My mother is here? In this house?
Ian’s eyebrows twitched in surprise upon learning that his mother was present in the house.
However, it wasn’t just the proximity of his mother that surprised him.
There was a reason behind her presence, and it beca evident.
“The saintess. No, it seems she was used as a tool to threaten the youngest princess,” Galon stated as he approached the boy, who was enduring the torture with an indifferent gaze.
He kicked the tool that was piercing the boy’s body.
“Ah! I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything! Please, stop!”
“Speak quickly.”
The boy, writhing in pain, revealed the details. “It was Cardinal Cesare’s order. He instructed to display the torture through the crystal ball when he gives the signal. The crystal ball has a limited range, so I had to wait nearby to ensure the scene would be visible.”
The sight of a knight torturing a child was cruel, but neither Ian, Galon, nor Hite showed any signs of sympathy.
It was understandable.
“So this place is situated between the royal palace and Marquis Adelas’ mansion,” Ian concluded.
“That’s correct, Your Highness. The crystal ball’s image transmission is limited in range,” Galon confird.
Unlike communication, the crystal ball’s ability to transmit images had severe distance limitations, reaching only a few kiloters at most.
Cesare strategically placed Ian’s mother in a nearby location to ensure she could be displayed at any ti, preventing the saintess from opposing him.
However, that wasn’t the only issue.
With a sorrowful expression, Galon handed over the information he had extracted from the boy during the torture.
“What is this?” Ian asked.
“…You’ll know when you see it.”
Galon’s face stiffened, as if he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Ian mirrored his expression, his face tense, as he opened the docunt.
But in that mont…
“What the hell is this!” Ian exclaid.
His eyes widened in disbelief, and it was only natural.
The docunt revealed that they had transported his mother to Kaistein, a place where inspections had been intensified due to the war atmosphere.
How had they managed to bypass the security asures?
“They transported my mother in a coffin to make it appear as if she were a corpse?” Ian questioned.
But that wasn’t all.
“They drugged her with sleeping pills to prevent her from escaping… and used fire to simulate wounds and worsen her condition?”
All of this was done to instill fear in the saintess and make her more compliant.
Even if it had been done with the utmost care, it was incredibly cruel.
Naturally, Ian’s hands trembled with anger as he cast murderous glares at those who dared to harm his mother.
Galon accurately understood the intensity of his lord’s gaze.
Whishhh.
“Argh! I was wrong!” the boy exclaid.
Galon gestured to the spies holding the prisoners with a nonchalant gaze as he crushed the boy’s body.
The spies twisted the sinners’ necks at his signal.
“Argh!”
“We just followed orders…”
“It’s all Cardinal Cesare’s fault…”
“Arghhh!”
The criminals coughed up blood and scread, but Ian’s anger only grew stronger, unquenched.
“So… where is my mother now?” Ian asked Galon, his eyes filled with fury, “I need to see my mother imdiately.”
Galon approached him and bowed his head. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. We have not yet located your mother.”
“What did you say?” Ian responded in disbelief.
“Just a mont ago, didn’t you say she was in this house?”
“More precisely, she’s in the adjoining house connected to this one.”
“The adjoining house?” Ian’s eyebrows twitched montarily.
He couldn’t comprehend why Galon hadn’t rescued his mother when she was so close. Suppressing his anger, he pressed for an explanation.
“But why haven’t you found her?”
“That’s…” Galon hesitated to answer.
It was then Hite, the leader of the Blue Wolf, intervened.
“It’s a trap.”
“What do you an by that all of a sudden..?”
Ian turned to Hite, who was touching the wall in the corner of the basent interrogation room.
“This wall. It seems to have magical enhancents. And the sll… it’s like gunpowder, isn’t it?”
“Is that true?” Ian asked, turning to Galon.
Galon nodded. “Sir Hite is correct. It appears to be enchanted, and if forcibly opened, it is designed to explode.”
“Then can’t we access the basent?” Ian questioned.
“The basent poses a greater problem. Not only are there nurous monitors, but if we enter hastily, various traps will be triggered,” Galon explained.
At Galon’s gesture, a spy approached, carrying an item—a dead rat.
What caught their attention was a small iron needle embedded in the rat’s body, cleverly hidden from view.
“We attempted to break in, but this rat accidentally triggered sothing and died instead. We tried alternative routes, just in case…” The spies opened a crate filled with rat carcasses. All their attempts had failed.
“However, it would be unwise to rush in. We’ve been waiting for instructions, as your mother could be taken hostage,” Galon continued.
“Well done,” Ian acknowledged, his gaze becoming calr.
Despite his anger, he recognized the importance of maintaining rationality in such a critical situation.
After all, his mother’s life was on the line.
He spoke calmly, “So, have you found a solution?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Galon replied, shaking his head and pointing to the boy. “He seems to know sothing, but he’s determined to keep it a secret until the end.”
“Is that so?” Ian’s eyebrows twitched.
The realization struck him that soone not only dared to torture his mother but also kept vital information from him, preventing him from even seeing her.
He approached the boy.
“Do you believe Cesare’s orders are more important than your own life?”
Though visibly exhausted, the boy’s eyebrows remained unwavering. Fearing Ian’s wrath, he cried out, “It’s a misunderstanding. I… I just want to live.”
“You want to live? Then why won’t you speak the truth?”
“If I speak… if I speak, you’ll kill !”
Ian chuckled, “A man who toys with soone else’s life. Do you truly value your own life so highly?”
“That… that’s…”
“It’s over. I never had any intention of sparing you in the first place.”
Ian’s sharp gaze pierced through the boy, as if seeing through everything.
In fact, Ian drew his sword.
Swoosh!
In one swift motion, he aid to strike the boy’s neck. Trembling with fear, the boy scread.
“Do you think I’ll accept this fate? If you kill , you’ll never see your mother again!”
Ian rely chuckled at his desperate plea, “Finally gone mad as your impending death approaches, huh? Are you trying to threaten now?”
“Don’t you dare lay a finger on anymore. You’ll be crushed to a pulp in this building, and along with your mother!”
Furious, the boy scread in anger, “I’m sure Cardinal Cesare has been inford by now. You won’t kill , but all of you will die here!”
“Really?” Ian paid no heed to his words.
He knew the boy was stalling for ti, and his screams of impending death were nothing but empty threats.
Leaning in closer, Ian whispered in his ear.
“Don’t worry. Cardinal Cesare you’re waiting for is knocked out and unconscious.”
“That can’t be. The Cardinal must have heard from …”
“How can an unconscious man receive your ssage? Your pitiful act ends here.”
Ian raised his sword high above his head.
“You have insulted and dishonored my mother. You cannot be spared.”
“W… wait! If you kill , you will never be able to open that door. Only I can open it,” the boy pleaded.
Ian chuckled at the boy’s words. “Right. I know. Thanks to you, I know how it opens.”
“What do you an…”
Without delay, Ian swung his sword downward.
Swish!
“Aaah!”
But instead of aiming for the boy’s neck, Ian’s sword cut his finger—the one adorned with the ring given to him by Cardinal Cesare.
Ian casually lifted the bloodied finger and approached the wall.
“Is this it?” As Ian approached, the wall began to move.
Grrrrr.
Even the magical circle that appeared to be a trap gradually lost its light, leaving Galon astonished.
“How did you know?”
Ian shrugged nonchalantly, “That guy’s eyes kept darting to his fingers.”
“Ah!”
“I’ve observed n like that before. It’s a habit of those who frequently bluff in gambling.”
Consistently verifying their only hope—revealing their true intentions was a fatal mistake.
And the boy failed at that.
“My… finger… Aaargh!”
The pain caused the boy’s youthful face to rapidly age.
His once-black hair turned white, and his smooth skin wrinkled like that of an elderly person.
Ian issued orders to the spies.
“Do not kill him. Keep him alive.”
“Why not just kill him?” Hite inquired, puzzled by Ian’s actions.
After all, Ian had almost killed him earlier.
Why spare him now?
Ian grinned. “They are my sister’s responsibility. I cannot kill them just yet.”
“Ah…”
Hite finally understood.
The saintess had witnessed her entire life how they tortured her mother.
It was only natural for Ian to show rcy toward his sister.
And so, he did.
“Let’s go inside.”
He headed inside where his mother would be.
***
“Ugh…”
It was when Cesare regained consciousness and tried to get up.
Clank.
His hands couldn’t move as if they were bound by sothing. Startled, Cesare opened his eyes wide.
“Are these restraints?”
Surveying his surroundings, he found himself in a treatnt room.
A cold voice reached Cesare’s ears.
“Don’t move.”
“Are you…?”
“Right now, you are under suspicion as a criminal. An order has been given that you can be killed if you move as you please.”
“What?”
It was the First Princess.
However, there was sothing else that truly surprised Cesare.
He was so stiff that he tried to move a little.
Thud!
A spear was thrust towards his throat.
It wasn’t the princess herself who pushed it forward, but the guard next to her.
The princess spoke in a cold voice.
“This is your only warning.”
“Huh… You know I’m a cardinal of the Holy Empire.”
“His Majesty has nad you as the embodint of evil. Do you still expect to be treated as the cardinal after committing such acts in front of the Great Hall?”
“Huh…” Cesare furrowed his eyebrows.
‘What exactly happened while I was unconscious?’
Cesare couldn’t understand why the royal family of Kaistein was so hostile.
But that wasn’t important right now.
Buzz.
The alert ringing in his chest indicated that sothing had happened to the ones who had captured the saintess’s mother.
‘I cannot allow them to escape, especially not the saintess’s mother.’
If he couldn’t control the saintess, matters would beco even more complicated.
Cesare’s task was clear.
‘I’ll explode the hideout.’
But there was one problem. He didn’t have the magical device that could detonate the hideout.
Cesare asked the First Princess.
“By any chance… did you happen to see the Rosary that was around my neck?”
“If it’s your personal belonging, it’s being kept separately nearby.”
“Then, may I at least offer a prayer? Can’t you return the Rosary to ?”
But the First Princess only raised her eyebrows in response.
“Nonsense. Haven’t you heard that you’re a criminal?”
“But…”
“No ‘buts.’ Criminals should behave as criminals. You should be grateful that you can receive
dical treatnt peacefully thanks to the Holy Empire.”
“Huh.”
The First Princess gave orders to the guards.
“I’ll be back in a mont. Until then, keep a close watch on the criminal.”
“Yes!”
“No one, under any circumstances, shall assist or listen to him. He is not the cardinal but rely a source of evil. Anyone aiding him will be treated accordingly.”
“Yes!”
The royal guard knights all unsheathed their weapons.
The restraints holding Cesare would tremble if he made even the slightest movent.
It was at that mont.
“First Princess, I have completed the preparations to depart for Duke Lavaltor’s mansion.”
“Hmm, very well. I shall return soon.”
In response to the chamberlain’s call, the First Princess hurriedly disappeared.
Cesare thought now was the ti to get up, but…
Thud.
“Have you not heard the Princess’s words? If you move, you will be cut down.”
“I simply need to retrieve my Rosary montarily.”
“It appears that won’t be possible. Silence him and restrain his hands.”
“Just… wait a mont…”
Cesare evaded the guards rushing toward him and pressed a button concealed within his body. It was a button to summon the hidden troops nearby, even if he couldn’t trigger the building’s detonation.
***
Ian proceeded through a tunnel resembling a cave.
After traversing the damp basent passage, he soon arrived in a room perated with the scent of blood. It was at that mont.
“Now that you’re here, what next? I’ve been waiting quite a while.”
A voice ca from the opposite side.
It was clear that it was the person who had been waiting for the food and communication brought by the boy.
Ian gave a cold command.
“Sir Galon, Sir Hite,” Ian called out.
Without uttering a word in response, the two knights leaped forward.
Swish!
In a blink of an eye, the swords of the two knights illuminated the dimly lit basent.
The other person let out a startled cry.
“What is this? It can’t be… Ugh!”
As the person collapsed, a commotion erupted from behind.
“What the hell is happening?”
“Hey! What’s going on over there?”
Several voices could be heard shouting.
However, Ian paid no heed to the chaos. Instead, he unsheathed his own sword.
Swish!
“Do not spare anyone. Take them down.”
“Understood.”
Along with Ian, the two knights swung their swords.
In an instant, the people in the basent turned into lifeless corpses.
After a fierce battle…
“Please confirm the casualties.”
“We will handle that, Your Highness.”
Leaving the task to the two knights, Ian made his way toward the center of the basent.
There stood a black coffin.
The blood-stained chair and the crystal placed in front of the coffin hinted at its purpose.
Ian’s hands trembled as he opened the lid of the coffin.
Creak.
And there was a woman with a scrawny appearance.
Tears welled up in his trembling eyes.
“Mother…”
And it was that mont.
Ugh.
As the coffin opened, the sedative’s effects that had kept her subdued dissipated.
Ian’s mother slowly opened her eyes.
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