Free Web NovelChapter 29: To Find The Killer.
Cassius waited patiently for an answer, but one wasn’t coming. Both aunt and nephew had shown up at the exact scene where the Queen was almost murdered, and to him, this meant only one thing—they knew something vital to the case.
"Why do I feel like the two of you are hiding something from me?" he asked, breaking the heavy silence. His eyes darted quickly between them, keeping them both in his line of sight so he could catch even the slightest attempt to communicate or switch glances.
"My aunt and I?" Ethan stammered, frustrated that his uncle was still focusing on him instead of demanding answers from his aunt, who had just walked in and completely ignored the question she was asked. "I told you, I just came to look around. Nothing more."
"I am not buying that, and you know it," Cassius chuckled coldly before turning his sharp gaze to his aunt. "You still haven’t said a word."
"I came because I saw Ethan sneaking in here," Freya lied smoothly.
"Come on, Aunt! You are going to get me into even more trouble!" Ethan hissed, running his hands through his hair in sheer frustration.
"I am being entirely honest," Aunt Freya claimed, her shoulders squared and her posture rigid.
"Hmm..." Cassius murmured, suddenly changing his mind. "The two of you may leave."
They were both stunned that he was releasing them so easily without a proper interrogation.
"Are you serious, Uncle Cassius?" Ethan asked, his brows furrowed in disbelief.
"Yes. Leave before your father finds you here."
"Alright," Ethan muttered, wasting no time as he quickly hurried out of the tent.
Aunt Freya, however, lingered. She stared at Cassius, desperately trying to read his mind and figure out what he was planning.
Seeing her hesitate, Cassius dismissed her flatly. "You are distracting me, Aunt."
"Fine, I will leave."
The moment the tent flap closed behind her, Cassius nodded slowly to himself. That was absolutely no coincidence.
Aunt Freya and Ethan clearly had something to do with what had happened to the Queen.
With his suspicions now firmly locked on them, he knew exactly what he had to do—he was going to find the King immediately and report his latest findings.
******
"I can’t believe Kane actually punished me because of that woman!" Samantha snapped, pacing back and forth across the tent. She whipped around to glare at her mother, who was casually sorting through a large box of jewelry.
Her mother hadn’t offered a single word of input since she started ranting, and the silence was beginning to irritate her.
Freya had spent hours staring into that box, yet she rarely ever wore any of it. It was useless collecting things she wouldn’t even use.
"Are you even listening to me, Mother?" Samantha demanded, planting both hands firmly on her hips.
"What is it, Samantha?" Aunt Freya finally lifted her gaze, looking at her daughter for a brief second before returning to her treasures.
"Didn’t you see the way Kane screamed at everyone because of that princess? He literally punished me for it!"
"So? I would have done the exact same thing if I were in his position."
"What did you just say, Mother?" Samantha couldn’t believe her ears. She needed to hear it again to be sure.
"You heard me correctly, and I didn’t stutter."
"He punished me just to impress her..."
"Oh, please. The princess wasn’t even out there," Aunt Freya countered dryly. "She probably doesn’t even know you were punished."
Samantha bit her lower lip, her hands balling into tight fists. Her mother was truly testing her patience now.
"You can get as mad as you want, but Kane did the right thing," Freya continued without looking up. "If I were him, I would have punished you far worse than he did."
"Whose side are you even on, Mother?" Samantha hissed.
"Yours, but only when you act responsibly," Aunt Freya told her flatly. "The King was already in a terrible mood, but what did you do? You went right ahead and exchanged words with his son. What did you think he would do? Reward you for being foolish?"
Samantha lowered her gaze, knowing her mother wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon. "I didn’t mean to, but Ethan keeps getting on my nerves. No one ever tries to see his faults—only mine. It has always been like this."
"You are far more mature than him... do you not realize you are old enough to be his older sister?" Aunt Freya put all the jewelry back into her box and snapped the latch shut.
She stood up from her seat and set the heavy box down on the bed.
"It’s not my fault, Mother. You and the others were the ones who always pampered and spoiled him," Samantha countered.
She vividly recalled so many times when Ethan was supposed to be punished, but her mother would run to the King to intervene.
The consequences of those actions were finally beginning to catch up to him.
"You are not trying to blame me for his behavior, are you?" Freya’s eyes narrowed.
Samantha quickly shrugged, eager to change the subject. "But did you see the way the King behaved earlier?"
Aunt Freya sighed deeply, unable to believe her daughter was still refusing to drop the matter. "What exactly did you expect him to do?"
"To not act like he is completely in love with her, or like he actually cares so much about her."
"He is the King, and the woman in question is his wife," Freya stated coldly. "Even if you and I do not accept her as the Queen, others already have. And trust me, Kane did the right thing."
"How, Mother?"
"A stranger sneaked into his wife’s tent and tried to murder her. That in itself is a massive insult to the King," Freya explained, her voice dropping to a serious whisper. "It implies he cannot even protect his own woman. If he cannot protect her, how can he protect the entire tribe?"
"Oh? I understand now," Samantha murmured, running her fingers slowly along her chin as she finally caught her mother’s point. "So it’s all about his pride?"
"Yes, that as well."
Samantha let out a short laugh, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Even though the princess didn’t actually die, I must say, Mother... I am thoroughly impressed with your work."
Aunt Freya’s brows furrowed in deep confusion as she tried to figure out where her daughter was going with this. "How do you mean?"
"I didn’t expect you to move so quickly. You told me just this morning that you were going to eliminate her, but I thought it would take you days to plan it out."
"I didn’t do anything," Freya said flatly.
"Mother..." Samantha looked around the tent anxiously, making absolutely sure no one was lurking outside. Then, she leaned forward and whispered, "Ragnar isn’t even here, so why are you still pretending?"
Aunt Freya sighed heavily, shaking her head. "I am entirely serious, Samantha. It wasn’t me."
The absolute truth was written clearly in her eyes. Samantha was taken completely aback. She had been entirely convinced that her mother was the one pulling the strings, but clearly, she was wrong. "If it wasn’t you... then who on earth was it?"
"That is exactly what I have been trying to figure out," Freya muttered, her expression hardening. "Because whoever did this just made it infinitely more difficult for us to harm the princess. From now on, the King is going to be dangerously protective."
"Ugh, Mother," Samantha groaned, utterly exhausted by the endless stream of bad news. Panic was beginning to creep in; she was terrified that their chances of taking the princess out of the game were shrinking to nothing. "Then who did it, Mother?"
"I don’t know, but trust me, whoever he or she is, they are incredibly stupid. Kane is absolutely going to catch them," Aunt Freya said coldly. "It was a completely amateurish way to attack a Queen. The person failed miserably. It’s a disgrace that they left the job half-done."
"Oh my... they are as good as dead already," Samantha said, fear flickering in her eyes. She should have known better; her mother was a mastermind who only struck when she was guaranteed to kill her prey on the first try. "Now that we know the princess has even more enemies, what is our next move?"
"We have to find out who else wants her gone. It’s obvious that the person who tried to kill her didn’t act completely alone."
"Hmm... where should we even begin looking?"
"With Ethan, Samantha," Freya said, her eyes narrowing as a cold calculation set in. "There is something going on between him and that princess, and I intend to find out exactly what it is."
