While the commotion between Alice and Matthew was going on, the sly last child of Lord Nicholas, Lady Jordyn had made her way to where Leon sat.
"Greetings, my Prince." she greeted with a slight bow before raising her head and smiling at Prince Leon, whose eyes narrowed at her.
Since when did she ever respectfully greet him? He scoffed in his head.
"I hope you are having a wonderful time here." he awkwardly replied as he was still not used to being around her especially when he had zero interest in her.
"Of course, It would have been having a wonderful time here if not for the unfortunate event that is being celebrated." she was referring to the King's death.
"hmm" was all he could let out, abruptly feeling a sting of pain in his heart for his dead father.
"...But the deed has been done, my love. We can't keep dwelling on the past especially when we have a beautiful future ahead of us, don't you think?" she said coming to stand close to him when he subconsciously pushed the chair back, not liking the scent of her. Even her presence was disgusting. What could he truly like in this woman bestowed on him since he was little? From her character to her looks and language including her family, there was nothing to write home about.
Meanwhile, Lady Jordyn's eyes narrowed at him not liking how he was always avoiding her after all these years and even now that his father was dead. He would soon become the King and she will be his queen. He needed to at least give her some regard.
She sternly looked at him before she uttered "Look, my love...' she slightly leaned down to whisper in his ear. "You can avoid me all you want but you are already aware that I am your intended whether you like it or not and I will soon become your wife and queen of this kingdom which you can do absolutely nothing about so you had better start learning to cope with me so things could be easier for us in the future!" she spat at the end before walking away, angrily.
Leon watched her walk away just a few seconds after she had approached him which only made him smile internally. Maybe frustrating her would at least push her away from him...he thought.
.
At the other side of the castle, away from the rest of the guests, Sir Julian had pulled Lady Alice to a quiet corner after his confrontation with Matthew.
"I said let go!" she screamed at the top of her voice which only made him grip her harder until he came to a stop. "What is wrong with you?! Do you not have any respect for a woman at all?" she asked in frustration. What type of children did Lord Nicholas raise? They were all spoilt! And to make things worse, they had to be the ones betrothed to them!
"I should be asking you that question Alice. What were you trying to do there? Speaking to another man in front of your betro-"
"And since when did that become a crime?" she cut him.
"You were speaking to a useless servant! A man at that! You know your father would never allow that to happen if he were to be alive. His head would be dangling on the cold floors of the dungeons by now!" Sir Julian fired on.
"You know very well that if my father was alive, you would not even dare to pull me the way you did a few moments ago because your hands will be cut and given to the dogs to feed on!"
SLAP!!
Lady Alice gasped as she felt a metallic taste in her mouth, the pain slowly stinging her and shock gradually filling her head. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes before bringing her hand to place at the corner of her mouth that now had a tear and brought it to her face with her eyes widened.
Blood...
had he just slapped her? She asked herself in disbelief. Before she could even speak, he did another unexpected thing.
Sir Julian brought his hand forward and pulled her behind by the hair closer to him where he could now feel his breath on her right ear before he declared in a warning tone "Too bad for you that your father is dead...but you will have to start following my orders from now on if you don't want this to happen more often."
She tried to remove his hands that were tangled in her hair which only made him yank it with more pressure, causing her to rasp.
"And I will warn you for the last time to not let me see you with that worthless human unless you will both pay for it" he finished off before letting go of her hair and giving her a minute to breathe. He coldly walked to the front of the door and turned the doorknob before halting to say "And don't even bother tattle-taling about me with your brother because it will only make your circumstances worse" and then he left.
It was now a bewildered Alice left in the room with slightly teary eyes and a torn lip just blankly gazing at the door where Julian had left through. 'There was no way...' she muttered to herself.
She had never been slapped her entire life even by her parents and though, she knew that Sir Julian was a narcissist and loved to demean people, this was a discovery. She would never have even expected this in the next coming years even if she had been forewarned and to say it was on the day her father was being buried...only made it much more embarrassing.
Not wanting anyone to meet her in this state, she swallowed and wiped her tears properly before tidying up her messed hair and walking away.
.
While the celebration was going on in the inner place of the castle, Matthew already stepped out with a lantern to lead him as it was already turning dark. He went deeper into the castle, where most of the servants stayed before stopping in front of the palace guard, who didn't need anyone to tell him before he bent down and opened the iron bar.
Matthew got inside and descended the staircase, coming to stand in the stinky place. Covering his nose, he walked distant inside and brought out a key from his breast pocket and then opened the gate to stand inside the creek-looking place.
He look down at the already decaying body which belonged to the King. His eyes narrowed at the scenery as he was sure that they had left the knife here stuck in his throat. Confused for a minute, he looked around the body to see if the knife may have fallen but there was no sign of a knife around.
How was that possible..? Their plan had not even been carried out yet but had been ruined. Realization hit him so quickly that he busted out of the room to the other bars as if looking to find a suspect hiding between the closed bars. Not finding anyone, he rushed and climbed the stairs back up, opening the iron bar himself, almost breaking it before he dropped the lantern and picked up the bodyguard guiding the place by his collar.
"Where is it?! Who got in this dungeon?! Speak before I cut your tongue!" he yelled at the guard who seemed dumbstruck and confused as to what was happening.
"The evidence... it's gone before it was even used. Did you leave this place by any means or not follow the Prince's orders?! Confess now or Prince Leon will have your head rotten inside this dungeon" he threatened the guard who now subconsciously knelt with his both hands up like he was pleading for his life.
"I can swear I did not by mistake step foot out of here for any reason, Matthew. I would never betray Prince Leon like that!" he said in a frightened voice as his body was now cold. Even though he was sure no one came here, he began to doubt his mind and tried to remember if he had even seen a trace of suspicion from anyone before he looked up at Matthew again shaking his head vigorously.
Matthew was not having any of it as he threw a punch the guards way, enough to bust his lip and alert the other wardens.
"You better speak up now that you have the chance to...maybe the prince will your life because there is no explanation for this type of incident. How did such evidence leave without anyone having access to the dungeon...not just that but the deepest parts of it. Explain how?!" Matthew was starting to lose his mind at the thought of what has happened. How did this killer manage to outsmart them?
Things were going to get even more complicated...