As the group made their way to the throne room—Preston went the opposite direction to work on other chores—Crow fell in step near Penelope and casted her a sideways glance. He had a feeling Adam would try to drag her down too, but it didn’t matter. As long as Preston carried the missing jewelry without getting caught, there was nothing the baron could do to prove it had been there without revealing that he was the one who had planted it in the first place.

John echoed his thoughts.

When they arrived at the throne room, Crow took a quick look around to take in the scene, wanting to be prepared in case things went badly for any reason. At the far end of the chamber, his father sat in his throne, which was positioned on a pedestal that set him above everyone else. He wore his usual unreadable expression, although the viceroy had been around him enough now to pick out a few tics. His jaw was faintly clenched, and his left hand gripped the armrest of the seat with subtle tenseness. He was agitated.

Below the king, three noblemen were gathered, including the blonde-haired baron, whom Crow was quick to recognize. With them were a small group of guards, likely in place both to keep the peace in the room as well as catch the former thief if he was proven to be guilty. Every one of them casted him a look of contempt as he approached with Penelope and John, and he bit his tongue. If his father hadn’t been sitting right there, he probably would have made a face at them. However, he was supposed to act with dignity, so instead, he held his head a little higher and met their cold eyes with unwavering resolve.

Rather than walking all the way up to Albin’s throne, Crow stopped a short distance away. He didn’t want to get any closer to the angry nobles than he had to, especially when they began calling for his arrest again. His green eyes flicked to his father as the king attempted to calm them down. As Albin asked if the Vermillions had found anything when they had searched his room, he forced himself to keep a neutral expression, not wanting to give away the victorious smirk that threatened to take over his lips.

John stepped forward to answer. “We searched the whole room and found nothing, Your Majesty.”

In spite of himself, Crow snuck a glance at Adam, whose face was red with fury. The baron looked like he was barely restraining himself from screaming that it was a lie. His furious reaction pleased the viceroy. He bit his lip to keep from laughing.

“It seems there is no evidence that my viceroy is guilty of any crime,” Albin mused, his lip turned upward in a faint smile as he looked at his son. He turned to the three noblemen. “I will have my guards continue to search for your missing belongings, but I cannot punish Collin on speculation alone.”

“M-My Lord,” Adam spluttered. “I think it would be wise to search the room again.” He casted Crow a disgusted look. “They could have missed something. He was a skilled thief, after all. He could have hidden our jewels well enough that they couldn’t be found by just two searchers.”

[i]Well hidden? A child could have found those pendants,[/i] Crow thought dryly.

“Are you suggesting that the knights I selected are incompetent?” the king asked with a hint of warning in his voice.

Adam shrank. “N-No.”

“Then I will not waste my men’s time with another pointless search.”

The baron clenched his hands into fists. Crow could tell he wasn’t ready to give up yet. “What about the thief, himself?” Adam tried a different approach. He casted the viceroy a conniving smile, seeming to think he had won. “Did anyone check to see if he’s hidden the jewels on his body?”

Albin turned back to John, “Did you?”

“No, Your Majesty,” John answered honestly.

“Then he should be searched immediately,” Adam declared. “I can even do it, myself, if it will mean finding my lost rings.”

“You will not,” Crow said indignantly.

“That’s alright, Fischbach,” Albin raised a hand. “For your peace of mind, I will have Collin searched, but my knights will be the ones to do it.” He indicated to two of them. “John and Arledge, make this quick.”

The two knights bowed to their king and moved toward the viceroy, who took a step back from them.

“I thought I was done with searches when I took this position,” Crow growled. Even though he knew he had nothing to hide, he’d always hated the feeling of knights running their hands over his body. When he’d been in prison, he’d had to put up with it any time his guards had come in to clean his cell—they had always wanted to make sure he didn’t slip any keys off their belts when he’d been close enough to reach them. The thought of going through the demeaning procedure all over again made him shudder.

“See?” Adam tilted his chin up victoriously, seeming to mistake the former thief’s aversion to being touched for guilt. “I knew that if we just looked a little closer, out belongings would turn up.”

“Damn thief,” one of the other noblemen muttered in agreement.

“Collin,” Albin spoke up now. Even he seemed to be eyeing his son with a hint of wariness. “I would advise you to let my men do their job.”

Crow hesitated, his eyes flicking between the two guards in front of him. As he caught John’s gaze, the older knight shot him a glare, as if to say, ‘stop making this more difficult than it has to be.’ He ground his teeth in defiance, but after a tense moment, he gave in and reluctantly held up his hands.

The two knights worked roughly as they checked his pockets and patted him down for the missing objects, although John was noticeably gentler than Arledge, who practically beat the viceroy as he searched his torso.

“Watch it,” Crow snarled as the younger knight got close to his barely healed wound.

“He’s carrying nothing aside from this,” John announced when they finished the search, holding up the dagger he’d found in the thief’s right boot.

Albin quirked a questioning brow, and Crow shrugged. “I didn’t steal it,” he muttered, still upset about the unwarranted body search. “At least, I didn’t steal it from anyone [i]here[/i].”

“Regardless,” the king waved a hand dismissively and faced the noblemen. “Collin obviously doesn’t have any of your belongings. I will have my guards keep looking until we find the real culprit. For now, please return to your regular duties and leave the rest to them.” He turned to his viceroy, who was glaring at the wall with his arms crossed hotly over his chest. “I’m sorry you had to endure that,” he said with genuine regret. “However, now that your name is clear, you’re free to go as well.”

“Thank you,” Crow huffed and then stepped up to John, holding out his right hand. “My dagger, please.”

The knight glanced at the king, who nodded back at him, before handing over the blade.

Crow replaced it in his boot and straightened his posture again. Off to the side, he could see Adam glaring at him with more venom than ever, and this time, he didn’t restrain himself as he cocked his chin up and shot the baron a sneer. Adam just scoffed in response and turned away to walk with the other two noblemen and the guards as they all exited the throne room, leaving Crow, Albin, and the two Vermillions behind.