The Lost Statue

Oliver was a loyal servant of the Kingdom of Regat. He served the royal family well, but he wasn’t in a very respected social class. Oliver always dreamt of getting the king to notice him above all the other servants but there never seemed to be a chance. That is until the king’s solid gold statue that was passed down through his family for hundreds of years, was stolen. Oliver got excited and ran to tell his friend and instructor Felix that he would be the one to find it for the king. “You’re crazy to think that.” Felix told him. “Keep your mind on your work and stop dreaming. The castle knights are already searching the countryside for it, and you can’t leave the castle kitchen!” Oliver would not be discouraged and thought this was a perfect opportunity to put his special powers to the test. You see, Oliver had a very special ability to tell when someone is lying to him. He decided to use it by asking questions to some of the not so trust-worthy servants around the castle. Oliver didn’t really know where this power came from but he decided to use it to his advantage.
While all the knights were out of the town searching for the missing statue, Oliver was

investigating inside the castle to see if he could find clues. He would go around talking to other servants during his break time but still found nothing. Oliver came across this one suspicious servant named Mincinos he hadn’t talked to yet. “Do you think the statue is still in the castle?” Oliver asked.
Mincinos quickly responded by saying, “No it’s probably far away from the town, the knights will probably find it sooner or later.” Once Mincinos said this, Oliver’s special ability to know if someone is lying immediately told him that wasn’t true. After that his hopes of finding the king’s missing statue were even higher, now Oliver knew Mincinos lied about the statue being hidden far away.
Now that Oliver knew the statue wasn’t hidden far away, he knew it was hidden in the castle. Oliver started to look everywhere for it but he didn’t know where it could be hidden. He also had to make sure that his bosses didn’t see him wandering around the castle while he was off the job. Oliver realized that he should go and ask Felix for some advice. Because Felix was an older servant, he might know where it was hidden and

maybe how to get it back. “Hey I need your help with something…” Oliver said.
Felix replied saying, “Just focus on your work, maybe I'll help you on break”.
“But it’s really important,” Said Oliver.
Felix replied again saying, “I told you to just focus on your work”.
Oliver quickly replied saying,
“It’s about the king's statue, I might know how to get it back”! After Oliver asked a few more times, Felix decided to give in to him and give him advice on what to do.
“So you think it is hidden inside the castle?" Felix asked him.
“Yes” said Oliver in a begging tone of voice. The way Oliver was talking kind of hinted to Felix that Oliver wanted something to help with his journey.
Felix told him, “Fine, I’ll give you this map. It has all the best hiding spots and secret passages in the castle.” Oliver thanked him and right when he was ready to walk away, Felix stopped him. “Wait, before you leave, here is a sword. You might need it to get past the thief. Remember to be careful and good luck”. Felix said.

Oliver thanked him again and then went on to explore more of the castle. Oliver looked in all the hiding places as well as the secret doors and passages but he still found nothing. Now he was wondering if this was all pointless. He had tried everything except for one secret passageway. This had to be it.
Oliver, very cautiously, opened the door to make sure there were no traps. Oliver began to walk through the secret hallway while doubting himself. He asked himself why he was doing this again but remembered he had to do it for the king. At the end of the hallway someone was waiting for him. There waiting for him was Alexander, another servant. Oliver asked him, “Why are you here, shouldn’t you be doing your work”?
“A better question is why you're here,” Alexander replied. “So, why are you here?” He said right after that.
“I’m here to retrieve the statue, so I guess you're the one who stole it.” Oliver said.
“How did you even know it was still in the castle, why didn’t you believe the knights would

find it? Alexander asked him.
Oliver quickly replied saying, “Mincinos lied about it being hidden far away. That's how I knew”
Alexander pulled out a sword and said, “Alright then, fight me for the statue.” Oliver pulled his sword off his back and took a slash at Alexander’s feet. He dogged it but fell onto his back. Oliver walked over to him holding his sword up. He said, “Give me the king’s statue”. Alexander begged for Oliver not to hurt him. They made an agreement, Oliver wouldn’t turn him in but only if Alexander gave him the statue without trouble. A few hours later Oliver was about to walk into the throne room. The king was very upset when the knights returned and found nothing. Oliver then walked into the room with the statue in hands and presented it to the king. The king was overjoyed when he saw it. “How did you find it?” The king asked.
Oliver said he found it in the castle but he didn’t know how it got there since he couldn’t turn Alexander in because that was part of the agreement. Felix came running in to see what was happening, Oliver hadn’t seen Felix run in a few