At the word “mission,” Hugo quickly knelt on one knee and bowed his head. However, his mind was still in turmoil. To think the Duchess and the young lady weren’t in their hands… Could it be…? Hugo hastily erased the worst-case scenario that had crossed his mind. If that were the case, His Grace couldn’t possibly be this calm.
‘Please let them be safe.’
He sincerely prayed for the Duchess and the young lady’s safety as he focused on the Duke’s voice.
“From this moment on, ensure not even an ant escapes from this mansion. And capture all the spies in hiding.”
At the Duke’s command, Hugo decided to stop thinking and simply follow his orders. He was the Knight Captain of Duke Kaien’s household, and what he needed to prioritize above all else was the Duke’s command.
“Knight Captain Hugo accepts the command.”
Hugo answered in a low but powerful voice and rose to his feet. The Duke then handed him a sheet of paper.
“It’s a list of the spies.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
As Hugo received the list, his face hardened when he saw the number was far greater than expected. He hadn’t known so many spies were hiding among them. Taking a deep breath, Hugo looked at the Duke and said:
“I didn’t think it would be this extensive, Your Grace. I will carry out your orders immediately.”
Hugo, having regained his demeanor as Knight Captain, bowed respectfully, then turned and hurried out of the office to execute his orders.
Shortly after, when the Kaien Knights broke their long silence and began to move, the shadows tasked with monitoring the ducal residence instinctively realized something was going wrong. To call it large-scale training didn’t fit—the entire knight order was in full combat gear. However, with no orders from their superiors, while the shadows were in confusion, part of the Kaien Knights surrounded the ducal residence without gaps, blocking all possible escape routes. Only then did the shadows notice that the Duke had drawn his sword, but it was already too late.
“First, we escape and head to the branch. Move with minimal presence, but if discovered, draw attention and become decoys. That way, as many as possible can escape.”
The team leader commanding the shadows hiding in Duke Kaien’s household calmly looked around at his team members. Though there were only ten in total, they had pride in being elites and were confident they could escape. While it was true that the knights of Duke Kaien’s household were highly skilled, they were shadows—specialists in moving without presence.
“Then let’s go…!”
The team leader, about to give the order, suddenly coughed up blood and his eyes widened. A blade that had flown silently from behind had already pierced through his heart and emerged from the front. As the team leader’s body crumpled to the ground, the person behind kicked his body aside and withdrew the sword. He was wearing a Kaien knight’s uniform, but was someone they’d never seen before. The shadows had definitely memorized all the knight order members’ faces.
“R…run…!”
One of the shadows who had been staring blankly at the team leader’s death realized the severity of the situation and shouted, but more than half of the shadows had already lost their lives to swords that appeared as suddenly as the team leader’s killer. The surviving shadows froze. There were seven knights who had killed the team leader and other comrades—all faces they’d never seen before.
“H…how… They definitely weren’t in the knight order…”
As one of the shadows muttered in a daze, the knight who had taken the team leader’s life spoke slowly.
“What do you mean ‘how’? We were monitoring you, so naturally you wouldn’t have seen us.”
Only then did the remaining shadows remember once again the fearsome nature of Duke Kaien’s household that they had long forgotten. But it was already too late. They simultaneously received strong impacts to the backs of their heads and lost consciousness.
The situation inside the ducal residence was no different. Hugo, along with the knights, thoroughly searched the interior of the estate and captured the spies listed in the documents. From the kitchen to the servants and maids, nearly fifteen spies were subdued by the knights and moved to the underground dungeon. Among them were those who resignedly allowed themselves to be dragged away, but there were also cases where people resisted to the end and were knocked unconscious before being dragged off. There were even people no one had suspected of being spies, shocking the employees who had worked alongside them.
‘So this day has finally come…’
Watching the spies being dragged away by the knights, Jerome seemed moved, his eyes reddening as he looked at the Duke. How long had they endured? Even the spies Jerome alone had noticed numbered several. But until the Duke’s order came, he had to pretend not to know, which had caused him much stress. Probably half of his gray hairs had come from those bastards. But seeing the spies being swept away like this, it felt like a painful tooth had been pulled—his insides felt refreshed.
‘Now only the second floor remains…’
Jerome’s gaze turned toward Michelle’s room on the second floor.
****
Around the time the ducal residence began its cleanup, the carriage carrying Lea also arrived at its destination.
“Get out.”
At Fibien’s cold voice, Lea stepped down from the carriage with an anxious expression. Following Fibien while keeping her head down, her appearance seemed to others like she was being forced to follow, but in reality, she was extending her qi-sense to confirm the number of enemies remaining in the mansion.
‘Thirteen just inside the mansion? Eight of them use swords. As for skill, that man seems to be the most capable… How did he get on Abel’s bad side? Tsk tsk…’
She raised her head and looked at Fibien’s back as he walked ahead, clicking her tongue inwardly in pity. Before departing, Abel had described Fibien’s appearance to her and told her not to touch him since he was someone Abel needed to deal with personally. So she had replied that he could handle him however he wanted, just not to kill him.
‘We need to extract information too… We don’t know much about their organization.’
Lost in various thoughts, she stopped when Fibien halted in front of a firmly closed door. This was probably Abram’s office.
“It’s Fibien.”
When he spoke quietly, Abram’s voice came from inside the room.
“Come in.”
Fibien opened the office door and looked at Lea—no, Joseph. He then gestured with cold eyes for her to enter. When she hesitated briefly before reluctantly entering, Fibien also closed the door and followed. Upon entering, Lea felt displeasure at Abram’s sticky gaze as he sat leisurely on the sofa watching her, and her face hardened. She had planned to act stiff anyway, but she hadn’t expected it to come so naturally.
“Welcome, Joseph. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Abram smiled at Joseph, whose somewhat pale, white face had frozen, raising the corners of his mouth. At that smile, damp and eerie like a passing snake, Joseph’s face hardened even more. Not thinking it was from displeasure but assuming it was from fear, Abram slowly looked Joseph up and down. His brown eyes behind the glasses weren’t clearly visible, but his overall mysterious beauty and slender, delicate build like a woman stirred his lust. His flawless white skin, smoother than most women could achieve, looked as soft as cream and seemed like it would feel quite pleasant to touch.
‘What’s this? He’s into men?’
Lea felt goosebumps at Abram’s gaze and unconsciously trembled slightly. Though she was still young, she well understood the meaning of the look Abram was showing. It was exactly the same look criminals had given when they only saw her appearance without knowing her abilities. That’s why she had started wearing robes to hide her appearance, but she never expected someone here to look at her—disguised as a man—with such eyes. However, Abram seemed to mistake her feelings for fear.
“So, have you been well all this time?”
Abram spoke to Joseph while gesturing to Fibien to leave. Having guessed what he would do, Fibien glanced at Joseph and quietly exited the office. Hearing the door close softly, Lea spoke in a stiffened voice.
“How could I be well? Where is my little sister? Please at least let me see her face.”
“Hehe, don’t worry. Your little sister is doing well. For now, at least.”
At Abram’s answer, Lea inwardly sneered, calling him a fraud. But outwardly showing nothing, she spoke in a pleading tone.
“She’s still a young child! I’ll do whatever you ask, so please return her to me.”
At Joseph’s words that he would do anything, Abram’s eyes gleamed dangerously as if he’d been waiting for this. In fact, he had planned to rape him before killing him once everything was over. But when the first base where the hostages were held burned down and pressure from his superiors piled stress upon him, he changed his mind. Anyway, threatening him with his little sister would prevent any resistance. Imagining this pristine young man being thoroughly defiled and crying in despair, he felt his lower body stiffen as he licked his lips with his tongue.
“Then first, shall we confirm your sincerity toward your little sister?”
As Abram rose from the sofa and approached, Joseph looked at him with a stiffly guarded gaze. Standing right in front of Joseph, Abram reached out to remove the glasses Joseph was wearing.
“Wh…what are you doing?”
When the flustered Joseph stepped back, Abram smiled coldly and said:
“Do you want to see your little sister die?”
As Abram took another step toward Joseph, who had frozen like a statue at his words, he slowly reached to remove the glasses. But his hand wandered in empty air. Joseph had stepped back another pace. Having stepped back, Joseph removed the glasses himself and tucked them into his shirt pocket as he spoke. And the words that flowed from his mouth made Abram freeze.
“To threaten me with a sister who’s already burned to death… Trash really can’t help being trash.”
At Joseph’s mocking words, Abram momentarily doubted his own ears. Thinking he’d misheard, he looked at Joseph and froze solid like stone. Joseph’s cold eyes looking at him without glasses clearly contained mockery.
“…What did you say?”
Abram asked, trying to control his emotions and manage his expression, thinking it might be a provocation. But Joseph’s next words completely shattered his composure.
“I tried to burn it cleanly—I wonder if it was to your liking.”
“Don’t tell me…you?!”
“How else would I know that fact? Right, Abram Kochen?”
Crunch… Abram gritted his teeth. Knowing even his full name meant this was no ordinary person. Though rage surged to his head, he suppressed it with the patience he’d cultivated over the years. Anyway, the bastard was alone, and whatever his nerve, he’d fearlessly crawled alone into the tiger’s den. Through the shadows he’d stationed, he’d already confirmed there was no tail.
“You’re a fearless one. Where did you put the hostages? If you confess obediently even now, I’ll spare your life at least.”
Looking calmly at Abram, who was growling as if ready to tear him apart immediately, Joseph—no, Lea—brought her hand to the ring on her finger.
“I wonder. Who should be begging for their life? You seem to trust your shadows too much…”
As she slowly removed the ring from her finger and smiled, Abram felt goosebumps rising. His instinct was warning him frantically of danger, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her as if mesmerized. As the ring completely came off her finger, the beautiful young man’s appearance standing before him began to transform into that of a beautiful girl. Her common brown hair changed to jet-black hair darker than darkness itself, and her ordinary brown eyes transformed into unforgettable, intense red eyes. Meeting those beautiful red eyes reminiscent of blazing flames, Abram finally realized who she was.
“Y…you…! How are you alive?! We definitely abandoned you in Hauzen Forest!!!”
“I’m just a bit lucky.”
Looking at Abram, who had turned deathly pale and was backing away as if seeing a ghost, Lea lightly loosened her hands. Looking around as if searching for something, when she spotted a gentleman’s cane standing beside the office desk, she raised the corners of her mouth as if pleased.
TL/N:
The villain says Hauzen Forest but from the earlier chapters, it was said she was found in Veloa Forest.