fought the King of Tatras personally. The Duke came out as the victor and the King of Tatras died. Since then, there have been numerous attempts to his life and to his family members lives, however, all unsuccessful due to the Duke's precaution. This was the reason why Williams father was so protective of him. He was his only son... he didn't want to lose him and William knew this, but he just didn't like having so many restrictions and guards following him everywhere. He hadn't really mind it until now, but now he knew that his father was going after Oliver, his very first true friend...
As he looked out the window he saw his father leaving with some guards and with a very dangerous expression on his face and then something he heard recently came to mind: lately there were a lot of rumors about some slave traders from the Kingdom of Tatras and the last person who disappeared was a maid. The last time she was seen was the day when some people from a close village came into the capital searching for The Royal Academy. His father was in charge of the search for the slave traders and that's why William knew so much. It couldn't be that his father thought that Oliver was somehow related to the slave traders, or even worse, that he was actually one of them, targeting William, right?
All he could do was hope that there was nothing shady about Oliver or about the people from his village. The Duke was a very righteous man. If they were innocent, then his father would just interrogate them and let them go, but if any one of them was suspicious...