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Rafael didn’t rush to interrogate Eleanor. Instead, he ordered that all the weapons from Harmony Palace be transported to the Supreme Court as material evidence. Meanwhile, the rest of the team began their questioning.
Despite working tirelessly until nightfall, they only managed to interrogate a handful of people. Rafael then ordered shifts for questioning, meaning there would be no rest. Matthew began organizing the interrogation reports and statements they had gathered to present them to Rafael.
Rafael glanced at the statements and noted there were few. He pulled out the reports on Henry, which were filled with questions but few answers, as Henry often deflected with claims of ignorance.
Matthew sighed in frustration. “Lord Henry claims he knows nothing. He only admits that the women in the dungeon and those watched over in the courtyard are his concubines. When it comes to the weapons! or whether Grand Princess Eleanor was involved in treason, he simply says he doesn’t know.”
“Without concrete evidence, why would he confess?” Rafael set Henry’s statement aside and pulled out the statements from Florence and Kurt. “Florence has been by Grand Princess Eleanor’s side for a long time. She’s her trusted confidante. As for Kurt, he’s the head of household soldiers. What did they reveal?”
Matthew replied, “Florence seems to be in shock. She kept muttering ‘impossible’ under her breath, and we couldn’t get much out of her, Kurt provided a good deal of information, but it was mostly trivial.
“He mentioned how Grand Princess Eleanor interacted frequently with certain families, the cruel treatment of the concubines in the inner palace, and the various ways those concubines had met their ends??rowning, strangulation, and even being thrown to their deaths. Each story was more tragic than the last. But when it came to the weapons, he had nothing to say. He only says he doesn’t know anything about them.”
“When did he start working at Harmony Palace? Rafael asked.
“It’s been five years. He mentioned that the well in Harmony Palace’s back courtyard hides a number of corpses mostly newborn boys and a few concubines who were tossed in after they died. That well is usually sealed. When it’s opened, it means someone’s about to die,” Matthew replied, still shuddering at the thought.
“Have you found out how many people have died? We need to trace the origins of those women as well,” Rafael asked.
The treason case was undoubtedly significant, but the tragic deaths at Eleanor’s hands also demanded. justice.
“We haven’t compiled the figures yet. The servants at Harmony Palace were rotated in and out, including the trusted ones. No one knows if anyone had already died before they arrived. Also, not everyone knows how the grand princess dealt with those people. Only a few of her trusted people handled it, and I suspect the old confidants may have been dealt with too. I’ve also dispatched someone to retrieve the bones. from the well, but they haven’t returned yet,” Matthew explained.
“In other words, we haven’t managed to uncover much information,” Rafael noted, picking up and glancing at a statement from one of the household physicians
Matthew sighed. “We’ve been busy all day, but there are many people to bring back and even more to accommodate. The interrogations only began a couple of hours ago. Since they’re not afraid yet, we haven’t gotten much out of them. I’ll focus solely on the questioning tomorrow.”
Rafael nodded, scrutinizing the statement in his hand. This household physician named Billy has been in the estate for ten years, which means he knows quite a lot, but…”
Matthew interjected, “Peter conducted the interrogation, and his questioning style is always quite sharp. I didn’t expect him to uncover such details. Grand Princess Eleanor strictly forbade the physicians from treating the concubines in the courtyard or the dungeon, but she granted permission for Melanie Lester’s treatment.
“After two days of treatment, Celeste??enry’s concubine’s daughter??ought Billy out and seduced him. She got him to use a potent drug on her mother. She intended to worsen Melanie’s condition to kill her at the end.”
Rafael frowned as he read through Billy’s testimony. The man was clearly terrified of dying.
He had confessed everything in painstaking detail??ow Celeste seduced him and forced him to risk everything to poison Melanie Lester, the drugs he used, how the illness worsened, and even when he predicted Melanie would die. He also speculated on Celeste’s motives, suggesting that she wanted to free herself entirely from Harmony Palace and escape its constraints by poisoning her own mother.
Though Rafael hadn’t been handling cases for long, he could immediately see a flaw in this story.
“If Celeste really wanted to break free from Aunt Eleanor, killing her mom wouldn’t help. There’s a contradiction here. Aunt Eleanor’s control over her hinged on her mom. If Celeste truly didn’t care about her mom’s life, she could have easily lived under Samuel’s protection at Gracehold Estate and stayed out of Aunt Eleanor’s grasp. And if she didn’t want to be a concubine, she could’ve swindled a good sum from Samuel and disappeared. Aunt Eleanor wouldn’t have found her that easily. Besides… she’s clearly not afraid to go all out??illy is almost sixty,” said Rafael.
Matthew had spent years in the Supreme Court and seen all kinds of people. He replied, “Celeste was groomed for this kind of thing from a young age. She’s used to using her looks and body as bargaining chips. It isn’t very surprising.”
“Bring her in for questioning.” Rafael instructed.
“I’ve already sent someone to fetch her,” Matthew said, ‘Lord Henry was quick to reveal that she was at Weaver Coffee. But by the time our people got there, she had already left. We’re short on manpower.”
For a regular case, the Supreme Court would have plenty of staff. But handling a treason case was different. More people would become involved, and if they didn’t act quickly to control the key figures, some of them could easily slip away.
After all, Eleanor had operated in the capital for years. There was no way she hadn’t managed to pull some officials into her circle. Otherwise, all the money she spent every year on socializing and connections would’ve gone to waste, right? And considering the origin of the weapons and armor, many people must’ve been involved in successfully hiding them in Harmony Palace.
Understanding the shortage of manpower, Rafael nodded. “I’ll request a royal edict from the king tomorrow to borrow some men from the Capital Guard.”
Despite being overwhelmed with work today, Rafael hadn’t forgotten about Sophie’s appointment as the commander of the Mystic Army.
“I’ll head back to my estate for a bit. You should rest too. I’ll be back in about an hour.”
Harvey and Yuvan needed to be kept under close watch, but there wasn’t any solid testimony linking them. to the treason case yet. Salvador’s stance was still unclear, and the Supreme Court was short on manpower, so this task would have to be handled by his people at Hell Monarch Estate.
“Yes, sir!” Matthew rubbed his temples, clearly exhausted. “Take a break, Your Highness. I’ll rest in the back for a bit. After that, I’ll go back to talking with Lord Henry.”
He said “talking” instead of “Interrogating” because Henry was actually quite cunning despite looking like a coward. The moment the questioning got the least bit intense, he would pretend to have a fainting spell or complain of feeling unwell. And since Salvador hadn’t officially revoked Eleanor’s title yet, Henry was still her prince consort. That meant some harsher methods couldn’t be used.
Rafael understood this all too well.
“I’ll head to the palace tomorrow and get a feel for His Majesty’s stance on this matter. If he issues a clear order, it’ll make our work much easier,” said the prince.
“That makes sense,” Matthew agreed.
Rafael grabbed his cloak as he extinguished two lamps, leaving only one dim light flickering.
“I’ll head back for now,”
“Safe travels, Your Highness,” Matthew replied, following him out before heading to the back to take a quick rest before relieving Peter.
By the time Rafael returned to his estate, it was almost midnight. Jacob had arrived just fifteen minutes before him, having dropped his family off and eaten a quick meal at home.
Though he wanted to spend more time with his sister, he knew there were too many pressing matters to deal with. So, he didn’t stay overnight and rushed back to Hell Monarch Estate in the dead of night.
Upon returning to the estate, Rafael found that his wife was still awake.
Lulu was busy pressing Sophie’s official uniform, the one for the deputy commander of the Mystic Army. Although it was just a nominal title, they had gone through the trouble of making her an official uniform back then, never truly expecting she would wear it.
The official uniform didn’t come with a ceremonial sword, and the black outfit was inlaid with emerald beads. If Sophie were to wear an official uniform from now on, it meant she couldn’t dress like a woman anymore.
Lulu was filled with joy. When Blake wanted to take Freya as a rightful wife, he had belittled Sophie. Now, she was about to take on an official role. Even though being a commander was still a military position, Sophie wouldn’t be stuck in the barracks. All the pent??p frustration Lulu had felt was finally released.
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“How did it go? Did you manage to interrogate anyone? Sophie asked eagerly as she approached her husband.
Rafael glanced at her official uniform and chuckled. “That’s the deputy commander’s uniform, but you’re officially the commander now.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll wear it for now,” Sophie replied. Tomorrow morning, I’ll head into the palace and go to the Mystic Army’s barracks to take charge of everything. Even as the army’s former commander, you probably won’t have time to show up.”
Rafael wrapped his arms around her waist and grinned. “Whether I show up or not doesn’t matter. Ever since I returned from the Southern Frontier, I haven’t had anything to do with the Mystic Army. You handled Michael, which means you can handle everyone else. Or are you feeling a bit anxious and need me there?”
“No, I’m not anxious at all.” Sophie reached out to smooth her husband’s slightly tousled hair.
Seeing this, Lulu quickly took Pearl and stepped outside.
“You’re not nervous about facing enemies on the battlefield, so I imagine being a commander will come easily to you,” Rafael said, planting a playful kiss on her forehead. “Congratulations on becoming the first female official to enter the court since the founding of our kingdom.”