Chapter 110 Denying It Again.
"Your majesty, the queen".
..He was just greeting the both of them.
"Welcome, Ethan, why are you here?". The king inquired of Ethan.
"I'm here to discuss something with you, your majesty". Ethan voiced out.
And with that, the queen knew she needed to give both of them space, so she stood up from the chair she was sitting on and began walking out of the palace.
The king then said to Ethan again, "Sit down and talk to me, Ethan".
He had noticed a kind of expression on Ethan's face, like a bit of gloomy one. Ethan strolled to one of the long chairs in the palace where the chiefs and nobles do sit whenever the king summons for a meeting and sat on it.
..By now, the gloomy expression on Ethan's face had increased, the king had noticed it the more.
"Speak". The king uttered to Ethan once again.
"Your majesty, there's a problem". Ethan voiced out glancing at the king.
"What is it?". The king inquired with an inquisitive facial expression.
"My son has gone missing, since yesterday till now, he hasn't arrived home. I searched for him all over the place yesterday, but couldn't find him. My wife is so distressed, and so am I as well". Ethan dropped the bombshell, that gloomy expression still plastered to his face.
The news hit the king so hard, he didn't like that Ethan was in this mood, he didn't like the gloomy expression on Ethan's face, he didn't like that Ethan's son had gone missing.
He remembered when his son was almost captured by four assassins back then. And now, his son had gone missing? That means, they succeeded in capturing him this time? None of the officials had come to him to report about any of their children going missing or any assassins trying to capture them.
..Why was this happening to Ethan? Who was the person that is choosing to torture him like this?
"This same thing is repeating itself? And they succeeded this time?". The king uttered to Ethan glancing at him.
"Yes, your majesty. I'm sure you remember how my son was almost captured by assassins when he was a baby. After that, you rendered help by sending two knights to our house everyday to protect him. Up till this date, we don't know the person behind everything, the person that sent those assassins,
Was it one of the officials? Or was it one of the natives of this kingdom? Or was it joint stuff? We don't know till this date. I was suspecting the officials badly, but all of them denied having a hand in what happened to my son,
Now my son has gone missing again, I'm sure it was that same person that tried capturing him when he was a baby that is behind this again. I arrived home yesterday to get the news, my wife told me he hadn't come back from school. I had to go to his academy that night, but no one was there,
I searched other places, even forests, but didn't find him. I hope my son is still breathing, I hope my son is alive". Ethan let out, he was so distressed.
The king sighed, then voiced out once again, "I can't believe this is happening again, this shouldn't be happening to you, Ethan. Who is this person that is choosing to torture you this way? After years had passed, he still tried capturing your son and succeeded this time,
Are you still suspecting your fellow officials? The chiefs and nobles? Do you still think it is one of them behind this?".
"Yes, your majesty, I am having a feeling it is one of them or even joint stuff. But I'm just wondering why they are still choosing to do this to me. Years have passed, are they still envious of me?". Ethan uttered.
"If it happens to be that it is one of the officials behind this or even joint stuff, then this would have to end. We have to find out who that person or people are. But first of all, I have to call for a meeting, I have to summon all your fellow officials for a meeting...we have to talk about this".
Ethan only nodded his head, then the king said to him again,
"You'll wait here while your fellow officials would be summoned".
"Yes, your majesty". Ethan uttered bowing his head a little.
"I can see you brought your sword along". The king stated glancing at the scabbard in Ethan's hand.
"Oh! yes, I carried this along in case..."
The king didn't even let Ethan complete that utterance before saying, "Don't worry, you don't have to complete that statement, I understand why you brought your sword along".
Ethan only nodded his head again, then the king called one of the knights into the palace.
******
The king sent about three knights to go summon all the chiefs and nobles for a meeting at the palace. Now, summoning all the officials wasn't an easy job to do. And why was that? 'Cause the officials were somehow many.
And it was just a few knights that had to summon them all. But they had to do it, it was an order from the king.
Currently, all the chiefs and nobles were sitting at the king's palace dressed in their meeting robes. Both low-ranked ones, average-ranked ones, and high-ranked ones. And they didn't know why the king summoned for the meeting.
..The only person that seemed to have a clue what this meeting would be about was, Asher. He was also present at the king's palace.
He was glancing at Ethan currently, and he could notice the distressed look on his face. And that was giving him joy, he gains joy from his brother's sadness.
The officials were still sitting waiting for what the meeting was about. They were waiting for the king to speak, and he spoke,
"I summoned this meeting for something that had taken place before but didn't succeed. I summoned a meeting for it back then, and I've summoned a meeting for it again. And this time, it succeeded. Ethan's son has gone missing, he didn't arrive home yesterday,
For you guys that were officials when this same thing took place back then but didn't succeed, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Not too long after Ethan had given birth to a son, that son almost got captured by assassins. They would have succeeded if not for the effort Ethan put into getting back his son,
Now, his son has gone missing, for sure, he was captured again, and it was a success this time. Is it one of you guys here that is behind what happened to Ethan's son? Because this can't continue,
None of you guys here have come to me to report any of your children going missing, why is this happening to only Ethan? An average-ranked chief and a warrior that is helping out this kingdom in many ways?
All of you average and high-ranked chiefs and nobles were granted knights and servants the moment you got to your current rank, and you grabbed them with both hands. Since when Ethan had been promoted to an average-ranked chief, up till now, he doesn't have knights of his own, he chose to live that way,
But he can summon knights whenever he needs some. He's among the few officials that trained their powers, he's the only official that is a warrior. He's different from you guys. So why is he the only one this thing is happening to? Who is behind it? Is it one of you guys?".
And these sentences kept flowing out of their mouths the moment the king asked that question, 'No your majesty', 'It isn't me', 'How would I do such a thing?'.
..And once again, Asher was among the people that denied it though he was behind everything.
'And so they've begun denying it again'. Ethan thought to himself.
He just sat there as different sentences were flowing out of their mouths...what can he do? They can deny it all they want, he didn't catch any of them in the act. So they can keep denying it as they did years ago, and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
After they'd finished denying it, the king uttered,
"And you guys are denying it again? This can't continue, something must be done about it".