Culprit

"His Highness, Prince Rowan was attacked!"

Headlines in the Royal Papers were shouting these words, even the words had spread around the kingdom.

It was normally not that big of a deal since Rowan was usually attacked but it doesn't reach the papers anymore since he or his knights could handle them but this news was different.

Liao who was reading the news made his narrow eyes widened.

"Lord Jerome, Prince Rowan's fiance was the culprit of this attack." That's what its said in the article.

"This can't be true. We all saw how lovey-dovey the two are, even when boss doesn't want to admit it." Dynila who was in the Rosen Gems Shop stated while reading the papers as well.

"We all know Lord Jerome isn't one to do such things, this could be a set-up. A trap made to make Lord Jerome the culprit." Henry knows because his previous masters were also probably set-up, he has no evidence but the same thing already happened.

People who wouldn't do any crimes are now accused of the things they're most unlikely to do.

"The assassins who were caught confessed and said that it was Lord Jerome who ordered them to kill the Prince, they're just unsuccessful..." Georgia who was in the same room pitched in, she just stated what she just read on the papers.

"Lord Jerome being unsuccessful in things that he did? To be honest, if Lord Jerome really was the culprit, he would've done it without any tracks at all." Liao huffed, annoyed by how the palace immediately blamed his lord.

"Even if we agreed that Lord Jerome couldn't do such a thing as attack his fiance, the evidences points out to him and it just so happens that this happened at the palace when he visited." Georgia sighed.

"Lord Jerome Wright is to be trialed but he's in line for execution if he's proven guilty..." Dynila read out loud making her clench the paper tight.

"This is injustice... How could this happen? He was... He gave me another chance to live with honesty and now..." The woman tried not to cry, she felt helpless as she knows that she can't do anything to save the lord. She felt like she never even repaid him for his kindness yet.

Georgia placed the paper down and approached the younger woman to embrace her, comforting her even though she felt as frustrated as her.

The room was quiet until they heard a knock on the door.

"We're close for today, right?" Liao asked Henry who nodded, "Yes..."

"It is me, Grand Duke Marshal."

The people inside Jerome's office were confused since they never expected the Grand Duke to visit them, Henry speculated that it must've been for the investigation since the man was the one who handles the criminal cases as extreme as attacking a royal.

The old butler opened the door for Marshal who stood there and bowed in polite, "I'm sure you have heard the news."

The white haired man looked at everyone who has a grim look on their faces, "Now, now... Lord Jerome is the prime culprit but he's not yet proven to be the one who gave the orders. Assassins are not to be trusted with, we don't have enough evidence."

"Can you state what exactly happened?" Georgia asked, still holding Dynila in her arms.

"It is usually confidential but I am the handler of this case so, I don't mind." Marshal shrugged.

"Prince Rowan is still out ever since he was found bleeding in his bed chambers, it looked like he put on a fight... What's confusing is that these assassins attacked at dawn when servants are preparing for the Prince's morning routine... it was as if the assassins purposely wanted a servant to see the Prince's body. There was an evidence of drugs as well, making Prince Rowan weak and unable to fight, so they could stab him on his side."

The others continued to listen, giving the duke the chance to continue explaining, "As for the assassin who was captured, it was confusing why he has a wound on his leg when Prince Rowan couldn't have fought... like I said, he was drugged. Unless they purposely want to leave an evidence that might connect the crime to Lord Jerome. It was also done clumsily, maybe because the real culprit wanted to make it look like the whole plan was a mess and Lord Jerome was the one who had done it."

"The assassin was stubborn, even with much persuasion, he kept insisting that it was Lord Jerome who ordered the deed... So, until his name is cleared, he's to be locked in the dungeons."

The rest of Jerome's friends were silent, not until Liao stood up. His usual gleeful and fox-like attitude was gone, this is his number one client that's in trouble. He's still interesting and always have something surprising up his sleeves, but this kind of surprise is annoying to the Eastern man.

"How can I help?" He asked, this is the most composed he was ever seen.

"As of now, look through all of Lord Jerome's transactions. Even his bank deposits and withdrawal, if the assassins were indeed ordered and paid to do the crime, there will be a dent in his profit. Asking someone to kill is not cheap after all." Marshal told him.

"As for the rest... I believe waiting for Prince Rowan to wake up is the best way to solve this case..." He added.

In the dungeon, Jerome was in a cell, silently thinking to himself.

'My fate is close... The plot still happened, Rowan was attacked and I was the culprit but this time, I didn't actually do it myself... I was accused. But by who?' He asked himself while holding on the rose pendant, he was getting anxious.

He was thinking about Rowan, wondering if he was safe. He also misses him, the one to calm his anxieties and the one who always takes him away from reality.

The black haired man took a deep breath and tried to think of the possible culprits, 'In the novel, Wyeth was the one who gets in Rowan's way a lot but talking to him yesterday felt more like he's warning us instead... Empress Liana was one of the antagonist in the novel too since she wants to marry Rowan for the sake of their kingdoms but it was also a way for the Empress to protect the prince.'

All the people Jerome formerly thought to be the villain of the story turns out to be misunderstood except for one, 'King Roysce... he's the one who's been too vigilant around commoners and quite the discriminant. In the novel, King Roysce was just the same but he would hear Rowan out whenever they have a disagreement or maybe that's what just novel was showing, it was never really told much how Rowan and Roysce's relationship were in the novel. The novel emphasizes about Rowan's fight against discrimination and social norms that harms the majority and favors the rich.'

Jerome sighed again, leaning his head back on the solid wall of his cell, 'Did I turn the novel into some kind of BL genre instead?'