Forced to Accept an Assignment
A muscle in Prince Ashworth's jaw twitched. "You really think you can take anyone on with those pathetic skills?"
If he was remembering correctly, this little brat had already sent every single martial arts master they'd hired packing.
"Dad, you have no idea what I'm capable of."
*Besides,* Cassidy thought, *who even fights with their fists anymore?* She could win just by being smart.
And then there was the fact that a few years in the apocalypse had left her with some tricks up her sleeve, namely, Space and Speed abilities.
Her actual fighting skills were just okay when she'd landed in this world, but her powers had come with her.
As long as she was fast enough, she could just hit and run. Let's see who could catch her then.
Seeing the smug look on his daughter's face, the prince couldn't resist digging up the past. "Cassidy, from what I've seen, you lose nine fights out of ten. I think I have a much better handle on your 'abilities' than you do."
Cassidy figured it was better to show him than to tell him.
"Dad, let's spar. If you win, I'll give you one hundred taels. If you lose, you're off the booze for a month."
"Deal!" Prince Ashworth didn't even entertain the idea of losing. He'd roamed the world with a sword back in the day and had actually studied martial arts. He was leagues beyond his daughter's flimsy techniques.
The word was barely out of his mouth before they were throwing punches without warning, like they had some ancient score to settle.
"Ouch!"
Steward Payne, who'd been standing just behind them listening in, suddenly found himself caught in the crossfire as a fist connected squarely with his eye. He stumbled back, right into the path of another one.
Cassidy and her father froze, turning to stare at the steward. He was now sporting two fresh black eyes and a look of pure bewilderment.
"Steward Payne, what happened?"
"Wait, Steward Payne, what are you doing here?"
Payne was speechless. He'd come to Ashworth Manor to deliver a royal decree from the Emperor.
But when he and Steward King arrived, he'd overheard the prince and his daughter talking about His Majesty.
As the Emperor's most trusted steward, he'd felt it was his duty to hang back and listen.
He just hadn't expected them to start brawling mid-conversation.
Now his old bones had taken two hits for nothing.
He suspected they'd done it on purpose but had no proof.
Clutching a bruised and swelling eye, Payne winced and finally mumbled out the decree. "Your Highness, Princess, the Emperor has decreed that as of tomorrow, you will both jointly investigate the Stonehaven Estate's case of treason and collusion with the enemy."
The father and daughter just stared, completely baffled.
Prince Ashworth spoke first. "Is my brother drunk? What kind of nonsense is this?" Asking the two of them to investigate a case the Emperor himself couldn't crack... was the Aethelian Empire about to collapse?
Steward Payne looked at the pair and added flatly, "The Emperor said to investigate however you want. It would be best if you solved it, but even if you can't, you must make some waves. If the case isn't solved in a month, then you both will have to join the Marquis of Stonehaven in prison."
With that, Payne clutched his eye and stormed off.
The father and daughter were left staring after him, dumbfounded.
What was that supposed to mean? The Emperor couldn't handle his own court officials, so he was sending them out to stir up trouble?
Cassidy wanted nothing to do with this mission, but it looked like she didn't have a choice. She had a sneaking suspicion the System was behind this.
*System: Host, it wasn't me!*
Prince Ashworth finally turned to her. "Is your uncle out of his mind? How are we supposed to figure this out? Collusion and treason... a lot of people could die over this."
It wasn't that he doubted his own abilities, but the whole thing smelled fishy. If the Emperor himself couldn't solve it, what was he, a powerless prince, supposed to do? Send the Stonehaven family a sympathy card?
Cassidy rubbed her chin. "Dad, didn't he say that even if we can't solve it, we should just make some waves? Maybe he never expected us to solve it at all. Maybe he just wants us to muddy the waters."
It clicked. The prince's eyes lit up as he pieced it together. "So, those old foxes at the Imperial Court are pressuring your uncle again. That's why he came up with this, to have us distract everyone so the Onyx Guard has more time to find the truth."
"You're not totally clueless after all, Dad," Cassidy said, patting his shoulder with a nod of approval.
He hadn't wanted to get involved, but if his brother was in a tight spot and asking for his help... well, he had to step up.
"I've made up my mind," he declared. "Tomorrow, I'm going to the Ministry of Justice to see the Marquis of Stonehaven and have a chat with him."
Cassidy's mouth twitched. "The Marquis is in prison, and his entire family is under house arrest. Do you really think he's in the mood for a chat?"
"What if he has something to say that he'll only tell me?" he argued. "Besides, your uncle said our job is to make waves. I'll start by stirring the pot at the Ministry of Justice."
Hearing this, Cassidy's eyes lit up. "Dad, you've got a point. You go talk to the Marquis, and I'll go to Stonehaven Estate and talk to his wife."
Making a scene? Now *that* was something she was good at.
For once, the father-daughter duo was in complete agreement.
Meanwhile, at Stonehaven Estate, the very place they were scheming about, the mood was grim.
"It's cruel. Utterly cruel!" The Marchioness of Stonehaven clutched a smuggled note, her entire body shaking with rage. "When has a daughter of our house ever been so humiliated? The Second Prince is just kicking us while we're down, deliberately trampling on my daughter's dignity!"
Genevieve Redgrave took the note from her mother's hand. A single glance was enough to make her fingertips go numb, the words like poisoned daggers twisting in her chest.
Then her eyes fell on a single line: *Your father will be murdered by the mastermind tomorrow.*
She gritted her teeth, tears falling onto her dress. "Mother, I agree," she choked out. "Right now, the only one who can save Father is the Second Prince."
She raised a hand to wipe away her tears, her trembling finger pointing at the note. "It says someone will murder Father tomorrow and make it look like he 'took his own life to escape punishment.' We have no other choice but to beg him."
"But as a concubine! Daughter, how can you bear such a disgrace?" Her mother's chest heaved, but she still stroked her daughter's face, her heart breaking for her.
Genevieve's expression hardened. "Mother, compared to Father's life, my pride is nothing."
"I don't agree!"
A sharp, furious shout, unmistakably a teenage boy's, rang out from the doorway. He couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen, his face still holding the softness of childhood. He stormed into the room, face flushed, fists clenched so tight the veins pulsed on his forehead.
"Sister, I'd rather try to break him out of prison! Even if it costs me my life, I will never let you go to the Second Prince's Manor to be his concubine! If the worst happens, we'll all just die together."
Seeing the red rims of her younger brother's eyes, Genevieve felt her own heart ache.
She reached out, her hand covering his. "Ronan, don't be impulsive," she said softly.
"Breaking into the prison is a suicide mission. You wouldn't save Father, and you'd bring ruin on our entire family. If I go to the Second Prince's manor... at least there's a chance."