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“Understood!” Michael nodded. “I’ll take care of it right away.”
“I’ll go with you. The king instructed me to personally conduct the hearings if anyone with noble titles is involved, so I need to be there,” Sophie added,
Just as they stepped out of the Capital Guard’s headquarters, they spotted Alistair approaching with the twelve captains of the Royal Guard.
Alistair was in his thirties, with well??efined features and a strong, fit build that wasn’t overly large. As he approached Sophie with his men, there was a hint of disdain in his expression,
He nodded respectfully, but his eyes betrayed his arrogance as he said, “I apologize for my late arrival. I had matters to attend to. Please forgive me, Commander Devin.”
Sophie nodded slightly, glancing at the twelve captains standing in two rows behind him. Each one looked formidable, their expressions dismissive, as if they couldn’t care less about a female commander.
It was clear??he caliber of a military leader was often reflected in the nature of their soldiers.
“There’s nothing much to discuss today, so let’s disperse and get back to our duties…”
Before Sophie could finish her sentence, Alistair interjected, “Since there’s nothing of importance we’ve all seen each other, I’ll take my leave. There’s a great deal to attend to in the palace.”
With that, he turned and strode away, completely disregarding Sophie.
Frowning, Michael called out, “Alistair!”
The man in question didn’t even glance back, simply continuing on his way.
and
With a sigh, Michael turned to Sophie. “Your Grace, don’t take it to heart. Commander Prince just has a bit of a cold demeanor. It’s nothing personal.”
Sophie could sense Michael was defending Alistair, so she didn’t press the issue.
“Alright, let’s head to the Supreme Court,” she said.
The Supreme Court was indeed bustling today. Rafael had returned after resting at home for a short while, but had been busy and hadn’t interrogated Eleanor yet.
There were two reasons for the delay. First, they weren’t in a rush to conduct the hearing. They planned to let Eleanor stew for a few days. Second, they needed corroborating evidence to counter her potential claims. As a result, all sorts of minor officials and consuls from Harmony Palace were summoned for questioning first.
Additionally, there were some individuals who had fled and needed to be apprehended for further interrogation.
Sophie and Michael arrived just in time. The artists at the Supreme Court had just finished sketching the fugitives based on the servants’ descriptions and were ready to hand the portraits over to the Capital Guard for further investigation.
Everyone was so caught up in their tasks that they didn’t even notice the commander was a woman. Sophie reached for the sketches and flipped through them one by one. It was only when Matthew caught a glimpse of her slender fingers that he finally turned his attention to her face. The moment he saw the bruise around her eye, he paused, then recalled that the Hell Monarch’s princess consort was now the commander of the Mystic Army.
He glanced at Rafael, noticing that the prince’s gaze was practically glued to Sophie’s face. The tenderness in his eyes was almost palpable, tinged with an unmistakable hint of concern.
Sophie jolted back, startled. “Don’t do that! What if someone comes in and sees?”
“No one’s coming in,” Rafael said, amused at her serious demeanor that added an air of authority to her presence. “Alright, I’ll behave. You sit properly too. What else did His Majesty say?”
He withdrew his hand and sat back down.
“His Majesty mentioned that we need to investigate the families of officials who have had too much contact with Eleanor. If anyone with noble titles is involved, I’m the one who will conduct the questioning,
Sophie explained.
“I see. That does involve quite a few people. You’d better be mentally prepared. Many may not yield any results, and it might just be a waste of breath.”
Just as he said that, Rafael suddenly realized something and asked, “Did His Majesty mean to bring them to the Supreme Court for questioning, or does he want you to go to them?”
“He said to bring them back for questioning.” Sophie clarified.
Rafael shook his head. “That’s not appropriate. Creating such a fuss will damage the reputations of those noble families and breed resentment towards the court. The Supreme Court is a public institution, and it’ll only lead to embarrassment if we bring them in without any evidence. I suspect this will make everyone quite displeased.”
Sophie frowned. “I hadn’t considered that. You’re right. Since we’re the ones handling the case, they wouldn’t dare to complain about His Majesty, but they would definitely take their frustrations out on us. I can’t believe I overlooked that.”
“You just took office today. It’s natural to be a bit nervous, Rafael reassured her.
After thinking for a moment, he suggested, “How about this? It might be tough, but for anyone who has had too much contact with Eleanor, you should go ask them directly. Only bring back those who seem suspicious.”
“Alright!” Sophie agreed.
“And there’s someone you really need to question??lorence,” Rafael added.
Florence, who was advanced in age, was kept in a small and relatively clean cell. She was also separated from the other Harmony Palace servants. Since being taken to the Supreme Court, she hadn’t eaten or drank anything, nor had she spoken a word.
Matthew had personally questioned her and urged her to eat, but she just lay in her cell, appearing resigned to death,
Rafael was well aware that Florence wouldn’t speak ill of Eleanor. After all, she had raised the grand princess, and their bond had long since transcended that of a mere servant and her mistress. Over the years, while people came and went from Eleanor’s side, Florence had remained steadfastly loyal.
As a result, she was privy to all of Eleanor’s secrets??any of which were quite sordid.
“Matthew interrogated Kurt today. We learned that Aunt Eleanor initially ordered that your uncle’s face be ruined and his entire family be killed. It was Florence who intervened and told Kurt not to carry out the order. Otherwise, your uncle and his family would have already been sent to their graves, Rafael revealed.
“Grand Princess Eleanor’s truly deranged! She’ll go to any lengths to drag anyone who looks like my mother back to be a concubine for Henry and bear his children. As for anyone who looks like my father, she wants to ruin their faces and murder their whole family! Is she out of her mind?” Sophie snapped, her anger flaring.
“So, o only Florence knows how many people Aunt Eleanor has harmed. She isn’t just involved in treasonous plots. There are blood debts to consider as well. His Majesty might not care about the latter, but whether it’s the living or the dead victims, they all deserve justice,” said Rafael.
Sophie nodded in agreement.
While treason was a heinous crime, every life destroyed by Eleanor was unique and irreplaceable.
“I need to talk to her.”
“I’ll have someone bring her to an interrogation room.”
“Don’t bring any torture devices.”
Rafael chuckled. “We don’t have any torture devices in the interrogation rooms. There’s a designated room for that. If we need the devices, we either take the person to that specific room or bring the tools to them. So far, we haven’t used any torture methods in our interrogations. Come on, I’ll take you there.”
The architecture of the Supreme Court building, which covered a large area, was grand and imposing. The prison cells were located in the rear left section of the building, with one having to take several detours to reach it.
In the back area, there weren’t many trees??ust a few short ones scattered here and there. Now, most of their leaves had fallen, leaving the branches mostly bare. The interrogation rooms were toward the rear right, a row of about seven or eight small huts. Rafael opened one of them and instructed someone to bring Florence there.
The interrogation room’s small inner space was separated by a partition screen. During interrogations, someone could sit behind the screen and listen, hearing everything??ven the faintest sigh.