Retrieve the Kingdom

Dangerous Person

“What did you ate and you greet—”

“Just answer my question!” Andrei shouted at his very own uncle who treated him like his son. The very person who accepted him truly. He was gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. 

“How could I answer if I had none of the contexts?” Bermin said flatly, his eyes were serious and his eyebrows were straight. Phoebe was terrified with this scene, she was stuck in one place as her past life’s uncle and cousin are fighting. 

“The Hawthorne, the people, their suffering. Do you have any connections with all of that!?” Tears rush on his cheeks as he starts to cry again, only the god Alvi knows how many gallons he cried after that incident. The archduke was frozen and shocked. His face clearly tells it, but he kept his poise and structure. “Do you know anything!?” 

Bermin slowly approached him as he slaps his wrist who was trying to reach and comfort him. “Don’t you touch me! You kept this and you didn’t took any actions. I wished you see how those guards of dad just normally stabbed that lady. I wish you were on my side, I wish I didn’t witness everything. You didn—”

“Look, Andrei, let me explain. Please take a seat, and calm down.” The archduke tried to calm him down but the anger in Andrei’s face kept him from trying to. “Just explain yourself, be glad that I am hearing your side.” Phoebe wants to calm him down or pull him out of the mansion for now. He is just so angry, maybe he could even punch his own uncle. 

Bermin sighs, “I know this, don’t tell that I am not. I have been trying to get this right.” His nephew looks at him, “It’s already 7 damned years!” “I know, I know. I know I failed a couple of times. But I made some progress. Don’t say that I don’t care about this, because I do.” 

Phoebe can see the archduke’s face, it was full of concern, regret, and some anger. “I wish I can just fly and bring them all away from this madness. But I can’t, I can’t. Andrei, just like you, I always regret that I didn’t take action earlier, that I could’ve done some change. I didn’t expect your dad will be like this. I mean, I was just a mere archduke, I am like a puppet of the king, ever since Marcus took the throne.”

Phoebe was confused, why would her father be pulled to this? “I already helped some of the residents. I secretly ordered some of my connections to buy some slaves there and rescue them. They are already living peacefully. But, I can’t save them all at once, if I was busted, I can’t overthrow your father. If you want to ask if I know more, yes, I do. I know what he does, I am like his acting secretariat.”

“Why didn’t you told me this? Why didn’t you poisoned me on hating my father? Why didn’t you do that? At least you already have a strong weapon against him.” Andrei said, he wiped all of his tears, but with his breathing patterns, he is still raging inside. 

“Andrei, you are like a son to me. I don’t want you to feel more useless and pity for yourself for using you. I can’t even think that I will use you. I cherish you more than your father. I am sorry if I hid you this, I don’t want to destroy your image of your father. And I know it will be revealed to you sooner or later, but I don’t want to be that person.” 

“Tell dad I will stay here or whatever. He doesn’t care anyway.” He decided to go to his very own room and lock himself there. The servants carried all his baggage to the door and let him be on his own. Phoebe was still terrified as she looks at the sad archduke. 

“I… I am sorry, sir Bermin. Me and Belle was the one who showed this to him. I am so sorry.” She said as she bites her lower lip and squinting her eyes. Bermin sighs, “It’s fine, Phoebe. What is done is already done. It’s just a matter of time until he absorbs all of this.” 

“But still, I am sorry… I know you want it to be a secret until you succeeded… I am sorry for getting ahead of your plans.” She sighs as she gets her minor baggage that the servants didn’t take. She decided to go to her room and settle everything down. Bermin just shook his head and sighed, “Maybe he is right… It’s already 7 years… And still,” he sighs once more, “I need to make a big move once and for all.” 

“You didn’t found her!?” A rough voice shouted the big hall of the throne room in the great castle. A man looking on his late 40s was standing in front of the lone throne centered and elevated at the end of the hall. In front of him, was his soldiers and some of the secret underlings. 

“I am sorry sir, but there are so many veiled ladies going out and in Enoch.” One of them spoke, with a nervous tone. “You fools! The culprit already went near our area, our premises where we can control her environment and you haven’t even found her shadows!?” King Dougal gripped the soft pad on the arm of the chair, squeezing it to let out his anger. 

“Sir, please calm down.” One of the assistants nearby told him. “You might collapse for the third time this week.” He said as the king glares at him, he decided to shut his mouth as Dougal look at the men in front of him. “Because these damn fools don’t know how to deal things. We have been doing this a lot of times and this is the damned time you will fail.”

The men know they are in big trouble. “First, some pesky little teens beat you in Hawthorne, and you didn’t even know what they look like, or perhaps you forgot it because it’s so damn impossible that you can’t see their faces. Then, speaking of the incident in Hawthorne, you killed the lady immediately! We might have extracted information from her, but you fools certainly are spoiled killing somebody! And you didn’t even dispose of her body, so that man, that man that has been on our backs has more evidence to make our downfall easier.” 

They all gulp, they just hope to the heavens that they wouldn’t be fired or worst killed. “Then, this mysterious veiled lady that we are on to for months! You failed to catch her and now one of our guards was missing!” The king was going to say more as the door of the throne room opens, revealing the heir of the throne, Andres.

King Dougal had no choice but to dismiss the people in front of him. “You may now go, come back tomorrow early so that we could continue what we are talking about.” He sat on the throne with his fingers intertwined and his elbows resting at the arm of the chair. He looked at his son as he went into the room. The soldiers and some underlings bowed at him before going out of the throne room. 

He is still on his bored look as always as he approached his father. “Why were you shouting earlier? You can be heard up to the kitchen.” He looked at him as he crossed his arms. “I am just teaching them a lesson, my son. They had the chance to capture and finally bring the mysterious veiled lady, but they didn’t.” He sighs. 

“Maybe you can say this to uncle Bermin, he is great at finding stuff.” He said as he rubs his fingers. The king looked at him, “Why do you always speak about your uncle?” His son looked at him, “Because he can help you?” The king puffs out the air he breathes to calm himself, “Do you think that I can’t do this myself?”

“Not really, help will not be bad. Doubling the manpower will make this easy for you. Anyway, I was just checking out. Laters.” He was about to turn around as his father stopped him. “Where did your brother went again?”

“Oh? As far as I can remember he went to Lalonde, one of his friends’ hometown. Speaking of him, he should have gone home by now.” He said as he looks around. “He is not going home, your uncle passed by earlier to pass me the monthly overall reports of the nation.” The prince slowly nods as he went down the elevation. 

“Go to him tomorrow.”

The next day, Andrei and Phoebe went to school together. Strangely, he is not in his usual bubbly mode. He was just staring at the windows. Phoebe was trying to talk to him to at least lessen the awkward situation they have. The only answers she gets was ‘Uhuh’, ‘Yeah’, ‘Oh?’, shrug and a nod, and sometimes silence. 

Phoebe let the silence conquer them after a while of talking nonsense and random. She just let the poor prince think and absorb everything. They arrived at the school and were welcomed by Belle by the gate. She noticed the strange behavior too of Andrei and tried to cheer him up, but no to avail. 

They have gathered again in the announcement hall, by now, it’s the headmaster who is standing on the little stage. The secretary was there too. The students start whispering as the student councils took care of the order of the small program. 

“Good morning, Driessians.” The headmaster greeted them, it was not really a cheerful one, but he is fine. The student greeted him back as he clears his throat. “As you all know, you had a week-long break, and I hope you enjoyed it.” He plastered a small smile at them. “I know you are not new to the news and you have may already guess why you were granted a week-long vacation. Last week I wasn’t here because I am in an inter-school meeting with the other headmasters in Enoch. They already sent me a letter early that day to go to that emergency meeting and briefly said that to give you a week-long break.

Even though I and my secretary was a bit confused but we immediately told Cledaire— thank you Ms. Cledaire for assisting the students—to announce to you the thing. At the meeting, they discussed that the mysterious veiled lady was already in Enoch and they made this announcement to keep you safe. They were scared that she will target you and make you rebel against the monarchy and especially the king.” 

Andrei was whispering something but Phoebe can hear it loud and clear, “They should be rebel—” She shuts his mouth and glares at him. He just sighed and surrendered, he shut himself up and just listened to the headmaster’s announcement. “We don’t want any chaos, especially when a Driessian is involved. It will be a great embarrassment since we are the most looked up the school and probably one of the prestigious schools along with the Enoch Royal School and Gumpel through Alba’s Guidance.”

Phoebe sighs. Of course, they will side with the king since this is one of the schools heavily supported by him, the funds and everything. It even has the largest land a school can have, bigger than Enoch Royal School, and hasn’t been touched by anyone. And most of all, one of his sons is here, who is now planning to rebel against his father.

“I wish you always be safe from that dangerous person. Not really violently dangerous, but we don’t want your minds to be poisoned.” 

They were all dismissed and took the remaining time to go to their class early. Before parting ways, Andrei looked at them.

“That headmaster is pissing me off for a long time.”