A Force To Be Reckon With - Part 1

It was the next morning. News about last night had spread like wildfire; it was evident that the Rodrick family's image had taken a significant hit. Fred was in his study, looking outside the window. Behind him stood Carl and Helmik. They discussed their future actions and how to deal with the current problem.

"I should have already known that this would happen. I had doubts when he was behaving like such a nice kid, tsk..." Helmik growled, clearly annoyed.

Fred was confused by Hemal's actions. There was no sign of this happening when he had told him about the marriage. 

Did I misunderstand him? Fred thought.

"Don't worry, Mr. Helmik, we will catch him sooner or later. Where can he even go?" Carl reassured Helmik.

"We should have punished him the previous time he tried to harm Emma. I was a fool to give him a chance," Helmik said, regretting their earlier leniency.

Fred listened to their ranting. He wanted them to stay silent so he could think of a solution. "I think we should focus on the marriage first," Fred finally said.

"But, Father, how can we stay calm when we don't know where he is? Who knows what evil plans he is forging right now?" Carl protested.

"No, guests are already here. The priest from the Holy Kingdom will also arrive today. We can't delay the marriage because of him."

"But—" A guard rushed in before Carl could say anything else.

"Master Fred, someone is here to see you."

"Can't you see we are discussing something important here? Tell them to wait or come again later," Fred replied, annoyed by the interruption.

The guard hesitated to leave. Seeing that, Fred asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Her Royal Princess, Sofia Galur."

"Princess?" Fred's annoyance vanished, replaced by surprise and immediate concern. This was indeed an important matter, far more so than the situation with Hemal. Fred looked at Carl and Helmik, and they understood that their discussion must be postponed. 

"Okay, let them in."

Helmik and Carl started to leave the room. 

"Carl, wait," Fred commanded. 

Carl stopped and looked at his father in confusion, but Fred did not explain. He wanted him to stay behind and greet the princess with him. So, Helmik alone left the room hesitantly.

The Princess entered the room with two guards behind her. They were well-equipped and on high alert. After entering the room, they scanned every corner. The first thing Fred noticed about the princess was her smile. He felt something inside him while looking at her smile.

"I greet, Her Royal Princess, Sofia Galur. It's an honor to meet you," Fred greeted, and Carl followed with his greeting.

The Princess's smile widened. 

"I hope everything is going well in your territory, Baron Fred."

"Yes, everything is just fine," Fred said with his usual business-like smile.

"Is that so?" Sofia looked at Carl, then back at Fred. "But it looks like something has happened here recently... Am I wrong?"

Fred wanted to deny it. But he thought she would know it sooner or later, so there was no gain in hiding it. Still, he didn't tell the whole truth. "Indeed, you're right. But it's a small matter. So, Princess has nothing to worry about."

Sofia hummed thoughtfully. 

"Well, it doesn't concern me. As I am also here for another matter entirely."

"Yes, how can we be of service?"

Sofia looked around the room, and her gaze stopped on Carl. She hummed playfully. 

"I don't see your son here." 

Fred looked confused. He thought she was here to attend Carl and Emma's wedding, so when she asked for his son, he assumed she meant Carl.

"What do you mean? He is here," Fred said, pointing at Carl in confusion.

Sofia just shook her head. 

"I am talking about your other son, Baron. Hemal Rodrick, where is he?"

Both Carl and Fred were taken off guard. They weren't expecting Hemal's name from the Princess's mouth. A cold sweat ran down Fred's back. 

"Did—did he do something wrong?"

"Wrong? No. It's far from it." The Princess paused, then mumbled, "He and I are... wait—What exactly are we?" Fred was even more baffled by Sofia's mumbling. But Sofia's mumbling didn't take long to end. "Yes, we are partners."

Carl was bewildered. 

Partners? No... The important thing is, how does Hemal even know the Princess?

"We did some research together and were stuck on something," Sofia explained. "I had to study hard to find what we were looking for. I was coming here to attend the marriage, so I thought I should share what I found with him."

Fred knew that Hemal had never left the Scot Kingdom, and there was zero chance for him to contact the Princess. So when did they even meet? 

"But he is nowhere to be seen. Do you know where he is?"

Fred didn't know what to tell her. He looked at Carl and let out a sigh. 

"Carl, leave," Fred commanded without looking at him.

Carl wanted to stay, but seeing the tension on his father's face, he left. Now, Fred and Sofia were sitting in front of each other.

"Princess, honestly, I don't know what to tell you."

"Just tell me where he is, or even better, you can just call him."

"We don't know where he is."

"What?"

Sofia was surprised by Fred's reply. Fred told her everything that had happened. He had wanted to hide it from her, but what else could he do? He couldn't just lie to her. Sofia's surprise grew with every word Fred said.

After listening to everything, Sofia fell into deep thought. She had a confused expression, like she was not expecting this. But it was soon replaced by her playful smile again. 

"Can I make a request?"

"Yes, of course."

"Can I investigate the site of the incident?"

"Well, I don't have a problem with that, but what are you trying to investigate?"

Fred didn't want anything to do with the royal family. He wasn't a power-hungry noble who would do anything to gain the favor of the princess. Still, he didn't have any problem with it. He thought she wanted to play around a little. In Fred's eyes, she was just a child. But her next words took him by surprise again.

"I will prove the innocence of Hemal."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you right now. But you will soon see it with your own eyes." Fred was confused. The Princess, who had just arrived today, was saying she would show him something, and the innocence of Hemal? What was she even talking about? Does she know something that we don't?

"I still don't understand what you are saying."

"Just call everyone at the site of the incident." Her smile never faded.

"By everyone?" Fred asked, confirming.

"Yes, every guest there is," Sofia replied.

Fred, though skeptical, did as he was told. Everyone reached the same place where the incident occurred as fast as possible. Why wouldn't they? It was the Royal Princess who had called them.

Sofia was moving around, scrutinizing one tree after another. Everyone was confused by her actions. She stopped at one tree and, pointing at it, ordered her guard to climb. From a distance, the nobles couldn't tell what she had commanded. After a moment, the guard came down holding something. She took it from the guard and smiled.

She walked towards where the other nobles were standing. She looked at everyone, and most of them had an expression that clearly asked why she was here and what she was doing.

"Good. Looks like most of you are here," she smiled. "I assume most of you know what happened here last night. For those who don't, let me tell you."

Fred frowned, wondering why she was throwing mud on the already tarnished name of the family. But he couldn't stop her.

"Long story short, Hemal attacked Emma because she refused to marry him, but decided to marry his brother Carl. He would have been successful, but Carl, our knight in shining armor, came to save the day, or should I say, night?" She giggled a little, but the nobles remained dead silent.

"So, victim Emma, what I said is all correct, right?" She walked towards Emma and asked.

Emma gave no reply. Instead, her father, Helmik Shaw, interjected, "I am sorry, Your Highness Princess, she is still traumatized by yesterday's incident."

The Princess ignored his words and looked at Emma, who remained silent. "So you won't say anything? No problem... No problem, we can ask your knight." She turned and walked towards Carl. "So, Mr. Knight. Why were you here last night?"

That was a valid question. What was he doing here? Everyone was focused on the fact that he saved Emma, so no one questioned that. So, now a seed of doubt grew in everyone's mind, as if there was more to it.