Volume 2: Empire Chapter 33: Grandson Sinclair
While Sandpaper and Kestrel are preparing to rescue the sisters, Luke is having a headache because of someone who suddenly comes to his door.
The grandson of the Emperor Sinclair who returned to the capital from the northern border of the empire was as energetic as a husky. He followed the order of the eldest prince and came to the Secret Service's Sixth Division to assist in the investigation of the attack on Princess Dale, and completely forgot about the "assistance".
Sinclair never knocked when he entered Luke's office. He pushed the door open and shouted, "Meteor General Administration, I have a new discovery about Aunt Dale's case... Kylena, go out first. I want to discuss the case with the Governor."
Kylena, who was reporting her work to Luke, looked at Luke for instructions.
Luke waved his hand: "These matters will be handled according to your suggestions. Just write a circular for me to sign. Go back to work..."
"Yes, sir!"
Kylena walked to the door with a pile of documents in her arms. She bent her knees slightly to salute Sinclair, then lowered her head and ran out, but she still heard Sinclair's whistle.
Sinclair stared at Kylena running back to her office, then he closed the door with a reluctant look and sat down opposite Luke. His steps were not at all steady and calm like a member of the royal family, but full of lewdness.
"Having such a beautiful cyborg secretary in front of me every day makes the busy work a pleasure. Governor, give her to me and I will exchange her for a manor outside the city."
Luke quickly signed a document in front of him and put it in the drawer on his right.
"Your Highness Sinclair, Kylena is the property of the Imperial Secret Service. During her time assisting me, she possessed a great deal of confidential information. I advise you not to target the Secret Service's highly confidential personnel. Stay away from Kylena, especially during this sensitive period."
In response to Luke's warning, Sinclair shrugged and crossed his legs.
"Yes, my father also warned me that this is a sensitive period." Sinclair said casually: "Especially with your assistance, Aunt Agatha is vying for the position of crown prince with great momentum. In theory, you and I are enemies."
Luke smiled and said, "These past few days, you've been treating my place like your home. I thought you didn't know."
"What does it matter if I know? The ones competing for the crown prince are my father, uncle and aunt. What does it have to do with me? If my father wins, no matter how many illegitimate children he has outside, I am his only legitimate son. No one will compete with me. And if my father loses..." Sinclair thought for a moment and said, "I will be a general!"
“You are optimistic!”
"So what if I'm not optimistic? I'm from the Augustine family. This is my destiny! Even though I don't like it and even fled to the North, I still have to face it in the end ."
Luke looked at Sinclair and gained a new understanding of this grandson of the emperor.
According to the normal historical process, in the Golden Shield Empire collapse plot, Emperor Augustine died, and the two princes launched a bloody night in the imperial capital to fight for the throne. Sinclair obtained the military power of the Northern Army with the support of his mother's family, but before he led the Northern Army to the imperial capital to support the eldest prince, the enemy in the north took the opportunity to launch an attack.
At this time, the Northern Army had already withdrawn most of its elite troops in the Imperial Civil War, but Sinclair still led the Northern Army to defend the border. In the end, without any support, the Imperial Northern Army ran out of ammunition and food and was completely annihilated, and Sinclair died in battle...
He had the opportunity to retreat, and even at the beginning of the war he could lead the Northern Legion to abandon the border and retreat to the city of Saint-London, first seizing the throne and then driving out foreign enemies.
But no one knows what Sinclair was thinking at the time.
Some people believe that he was a reckless man who was brave but not wise, as he wiped out the last elite legions of the empire that were still in the hands of the royal family, becoming the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Some people think that he could not predict the future. As a general guarding the border, his duty was to defend the country's land. He chose to give up fighting for the throne and die for his country. He is a true hero.
Now in Luke's eyes, this is a rebellious guy, a veteran soldier.
"Okay! Let's not talk about this." Luke had no good way to deal with Sinclair for the time being, so he had to get back to the point: "You just mentioned Princess Dale's case, do you have any new discoveries?"
Speaking of Princess Dale, Sinclair perked up. He leaned over the table and whispered mysteriously, "It's not a new discovery. It just confirmed a hypothesis of mine."
"What guess?" Luke didn't think Sinclair, who had just returned from the north, could spit out ivory.
"It's boring to just tell you the result, so let me tell you my reasoning process first." Sinclair said proudly, "I noticed a detail in the information you disclosed. The bottom of Aunt Dale's carriage was opened from the inside, and the camouflage cloak hidden under the seat also disappeared.
I just checked Aunt Dale's carriage carefully. There was no damage inside, and the bottom of the carriage was not opened violently... Therefore, I infer that Aunt Dale was not kidnapped, and she ran away on her own."
"That's absolutely impossible!" Luke said loudly. "At that time, the Royal Knights and Palace Guards had already taken control of the situation, and support arrived immediately. Wouldn't Princess Dale be exposing herself to danger if she left the well-defended carriage?
And how to explain the maid's coma? Did Princess Dale knock her out?
We need to be reasonable when solving cases. Everyone has a motive for doing anything. Your Highness Sinclair, if you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Solving a case is different from fighting a war. Solving a case is not about presupposing a hypothesis and then looking for evidence. You need to make positive inferences based on all the known clues.
No one is more professional than our Imperial Secret Service in this regard. Please do not speak nonsense, as wrong information can lead to serious consequences."
The inference was denied, but Sinclair still insisted on his inference.
"Governor, you don't know Aunt Dale. Do you think Aunt Dale and Aunt Agatha have the best relationship? Then you are wrong." Sinclair shook his head and said, "Aunt Agatha has that kind of personality. Although she likes Aunt Dale, she can't play with her. The person who has the best relationship with Aunt Dale is me. When she was a child, I took her to climb trees and ride horses."
Luke was surprised: "It's a bit unexpected."
"It's a little unexpected, but Aunt Dale has never had a playmate since she was a child, and I don't have any brothers or sisters, at least not in name. I want a sister, and Aunt Dale is younger than me." Sinclair missed the past very much. He came to his senses and said, "Aunt Dale has always wanted to escape from the palace, and the attack that day was a perfect opportunity.
She took advantage of the chaos outside the carriage to make the guards focus on the assassin, first used magic to stun the maid , then opened the door under the carriage and got out. Yes, she also took the camouflage cloak with her, so that she could sneak away without being noticed by the people around her. "
Sinclair said, gesturing with his fingers on the table as if he were slipping away.
Luke shouted in his heart: Awesome!
"Although I still don't agree with your inference..." Luke probed Sinclair to see if he had any more information to reveal: "But considering that your inference is still reasonable, we can use it as a direction of investigation.
Where do you think Princess Daier would go if she escaped on her own?"
Sinclair sighed, "That... I don't know! After all, I went to the Northern Legion, and I met Aunt Dale less often, so I don't know much about her strength. But since you haven't been able to find her for so many days, she must have run away from the imperial capital, maybe even gone abroad."
Luke sighed: If I hadn't stopped her, she would have really run away from the country.
Luke pretended to think for a while, and said to Sinclair: "I hope your inference is correct. No matter where Princess Dale went, at least she is safe.
But this is just an inference, and I can't even make it public because there is no evidence to convince everyone.
What are you going to do next? I don’t think you need to stay here.”
But Sinclair had no intention of leaving.
"No, no, no, I absolutely won't go back. If I don't help you with the case, I will be locked up at home. Besides, although we know that Aunt Dai'er escaped on her own..."
Luke reminded: "This is just your inference."
"Yes, it's just my inference. But the person who attacked Aunt Dale does exist, and he is in the palace. What I have to do next is to catch him." Sinclair was very confident in himself, and then asked Luke: "Tell me what you found? I don't believe you have made all the information related to the case public. Tell me the secrets you know, and I will check it out!"
Luke looked at Sinclair and thought about finding him a job that could expend his energy instead of letting him hang around here.
"I am going to visit someone now, but I need an introduction from someone of status. I wonder if you are willing to take me there."
"I am willing... In the imperial capital, there is no door that I cannot bring you through. Tell me, who are you going to see?"
Luke said meaningfully: "Second Prince, His Highness Alec."
Sinclair looked at Luke suddenly: "You doubt..."
"I didn't say anything. I just heard that His Highness Alex's manor is very luxurious and beautiful, and I want to go visit it and learn a lot..."
Sinclair was even more unconvinced.
Yunxing is now in charge of Nutao City on behalf of the eldest princess. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the richest person in the empire. Nutao City is also an international fashion center. Some things that are passed .
Meteorite must have other purposes in meeting Uncle Alex. Could he really be related to the attack on Aunt Dale?
Sinclair was a soldier and was familiar with the defense of the Imperial City. He was able to organize a thorough assassination in such a short time, which was not something that an ordinary dignitary could do.
"Okay, I'll take you there." Sinclair said very seriously.
…
Alec Augustine is the second son of Emperor Augustine. He is young and outspoken, and likes to host banquets and make friends with nobles and ministers. He is very generous and righteous, and he supports many expeditions and rangers. As long as someone who has made a name for himself comes to him in trouble, Alec will do his best to help.
Therefore, Alex had a good reputation in the court and among the people, and the manor also employed many idle people with various talents.
Recently, Alex and a female ranger named "Nightingale" are having a very passionate relationship. If Alex wasn't a prince, they could have even reached the stage of discussing marriage.
Sinclair's visit was somewhat unexpected to Alec. Since the dispute over the crown prince, his relationship with his brother Fania has been getting worse and worse. When the civil war broke out, Fania was assigned to the southern front, which put him at a disadvantage.
And when the butler said that Governor Meteorite was coming with Sinclair, Alec felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly.
"Let them in." Alec said unhappily.
After the butler left, Nightingale, wearing a silk robe, came to Alex and said, "Your Highness, is there anything I can do for you?"
Alec put his arm around Nightingale's waist and smiled again: "Go, put on the new equipment I prepared for you, and show your strength to my nephew and Meteorite."
"Yes, my Lord!" Nightingale kissed Alec's cheek and then broke away from his arms.
Alec was a little reluctant to leave Nightingale's body, but he still called the maid to change his clothes.
Luke tours the manor hall accompanied by Sinclair.
The hall was very spacious, and the decoration was as luxurious and magnificent as the royal tradition. In addition to the decorations, there were many display cabinets on the four walls of the hall, which were filled with a variety of things. There were machines, alchemy stones, specimens of extraordinary species, and mysterious props...
"Uncle likes new things, especially the latest gadgets." Seeing that Luke was very curious about the things on display, Sinclair introduced them to him.
Luke tried his best not to show a look as if he wanted to take away everything here. Anything that Alec picked out and put on display here must be top-notch stuff.
However, Luke's purpose of coming here was not these, he could only suppress his greed.
"Oh! My dear nephew, you haven't come to see me for such a long time since you returned to the imperial capital from the North. I thought you had forgotten me." Acrylic, who came down from upstairs, gave Sinclair a big hug enthusiastically.
Sinclair apologized: "I'm sorry, uncle. Father was afraid I would run away to the South, so he kept me locked up at home.
Please allow me to introduce you. This is the Acting Governor of Nutao City, the Secret Affairs Bureau..."
"Governor Meteorite, I know you!" Before Sinclair finished introducing himself, Acrylic went to Luke and said, "If it weren't for your status , I would have taken the initiative to visit you. Your experience in Raging Waves City is a vivid legend. I love making friends with heroes like you.
I was very happy to have my nephew and Governor Meteorite come to visit today.
Butler, I want to hold a banquet, the most grand one!"
Acrylic doesn't have the airs of a prince, and it's easy for people to feel friendly to him. When he saw Luke, it was like Liu Bei meeting Zhuge Liang, grabbing his arm and not letting go, as if he was afraid that he would run away.
Intentionally or unintentionally, Sinclair was somewhat neglected.
The casual Sinclair could foresee the treatment he would receive. He was not angry, but just sat down somewhere and asked the maid to pour him some wine.
Alec pulled Luke to sit on the leather sofa and said, "We are going to drink all night. Tell me all your stories in Raging Wave City. I want to write a play based on your stories."
