Chapter 72: A Surprise Visitor from the...?
A few days had passed since the scary run-in with the Spider Syndicate and the King’s big announcements. King Noor IV sat on his throne in the main meeting hall, looking at a big, rolled-up paper.
Eric was supposed to leave for the United Academy in a few weeks.
He wanted to keep Eric away from the bad stuff happening with the kingdom-wide investigation.
He didn’t want his youngest son, even though Eric had shown surprising strength lately, to see all the sneaky, bad things and possible traitors the investigation was starting to find. The King wanted to protect Eric’s young, hopeful mind from the tough side of politics and being a ruler.
Right now, a small group of Royal Guards stood stiffly in front of him. They were a trusted team, just back from their first job in the big investigation: finding out everything they could about an important noble family in Feku, a big city near the capital.
First Prince Revan had gone with this team at first, watching over the start of their work in Feku. But once their main job there was done, Revan sent the team back to the capital with what they found.
He then went to another city to keep doing his part in the huge check-up of Estoria’s nobles. Both Revan and Leonard, the King’s older sons, were busy following their father’s orders, leading different parts of this never-before-seen look into the kingdom’s nobility.
The King looked very worried as he carefully read the report from the guards. It talked about the Garfield noble family, who not only run Feku because they were in charge of the city, but also had an important spot on the Royal Council.
Just looking at their money records showed they were stealing and using their power wrongly. The report, written in clear, factual words, showed just how much bad stuff they had done.
It was shocking. King Noor IV pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed tiredly. He muttered quietly, "What does Lord Garfield, the head of the family, have to say about all this?"
The Captain of the Royal Guards, a serious-looking older soldier standing very straight with his team behind him, answered respectfully, "My Lord, Lord Garfield won’t say much. His younger son, a knight named Sir Exam Garfield, is taking all the blame for everything."