The moment Albin disappeared around the corner, Crow crossed his arms again and glanced between John and Penelope, waiting for someone to tell him what his father had meant when he had said ‘make sure you do exactly as I asked.’ It sounded like he’d told the knights to do more than just talk to him, but he couldn’t think of anything else the king would want from him. Surely Albin didn’t actually think he had stolen those nobles’ belongings, right? His father should have known him better than that by now.

Unfortunately, it seemed like he wasn’t going to be getting any answers right away as John instructed him and Penelope to follow him. Crow frowned but did as he was told, falling in step beside the female knight as they walked to his bed chamber. As she spoke up in a hushed voice, he casted her a sideways glance. “Does he?” he muttered with a pang of annoyance when she told him Albin wanted to have his room searched. Apparently, his father didn’t know him very well after all. He found it insulting that the king had such little faith in him that he would want to double check after he’d already claimed that he was innocent.

When the group arrived in the room, Crow spotted Preston sitting at the table by the window. The attendant looked like he had been nervously flipping through a book as he waited to find out what would happen. The viceroy eyed him curiously, wondering why he cared so much, until he remembered that if he was stripped of his title, the boy would be forced to return to his old job as a regular palace servant. After all, even if he was replaced by another noble, everyone else at the castle already had their own family staff and personal attendants. There was no way for him to regain the position if he lost it. His job was just as much at stake as his master’s.

Preston fidgeted slightly in his seat, looking like he wanted to ask what had happened, but he didn’t get a chance before John spoke up first: [color=fdc68a][b]“Alright, would someone like to explain what the hell is going on? Why do you think he’s being framed?”[/b][/color]

[i]Framed?[/i] Crow blinked in surprise and turned to Penelope. He’d assumed it was all a misunderstanding and that the nobles must have just jumped to the conclusion that he’d stolen from them. If someone had set him up, it could be harder for him to get out of trouble than he’d thought.

As Penelope went on to explain what she thought was going on, he scoffed. Of course it was that baron. It had to be him. After the knight had told him about her conversation with the man, he’d suspected it wouldn’t be long before he tried something. Part of him was relieved that the baron hadn’t resorted to hiring a mercenary, but he was still frustrated that he had to protect his reputation from being ruined barely a week after he’d been given his title.

When she added that his father suspected he was being framed as well, Crow relaxed a little. Though the situation was still bad, he was glad to know that Albin didn’t think he was guilty. “If that baron really is behind this, I’m going to make sure he gets caught,” he said confidently. As he spoke, his gaze drifted over to John, who had begun to search the drawers of his desk. He knitted his brow, but before he could question what he was doing, the older knight explained himself.

The thought of someone sneaking around his room while he was gone sent a shiver up the viceroy’s spine. If this ‘Adam’ had been calling for a search, John was probably right though. He turned made his way over to the bed, running his hands beneath the mattress as he helped the knight look for the missing items. Preston joined in too, investigating the inside of his wardrobe. It didn’t take long before the jewelry was found.

“I’ve got something,” Preston said, drawing the other’s attention.

Crow looked up to see the boy standing on his toes, reaching one hand over the top of the wardrobe. In the next moment, he fell flatfooted again and revealed a handful of glittering, bejeweled pendants and rings. “I can see why those people would be mad,” the attendant mused with a raised brow. “These look expensive.”

“He hid them up [i]there[/i]?” Crow wrinkled his nose in disgust as he made his way over to the servant’s side. “They were practically in plain sight! No thief would be dumb enough to put his loot in the open like that.”

“He wanted them to be found,” John reminded him simply.

“Still,” Crow shook his head disdainfully. “It’s pretty pathetic.”

“Where would you have hidden them if you [i]had[/i] taken them?” Preston asked, tilting his head at the viceroy curiously.

“Beneath the floorboards,” Crow answered absently as he took the jewelry from his attendant’s hands and looked it over. Preston was right. The pendants and rings were quite expensive. The jewels embedded in them were a mixture of diamonds and rubies, each one flawless and cut to reflect the light in an eye-catching way. If he had been raiding the noblemen’s treasures, he would have stolen them without question.

“What do you mean?” Preston asked, looking down at his feet as if he was trying to figure out how to put something underneath the wooden floor he was standing on.

“There’s a loose board on the left side of the bed,” Crow explained with a shrug. Normally, he wouldn’t have shared his trade secrets so carelessly with other people, but since he had no intention of robbing anyone anytime soon, he decided there was no point in keeping the knowledge to himself. Plus, he trusted his attendant and the Vermillions not to share the information with anyone else. “It creaks louder than the others when you step on it. It wouldn’t be difficult to pry it up and put something in the hollow space underneath. These pieces of jewelry are just small enough to fit too.”

“Oh,” the servant turned toward the part of the floor the viceroy was talking about. “I don’t think anyone would have found them if they had been hidden there.”

“I know,” Crow said haughtily. He held up one of the pendants in his hand, dangling it in front of his face by its golden chain. “But we did find them, so the question is: What do we do with them now?”