Fergus and I both got on our horses and rode towards Duncan as fast as we could. If my calculations are right, there is a mole somewhere and now, I am sure my father knows the discovery we made at the southern camp.
The gates were about to close when we reached Duncan. I rode Storm faster while shouting from the top of my lungs.
"Halt!" The servants stopped and seemed shocked upon my arrival.
"Hold the gates open, I am passing through!" The servants immediately followed my orders and opened the gates wide. It did not take long before Fergus and I passed through it.
Without caring about anything else, I jumped from Storm when I reached the stairs towards the manor.
I heard Fergus shouting at my back. "Victoria!"
A minute later, he went and caught up with me.
"Don't do that crazy stunt again!" I looked at him with furrowed brows.
"What stunt?" He seemed frustrated.
"That one! Storm was still running but you jumped off her! It's too dangerous."
"Your point being?" Not wasting another second I turned my back to him.
"Look, if you want to solve these matters at hand immediately, then you must know the repercussions of your actions. You are placing your life in danger, how can you solve this crisis when you are immobilised?" He said while trailing behind me.
He knew I could not be convinced with a shallow reason so he made it as an excuse. Nevertheless, I understood his concern.
Without wasting another second, we walked hurriedly along the halls. Reaching the second floor and aggressively opening the doors of my father's study.
Seeing that there is no one here, I ordered Fergus. "Go check the next door. It is the library."
I rummaged through all the papers but found nothing. Soon enough, I heard Fergus. "No one is in here."
I breathed heavily, they now knew. I was too careless! Their spies probably reported teh wedding and the celebration we held at the palace.
In pursuit of finding a clue, I went to the library. There I saw Fergus looking at the stack of papers.
"I saw your letter. It is lying neatly here. I took these papers under the table. Seemed like they are kept there in order to hide it from everyone, including the cleaners."
He gestured towards the papers and I gave him a slight nod.
I went near the letter and figured out that it is a bit damp and warm. Traces of water can be found. Probably from tears, and warmth from holding it. It means my father left not too long ago but just in time for us to never see him.
"Lizzy, look at these papers. Based on the signature and honorifics at the last part of the paper, it seemed like a letter written by your father." He said while flipping the paper repeatedly on its front and back.
I looked at the paper in his hand and took it from him. Indeed, it is written by my father. I knew his hand writing well enough to distinguish that he wrote this himself in a small illuminated room. I checked the others as well and found that they are all letters.
"The question is, to whom is he sending these letters? It seemed like he knew that person so much to write the letters without any address." I continued to check the papers while voicing out my thoughts.
"I bet you royals have your own messenger, so we cannot ask the post for any records left." Fergus guessed it right. Holding the letters at hand, I called out a maidservant from downstairs.
"Call the royal messenger and tell him to meet me at the library. It is of utmost importance so I expect his presence immediately." The servant nodded and left. I returned to the library and found Fergus kneeling, reaching for the under of the drawers of the table.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"There! I got it!" He exclaimed while pulling another paper. This time, it is different, it is new unlike the old letters written by my father.
"I touched it accidentally earlier and thought that there might be something under the table. Guess there really is, because if this is not important why is it placed differently from the stack of papers?"
"Guess we'll find out," I said as I opened the paper. There it revealed a handwriting that is never familiar to me. Fergus leaned closer as we both read the content of the letter.
Both of our eyes widened as soon as we read the letters. It contains the information and orders that happened when I was staying at the highlands. This is about the invasion! What is more shocking is that they deployed not only three men to infiltrate the house, but four!
Remembering the time I turned to Fergus, "Have you seen the fourth man? When I fought with them I only took down three as they are the only ones whom I saw enter through the backdoor."
He looked distracted for a while as if reliving the moment and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. "No, when I heard you scream both Lachlan and I rushed to the house but there was no one around. Only those you took down are what we saw."
I sighed in frustration. There was no signature in the letter, but I know it was either the duchess or Edward who sent this letter. Nevertheless, baseless accusations cannot be used especially in this crisis. I was about to put the letter down when the light from the torch illuminated the paper, revealing another set of letters, not included in the original content. I keenly looked at it and pushed my thumb together with my index finger, until the paper separated into two. Turns out, the shadow of the torch was right, there were two papers. I quickly read the second paper and to my horror, it was the Baroness' signature!
"Are you sure? What if it's tampered?" I heard Fergus asked from behind, probably seeing the second paper as well.
I shook my head and ran my fingers in a dry seal right below the signature. "Every paper used by royals has a dry seal, specifically customised to the royal using it."
I took his hand and let his fingers touch the seal.
"You feel it, don't you? Therefore, it cannot be tampered. No one could use the seal of a specific royal even if you are also a part of the monarchy yourself. Picture out the patterns you have touched, it is the coat of arms of the British monarchy with the words 'baroness' below it."
Just as I finished explaining, an anxious knock came at the door.
I opened it revealing the maidservant I ordered earlier. She bowed down her head the moment she saw me, but her anxious eyes did not escape my sight.
"What is it? Was the order carried out?" I implied.
"Yes, your highness." She trembled a little.
"If so, why are you anxious? I can see your hands shaking violently."
"I deeply ask for your forgiveness, your grace. Your order was carried out and I personally went to the messenger's house myself with some of the manor's guards in an attempt to have him delivered to you forcefully if he refuses. Yet when we got there, the entire house was a mess. The guards roamed around the area as I inspected the house. Turns out, he was gone! Not even a sight of him in the neighbourhood was seen. The neighbours said he just disappeared completely!"
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note: Hi guys, I am deeply sorry for not being able to give you updates for the past weeks. Our finals is fast approaching, but rest assured, I will be giving more udpates after our finals.🥰