Claude drove the carriage through the streets in a frenzy. Fortunately, the guards on duty didn't stop his carriage.
Carriages entering and exiting the town had to be inspected. As for the carriage that was already in town, nobody was willing to cause trouble for themselves. Instead, they wondered if someone in the driver's family was sick for him to be in such a rush.
There wasn't a crowd in front of the red-bricked house. Instead, there were a few people gathered in front of the shops on the opposite side of the street. They were chatting and pointing at Claude's house from time to time.
Claude's arrival in the carriage attracted their attention. They stopped chatting and stared at Claude.
Claude ignored them. All he wanted to know was what happened at home and what crime his father was arrested for.
His mother sat at the dining table, crying silently. His brother, Booke, had a clear palm print on his face. He hugged the snowhound and hugged it in a corner, sobbing non-stop.
Angelina was mopping the kitchen floor with a large mop. There was a puddle of water on the floor. It seemed that the pot of black tea had fallen and spilled all of it.
The moment Claude entered, the snowhound immediately pounced at him with its tail wagging. Booke also crawled up from the floor and started crying again. He stretched his arms out for Claude to hug him.
Angelina, on the other hand, looked at Claude with teary eyes. Two more streams of tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Mother, what happened at home?
Why was father arrested? "Claude didn't care about his siblings and only wanted to know what happened.
His mother shook her head in tears. "I don't know either. When I was preparing breakfast in the morning, two officers and a few soldiers came with an order saying that your father was arrested for endangering the safety of the kingdom and has to be investigated.
Your father was taken away without even having a bite of bread. "
What a joke!
Is that even possible?
Mister Morssen is only the chief administrator of Whitestag. He's only in charge of the people's livelihood and economic development. How could he possibly endanger the kingdom?
That's ridiculous. He's neither a gunsmith nor a general of the army, nor is he the chief administrator of the three southwestern prefectures. He's just a civil official in a small town. How could he possibly endanger the safety of the kingdom?
That crime was almost as serious as treason. If it was confirmed, he would have no choice but to be executed.
"Is there something wrong?"
Claude doubted the validity of the accusation. It would be more believable if he was arrested for bribery.
But there was no local civil official in the kingdom who did not have his own grey income, and besides, Mr. Morssen had always been incorruptible and never accepted gifts, which was a fact known to the whole town.
He just liked to take a share in other people's business and earn a little profit. He was never greedy or a noisy guest, so the people who worked with him were very satisfied.
"There's no mistake. The two officers who barged in this morning announced this crime. We all heard it clearly."
His mother also knew the seriousness of this crime. Her face was filled with fear and despair, and her tears fell on the dining table.
Angelina nodded and added, "Mother was in the kitchen when she heard what they said. She was so shocked that she even dropped the teapot."
"What about Father?
Did he explain himself? "
Claude hugged his brother, who was tugging at his trousers, to prevent him from wiping his tears and snot on his trousers.
"No. Your father only took a deep puff of his pipe, put it on the table, and stood up. He nodded at the two officers and left with them. He didn't say anything."
Only then did Claude notice that his mother was still clutching the black mulberry pipe his father left behind.
He found it strange that his father didn't say anything. Wasn't it said that people who were wrongly accused would loudly plead their innocence when they were arrested?
His father's behavior really reminded him of the spies and agents caught in the dramas of his previous life. But could he be a spy from another kingdom?
That would make him laugh to death. Given his father's rank as a civil official in a small town, there was no way he could come into contact with so-called national secrets.
"By the way, where's Arbeit?"
Claude looked around and didn't see Arbeit anywhere. Didn't he eat and sleep at home every day?
Where did he go with such a huge incident happening in the family?
His mother wiped her tears and said, "Your brother went out to get some information."
That's more like it. Just as Claude was about to nod, Angelina said, "He took the family's money and ran away."
The family's money?
Claude was stunned. "What money?"
"He didn't run away. He just said that it would cost him some money to get some information about Father, so I gave him some," his mother explained as she stopped crying.
"He took all the money in the house. We don't have any money to buy groceries today," Angelina said unhappily.
"Stupid girl, is it more important to buy groceries or to get information about your father? It's not like we don't have anything to eat at home. Can't we just stuff ourselves with some bread if we're hungry?" His mother glared at Angelina angrily.
"How much money did he take?"
Claude asked. It wouldn't matter if Arbeit really took the money to get information, but he was afraid that he was just using it as an excuse to scam money out of the family.
"I think it was a dozen thales.
Angelina thought for a moment and said, "I don't know exactly how much. Anyway, he took all the money in the little box that Mom used to store money."
His mother had a little box that contained her personal savings and the money his father gave her every month. His father's salary of three thales was basically given to his mother to manage the household. He had some other income and would sometimes give his mother a little more when he was in a good mood.
His mother relied on the money his father gave her to maintain the household's expenses. Over the years, she had accumulated more than a dozen thales, which was around three gold crowns.
Now, all of his mother's money had been taken by Arbeit in the name of getting information about his father.
Claude didn't want to argue with him. Besides, he wouldn't be able to find his so-called big brother anyway.
He took out the eight thales from his pocket and gave it to Angelina.
"Take it. Go buy groceries at noon, just like usual.
When others ask about your father, you answer that you don't know. At this time, we must be calm. No matter what happens, our family must face it bravely, understand? "
Angelina had been in charge of buying groceries recently. She was only fourteen, but she could already help their mother with the chores.
Claude didn't want to hand the money to his mother. She didn't know what to do after their father's arrest and was easily tricked.
On the contrary, Angelina was very obedient and relied on him. She was more assertive and wouldn't be easily tricked.
Claude put the sobbing little brother down. "Don't cry, Booker. I'll take you to wash your face."
Then, Claude saw the red handprint on his brother's face. His expression darkened. "Who did this?"
If it was the two officers who arrested their father in the morning, Claude wouldn't mind causing a ruckus at the barracks at night.
His younger brother and sister were his reverse scales. He was an only child in his previous life and didn't have any siblings. He only had brotherly loyalty.
It was only in this world that he felt brotherly love from Booker and Angelina. He doted on his siblings the most. Whoever bullied them was his enemy!
"It was Big Brother. After Father left with the two officers, Mother went upstairs to get some money for Big Brother and asked him to get some information.
Little Brother was crying and Big Brother thought he was too noisy, so he slapped him.
I was afraid he would hit me too, so I stayed in the kitchen.
The snowhound wanted to bite him, but Big Brother said he'd get someone to beat it to death if it pounced on him. Little Brother hugged the snowhound and didn't let it pounce on him. "
Angelina briefly explained what happened in the dining room that morning.
Claude took a deep breath and suppressed his anger.
If Arbeit was still in front of him, he would make sure that he wouldn't be able to get out of bed for at least half a month.
He dared to flaunt his power in front of his siblings right after their father was arrested. It wasn't hard to imagine that the money his mother gave him would be wasted.
If he really went to get some information about their father, Claude could forgive him.
Otherwise, he'd make sure he understood why flowers were so red.
"Have you had breakfast?" Claude asked as he wiped his brother's face with a towel.
She shook her head bitterly. "I don't have an appetite. I don't feel good."
It seemed that no one had eaten. Claude went into the kitchen and saw that his mother had only made half of breakfast. The eggs weren't fried, the bacon wasn't cut, and there was only a small basket of white bread.
"Mother, if you're not feeling well, go upstairs and rest for a while. I'll take care of Borke and Angelina. You can come down after Arbeit gets some information about Father."
She nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Alright, Claude. I'll go rest for a while. Keep an eye on them. Call me if anything happens."
She almost tripped on the stairs when she went upstairs. It was obvious that what happened in the morning hadn't calmed her down.
As a housewife, she had never experienced something like that before. Her father's arrest was too much of a shock for her.
Had it not been for Claude's arrival, she would've sat at the dining table like an idiot for the rest of the day.
"Angelina, clean up after you're done mopping the floor. I'll make breakfast for you."
"I don't want bread. I want Big Brother to make noodles," said Borke.
After Claude applied a perfect-quality Elementary Healing Potion on his face, the palm print had almost completely disappeared.
"I can't make noodles now. I'll make you some at noon. Have some bread first and I'll make you some egg soup. Then, I'll put honey on the bread, alright?"
Borke thought about it for a long while before nodding. "Alright. I'll make noodles at noon. You have to keep your word."
After breakfast, Claude and his sister cleaned up the kitchen and dining room before bringing his siblings and the snowhound to the open-air market to buy ingredients. They also bought a large bag of fodder and chose a large wooden basin to serve as Jemmy's food trough.
He would probably be spending more time at home in the coming days, so he had to take care of Jemmy and make sure it didn't starve.
The open-air market was filled with people. Many of them already knew that Claude's father, the town's chief executive, had been arrested by the soldiers. Quite a few people were gossiping about them behind their backs.
Fortunately, no one was stupid enough to openly mock Claude and the others. Otherwise, Claude would've definitely made an example out of them and let them know that even without their father around, their family wasn't something they could easily humiliate.
Angelina returned with a bag of potatoes and said to Claude, who was fighting over some dried plums with Borke, "Brother, I heard from Sis Lini that the soldiers didn't just go to our house to capture Father. They also captured quite a few other people in town. I think Uncle Tomas was captured as well."
Uncle Tomas was Claude's father's colleague. Morssen was the chief executive and he was the chief police officer.
Claude was surprised. "Are you sure?"
Angelina put the potatoes on the carriage. "That's what Sis Lini said. She said that her husband saw the soldiers capture Uncle Tomas with his own eyes. Uncle Tomas resisted a little and was knocked to the ground with the butt of their rifles before being thrown into the carriage and taken away."
Claude felt like he understood something. "Angelina, let's go home first. You stay here and look after Borke. I'll go out and ask around."
"Okay." Angelina nodded obediently.