Jen and Master

Chapter 4

When her two sisters arrived in the afternoon, they were upset and furious at Jen for not looking after their parents. Daniella, the first princess, and Jen got into an argument about Jen going and confronting the person she suspected might have had a hand in the king and queen's death.

"Don't try to act tough, you know this is your fault!" Daniella screamed. "If you had spent the night with them, they wouldn't have gotten poisoned."

Although Jen wanted to defend herself, she also felt like this was her fault, so she kept quiet and allowed her oldest sister to scold her however she wanted.

When Daniella cooled down, she said, before giving Jen a hug, "I too want to avenge our parents' death, but going there now will only get us into danger. I'm not ready to lose another one of us."

Jen tightened the hug, getting emotional. "We can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to do something."

"I know, but not now," Daniella replied.

Although Jen understood the consequences of confronting the culprit now, Jen was Jen. She had a mind of her own, and once she set it, no one could stop her.

Before the evening, she called all the servants and butlers in the house.

"I'm sure you all know why I called all of you here, right?" she said, giving everyone a terrifying stare.

"No ideas, Third Princess," everyone replied in unison, confused.

"I don't want to waste any more of my time, so I will get straight to the point," Jen said. "My question is simple. Who was the last person to serve the king and queen?"

The hall went silent, and no one answered. Jen calmly looked at everyone and asked again.

"I'm going to ask you for the last time, who was the last person serving the king and queen yesterday?"

No one spoke, and they all put their heads down.

"Alright, since none of you is saying anything, then I will dismiss this meeting. You can all go home and make sure you never step inside this palace again!"

A loud gasp echoed through the hall. Everyone was shocked and terrified by Jen's last words.

"When did she become like this?" they thought. "She was the only friendly princess in the palace and one of the kindest people. How did she become so cold and arrogant?"

Daniella and the others stood there, speechless. As Jen turned around to leave, one of the servants stepped forward.

"It was me, my princess."

Jen didn't respond immediately before saying, "Come to my room now."

When they got there, the servant immediately knelt down and started to apologize.

"I'm sorry, my princess. Please forgive me."

Jen gave her a cold glance that sent shivers down the servant's spine.

"Why did you do it?"

The servant started explaining, "I'm sorry, my princess. Yesterday, the king asked for three wine glasses. When I got there, General Xander poured the wine that was gifted to the king by him into their glasses. They sent me away after that. When they left, I went and cleared up. That's all I know, my princess."

"General Xander," Jen repeated the name. "Where is the bottle?"

"This morning, I went to look for it to show the doctor, but I couldn't find it anywhere," the servant replied.

Jen thought for a second before asking, "Are the glasses washed?"

"Yes, my princess."

"You can go back to work now."

"Thank you, my princess."

The servant got up and left.

Jen went to her window and looked at the scene before her. The moon was full, casting a silver glow over the palace gardens. The trees swayed gently in the breeze, their leaves rustling softly. The sound of crickets and distant music from the celebration still ongoing in the palace filled the air.

"You're not going to get away with this, General Xander," she said angrily.

General Xander was her uncle, the king's brother. Ever since her father became king, her uncle had become increasingly jealous and envious of him. Although he never said it outright, Jen could see it in his actions.

There was one particular night, a week before her father became king, when she overheard her uncle speaking to someone she couldn't identify. Her uncle had said a sentence that still lingered in her mind to this day: "We have to get rid of him before the announcement of the new king."

That night, her father had fallen ill with food poisoning, but fortunately, they had found a cure. From that day on, Jen had never looked at her uncle the same way again.

In the first few months after her father became king, many bad things had happened, including receiving anonymous threats to step down from the throne. She had never told anyone or confronted her uncle because of her doubts. But after today, she knew exactly who was behind it, and she wouldn't let them go unpunished.

After making up her mind, she changed her dress and wore a cloak. She decided to take the pendant with her, just in case it glowed again and someone saw it. She went to say goodnight to her sisters.

"Where are you going?" Chantell asked with concern.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before dinner. I'm just going for a walk in the woods," Jen said.

"I'll send the guards to accompany you," Daniella said.

"Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to me. I have my ways," Jen reassured.

Daniella sighed tiredly. "Okay. Just letting you know that Aunt Gina and her family will be arriving at midnight. You better be there beforehand."

They shared a group hug before Jen left the palace.

After walking out of the palace gate, she first went to the forest to check if the mysterious man was there. Disappointed, she left and made her journey towards the east, where her uncle's military base was situated. It wasn't far from the palace, located in the Blackwood, next to Shadowwood.

As she journeyed, the trees grew taller and the path grew darker. The sound of crickets and rustling leaves filled the air. She walked for about 20 minutes, the moonlight casting eerie shadows on the ground. The trees began to thin out, and she saw the military base in the distance, its walls looming large and imposing.

When she arrived at the gate of the military base, the guards recognized her as a princess and didn't give her a hard time getting in.

"Where is General Xander?" she asked one of the two guards inside.

"He's in his office, my princess," the guard replied.

He took her to the office, and just as they were about to knock, someone opened the door first.