The Debt Of Fate
Chapter 159: Watched, not arrested.

Chapter 159: Watched, not arrested.

Royal Palace

Queen Mary received the drawing from General Robert. She was shocked to see the painting. The box had gone missing after the princess was kidnapped. More than half a month had passed without any news, and now, suddenly seeing that the box had been recovered near Lowe, the Queen was surprised.

This surprise also made her frustrated after all, apart from saying that the box was found in the bush, there were no other details.

The Queen wanted to know if the items inside were safe. At the same time, she worried that if she instructed them to open the box, it might not be wise to let many people know where the two symbols of authority were. After thinking for a while, she sent instructions that the box should not be opened and should be immediately sent to the Crown Prince. It would take a few days to send it back to the royal city.

The best decision was indeed to send it to the prince.

After sending the message, she called for the palace advisor whom she had instructed to investigate the seer.

"Your Majesty," the advisor bowed as soon as he entered the study.

"Have you found anything?" Queen Mary asked directly.

"Your Majesty, we have found nothing. The seer does not seem to be in contact with anyone. After a few days of having guards stationed outside the Old Gods’ temple, only his assistant has gone out. I had men follow his assistant. The first time, he just met with other priests of the Old Gods. Then he did something strange..." The advisor frowned.

"What?" The Queen was irritated, feeling that the man was being unnecessarily dramatic.

"He caught a snake alive and brought it into the Old Gods’ temple, the second time he went out," the advisor said. The Queen frowned, of course, the worship of the Old Gods was different. She felt he might need the snake to perform a ritual.

"Did you find out what the assistant discussed with the priests?" She felt this was more important.

"Yes, just religious activities. I also found out that a few nobles are secret worshipers," the advisor said with a frown. Although the late king had stopped the killing of Old Gods’ worshipers, he had never expected that nobles would take part in it. After all, these worshipers were still looked down upon.

The Queen sighed; she was not surprised to hear such information. After all, even the king seemed to have been a worshiper. Why else would he let the seer stay by his side.

Just as she was about to dismiss the matter, she suddenly paused.

"Nobles... Did you find out which nobles are part of this worship?" the Queen asked. She felt a sudden suspicion, what if someone was using the pretense of worship to communicate with the seer?

"Yes," the advisor said. He had found their behavior unacceptable and had looked into their identities.

The advisor immediately called for his assistant and presented a few papers containing the nobles’ records.

The Queen collected the papers and read through them patiently. At first, she felt that these small-time nobles would not dare to hurt the king. Then, she suddenly thought about the possibility of conspiracy. What if one of these people was acting under someone else’s instructions?

Her gaze suddenly paused.

"Lord Aurelian." He was a member of the royal council. Though he did not hold much influence, he was a cousin to the late King George.

His relationship with the royal family gave him some claim to the throne as a royal blood, should anything happen to her family.

"This Lord Aurelian... pay more attention to him," the Queen instructed.

"Your Majesty, if you suspect the seer, why don’t we just question him directly?" the advisor asked.

The Queen paused. She knew how much her husband trust the man, this is why she had not paid a hand on him yet. After all, of she was wrong and the seer did help her husband, it would not be good.

"Your Majesty, if there really is someone else involved, I feel the earlier we question him, the better. Everything looks too clean on the surface," he added when the Queen did not stop him.

Queen Mary thought about his words and found them to be true. The seer was the only person close enough to the king to poison him that had not been questioned. Thinking in this direction, she summoned a guard.

"Send a message: the seer is to be taken. I want answers. He either gives them willingly or we force it out of him," the Queen said as soon as the guard entered.

---

Old Gods’ Temple

The seer had been lying on the bed since his last ritual. He had spent a great amount of strength to go against Heaven. He suffered a backlash , but still failed.

It would have been fine had he succeeded.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

"Great One!" The assistant hurried into the room.

"What?" the seer frowned. He felt that although this assistant had some skills, he was still quite young always acting without thinking.

"The guards they have entered the temple, and it seems they are here to seize people," the assistant said.

The seer’s expression grew darker. Although he had anticipated that the Queen would make a move, he thought she would at least summon him first.

"What should we do?" the assistant asked. Before the seer could respond, the guards marched into the room.

"The Queen has ordered your arrest. Come with us," said one of the guards. They ignored the fact that the seer appeared ill and moved him roughly.

"Please, my master is sick! He cannot endure such treatment!" the assistant shouted.

The guards looked at each other. Seeing that the seer’s face was indeed pale, they reduced the force they were using. After all, if the Queen wanted the man questioned and he died in their hands, it would be difficult to escape punishment.

The seer looked at his assistant. Though he said nothing, the assistant understood: he was to take the other assistant and flee the palace.

"Great One..." the assistant sounded worried, but remembering the seer’s earlier words that the gods had rejected the Crown Prince, he understood why his master would give such a command.

He watched the guards leave, then quickly gathered a few belongings with the other assistant, and they fled.

The guards did not stop them.

The Queen had already instructed that the assistants should only be watched, not arrested.

Thus, the two assistants left the palace safely.