The Royal Revenge
Chapter 199: Suspicions and Interrogations

Chapter 199: Suspicions and Interrogations

Aleksander was perplexed at the situation that he had in his plate. He didn’t want to admit it, but at the moment, he really didn’t have anything in mind to explain what happened with his wife.

What were they supposed to do?

"Wife, do you remember the names of the knights stationed near your office?" Aleksander asked Elys.

She nodded her head and responded, "Yes, I remember who those knights were. Why do you ask?"

Aleksander bit the tip of this thumb’s fingernail and thought for a second before he replied to her. His eyes lifted to lock with hers, and the young king crossed his arms as he said, "We should hold them for questioning, along with your lady in waiting, and perhaps even Cordelia."

Elys’ brows arched at the mention of her maidservant’s name.

"Cordelia? What does she have to do with this?" Elys asked.

"I don’t know for sure, my queen. But they are the closest witnesses we have at the moment. Whatever their testimony to the issue would have to be cross examined thoroughly," he said.

The young queen’s brows furrowed as she looked at Aleksander’s face. Was he serious with what he said?

"You think that Cordelia would want to kill me?" Elys asked as her eyes narrowed.

Aleksander noticed his queen’s mood darkening, and he immediately responded, "We need to be extra cautious, my queen. Even if it wasn’t Cordelia, the time interval that you mentioned seemed to have a loophole with how things have happened. I haven’t thought of it back then, but perhaps one of the people near your office was lying."

"Cordelia isn’t a liar," Elys insisted, blinded by the rage that started to consume her heart at the thought that Aleksander even considered the old woman as a prime suspect. "She is loyal to me, and would have been the one to protect me should she have encountered the owner of that dark aura."

Her husband raised his hands in the air as if to surrender, a bid to try appeasing her anger, "Okay, calm down, Elysianne. I am not accusing anyone as of the moment. I only meant to say that we can’t be too careful with these situations. Every witness and testimony count."

Elys realized Aleksander truly had a point.

She backed away and leaned on the couch’s armrest, rubbing her temple in frustration. Aleksander observed his wife until she was calm enough to continue speaking. He didn’t want to argue with her, knowing that she was already stressed out.

"Alright, if we do get them cross examined, who would interrogate them?" Elys asked, peeking at Aleksander’s mulling face.

"I will," he replied instantly. "I don’t want word to spread out the issue with other vampires coming in."

"That is quite understandable," Elys agreed. "You are more than capable too, with your magical affinity reading minds and creating visions accordingly in their head."

Suddenly, an idea popped into the young queen’s mind and Aleksander raised a brow at her expression.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I know what exactly to do!" she exclaimed.

+++

Lady Azalea trudged the hallways leading to Aleksander’s office with heavy footsteps. She knew why she was being called, but it didn’t hide the fact that she was scared for her life. The noble lady might have stayed mum about it, but she still thought of Aleksander as the bastard prince who was prophesized to bring doom to the kingdom.

Ever since he and his human queen sat on the throne, one bad thing led to another had fallen upon the kingdom. Lady Catalina was stupid to have tried to assassinate them upfront, but there was no denying that many others were not trying in the shadows.

’What truly happened with the queen?’ she speculated on her way. ’Has she gone mad and seen and heard things which were unreal? Was she being hunted by past assassination attempts that she has trouble distinguishing reality already?’

Lady Azalea chewed on her fingernails with the possibilities.

She didn’t even realize that she had already arrived at Aleksander’s door. Two knights guarding the office stared at the noble woman, and she mumbled her name in haste to introduce herself and why she was there.

"I am Azalea Igniss. I am one of Queen Elysianne’s lady in waiting. I have been called by King Aleksander to his office," she said with little to no pause.

The knights didn’t budge, but then Aleksander’s voice echoed from inside.

"Let her in," his deep and chilling voice said.

With no choice but to follow their direct superior’s words, the knights opened the heavy wooden doors of Aleksander’s office. Lady Azalea held her breath, and as the doors stopped opening, she finally took her first step inside the young king’s office.

"Your majesty," she curtsied as she saw Aleksander seated magnificently in his office chair. "You have called for me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did," the vampire king replied curtly.

Lady Azalea’s eyes turned towards the woman beside Aleksander, and saw Elys standing with a blank face. The noble lady was confused what to do, but she kept her chin high, upholding pride with her name and her father’s name.

"Please be seated, Lady Azalea Igniss," Aleksander waved his hand towards one of the sofa chairs adjacent to his table.

Lady Azalea gingerly took several steps towards the chair, and then sat down without even breaking eye contact with the young king. This was bound to be a mistake for the young lady of the Igniss family.

By exposing her eyes to Aleksander, she didn’t even realize that she was already under his spell.

To Aleksander’s eyes, the noble lady was still standing in front of his table, a blank canvass for a face with her eyes staring at the distance. Elys crossed her arms and stayed quiet all this time, thinking that she shouldn’t disturb her husband while he worked on probing over Lady Azalea’s mind.

It didn’t take Aleksander long, and after several minutes, he heaved a heavy sigh and snapped his fingers.

"You are free to go now, Lady Azalea," Aleksander said, "Thank you for your time."

Elys’ lady in waiting bowed her head and curtsied at Aleksander and her, "It is my pleasure to have spoken with you, your majesty. My service and loyalty will always be with your queen as long as we live."

Aleksander nodded without even an ounce of awe with the obvious flattery Lady Azalea spoke of. When the noble lady exited the office, Elys immediately asked, "What did you know?"

The young king turned to his wife and frowned, "Nothing of importance, my queen. Indeed, they weren’t lying when they said they heard your voice instruct the knights to stay away."

Elys’ eyes shook.

"It seems like we will need to ask the knights next," Aleksander murmured under his voice. "We can’t get a solid idea with just your lady in waiting’s memories."

His wife had previously told him that the only way to interrogate them without being conspicuous was to put their suspects under his spell.

Aleksander would give them a short vision where they were conversing naturally, a scene that wouldn’t come off suspicious, while he himself worked into their memories to dig in the truth about the incident accordingly to their eyes.

"Where is Cordelia, by the way?" Aleksander wondered out loud, "I would have thought she be the one to arrive earliest."

A knock came over Aleksander’s doors, and one of the knights arrived to introduce himself. Aleksander put on his authoritative mask, and just as what he did with Lady Azalea, he went off to work his magic with the knight.

The end result didn’t give them the answer they were searching for.

All of the knights and Lady Azalea’s memories were correct, not a single detail overlapping with each other. Of course, the memories were from different angles, but the general idea was the same.

"Wife, you did spoke and instructed the knights to stay away while you instructed Lady Azalea to come in," Aleksander rubbed his head. "I don’t understand what the hell is happening, but your story does not match with their memories at all that I am starting to get worried what you suspected was true."

"That someone was powerful enough to alter the reality we perceived?" Elys voiced out her concern again, "If that would be the case, it wouldn’t be Cordelia’s doing as she is without magic at all."

It was then that Aleksander recalled that he actually couldn’t read the old woman’s head like he used to at first.

"Elys, did you put a spell on Cordelia’s mind to ward me off reading her head?" Aleksander asked Elys.

She turned to him and a tiny smirk lifted the corners of her mouth, but then again, her eyes remained to be a frown of concern. "Yes, I did. But despite me being uncomfortable with your idea, I would lift the spell when she arrives, and perhaps you will see that Cordelia wouldn’t be someone to suspect at all."

Just as they ended their conversation, Aleksander heard a knock on his door.