Prince Edmund's Mask

"I will excuse myself to call him, Your Majesty."

His Majesty allowed Matias who turned around to approach the door of the room.

When Matias opened the door from the inside, there stood Rodrigues clutching Lord Keith. The one-eyed man was still trying to escape. Making Rodrigues work quite hard to keep him safe.

"Bring him in, Rodrigues!"

Rodrigues also dragged Mr. Keith's steps in front of his body, so that he would immediately enter His Majesty's study. Meanwhile, the palace guard who had also been standing at the door, only glanced when Matias asked Rodrigues to enter.

For the umpteenth time, Prince Edmund was made to widen his eyes. How surprised he was to see the figure of a man who was staggering before them.

"This is Mr. Keith, my lord. The tax office worker, the one in the picture."

"You don't want to introduce yourself, Mr. Keith? It seems that you are impatient to be here. Why do you want to leave in such a hurry?"

"No... Your Honor. Please forgive me, Your Honor."

"Forgiveness? What did you do wrong?"

Mr. Keith looked down in shame, it felt awful to be in his position right now. He was really scared, imagining the punishment he would have to receive.

"Alright, Mr. Keith, please answer each of my questions honestly!"

"Ba... well... your majesty."

"Since when have you been making and printing fake tax bills?"

"It's been quite a while, Your Majesty. Approximately... one and a half years."

"What? How do people ask for your services to create tax bills that are bigger than they actually are?"

"By word of mouth, Your Majesty. Usually, people who already know my work will promote my ability to falsify tax bills."

"Is it true that my son is protecting your crimes?"

"Be... true, Your Majesty."

"How much profit did he demand from you?"

"Thirty percent of the wages, which I receive from insiders, Your Majesty.

His Majesty paused, he sighed and looked at his son who could now only look down in resignation.

In that moment of silence, Matias showed us last month's estate tax bill with two versions. One version that Mr. Carlos got from the hands of Mr. Benedict, and one version that Mr. Carlos got from the archive building.

Again, His Majesty could only shake his head as he scrutinized the two tax bills.

"This paper was obtained by Sir Carlos from the hands of Sir Benedict, who said this letter came from the tax office. As for this paper, Mr. Carlos borrowed it yesterday from the archive building. This is the original copy, Your Honor."

"How is it that... in one period, you made two bills with vastly different values, Mr. Keith? You really went too far! You're messing up the system!"

"Please forgive me, Your Honor.", he pleaded shakily.

His Majesty wiped his face with one palm. He expressed his gratitude to Matias and Rodrigues who had been so brave in investigating and uncovering this case.

He would consider the appropriate punishment for Lord Keith.

A few minutes later, the only people left there were His Majesty, Prince Edmund and one of His Majesty's trusted male assistants. Mr. Ruddy.

"What are you doing with the archive building, Edmund?", while clutching his chest, His Majesty continued to ask his son questions.

"What do you mean?"

"If Mr. Keith has been falsifying bills since a year and a half ago, it means that you have been knowing and protecting him for that long."

"No, father! I only got to know him earlier this year."

"Can I take your word for it? You are greedy, Edmund. You arrogantly gave protection to that criminal, do you think that people are so afraid of touching you? Because you are the son of a king... All copies of the original tax bills are kept in the archives. Did you sabotage the archive building with the explosion that time, Edmund?"

Prince Edmund began to tremble, he couldn't say anything else.

"You have stepped on my head Edmund! I will order them to send you to live in exile. I am still kind enough not to send you to the dungeon. Stay in exile, until you truly realize your mistake. And return with a clean heart. One more thing, before I die... I will pass my throne to my brother. Your uncle Hendrick, is more than worthy to succeed me."

"Father???"

"There will be no proposal! I will cancel your wedding plans. That girl... won't like a fool like you."

"Ruddy!"

"Yes, your highness."

"Conduct a massive tax audit on all private and government-owned companies. As well as the plantations. Trace the flow of funds if you find insiders playing like Mr. Benedict. Investigate all the workers in the tax office too! And you Ruddy... immediately meet Mr. Carlos at the vineyard, ask him to hand over Mr. Benedict to you. Deal with that man according to the law! I'll take care of Mr. Keith myself."

"Yes, I understand your majesty."

His majesty left his study and Prince Edmund was alone in there. His steps were halted by the appearance of Princess Nicole before him.

"Father! What's wrong, Father? I saw Sir Matias here. He left in a hurry."

The questioner could only reply with a sigh, his majesty reluctant to open his mouth. With both hands tied behind his body, he continued his steps. Past the body of his daughter.

Not long after, Prince Edmund also stepped out of the room. Again, Princess Nicole asked.

"Brother.......?"

"You know what Nicole? That boy you have a crush on, has ruined my life! If you... are still chasing him... I will never think of you as my sister again."

Princess Nicole frowned in disbelief. "What do you mean, Big Sister?"

And Princess Nicole was left for a second time. Prince Edmund had moved away from her presence.

The atmosphere of the palace at the end of the afternoon was eerily quiet. His Majesty and his guards had left the palace after the commotion that occurred this afternoon in His Majesty's study. Prince Edmund shut himself up in his room. Princess Nicole, along with her personal maid, chose to be busy picking cherries in the courtyard beside the palace.

The empress, meanwhile, was sobbing in her room. She was still thinking about Prince Edmund who was involved in the tax fraud case. The Queen could not hold back her tears, when the king took the time to tell her briefly about what was happening. And of his decision to send his son into exile.

Of course, all this clearly affected the empress's psychological state. As the woman who gave birth to and raised Prince Edmund, she was devastated by the decision her husband had made.

On the other side of her heart, the queen was very disappointed with her son's behavior. The boy she had brought up with an excellent upbringing had tarnished the face of his parents. A potential heir to the throne that they had been expecting had been unmasked.