A royal is never wrong ~ A zodiac story

Chapter 6

Gladia

"Duke Quiven, do you happen to know where your cousin is?"
Libra sigh, what have this foolish prince been up to? Honestly, he couldn't believe that child was the future of the kingdom of Gladia.
He got up and made his way to the prince's quarter. He got in front of the door and tried to open it. It was locked. With no more patience left for his cousin, the Duke kicked open the door. He looked inside only to see nothing. He then turned around and saw a young maid. She was carrying a basket of dirty laundry. "My lord, the prince has left for the capital a couple of hours ago."
The nobleman sighed again. That foolish prince. He knew Gemini was intelligent and was not someone to be underestimated. If only he would use his wits for other purposes than escaping the castle.
He walked out of the prince's quarter and made his way to the main hall.
"Libra!"
"Uncle!"
He saw an old man wave his hand at him. The Duke smiled. Libra truly loved his uncle who had been there for him in his darkest days. The king was a humble man who loved his people and ruled over them fairly and his wife, Queen Reina, was a wonderful woman at whom people couldn't help but admire at her angelic features.
Libra only wished their son could've been the same.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the cabinet meeting with Gemini?" The king asked his nefew. 
"I am, except a certain prince didn't show up and I'm stuck playing babysitter."
The king let escape a chuckle. He knew his son's reckless behavior all too well. He patted his nefew's shoulder and gave him an advice. "Your cousin might neglect some of his duties, but he is bright leader who just needs a little push in the right direction."
Libra bid the king farewell before calling a carriage to bring him to the city.

...

Meanwhile, Gemini was humming to himself in the streets of Gladia. Some would call him irresponsible for neglecting his duties as the sole heir to the throne of Gladia, but the prince thought otherwise. In his opinion, it was better to uphold his relationship with the commoners who made up of most of the population.
He saw a shop and walked in. "Hello Mr. Sawyer!" He announced to the rather peaceful shopkeeper.
"Your royal highness! What a pleasant surprise," he exclaimed before putting down whatever he was doing, "I'm sorry to announce that Leo isn't here at the moment."
The store was an antique shop which sold multiple fascinating object. It was a place where his friend Leo would spend most of his time at.
Gemini looked around and started searching through the boutique. "Actually, I'm not here to see Leo, I'm searching for a dagger."
Mr. Sawyer was perplexed. A dagger? In an antique shop? "Your highness, if I may inquire, why would you search for a weapon in my shop. Wouldn't a blacksmith be better to provide you that type of service."
Gemini predicted the shopkeeper would ask him that. After all, it was quite unusual. The prince sigh. "I remember seeing it here once. It's about 20 cm long and the handle is golden with some sort of engraving I couldn't quite grasp."
"I don't think I follow your highness, but one thing I know for sure is the quality isn't high enough for someone of your standing."
"I never said it was for use. There's just something about that dagger that intrigues me. Would you mind fetching it for me?"
The man bowed in front of his superior before leaving to get the weapon which happened to be on the other side of the shop.
He came back with the prince's purchase who then gave him a pouch of gold for the small sword.
Gemini hid the dagger in his jacket. He saw a carriage outside the shop. Guess his cousin found him already.
He put on a smile and got out of the shop, welcoming his cousin with wide opened arms.
Libra, who had been going in every corner of town in search for the foolish prince, was simply not having it. "Your royal highness, I have been ordered by the cabinet to bring you back to the castle immediately." His voice was stern as he hoped the prince would make things easy for him and follow his order.
Gemini, the free spirit child he is, put an arm around the duke's shoulder. "Dear cousin, what's the rush? It's a beautiful day. How about we go on an outing, just us too?"
Libra sigh, which gave the prince a feeling of hope that he had reached his cousin's heart.
But Libra, a man with a great sense of duty, was quick to deny his proposal. "In the carriage. Now." He ordered the prince as his temper was hanging by a thread.
Gemini pouted at his cousin's rejection and did as he was told.

...

Libra opened the door to the meeting. "My lords, I have brought the prince. I pardon for wasting your time. Now, let's make haste to this meeting."
Both Libra and Gemini sat down at their respective seat. It was the crown prince's first time handling affairs with the noble faction. It was a well-known fact that the prince was close to the commoners.
Libra looked over at his cousin. There was a different air to him. It was the first time he would see him in action, but for some reason, he couldn't hide the tremendous presence Gemini had in the room.
One person stood up. "Everyone, there has been many claims of brutal attacks in the northern villages from the 3rd to the 15th of this month. According to reports, some say they saw beast near the area of the massacre. Duke Quiven, I would like to hear your thoughts."
The Duke took a deep breath before answering. "I think we should gather a watch camp. We will survey the area and slaughter the beasts as soon as the step food on soil."
He heard a snicker next to him. "That's idiotic."
Libra looked at him with a murderous look in his eyes begging the prince for an explanation.
"It's quite simple. No beast would attack villages willingly unless the people were guilty of something. It's even less likely for it to happen on the night of a blood moon."
"There was no blood moon from the 3rd to the 15th. We would have known if there was." The duke answered back to the prince.
The prince snickered again before sounding all serious again. "There was. Although it could only be seen from the North, it was still there. And as I was saying, every beasts in this world know that a blood moon signifies an entire month of hibernation. None of them would break that sacred rule. Am I mistaken?"
"No, your royal highness." Libra,said as he swallowed his pride.
"Now, there are only two possibilities:
1. The culprits are barbarians who tried to cover up the crime.
2. The villagers gravely offended the beasts forcing them to conspire and breaking their most sacred rule.
3. Someone is planning a coup d'état and we have a mole.
I personally think it's the latter. This meeting is adjourned."