The news that Queen Diana was assassinated at the entrance of Tobesk Station quickly spread throughout the city on Wednesday, and then spread to the entire kingdom and even the world.
Even though the queen, the victim, was not harmed, harsh diplomatic rhetoric from the Kingdom of Drarion was still heard from the Yodel Palace that afternoon, condemning the despicable behavior of the United Kingdom of Carsenrick.
However, both the royal family and MI6 believe that this was not done by the "gray gloves".
The station ribbon-cutting ceremony was of course cancelled immediately, and the police force and the royal guards escorted the severely frightened queen back to Jodel Palace.
The murderer committed suicide, but the people on the street had to identify themselves and make sure they were not his accomplices before they could leave. The biggest contributor to this incident, Shad, who ran two streets just to get shot for no apparent reason, was taken care of by MI6, the police, the royal guards, and the personal servants left by the queen. After waking up a little later, he was also sent to Yodel Palace.
"What are you doing?"
The Jodl Palace is not a palace, but a palace complex. Although it is not very large compared to other properties and estates owned by the royal family in Tobysk, except for its better location, the Jodl Palace is the residence of the royal family for generations.
Sitting in the waiting room, Shad was playing with a few coins in his hand, which he won from playing Rhodes with the lawyer dozens of hours ago.
The person who asked the question was Miss Tifa Servet, Miss Carina's personal maid. Shad was now "wounded" and waiting for the King's summons. In order to show that she valued Shad as her "lifesaver", Queen Diana sent a maid to take care of the "injured" detective. The black-haired maid was arranged by Miss Carina to protect Shad and prevent him from being involved in unnecessary political struggles.
This was very effective. Maid Tifa stayed by Shad's side after he "awoke" and drove away many people with ulterior motives. After all, Miss Carina was one generation older than His Majesty the King, and everyone here had to respect her.
"I'm thinking about the relationship between God, man and fate... ahem."
Pretending to cough, he covered his chest, and the bandage inside his collar could be vaguely seen:
"Dozens of hours ago, before I met the woman who had lost her child, what I was thinking about was donating the half pound in cash in my pocket to the Dawn Church. Even if I hadn't met that woman, I should have arrived at the Dawn Church at noon."
"Really? There is such a thing?"
Miss Servet asked curiously. This was the first time she had heard of it. The other maids in the room also secretly looked at Shad. Just as Miss Beas said, the subtle changes in his appearance made Shad's face more handsome. In addition, it was normal for him to win the favor of the ladies because of what he did today.
"So, what happened today tells me that fate is absolutely fair."
He uttered another incoherent sentence and stuffed the small coins with a face value of 1 penny into his pocket. At this time, an angry voice came from the corridor outside:
"I recruited him myself! It was us who uncovered the conspiracy and protected the queen at the last moment!"
That voice should belong to Mr. Anros, the director of MI6.
"To be honest, I was indeed worried that MI6 would not recognize my identity, and then my actions might be difficult to explain."
He pretended to turn his head with difficulty and spoke to the maid Miss Tifa Servet who was standing beside him. In fact, he wanted to act more realistically in front of the queen's maid. After all, the maid Tifa knew that Shad had not suffered any harm other than being frightened.
"Detective, there is no way Mr. Anros would deny your identity. If he hadn't used your actions to cover up the incompetence of MI6, he would probably have been transferred to the National Cemetery Management Association."
Even though there were other servants in the room, Miss Servet did not lower her voice, and the others who heard the conversation pretended not to hear anything.
Being a servant here, you all know what you should hear and what you shouldn't hear.
Xia De nodded, and then pretended to cough weakly. Although he looked fine now and had changed into new clothes, in fact, just a few hours ago, he was diagnosed by the doctor as "internal organ damage due to the impact and slight internal bleeding."
The above diagnosis was completely wrong, because Shad had not even seen the doctor. It was Miss Carina who was present at the time who arranged for someone to do so in order to cover up Shad's physical abnormality. Mr. Anros of MI6 was originally good friends with Miss Carina, and he needed Shad's "injury" to show that MI6 had paid a price to protect the royal family, so he enthusiastically helped to fake Shad's injury.
"Mr. Dark Anros is really lucky. Not only does he not have to bear the responsibility for the queen's assassination, he can even take the credit for it."
The maid continued to speak, which was actually telling Shad about his current situation.
"But what does the king want to see me for? A reward?"
He held his chest and pretended to be in pain.
"At least it won't be a reward this time. The woman you and the captain captured has confessed to kidnapping children in Tobesk."
The maid said.
"Is it really the frequent child abduction incidents reported in the newspapers in the past few months?"
Shad asked.
The black-haired maid smiled softly:
"Yes, sir, you and your captain friend have made great contributions this time. The Redwich Field is now conducting an arrest, and we believe that we can use this as a clue to arrest most of the criminals, and may even find the children who were lost before. The credit for this incident and your credit for protecting the queen are probably enough for you to get a medal. However, the awarding of the Kingdom Medal requires a process, so the reward will not be today."
"Just a medal?"
Xia De was a little disappointed.
“It’s a great honor.”
The maid looked at him strangely:
"Many nobles may not be able to get one even after a lifetime of thinking about it. You have received this honor at such a young age. This is what many people dream of... You don't want gold pounds, do you?"
She lowered her voice for the last half of the sentence. She knew Xia De's condition, so she guessed what he was thinking.
"Of course, I am very short of money now. As you know, I need pounds for my studies."
Shade doesn't think there's anything wrong with this idea.
"There's a reward offered by Redwich Field for the missing Tobesk children, and there's also Queen Diana, who will make a move."
Miss Tifa Servet reminded softly, and Shad smiled, feeling like it was all a dream when thinking about the series of events that happened today.
It is now half past six in the evening. The days are long in summer, but the nights come especially quickly.
When the sun completely disappeared over the western horizon, the street lights on Silver Cross Avenue could be seen lit up from the window of the waiting room, and Xia De was still sitting there waiting.
It's not that he is unappreciated or forgotten, but that the king is too busy, especially today with his accusations against Carsenrick.
So while waiting to be summoned, different people came to visit Shade. First of all, of course, was his nominal boss, Director Dak Anros.
After he entered the door, he signaled the servants to leave first. Seeing that the black-haired maid standing next to Xia De did not leave, she just raised her eyebrows and said nothing more:
"Hamilton, you did a great job this time! You are worthy of being the outstanding talent we have trained."
He deliberately spoke in an exaggerated voice, and when he sat on the single sofa to Xia De's left, he pointed at the door, meaning that someone might be eavesdropping outside.
"Hamilton, this is really good."
Then he lowered his voice and said to Xia De, and he meant it sincerely:
"Remember, it was this morning that you finally found out that someone was going to attack the queen, but because you had no evidence and time was running out, you went to the station to stop it and blocked the gun at the last moment. As for the investigation of the missing children, the credit is also yours, but you have to change your story to avoid being discovered..."
He lip-synced, and Shade understood the general meaning. Mr. Anros had already explained the above matters to Shade once before entering the Yodel Palace, and Shade of course agreed.
After all, in this way, no one would care about how he walked for half an hour and accurately found the criminal in the missing child case.
"MI6 will not treat you unfairly, as long as you can get away with this..."
He twisted his fingers calmly, and Shade nodded calmly. The two men, who were nearly twenty years apart in age, both got satisfactory answers.
"But which side did the assassin belong to? Mr. Anros, it seems that you don't think it was the Gray Gloves."
Shade asked again.
Mr. Anros frowned. It was obvious that this question was bothering him as well.
"The Gray Gloves wouldn't do things so crudely, and they have no reason to assassinate our queen, and that group of people don't want to start a war. Judging from Carsenrick's response today, it's definitely not them. Someone wants to put the blame on them."
Mr. Anros wiped his chin with his thumb:
"As for the identity of the murderer, there are many possibilities. A radical organization that emerged from nowhere, a dissident in a small principality affiliated with Delarion, an ambitious person in the New World, a pirate king, or even a problem within the country..."
“Ahem.”
The maid coughed (note), and Mr. Anros quickly shut up. This topic should not be easily brought up:
"No matter what, we will continue to investigate. No matter how covert it is, there will always be clues. However, this has nothing to do with you, Mr. Hamilton. Take care of your injuries."
He let out a long sigh, as if he had put down a heavy burden. He rubbed his face with both hands, nodded to Xia De, stood up and wanted to leave.