Every woman in the room was surprised. They started murmuring about the fiasco.
"Who could dare to steal from the palace?" Audrey said in a hushed tone.
Marie shrugged. "Only a fool!" she remarked. "Stealing from the palace means that they have stolen the king's treasure and that is something very serious. No one has ever lived to see the day after stealing from the king."
"That's right, Marie," Hazel added. "I know of people who the king has hanged for lesser crimes. But this is a huge crime. I hope they catch the thief and hang him or her in the market square and leave the body hanging there for two days so that everyone sees it and never thinks of stealing from the palace."
Avice was so petrified that she couldn't speak a word. She was literally shaking when the guard gave all of them a hard glare and left. The conversation amongst the ladies was also not helping. The treasure belonged to the king? She thought that it belonged to Prince Lazarus and that was why she took it. Even if Lazarus came to know about it, she was sure that he would cover it because of Emma. But, this had become the royal matter. King was involved.
Thinking of that, her head became dizzy. She cursed the king internally that he was such a miser that he couldn't bear the loss of a few minor things from the palace. However, if she went and confessed to Emma, she was sure that Emma would help her out. After all, why would she not help her? Emma wouldn't want to soil her name on this petty theft. At the same time, if she could go to her room and somehow remove the stolen goods from there and keep it elsewhere, she would be spared.
She strode out of the room but the moment she was on the door, the guards stopped her. "You can't leave this room," the guard said to her in a strict manner.
"What do you mean?" she shot back. "I am Lady Emma's mother. I can go anywhere I like. Do you think that I have stolen the items?"
The guard narrowed his eyes. "I am sorry but I can't allow you to go out. And the reason is that these are the king's direct orders."
"King's direct orders?" Avice was stunned. Her head reeled so fast that she had to catch the frame of the door to stop herself from falling down. "Wh—why would the king give direct orders?" she asked, her voice barely over a whisper.
The guard gave her a suspicious look. "Lady Avice, I don't know why it should matter to you, but one can't go around stealing in the palace. If someone steals so blatantly and the king doesn't do anything about it, then this place would soon convert into a hub of robbers."
Avice's stomach knotted tightly. She had taken very insignificant artifacts. How did they even come to know about them? "I see," she replied in a hoarse voice. "Then please call my daughter. I have to talk to her."
"Sorry, we can't leave this place," the guard replied. "We have our orders to stay here until we get fresh orders."
A headache started developing. She had to turn and sit back and wait for the incident to unfold. A shudder ran down her body when she thought of the dungeons. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. If she was caught, she was going to say that it was her son's mischief. However, another idea thunder-stormed in her mind. She was going to say that it was Emma who gave her those artifacts. That way no one will be able to blame her and no one would dare to say a thing to Emma because she was going to be Lord Lazarus's wife soon. The idea was enough to put a smile on her face.
She sat grandly on the chair and drank the wine that was served to them while watching other women who talked about the theft. She smirked. They didn't know how smart she was.
After an hour, the guard opened the door of the room and said that the search was complete. Avice was surprised that the guard didn't say anything to her. That meant that either the items weren't found or they wouldn't do anything to her because she was Emma's mother. A smile came to her lips.
"So can we leave?" Marie asked in a tired voice. Avice watched them, keeping silent. She was eager to know about the outcome of the search.
"You all can leave," the guard replied. "Prince Lazarus is sorry that he couldn't attend you personally. But he is going to be there for early morning breakfast with all of you."
"That is so nice of him," said Hazel.
"He is truly a kind royal. Very rare and very sweet and concerned about us," Audrey added.
The ladies took their leave and went out of the room talking amongst themselves. Avice gathered her shawl and was about to leave when the guard stopped her. "You can't leave."
"What? Why?" Avice growled. "Are you mad?" She really wanted to leave and go because she was tired and she also wanted to know what happened to search.
"Lord Yul has ordered us that you are not allowed to leave this chamber until he comes here," the guard informed.
"Who is Lord Yul?" Avice asked, her heart beating faster.
"Lord Yul is going to be our future General if Lord Lazarus takes over as the king. He is one of the key persons in the king's army."
Avice gritted her teeth. "This is getting weirder! I want to meet my daughter now! And I want to meet Lord Lazarus."
"Please sit inside, Lady Avice," the guard replied. "We can't do anything other than carry the royal orders."
Avice spun on her heel and stomped back in, shouting, "Why am I being detained? I don't like it at all." She sat back on her chair with her arms crossed across her chest and waited for Yul. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. If things went out of control, she was going to take Emma back to the village and blackmail Lazarus.
Yul came after half an hour and by that time Avice had lost her patience. "Do you think I am cattle?" she retorted at him without even bowing.
"You are worse," Yul replied as he narrowed his eyes on Emma's mother.
"You—" Avice shouted, but became quiet immediately when Yul bared his fangs and growled at her, his eyes blazing with fury.
Yul growled. "You stole the artifacts from the palace and you have the audacity to behave like you are entitled?" He looked at the guard who came with the bag in which the items were stashed.
Blood drained from her face. "Th—these were given to me by Emma," she stammered.
Yul motioned the guard to go out and shut the door. When the room was closed, Yul said, "Emma is not the type that she would give you these cheap artifacts. She is much classier than you are, Lady Avice!"
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