The Royal Contract

It had been several minutes since she handed the papers to the duke. He had taken it and looked at it immediately but kept his silence as he studied the contents of the file. 

Every minute counted at this moment. The duke did not want to waste valuable time by making idle chitchat. But he had also considered being cautious not to alarm the reporter about the present situation.

"What do you think?" Eida had watched and waited for the duke to check her reports. 

She tried to read his expression, but his face remained impassive. His eyes did not give away what he was thinking. He only turned the pages after skimming through them. Then stared at some pictures, not even making any sudden movements to show some form of reaction.

Aside from that, he had not said anything or made any hint of what he thought of her report. She rarely encountered people like him, who had so much control of their emotions.

"It would seem that you had been busy since the wedding." He placed the folder which contained the files on a table by his side. "I had no idea when you had time to come up with this when you are always here, interviewing everyone."

He finally spoke up, looking at her directly in the eyes. He showed a bit of interest but not too much to suspect anything. He knew he would be playing a dangerous game if she learned the truth.

But he was not ready to risk the lives of his loved ones to indulge Ms. Harlowe with her theories. Although he appreciated her coming to him with this information, he was not allowing her in with the secrets.

"It is my job. You know I always try to find a good story at the same time get my facts straight." She told the duke, confident that her story was not just a wild goose chase.

She refused to believe that she was only chasing after a ghost story. Her instincts could sense that something big was going down, but the palace was doing its best to keep it a secret.

"You are certainly great at it. That is why we chose you to cover the wedding. You definitely had made a name for yourself." He complimented her hard work, hoping to divert the conversation somewhere else.

He purposely placed the files on the side, not intending to return them to her. He found the details of the report quite intriguing. But it did not indicate that it could mean anything.

He still had to review the facts and discuss them first with his team. Then, do the investigation themselves. He would not simply depend on what was on those files.

"I could not take all the credit. I have a dedicated team who helps me with my research." She explained to him.

She could not take all the merits of her success solely on her efforts. She had a team who had backed her up and believed in her abilities.

"How come you are also investigating Nick? I do not see any connection between Nick, my son, and his wife." Fred asked the reporter, changing the topic of conversation.

From the report, he gathered that she separately investigated the two stories. However, he was curious why Nick was included in her subject of investigation. 

He could not help but wonder about her interest in him. Although Dani had a past with him, it had been a long time ago. Nothing was left to connect the two of them. 

Unless Eida was interested in the business war between Nick and Alex. However, that was very unlikely since that was not the story that would sell to the masses.

"It is a long story." She answered him, not intending to provide her reasons for researching the background of the despicable man. 

Her interest in Nick had always been for personal gain. On the other hand, she could not help think that what she discovered about him could somewhat be related to the other work she was working on.

"Well, I still have a few minutes," Fred said to her, making a show of looking at his wristwatch, but interested he was to learn of her story. 

He was old-fashioned. Unlike many young people, he still would prefer to look at his watch than the gadgets they were holding in their hands. Besides, he rarely used those things.

Anyway, he became more fascinated by her motivation for picking Nick as a subject of her interest. Judging from what he had learned about Nick, he was a snake who could never be trusted. Dangerous and a traitor.

"I don't think it is appropriate to discuss my reasons why." She evaded the question of the duke. "It is kind of a personal interest." She did not want to elaborate more.

She took the cup of tea and sipped some of it to wet her parched lips. She usually used this tactic to delay a conversation or divert the topic to something else. 

Anyway, constant talking could dry her mouth and cause hoarseness in her voice. Her voice was one of her assets, and she valued it dearly.

"But, do you think Nick may have something to do with what is happening now at the palace?" She quickly asked, not letting the duke press her more about her interest in Nick.

"Has he threatened anyone, or do you think he is planning some form of a conflict against the kingdom?" She fired several more questions to the duke, hoping that one of them would hit the bullseye.

"I have no idea of where you are getting the information that the palace is on fire. But let me assure you that nothing out of the ordinary is going on." The duke spoke up with calm and confidence.

He concluded that Eida might be onto something, but she was still fishing for additional information. He felt relieved that she still had no clue of the actual situation.

But his mind went back to the file, Ethan had told him that he had a gut feeling that Nick was behind this, and his instincts were rarely wrong. However, Ethan still had no concrete proof to pin down this criminal act on Nick.

"Surely, you are not denying that the palace is under attack. I had seen the tightened security outside. You doubled or even tripled the securities guarding the palace." She commented, pointing to the window outside. 

She refused to accept his words. She felt insulted that he belittled her intellect by saying she had no story. She had a reliable team that provided her facts, and she had studied them thoroughly.

"..." He was to counteract her statement, but she beat him by adding more of her findings.

He closed his mouth, allowing her to continue, not wanting to seem defensive by arguing with her. It would only heighten her curiosity.

"Then, what about the honeymoon location of the lovebirds. It was more like a fortress than a vacation spot." She immediately added, confronting him with the facts before he could deny it.

Now, her curiosity was at its peak. At the moment, the duke remained quiet, probably contemplating her valid points, she thought.. She could sense a mystery when it was presented to her on a silver platter.