Robert's POV
The next morning, I was walking down the hallway while yawning, only to come across a commotion coming from the family archives room. Curious, I decided to go there, only to see that there are guards dominating the room. My grandfather and aunt are being interviewed by one of them. Blaise and Max looked so worried and concerned.
"Uh, what's going on here?" I asked them.
Everyone then looked at me, and Blaise greeted, "Oh, good morning, Robert-kun. Something terrible had happened to us."
"What is it then?" I asked back.
"Your father's sword…" grandpa glanced at me, "…it was missing."
His response really shocked me a lot. "WHAT?!"
I then ran to the glass display, only to see a hole and a missing sword, my father's precious sword.
"But, who did it?" I asked in shock.
"We had no idea." the captain of the guards shrugged, as if he doesn't know who did it, "but we'll investigate about it."
"Thank you so much," grandpa replied back while bowing for a few seconds.
"Yes, we'll do our best," the captain of the guards responded.
While they kept on talking, I thought to myself, "I better tell this to William-kun, Emma-chan, and Peter-kun."
So, after breakfast, I dressed in my travel clothes and went to the palace on foot. Not long after, I arrived there and asked the guards to let me in.
"Who are you, kid?" the palace guard asked me while looking at me seriously.
"I am the prince's close friend!" I declared myself boldly.
"I see. Come with me."
"Oh, right, sir."
Me and that guard then went inside the palace grounds and into the palace itself via the main front doors.
Inside the palace, we walked down the wide hallway until we reached a room. There the guard knocked on the door twice, and then, someone opened it. It was William.
"Oh, hey, Robert-kun," William greeted positively while in his pajamas. "What brings you here today?"
"Morning, William-kun," I greeted back. "You won't believe what had happened to my family."
"Okay, let's go to the dining room so we can talk," William responded.
I then nodded, and me and William went to the dining room together with the guard. At the dining room, while William was eating his breakfast, Robert revealed to him what had happened in his family compound. Seconds later, William was shocked, and he almost choked on his food.
"Are you okay?" I asked upon seeing that.
Coughing a few times and managing to swallow the food down his throat, William cleared his throat and responded back, "Yes, I'm fine. Anyways, what? Your father's sword got stolen?"
I nodded. "Yes, and we had no idea who did it."
Sipping his cup of coffee, William responded back, "I see. I'll help out."
"Is that necessary?" I asked back in response.
"I had nothing to do this winter break," William replied, "so I want to do something good and noble."
"Okay, sure."
Then, Emma and Peter came to the dining room while yawning.
"Morning, William-kun," Peter greeted.
When they opened their eyes, they saw me.
"Wha…?" Emma responded to this. "Robert-kun, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, morning, guys," I happily responded in greeting.
"Good morning, Robert-kun," Peter greeted back. "What are you doing here?"
"Robert-kun is here because his father's sword was stolen," William replied to this.
This causes Emma and Peter to be shocked.
"What?"
"Really?"
I nodded. "Yes, and I want to find out who did it."
"I see. I'll help out too," Peter agreed to volunteer. Then to Emma, "How about you, Emma-chan?"
Emma was hesitant at first, but she eventually and reluctantly agreed to help out.
"Thanks, Emma-chan," I responded back happily.
With that, Emma and Peter sat down to eat breakfast.
Then, I asked William, "So William-kun, where's your father?"
"Oh, he's in the office sleeping on his desk after doing another overtime work," William answered back.
I then suddenly remembered the stacks of paperwork at the Ruler's office. After that, I responded, "Oh, right, right. He had piles of paperwork. Is that occurring every day?"
"Well, for the most part," William replied back.
"Oh, okay," I responded while digesting those info.