Picking up Girls With My System

Chapter 16

Eleonora was lying on her bed comfortably. She wore the typical rich sleeping clothes without showing too much of her body. Every day people came bringing her breakfast. She wasn’t a fool to be unproperly dressed.

One thing stood out about her. She did not have purple hair like Jane. Based on what Arthur discovered by talking with Marget, the royal family had three princesses. Jane and two more Arthur did not know yet. Eleonora was one of them, but he did not know if she was the youngest or the oldest.

But the thing was, the queen had purple hair, and that’s why her children also had. But Eleonora didn’t. Her hair was silver like the moon. Not even her eyes were of the same color as the rest of her family.

Something was strange, but Arthur couldn’t figure it out. There was no way the royal family would adopt some random girl to act as the princess. The king had two daughters. Why adopt a third?

“Are you going to stand there?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, princess.”

Arthur was lost in thoughts and forgot where he was. After regaining his senses, he gave her breakfast. Fried eggs with a slice of meat. It wasn’t a breakfast fit for a princess, but Arthur was only following orders.

Eleonora gave it a taste and was surprised by how good it was.

“This is delicious. Where did you learn to cook like this? You’re new here, yet you impressed me more than the rest of the servants.”

“You’re overthinking. I’m just a mere chef. The only reason I know how to make delicious foods is that I’ve practiced since I was little. There’s no talent involved.”

“Hard work is also a talent if you think about it.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

.

Arthur was impressed by what Eleonora said. It was cliche, yet it did make sense. Most people near her age only spoke nonsense and weren’t wise by any means.

Well, she did have a different education from most people. She was a princess, after all.

“You know, I’m talented in something, yet I can’t practice it. Anyway, this isn’t the time for us to talk about it. Maybe we can hang out in the future? You seem like a nice person.”

“I’ll take my leave, princess,” Arthur said, bowing.

He left her room and wondered what he should do next. There were things he needed to train, but there was also a plan he needed to form. That mysterious room the girls showed him, inside the pools, was a place he wanted to explore.

“In all stories, these noble families have secret passages to escape if things go wrong. There’s no way the royal family doesn’t have one as well. I need to find it and then find Jane,” thought Arthur.

Things weren’t going so well for him. Time was ticking, and he hadn’t found Jane yet. But, like all things in life, it could get worse.

“Stop right there!”

Tons of guards showed up. They had swords, spears, and bows. A few of them were mages preparing to cast spells at Arthur. He couldn’t understand what was happening. Did they find him in one day? It was impossible.

“Come with us.”

The captain of the guards said. Eleonora was still in her room, but the commotion was too much, so she left to see what was happening.

“What is all of this?”

All of the guards bowed in the presence of the princess. The only one who spoke was the captain, and it was something that shocked both the princess and Arthur.

“I’m so sorry to say this. But the prince Jonan died.”

“Wait. What? Impossible!”

Eleonora could not believe what was happening. Jonan was the oldest prince, and he was a good person. He didn’t deserve this.

“But what happened? Was it an accident?”

“It wasn’t, my princess. It is clear that someone murdered him, and we are now locking up all people that look suspicious.”

Arthur could not believe it. Last night he saw two hooded figures talking in the hall, but he thought they were only speaking about secret things. But they were plotting a murder? And not only a murder, but killing the fucking prince.

It was a bad thing. Not that Arthur cared about the prince dying or not. He did not even know the guy. But it was a fact that he was the only new person that showed up recently in the palace. That fact made him the primary suspect.

“Did these fuckers use my arrival to plot murder and throw all of the guilty to me? These fuckers are doomed.” Arthur was pissed.

If Arthur turned out to be responsible, he would die or stay locked in a cell for the rest of his life. Killing someone was a serious matter, but killing the prince? Only crazy people would do that.

Arthur had to think of a way to prove his innocence. But at that moment, there was none. If he said that he saw two hooded figures in the middle of the night, that would only make him more suspicious. They would only have one thing in mind after hearing it. What were you doing in the middle of the night?

It was a big problem. The guards scouted him to an underground area filled with cells. All servants gazed at Arthur when he passed, and even Hily was surprised to see him getting caught. She did not believe Arthur killed the prince, but she couldn’t deny that he was suspicious.

“Move. You’ll be staying in this cell for the time being. If you are indeed the murderer, then expect to stay the rest of your days rotting in this place.”

The captain threw Arthur into a cell and left.

“Finally, someone to keep me company, hahaha!”

“Huh?”

Arthur turned around only to see another man inside that cell. It was an old man. He had a long beard, and his hair was a mess. Not only that, but all of his clothing was ragged, and he smelled like shit.

“Now tell me, what did you do? They only send the worst to this place.”

That man was scary. He looked like a madman, and who knows how long he was down there. There was a high chance that he was insane.

“You’re not going to tell me? Fine, I’ll speak first. My son was messing with some dark stuff. I couldn’t let him do that to himself, but he wouldn’t listen to me. So, I killed him before he killed all of us.”

Arthur was even more scared. That man killed his son. He did say his son was messing with some dark stuff, but even then, killing his son was crazy.

“Who was your son? Maybe I heard something about it before.”

“Hahahaha! I’m glad you asked. My son was actually the king. How crazy is that?” the old man laughed like a maniac.

“Wait, what the fuck?”

The king had been ruling for more than twenty years. This madman killed the previous king?

“What was the name of your son? And how did he look?”

“Oh, let me see. It happened a long time ago,”

“His name was Barion. You probably never heard about him. Now that I think of it, my granddaughter, Jane should be grown up now. How time flies…”

“What the fuck? Don’t tell me your granddaughter Jane has purple hair, haha,” Arthur nervously laughed.

“Hold up, youngster. Do you know my granddaughter?”

“No way, old man. Let me ask you another thing. Do you have a grandson as well? Like, someone called Jonan?”

“Jonan? Right, I do. He was seven when I got locked up in here. Such a talented youth. He’s surely climbed high by now.”

“Fuck!” Arthur sat on the ground helplessly.

“Grandpa, what I’m about to tell you may shock you.”

“Shock me? You can try, young man. I’ve lived long enough, and nothing in this world can shock me.”

“I know your granddaughter Jane. I’ve met her inside a magic academy.”

“Do you know Jane? And she learned magic? I’ve always known she was talented, so this isn’t shocking for me. Is that all, young man?”

“Well, Barion, your son, is still alive.”

The once calm old man got up from the corner of the cell, carrying a murderer’s intent.

“Are you lying to me, young man? This is impossible. My son got possessed by a demon. He was stupid, he made a fucking pact with a demon. But I sliced him in half, and made sure he was dead before he killed all of our family.”

“I’m speaking the truth to you, I promise. But there’s something wrong with him. Remember that I said I knew Jane? Well, she said to me that her father is acting strange lately like he is someone else.”

“What? Are telling the truth? If that’s the case then we are in big trouble.

“I’m. And there’s another thing…”

“You asked me why they locked me in here? Well, they think I killed Jonan, your grandson.”

The old man looked as if he wanted to strangle Arthur, right there, inside that cell.