By now, every guest, guard and chieftain had been searched for what they didn't know about. They could tell it was a serious matter because Prince Leon would never have ordered servants to search important guests as it was an eyesore. Even the priest for the occasion had been searched, causing a brief moment of chaos that night with the man feeling insulted.
Lady Jordyn had thrown a tantrum the whole time during the search but that didn't faze the guards as they were already used to her acting up.
"Does Prince have no trust in us that he has decided to search us in such a demeaning way?!" she yelled but no one answered her as her family seemed to be caught up in their thoughts this night. What exactly was Leon searching for that he couldn't even inform the Chieftains? Lord Nicholas asked himself.
'Hmph!" Jordyn harumphed because she knew no matter how much Leon did all this, he would still marry her.
She hadn't been the only one who was angry that night because even the royal family had been searched.
"What sort of nonsense is this?!" Queen Sonia asked the guard who was leading the search who was no other than Matthew.
"I'm sorry, my Queen but it was from Prince Leon. He doesn't suspect you but he wants no place in the palace to be left unsearched!" he replied promptly.
Alice set her lips in a thin line as she too wondered what her dear brother was so bent on finding this cold night. Could it be related to her father's death? She pondered as she looked at Matthew, who seemed to be trying to withhold some information. She wanted to ask him but knew if it was truly confidential, he would not give her the reply she wanted to hear.
At the same time, she saw another guard running from the other corridor as if he had seen a ghost when Matthew stopped him and he asked,
"What is it?"
"Your attention is needed, Matthew! A suspect has been found! She is currently in the dungeon!" came the hoarse voice of the young man, Tynan.
...
A few miles away from them, amidst the chains that had been going on, Melina felt her feet turn cold at the allegation Leanna laid.
Well, yes, she was alone in the room last night but that didn't mean she was responsible for anything that she could think of them accusing her of right now.
She zoned out for a moment and quietly racked her brain for the time she had been standing there, thinking of anything she had done last night which was out of the ordinary as she only remembered taking the liberty to enjoy her time alone.
"Are you the Melina?!" came the thundering voice of the guard that brought her back to reality.
"Yes Sir! She is Melina." Ms Carlos hastily answered when she saw that Melina was yet to speak. "Pardon me for asking but what has the young maid done this time?" the woman questioned in a low voice to not face the wrath of the dishevelled-looking man in front of her.
The guard ignored her and walked up to Melina with the lash still intact in his hands, his gaze piercing the scared young girl who instinctively ran back but unfortunately for her, he was not the only servant there as two other guards came up to her and held her firmly in position while the buff man continued to approach her.
"No, please! I have done nothing wrong!" she pleaded before the man even got to her as she figured out he looked even angrier.
"Speak before I make you speak!" he said ready to strike the lash on her. Meanwhile, Ms Carlos stared in horror as she wondered what this child had done again.
When will she stop getting herself into trouble and making things worse for her? The woman thought with dread as she watched the scene unfold. She was well aware that if Melina had done something punish-worthy, she would not be left out of the punishment also.
"Speak? Speak about what?" Melina asked, a bit surprised by what he said. What was she supposed to speak about? She didn't remember doing anything much to attract trouble last night.
"I promise I don't know what you're saying!! Else I would speak the truth!" she yelled before he could flog her with the lash. She looked around and saw the different stares from her fellow maids, some with fear, pity, and excitement and others with emotions she couldn't grasp.
"Where were you last night?" she heard him inquire.
"In my quarters and inside my room, sir!" she said honestly.
"And why were you eavesdropping on the Prince's conversation near the dungeon? Are you rebelling against the royal family?!" he continued, resisting the urge to whip her as he wanted to draw info from her first.
Melina's eyes widened at the mention of her eavesdropping last night as realization dawned on her. Could it be that they had noticed her because of the can that fell? So many questions flooded her mind as to how things got here.
The man, noticing how the look on her face had changed and it seemed like she was contemplating what to say mistook it and concluded that she was guilty.
Not wanting people to hear her confession as Prince Leon still wanted the search to be kept secret, he ordered the two guards holding her
"Take her to the dungeon. I would let Matthew know we have found the culprit. Quick." before Melina could try to explain anything, the two men yanked her from the room and headed for the dark alley.
"No!" she pushed and kicked, not wanting this to happen again as she remembered the last time she was in the dungeon, she had a horrible experience. The smell of rusted iron, the smell of blood and the smell of dirt made her want to throw up as they continued to pull her. She didn't even want to think of the maltreatment she'd face with no food or water and for what? A crime she didn't commit? Culprit? What exactly had she done? That she eavesdropped on a conversation they made openly at night? She couldn't still understand what she had done wrong.
"No! Please let me go! I have no idea what you are talking about! I swear!" she wasn't giving in but the guards were too strong to be overpowered.
She couldn't help but curse her luck. Why did it always have to be her when she never did anything wrong?!
The guards finally reached the dungeon which was already open and didn't care to go down inside it to drop her as they threw her harshly down the stairs, causing her to wince in pain as her knees screeched against the stairs before they locked it.
Far away from there, Ms Carlos and the other servants were still in shock at what just happened. They could admit that Melina was very stubborn but would never have guessed that she would engage in a crime at least. This only put more fear in the hearts of the others as they saw the ruthless man order Ms Carlos
"Take me to these servants' rooms." Ms Carlos did not waste time doing as she was told so she would not be at the receiving end too.
They did a thorough search in Melina's room but after finding nothing, they extended the search to every other servant's room in the quarter. The elderly woman watched how they scattered the well-arranged rooms in search of any evidence they could put a hold on but there was not a single trace. It frustrated the man as he ran his hands through his hair, expecting to have seen something of use at least.
He left to the deeper parts of the palace, where Melina was placed, finally giving the people in the quarter space to breathe.
When he reached there, Matthew was already there as word had been passed to him that a culprit had been caught.
"Matt-" Before he could even get a chance to explain, Matthew interrupted.
"Open the bars," not ready to waste time. The guard did as he was told, seeing that Matthew was in a terrible mood.
However, when the bars had been opened, Matthew was left dumbstruck at the sight of the young girl who had curled herself up in the stretching place. He looked back and forth between her and the guard, wondering if they were joking with him. Surely, this hadn't been the one to outsmart them right? He looked at the girl with furrowed eyebrows. There was just no way...
"We met her while interrogating the servant's quarters as Prince Leon had ordered. I thought it would be best for her to confess here as she seemed to be aware of something. I saw it in her eyes." he tried to explain but Matthew just walked over to the girl with the lantern in his hand pointing it to her face.
Melina, who was already weak from shouting and crying had curled up in the space where she was left until she saw light slowly approaching her.
By the shoes of the person, she could already guess who it was.
Matthew...the Prince's right-hand man.
Subconsciously, she shifted her back on the floor as the person approached her slowly and when he got close enough to see her face clearly, she confessed,
"I'm innocent, sir, I swear!" and only saw the man's eyes widen like he had seen a ghost.