"Father, you really have to be careful with the candles at night. Last night, the flame was still on. You would have burned the house if I did not check on you," Angelique scolded Paco as they were having breakfast.

"Yes child, what would I do without you?" Paco replied and looked at Jacob knowingly. Jacob chuckled.

Angelique put her hands on her waist. "And what is so funny, huh, Jacob? If you do not hurry up, the both of you would be late for work," she continued.

"Do you think she is ready to get married? She nags us like a mother would," Jacob asked Paco.

"I am barely fifteen!" Angelique responded. Her eyes widened.

"One more year and you will be able to accept suitors," Jacob teased.

"Oh my goodness! And why are you so concerned about that?" Angelique asked.

Jacob drank the water from his glass before he responded, "I have to help Paco raise your dowry. Not all men can handle such a nagging wife. Maybe if you have a higher dowry, you will have a higher chance of getting married."

It was obvious that Jacob was teasing but Angelique's ears turned pink. "I do not nag. I simply 'remind'. If I do not, affairs in this house will not be managed properly. You do know, living with brutes like you and father is quite handful. I always had to clean up after you both!" she reasoned.

Paco laughed, "Now, now, now. We appreciate what you do for us Angelique. But, don't you have lessons to go do today?"

Angelique nodded, "Please make sure to put the unwashed dishes in the sink. I will do it when I get back from my classes," she said. Then, using her hands, she polished her hair and smoothed her dress before walking out the door.

"Be careful!!" Jacob called out.

Angelique looked back, "I will," she said and then remembered something, "And for the love of God Jacob, do not make any woman cry today. I knew your heart got broken two years ago. But two years of punishing women doesn't seem fair, don't you think so too, Father?"

Jacob looked at her warningly. "Leave now, little girl before I get more irritated and take it out on your white rose bushes."

Angelique narrowed her eyes, "Oh you wouldn't dare!"

Jacob crossed his arms. "Do you want to try me?" he warned.

She smiled at him ever so sweetly. The type of smile that always resulted in 'forgiveness of ALL her sins'. "No, sir. I'll be going now," she said and saluted playfully.

Jacob shook his head while watching the adorable teen that he considers as his little sister walked away to school.

"My only gem," Paco said. Jacob turned and saw Paco gaze adoringly at his daughter.

Jacob laughed, "I could not wait to see you on her wedding day."

Paco shook his head at Jacob's teasing. "How about you? When are you getting married?" he asked. Jacob looked at him with a questioning look. "Angelique was right. It had been two years. Do you think it is about time you moved on?"

Jacob stood up and put his plate and glass in the sink. "I had moved on Paco," he answered. "But, I do not want to get married just yet. I just got back from my deployment. Let me amuse myself."

Paco laughed, "Very well."

Jacob then diverted their conversation to a more serious note. "So what happened about the case you were handling. You told me last night that the numbers were not adding up."

Paco's face became serious. He nodded. "Remember Mr. Porto?"

"Your client from the accounting office. The one who owned the sugar mill."

Paco nodded, "I was doing his books and noticed that he was losing money drastically because he was paying huge amounts of fees here and there. So I looked at his cash flows. Guess where my investigation led me? To the Finance Bureau. Can you believe that?" he said and paused for a bit to take a breath.

"And?" Jacob asked, getting impatient.

"Last year, His Majesty was adored by many because he ordered the Finance Bureau to lower the taxes. You were at sea at that time so you did not know. But what I found out was, yes the Finance Bureau did follow the King but they had created other small fees that looked reasonable but in truth would just deceive the people. So instead of us saving money because of lower taxes, we paid double because of these small fees."

Jacob crossed his arms. "Do you think His Majesty knows?"

"I am not sure. But the money goes to a certain General Zalez."

"Hm. His name sounds familiar."

"It should be. He is making quite a name for himself because the House of Lords favors him. They were contemplating on giving him the Lordship title because of his financial support to Prince Eric's military projects."

"I see. But if he is stealing from the people, then the Royals should know about this to put a stop to it," Jacob said.

"My thoughts exactly," Paco agreed.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I am gathering documents as evidence of this corruption. Then, I will present it to the judicial court."

Jacob nodded, "I will help you with that too. I'll do my own investigation about General Zalez as well."

"Tread carefully, Jacob. General Zalez has ties with Prince Eric. Do not forget about the bad blood between the two of you. He was the reason you were deployed for two years out sea, remember?" Paco warned him.

"I will be careful," Jacob answered.

"Do not do this alone. You have men that you trust don't you? The Geles brothers?"

Jacob nodded, "Let me see what Sandlot will say. As much as possible I do not want to involve them in this matter."

"Regardless, do not do this alone. Prince Eric's hand has a long reach. He might not be involved in the corruption but if General Zalez is an acquaintance of him, or worse, his friend, he will certainly get involved especially if he finds out that you are part of this."

Jacob took his sailor cap and put it on, "Don't worry about me Paco. You know I can handle myself against the Prince," he replied and began to step outside the door.

Jacob waved goodbye without looking back. He narrowed his eyes. During his two year deployment, his assignment was to man and defend the overseas territories against different kingdoms. This he gladly accepted. However, because of this, his eyes were made aware of corruptions and injustices that Beckforth tolerated if not facilitated.

He was loyal to Beckforth. However, after seeing what he saw he was not sure anymore. Because of Beckforth, parents were taken from children. Slave trading was rampant. People were starving. The appointed governors and their forces plundered and took what they wanted... be it wealth, businesses or women. They were just like pirates! He clenched his fists. He will get to the bottom of this!

*****

I had to sit back up. The information that Jacob was telling me was too much to bear laying down. Seeing me get up, Jacob did the same.

"Are you alright?" he asked me right away.

I nodded. "Did I hear it correctly? You and the Prince of Beckforth had bad blood?"

Jacob chuckled, "Are you worried?" he asked.

I know that I had to be careful on what to say next. I could not afford him noticing my interest in his relationship with Prince Eric. If he did, he might ask me if I knew the prince and I do not want to lie to him at this time. So, I diverted the topic.

"Geles brothers? Are these Sandlot, Thom, Urdel, and Zaki?" I asked.

Jacob nodded. "They were members of my company when I was still a navy captain," he explained.

I nodded. "How did they end up in Labyrinth?" I asked again.

"You already knew that when I left my post, I was branded as a traitor then exiled at the Isle of Snakes to die," he said.

"Yes."

"The Geles brothers heard that I made it back to Fildas and got myself a ship. So, they abandoned their positions and tracked me down, which was not easy as they previously thought it would be. You see they were orphans and they convinced me that they have nothing to lose if they join my cause."

I looked at Jacob again in awe. It was obvious that the Geles brothers were loyal to him. "They were branded as traitors too?" I asked.

"Yes. Everyone affiliated to me that were citizens of Beckforth before are now branded as traitors. So tell me, are you a citizen of Beckforth?"

I shook my head. "I am from Francua," I answered. I thought it was fair to tell him where I was from.

He smiled, "Good. Then, you are not a traitor of Beckforth. You will be spared if we get caught."

I sighed irritably. "Would you please stop saying that? I do not want us to get caught. It is not like we will stay for a long time anyways, will we?"

Jacob shook his head. "After we pay our respects, we leave right away. We cannot risk it. As Paco had said, Prince Eric's hand has a long reach."

I looked away when he mentioned Prince Eric. Jacob could not know my connections with the prince. So I asked, "How did Angelique die?"

"Should I continue my story?" Jacob asked.

I nodded.