The Prince Who Cannot Fall In Love & The Missing Heiress - Chapter 292

Elios looked at Ren with a sharp gaze. “What is your relationship with Karl Sotterham?”

Ren shrugged. “He’s my assistant. I think you already know that. Why ask such unnecessary questions?”

“I want to know why you hired him.” Elios folded his arms across his chest and looked at Ren with a probing look. “I think he’s been working for you for a long time.”

“That’s right. He was my mother’s assistant when she was alive. After my mother died, Karl went abroad to work. We met again in England when I was in university. He was very kind to me and always took care of me because he felt indebted to my mother,” Ren didn’t feel threatened by Elios’s questions, he was not worried that Elios would suspect him of having a family relationship with Karl because he and his uncle were not alike at all.

Charles had done something drastic by faking his death decades ago. He had also made many changes to his physical appearance and changed his name from Charles Neumann to Karl Sotterham. Charles ‘died’ not long after Friedrich died.

Even if people could still find old photos when Karl was a teenager with his brother and Hannah, no one would be able to guess that the boy was the same person as the now tough-looking man in his late forties.

Now, Karl looked very cold and unapproachable. He still looked dashing at the age of 47 years. He had been Ren’s assistant for ten years since the day Ren worked at SpaceLab until he became the crown prince of Moravia.

“Do you know his background?” asked Elios again. “Who is his family and what kind of person he is?”

Ren nodded. “I do. Karl Sotterham once saved my mother from criminals when we were on vacation in Paris. They wanted to rob her at knife-point and he save my mother. He is the son of poor farmers from Limoges who worked odd jobs in Paris.

My mother then sent him to school as her way to show her gratitude. After Karl graduated from college, he came to Moravia looking for my mother just like what my mother asked him to do. Karl then became my personal tutor when I was little.

When my mother died, Karl was devastated and decided to leave. I happened to meet him again while I was studying in England and later he came to work for me after I worked at SpaceLab. Since then, I decided to hire him as my assistant. Karl has worked for me for a long time and he is very loyal.”

Elios nodded. He seemed satisfied with Ren’s answer. “Very well. All the information about your assistant is in accordance with what you said just now.”

Ren frowned at Elios’s words. “Why are you investigating Karl and me? Is it because of the email from the mysterious person?”

Elios did not immediately answer Ren’s question. He took a sip of his wine slowly. After emptying the glass, Elios opened his mouth again. “I think your mother hired Karl because he looked like your father’s younger brother named Charles Neumann.”

Ren laughed softly at Elios’s words. “I’m not sure. My mother hated my father’s younger brother. Uncle Charles was too wild and always made a lot of ruckuses. He got into fights at school many times and made my mother go back and forth to the school and police station since she was his only family member. He did not live long. He died in one of those fights when he was stabbed by his opponent.”

This was an alibi that Karl had prepared long ago. He made a story as if Karl and Hannah hated each other and then Karl died after he was stabbed by his opponent in a fight.

Even if Elios wanted to check their DNA, he wouldn’t find a match between Karl and Ren. That way, he wouldn’t be able to find out that they were indeed uncle and nephew.

“All right, I understand now,” said Elios. He took a deep breath and for a moment the two men did not say a single word. After their drinks were finished and dinner ended, Ren excused himself to go home.

Before he got out of the dining room, he asked Elios. “I almost forgot to ask something, Sir … you told me to announce about Vega to the public. Does that mean I can take her to meet my grandparents now? They are eager to meet their granddaughter-in law.”

Elios shook his head. “No. Vega told me that you wanted to resign from your current position as the crown prince of Moravia. Why would you still want to do it anyway?”

Ren nodded firmly. “That’s right. I promised Vega to leave everything behind.”

“Very well. Then, I want you to make an official statement that you are resigning from your position in Moravia. I want you to return to SpaceLab,” Elios said. “Do you mind?”

“Absolutely not, Sir.”

Ren was happy to hear Elios’s offer. From a long time ago, his dream was only to work at SpaceLab because his father was one of the initiators of the company along with Sam Atlas. For Ren, SpaceLab was the most important thing.

“Good. Then you have a few days to take care of everything after which you can return to Targu Mures to meet Vega and discuss your life together. I personally strongly oppose Vega coming back with you, but I will leave it up to my daughter to make a decision about her own life.”

“All right. I’ll do it,” said Ren. “Then please excuse me, Sir. Good evening.”

Elios just nodded and let Ren go. After the young man disappeared behind the door, Elios decided to call his wife and ask how Vega was doing.

“How was dinner?” asked Aleksis on the other end of the phone when Elios called her. “Did you see any signs that Ren was involved?”

Elios let out a short sigh. “I guess I’m biased because I don’t like him. I don’t know if he’s involved or not. All his words are checked. Apart from the mysterious letter, I couldn’t really pin anything on him. How is Vega?”

“She’s getting better. She’s been crying a lot lately, but Father said this is normal. She started to remember things she had forgotten. It just so happened that the things she had experienced were so sad that our daughter cried a lot. However, once all her memories come back, there will be happier memories that can make her feel better.”

“I really suspect that his assistant named Karl is actually Ren’s uncle, Charles Neumann,” Elios said quickly. “My suspicions are very strong, but I can’t prove it. Charles Neumann died 28 years ago. All data is complete and it can be tracked.”

“Hmm .. if you’re really suspicious, can’t you guys find out if he’s really Ren’s uncle by testing his DNA? You just need to make sure from there. If everything is proven, you just have to gather Karl and Ren together and then confront them. Do it unannounced. If they don’t suspect that you know the blood relationship between them, then surely they won’t have time to make up stories,” said Aleksis again.

“I already have Ren’s DNA sample here. We had dinner together just now,” Elios said. “I’m going to have Mischa take a sample from Karl. If they are related, then there is a high chance that they are involved in Vega’s kidnapping.”

Elios fell silent after saying his words. He felt that his daughter’s fate was so unfortunate if it was true that her husband was involved in the evil scheme that destroyed her life.

“If Ren is involved, I won’t forgive him even if Vega pleads,” said Elios angrily. He and his wife talked about other things in their home before Elios hung up.

Before he went to sleep, Elios gave orders to Mischa to find Karl’s DNA sample to be tested.