.
"Have a sit, brother" Ciaran said with half a smile. Rudolf gritted his teeth in annoyance, wondering what little stunt the prince was about to pull
Rudolf went back to his sit, his butt feeling a bit uncomfortable
"Bring him in!" he said and the grand door to the courtroom swung open
Murmurs filled the room as Grae stepped in holding a man bounded by ropes. His face was bruised badly and he limped on one leg
"Ciaran, who is this man?" questioned King Mathias. Ciaran smiled at the shocked expression on Rudolf's face, the same could be told for minister Rai
"This man is the one who started this whole thing, Your Majesty. He claimed someone had paid him to do what he did and the person is in this very room, with us" Ciaran answered and Grae shoved the man forward, causing him to fall on his knee
"Y-your Majesty, please have mercy..." the man pleaded, placing his head on the ground
"You do not speak until you are asked to" the man nodded and turned over to the prince "As you had told me, someone in our midst had paid you to assemble the people, correct?"
"Y-yes, Your Highness"
"Have a look at their faces and point out the person" the man's swollen eyes moved over to each one of the ministers. His eyes widened as they stopped at the right state minister who tried hiding his figure
"I-it was him..." his shaky hands pointed at minister Rai "He is the one..."
"Are you sure of what you're saying? This man right here is our most trusted and high ranked ministers in the palace. If such accusations are false, you will be beheaded" said Ciaran. The smirk still lingering on his lips
"N-no, Your Highness. I swear...it was him" Minister Rai's eyes widened and his lips quivered
"Mind telling us his approach?"
"M-minister Rai had saved me from debtors in the past. I-I was surprised when he came to me to ask for a favor. He told me to lead a riot and speak against the King, so he could step down, he gave me a pouch filled with coins and told me to give the people equal shares" the man explained and sweat streamed down the Minister's face "H-he also said that the crown prince was more than willing to give me more if I succeeded. I immediately agreed to it considering how bad I needed the money. Your Majesty, p-please spare me. I only did as I was told" he pleaded
Everyone in the courtroom was shocked at the man's explanation and turned over to the minister
"Your Majesty, t-this is false...it was planned, I'm being framed!" Rai went down on his knees, flatly denying the accusations
"I-it's true, Your Majesty. I dare not lie" the man stated
"How could you do such, minister Rai?" Rudolf said, whilst standing up "You came to me for money to help you out and you do this, in my name"
The minister's eyes widened once more as all blame was suddenly shifted to him
"You mean you know nothing about this?" questioned the King
"I don't, Your Majesty. Minister Rai came to me for money to support his family and I gave him with no resistance considering how helpful he has been. Yes, he did come to me with this silly idea but I was quick to reprimand him against doing such, I never knew he went behind me to carry out his plan. I dare not do anything to go against the King, especially not this!"
"N-no, Your Majesty...Your Highness, this..." the minister was in a confused and shocked state
"Minister Rai, you are thereby stripped of your royal title as the head amongst the right state ministers!" the King declared
"Take him to the dungeon this instant! Committing such vile act! He must be punished, Your Majesty. Minister Rai was under me, it's only right if I was the one to deliver the punishment" King Mathias nodded at Rudolf's words
"No! Your Majesty, have mercy... please!" Minister Rai was aggressively dragged out with his loud screams echoing in the hallway
"Now that this is settled. You're all dismissed!" the Ministers deeply bowed as the King exited the room and they also left in cue
"Really? Hmm, I guess you found your way out this time" Ciaran said, a smirk on his lips
"I always find my way out, brother"
"Just this time, now that this is done. You can call them off and stop this pretense"
"I never ordered for them to come to the palace in the first place, the riot was supposed to be a one time thing"
"Oh really?"
"Believe it or not, brother. My words this time are true-"
The rest of his words were left unsaid when they could hear the loud noises from outside
"What happened?" Rudolf questioned the guard who rushed in, sweat and dirt marred on his face
"Y-your Highness. W-we need to get you both to safety" the guard said hastily
"I asked a question, what are those loud noises?"
"They managed to pass through the gates, Your Highness. They're going savage. They're heading here as we speak"