The Prince's Fiance

Chapter Nine

While Jisoo was spending an afternoon in friendly company, which is paying her clearly more attention, the man she originally wished to spend time with was working non stop to catch up on missed out work.

"Do you really think these transactions are connected?" "It might be the case if you consider this transaction as part from the one last months trip." "Hm.." Akito and Raito were mumbling out their thoughts while staring on documents and sorting them in seemingly reasonable connections.
But these two were soon ripped out of their thought by the door which bursted open, revealing a butler and a royal knight. "Your Highness! It's urgent, the King was poisoned!" "What!" Akito shot up from his seat. "How did this happen?!" The Butler hurried to give an answer to his best abilities. "We are not certain how it could come to this. The maids and cooks who loyal serve for years prepared all drinks and meals for his Majesty like usual. But as his Majesty wanted to go for his daily walk a suddenly weakness followed from cramps overcame him." The Knight spoke up to deliver more informations."All Knights including myself who were present searched the area, but we found no traces of an intruder who could have caused this. For now the entire palace staff which was present at preparing his Majesty's meals are taken under temporarily arrest for the further investigations."

"Good. Interrogate them and search the area a second time. Also look into all visitors of today and the past days if necessary." the prince commanded them. "Yes, your Highness."
"How is my father's condition?" "His Majesty is still alive. The doctor is examining him. We will need to wait for his result." A slight but short relieve. "Good. Keep me updated immediately if you know more. And don't let anyone outside of the palace know about him being poisoned." "Yes, your Highness." The Butler and the knight bowed their heads and hurried off to put the commands into action.

Left behind were a very tense atmosphere. Akito gritted his teeth in frustration. "How could this happen!" He was running up and down in his office. "We watched everything, where did we made a mistake? When did we made one?" Raito couldn't give an answer to these questions. Did they had a rat in their rows or were they simply lacking prudence? Whatever it was, the stability of the royal reign hung on a thin thread like the King's life currently. "Let me see the backgrounds of all our employees again." He hurriedly searched for the folder with requested information and checked them again for any sign which they might have overseen before.

They both looked for two hours straight into the documents without noticing the time. The only thing what made them lift their heads was the butler who had returned with a new report. "Pardon me, your Highness. The imperial doctor has finished his examination." "Tell me." "It took a while but he was able to find out the poison which was used. It is a hybrid creation of a poisonous flower which was manipulated by magic. Usually the flower has an antidote, but through the manipulation the antidote wouldn't work." "What!" the Prince stared at the Butler in a way as if he made a bad joke. "And that means?" "It's not possible for us to treat the poisoning without advice of a person knowledgeable in magic. Unfortunately, with passing time his Majesty's condition is getting worse."

Those bad news brought out the worst of Akito. "What is that supposed to mean it's not possible to treat?! We are talking about the King's life here! Isn't the royal doctor the best in the Kingdom or are those only lies?" The Butler flinched at his outburst. "Forgive me, your Highness.." he bowed deeply. Akito clenched his fists in frustration and anger as a short memory snapped back into his mind. "Ah.. That Magican! Butler, go and bring the Marquis daughter immediately here. The one which is supposed to be the new fill for the palace Magican. Hurry, this is an imperial order!" Raito watched his cousin slightly speechless. He didn't expect that Lady Arden, who is the new Magican thanks to his effort, would be involved so quickly in so high sensitive situations. Especially since she didn't went through such a strict hiring process like other employees. Thought he can't oppose the idea since the situation will become only worse if his Majesty were to die.

"We are back, Lili!" Jisoo happily walked into the living room, followed by Solomon. "Welcome back Jiji. How was your outing?" "It was good. We had great food and went a bit sight seeing." "That's great to hear." She smiled gently at her friend as she plopped down next to her. Solomon on the other hand bid his farewell. "Thanks for the nice time Lady Jisoo. I will see you both soon again. Until then." He bowed a short courtesy with a smile to the ladies and vanished into thin air the same way like he has appeared.

"Oh.. I suppose he was in a hurry?" "Don't you think it's rude?" "It's fine. He said before he has to attend work so we couldn't spend more time sight seeing." "I see." Lilith watched her closely to make sure everything was really fine before she wanted to change the topic as suddenly the head maid entered with a nervous look. "Excuse me, Lady Arden. An attendant from the royal palace is here for you." The maid could barely announce the guest, there he already passed her through the door. "Lady Arden, the Crown Prince has summoned you to the palace. Please immediately follow me back as this is an imperial order." This went by very fast so that Lilith had to take a few seconds to understand what just happened. An imperial order? This couldn't mean anything good. She exchanged a concerned look with Jisoo and stood then up. "Okay I'll quickly get ready-" "No need for this, we have to hurry. The Prince excuses whatever clothes your ladyship wears." The mage was startled by the interruption of her sentence but just nodded along in confusion and hurried after the attendant.

Before she could fully grasp what was going on, she already sat in a carriage with the attendant who advised her to keep whatever she might hear or see during her visit, as a confidential information. 'This will be my first work day at the palace, and I don't like how it starts' was what she thought as she looked out of the window to the palace which came quickly closer.