The Princess And The Lord-Chapter 1356: Payback Time

A few days earlier when Lory and Fredhardt met Victor Kross at the same time Jay went to visit James Aldwin, he was Harland’s Foreign Minister or to be exact, the Former Foreign Minister. James Aldwin was suspected of working together with The Ember City mayor to collude with the outsider. They are responsible for allowing Underground Guild shadows to enter Harlands not only that because of them the Underground Guild members managed to enter and work in Harland.

Such a crime cannot go unpunished so Jay comes with the King’s Men and some of Noxcra’s agents to arrest James Aldwin with direct orders from the King’s Regent. But who would have thought that despite being closely watched, James Aldwin managed to escape through a secret passageway within his Manor and cruelly abandoned his wife and two daughters?

When Jay arrived, James Aldwin’s two daughters were hugging and sobbing. Meanwhile, Aldwin’s wife sat beside them without saying a word, she just stared at the wall with a blank expression. The poor woman looked very shocked and confused. When she noticed Jay’s arrival, Aldwin’s wife immediately straightened her back and her whole face immediately stiffened.

Jay sat across from the Aldwin family then with calm and a steady voice he started questioning her, "Mrs. Aldwin do you know what your husband did wrong?"

Mrs. Aldwin shook her head "I heard what they said, but..I don’t believe James did all that... he’s... he’s not that kind of man" She clenched her fist.

"I understand how you feel, but you know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have strong evidence, Mrs. Aldwin do you know who I am?" Jay’s eyes peered into her and she automatically nodded.

"I’m sure my men have already shown some evidence, but if you still have questions, please feel free to contact our men. So, all that being said, I hope you’ll cooperate with us..." Jay raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer.

Mrs. Aldwin had no other choice she answered softly "Okay..."

Since Mrs. Aldwin had opened herself up Jay started his question "When was the last time you saw your husband?"

"This morning... he went to his study room and he reminded me not to disturb him, since then he has not come out of his room," Mrs. Aldwin explained nervously.

"Is that normal?" Jay asked again.

Mrs. Aldwin shook her head "Yes, he usually works long hours in his room and sometimes he misses his dinner, usually, the maid will bring the food. But the maid was not allowed to enter the room so the maid would place the food on the food cart and then leave it outside the room, usually, he would take the food by himself when he was hungry...but today...I think he is too focused on his work so I don’t want to disturb him" She look down in forlorn.

Based on Mrs. Aldwin’s statement, Jay estimated that James Aldwin had left the Manor at least two hours before they arrived, hopefully, he didn’t leave Harland, however, if he did leave then someone powerful must helped him escape, the good thing was that there were only a few people who could do that so it would be easier to focus the investigation.

Jay signed with his index finger to one of the King’s Men to come close then he whispered "Check all airports, trains, and ships, I want all borders checked thoroughly"

"Yes, sir" The soldier bowed his head and then quickly left with quick steps.

Jay turns his attention back to Mrs. Aldwin, "So, is there anything new about your husband, like a new hobby, new friends, or something..."

Mrs Aldwin bit her lip while frowning trying to remember then a few moments later she said "He has a new assistant"

His interest piqued, he leans closer "You know his or her name?"

"His name is Adam Smith, he also looks quite young like early thirty, he has ginger hair and green eyes!" She eagerly describes the man.

The officer who heard the name immediately checked the name without being asked. Suddenly an officer entered the room and whispered to Jay. A few moments later Jay nodded and turned to Mrs. Aldwin "I will order my men to make a portrait of Adam Smith, I hope you can provide assistance. Alright, I thank you for your cooperation, I must also inform you that you and your daughters cannot stay here any longer. For your safety, we will move you to a safe place until we find your husband or after this investigation is over..." Jay said.

Mrs. Aldwin answered with a resigned sigh "I understand..."

Mrs. Aldwin’s two daughters who had been quiet all this time suddenly protested "Mom, I don’t want to move, my friends are here, we already agreed to go on holiday together, I cannot leave!"

"Yes Mom, I also promised my boyfriend we will go to the beach tomorrow for our one-month anniversary, and what about my birthday party next week, is it still on?!"

The two girls protested and Mrs. Aldwin’s face turned dark, "SHUT UP, don’t you understand our situation now!" she screamed until her face turned red.

Jay massaged his head, he wondered if these girls understood how serious the situation they were in. If their father was proven to have betrayed the country then he would be punished severely not only in prison but they would also exiled from the country including the entire family.

Exile meant not only their property would be confiscated by the country but also without citizenship they would have to apply for asylum in another country but with the status of a traitor that would be difficult.

Suddenly a Noxcra agent approached Jay and whispered something, Jay gave a slight nod and then raised from his chair, later on, he called his men and said: "You guys handle this"

The agent who had whispered to Jay earlier led him to James Aldwin’s office where several agents were waiting in front of a hidden room beside the fireplace.

"A secret room behind a bookshelf..? Classic," Jay amused.

"The room is protected by high-level protective spells and also anti-detection spells, the door is also locked with a special key so it’s impossible to break for most people," the agent reported.

"Thankfully. we’re not most people" Jay nonchalantly enters the room.

"No, we’re not, Sir," said the agent confidently.

The room was not too big but filled with valuables such as antique vases, paintings, Elysian crystals, and chunks of Zerenium that could be sold quickly on the black market.

"Why didn’t he bring these precious materials with him?" one of the agents muttered.

The other agent snorted "Who said he didn’t, judging from the size of the container that man seems to have a lot of Elysian Crystals and Zerenium but he was in a hurry so he was unable to bring all of it cause it was too heavy, and would hinder his movement"

The agent understood and his face darkened when he realized the amount of wealth that James Aldwin had managed to hoard.

"Data all the items here for evidence" Jay ordered his men.

"Yes, Sir!" The agent answered readily.

Jay turns to the arch tunnel cover with a brisk "Where is that tunnel going?"

"To the twenty-first road which leads directly to the highway, we have ordered the Kings’ men to search that road," his men replied.

Jay nodded then walked towards a large wooden table that was beautifully carved, this table was even more luxurious than the one in the royal study. One of the reasons is that neither King Marcus nor Lucas ever cared about luxury stuff, they cared more about function than aesthetics even Lory who was a girl also liked that.

Jay checked the drawers one by one and then examined the contents of the laptop that was conveniently left on the table. However, as he suspected that there was nothing there other than family photos and some cat videos, he suspected that James Aldwin did this to mock him.

Although disappointed, Jay did not give up. he immersed in his thoughts while his fingers drummed on the table, then suddenly stopped. He pressed his palm on the table. Not long after an electric current ran from his hands and spread to the wall and floor, afterward, he turned toward the wall next to him.

He stared at the empty wall in silence before he muttered "How interesting..." Jay raised from the chair and then walked toward the wall. He slowly pressed his hand on the wall and immediately he was struck by a strong electric current from behind the wall not only that, but he also felt the presence of a powerful spell.

"Everyone take a step back and cast a protective barrier" he gave a warning to his subordinates.

The Noxcra agents tactfully take a safe distance from Jay after that they create a protective barrier around them. Once Jay was sure everyone was ready he took a deep breath then slowly closed his eyes.

He pressed both of his palms against the wall, soon after the wall began to shake as if it was hit by an earthquake then all the lights in the room began to flicker. Suddenly the wall was lit up by a sigil symbol that appeared on the wall then a distortion hole appeared in the middle of the wall, turning out there was a magic space inside the room.

Jay calmly put his hand into the distortion hole, his forehead creased before slowly pulling his hand out and taking out a thick stack of documents.

"My - My - MY, you cunning old fox, look what we got here?" he grinned from ear to ear.

When he returned to the Cestine palace he immediately headed to the royal study room, he didn’t bother to knock as he took long strides inside the room, "Look what I found!" Jay abruptly dropped the stack of documents on Fredhardt’s desk.

Fredhardt stopped typing on his laptop and glanced at the pile of documents. Fredhardt didn’t bother to reprimand Jay’s rude attitude, instead, he curiously picked up the documents to see what made Jay so excited.

After a while, his forehead gradually creased. He continued to check the other document meticulously, after a long time his expression lessened then he put down the document and his face beamed with delight.

"You like it? With this proof of transfer, we can find out who is working together with Luxemborough and also the S.A.I.N.T. organization. We also get concrete evidence since when they have been trying to sabotage our country, well, although it is sad to know how many people are willing to sell their loyalty for a little money." Jay said in a bitter tone.

"After the Dark Ages war ended, the situation was chaotic. There was not enough food, clothing, or shelter. Despite our best efforts, some people were unfortunately neglected. So, it is not surprising that the enemy managed to take advantage of it. However, look at the bright side. Aside from James Aldwin and Simon J. Wheaton who have only been colluding only a year ago, they have only managed to influence minor officials who are not very vital, they also failed to infiltrate the King’s Men, well at least according to this evidence but it doesn’t hurt to check to make sure" Fredhardt conclude in a relaxed manner.

Jay also nodded in agreement "Already did,"

"By the way, I heard James Aldwin managed to escape" Fred squinted his eyes.

"Well this is my fault for not considering that he has a secret passaged inside his house and I also didn’t think he would coldly leave his family, I thought he was a family man, I know I shouldn’t believe rumors just like that" Jay blamed himself for his negligence

Fredhardt was silent for a moment before speaking again "He must have gotten help either from Argus, Paladin, or the underground Guild, but this information won’t help much since they will cut all their connections with everyone involved with them, I wouldn’t be surprised if there would be accidents or sudden deaths happened to them"

"l already sent Noxcra to rescue these people, hopefully, we are not too late." Jay really hoped that these traitors would survive because from them he would gain a lot of useful information.

Fred let out a long exhale " Yes, Hopefully... anyway what are your plans with this other than cleaning up our territory, you must have a better idea to be so excited like that" Fred threw a knowing look.

Excitement filled his eyes, Jay pointed to the paper "Look at this code, this is a secret code given to others to exchange secret messages, of course, this code should have been erased but with my abilities as long as there is a trace, I will be able to track it,"

Fred smirks "Just like breadcrumb, huh?"

"Uh-huh, they probably don’t realize they have given us an entry point to break Luxemborough’s defense system and access their data "Jay smiled mischievously.

Fred leaned on his chair and folded his arms, his face brimmed with satisfaction "Now that’s good news"

"After everything they did to us, I think it’s time to give them some small payback, right?" Jay grinned like a naughty boy.

"Well, what are you waiting for, get to work, now!" Fred pressed his lips thinly like a strict teacher.

Jay pouted but then burst to laughs, he remembered Fred used to speak like that to him when he was young and too lazy to do his homework. It’s been a long time since he heard that tone and that expression from Fred and it feels great.

"Yeah - yeah!" Jay waved his hands as he left the room.

Once Jay left the room and the door closed Fredhardt raised his gaze, suddenly he was overcome with melancholy. He swept his gaze around the room, his memory suddenly recalled the time when King Marcus, his father, and the others used to gather in this place to discuss Lucas and Lory’s daily life together with him, Fargo, Jay, and Clift.

He remembered that there was a lot of laughter and arguing in this room which did not reflect the solemnity and dignity of the Kingdom echelon. However after the renovation, those memories seemed to be forgotten along with the previous room that had been destroyed, but for some reason today he suddenly remembered about the good time he had been through in this new-old room.

Fredhardt clasped his hands on the table then he smiled softly ’All of you don’t need to worry anymore, we will be fine from now on, I’ll make sure of it’