The crown prince didn't look embarrassed at all. In fact, he moved aside for them respectfully. "Have you seen my father, Uncle Matthew?" he asked at length.

"No, I haven't," Matthew finally answered, his voice filled with barely restrained fury. He had traveled a great distance to get back to his wife, and now the crown prince was bothering him.

"Why don't you say anything, Aunt?" Felix asked innocently.

Less than a minute had passed since the crown prince's appearance, but Matthew was already out of patience. Holding Harper close to himself, he swept past the meddler so quickly that he actually kicked up a little cloud of dust in his passing. In seconds the couple was out of the gate, receding quickly into the distance. Felix watched them go, smiling slightly as he brushed the dust from his garments.

"You see now that I was right," said Prince Lucas, su

lix's smile faded away as he watched Lucas go away. Heading to the Imperial Study, he quickly turned his mind to his own business. Now that Matthew had returned so soon, it meant that he had already solved the problems in the north domain. At the same time, he had managed to make his return in secret, preventing news of these developments from spreading beforehand. Did this mean that there was no more room for negotiation about Howard's situation?

Felix was a little worried. It was obvious that Harrison cared a lot about Howard. Although Kevin's situation was unknown, at least Shawn was in a good position. Since Matthew wasn't there, Shawn should be able to get Kevin away from the people escorting him. Before the joint trial was conducted, they could then talk with Kevin and come to a conclusion, and then Howard would be able to get rid of the charge of treason.