“This lady,” Leandro’s assistant pointed at the blond woman who was raising her hand calmly as she sat in front of Leandro. The woman smiled as she rose from her seat.
“Your highness, the rumors say that the Duke was stabbed and that Madam Weber was the one who stabbed the Grand Duke. Yet, you claim that the videos are fake. You even said that we could examine that document that showed the videos were fake. However, another analyst already examined the video before someone deleted it. The analyst clearly said that it’s real. What can you say about this matter?”
Leandro stared at the blond woman as he smiled. However, before he could open his mouth to answer the woman’s question, another reporter chimed in.
“Your highness, where is the Grand Duke? Can you please confirm that he was not stabbed? The information about this incident was not revealed to the public, is it because Madam Mikaela Weber was the one who stabbed her own father?”
“Your highness, what about the Duchess… where is she? Why is she so silent about all this?”
“And Princess Eliza and Prince Levi? Where are they?”
“Your highness there is a rumor that you were trying to suppress your siblings. What are your thoughts about this?”
“Your highness….”
“Your highness….”
“The Duke will answer everyone’s question. Please … let’s all calm down.”
Leandro stared at everyone who was anticipating his answer, his face calm and collected. This was the exact opposite of his emotions on the inside. Leandro never expected the reporters to ask such incriminating questions.
“Your highness… What about the rumor that your wife poisoned you? Is that true?” The blond woman asked. “It was said that the Royal Family was poisoned by someone. How true is that rumor?”
“I…” Leandro stuttered the mention of his wife which naturally affected his mood. He frowned and looked at the blond woman. “That is not true.” He immediately wondered why Mikaela forgot to inform him about this rumor.
“Is that true your highness?”
“Your highness… what about the…”
“Please everyone. Take your seats and wait for our turn.”
The security approached the group and instructed them to sit down. However, the reporters refused to even listen to them and continued asking questions. Overlapping voices of reporters echoed inside the hall, followed by the security personnel as they stood in front of the Leandro, protecting him from the reporters.
“Is that Duke Phil?” The blond woman let out a surprised gasp as she stared at the door. Her voice was not that loud but it was definitely clear enough for everyone to hear. “Duke Phil! I thought he was in a coma?”
“Duke Phil?”
“Is that Duke Phil?”
Everyone turned their heads towards the door. Slowly, their eyes went wide, their mouths agape as they watched Duke Phil walk inside the hall with Levi and Eliza and a couple of knights surrounding him. Their ominous footsteps echoed inside the room. Silence soon followed their entrance.
Everyone looked at Duke Phil before they turned their attention back to Leandro and Mikaela in front of them. Before anyone could say anything, the Grand Duke had already arrived in front of Leandro and Mikaela. He stared at his eldest son for a couple of seconds before looking at the daughter who had stabbed him.
“Surprised?” The Grand Duke raised an eyebrow.
“Fa— Father!” Mikaela immediately started shaking, she eyed Leandro who was still in a daze. “Why… why are you here?” she managed to ask in between her stammering.
“As the Grand Duke of this country. I am the one who should be here… isn’t that right?” Their father countered before he smiled. He then looked at the reporters. “Everyone… my apologies for being late. I was having a little bit of a problem these past few months. But everything has been solved and should be alright from now on.”
“Father… what are you doing?” Leandro immediately leaned towards the Grand Duke. “This press conference is…”
“It’s for your crimes.” The Grand Duke interrupted him. “I know Leandro… I know.” It was as if a huge stone blocked Leandro’s throat as he stared at his father, horror apparent in his eyes.
Will the Grand Duke announce what happened in front of everyone?
“My apologies.” The Duke went back to the reporters in front of him. “I am here to apologize for not being able to do my duty for the last six months. As you all know… someone… stabbed me.”
Gasps and whispers followed the Duke’s words. While everyone knew that the Duke fell into a vegetative state, the Royal Family never issued a statement about what really happened to the Duke. Some people said that he was betrayed by a businessman. Some people said he was poisoned. Some claimed that they heard news of the Duke being shot. Of course, some extreme rumors even claimed that the Duke was already dead.
“Then… I was kept in an underground facility while my wife and my other children were put under house arrest.”
Another series of whispers and gasp followed. This time, the Duke eyed the video camera, he wanted to speak to the people watching from their homes. “This will be handled by our justice system. I am letting everyone know that I, The current Grand Duke of this country will not hesitate to put someone in jail to attain justice. I will not hesitate to even put my own son, who imprisoned me, against my will, and my own daughter, who stabbed me because of a misunderstanding, to jail. This is… how I ruled this country in the past and this is how I will continue to rule this country in the future. I will have another press conference in the near future to explain the specific. For now, I would like to thank everyone for their concern. Let’s continue making our country great! Have a wonderful day ahead. Thank you”
The Duke immediately asked his people to turn off the video and escort the reporters outside… that was with the exception of the blond reporter and a tall camera man that stood beside her.
“Father… you cannot do this!” Mikaela immediately broke down the moment the people left. She clutched his father’s suit. “Father… please!” she begged as tears streamed down her cheeks.
