Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 109

As if not believing what the Duke was saying, the mercenary stared blankly up at him.

 

After quite a long silence, the mercenary opened his mouth again.

 

“Well, what…”

“If you cooperate, your life will be spared. It means that I will not have you charged for the crime of touching an Oates family member. I will make sure to convey my words to His Majesty as well.”

“Then…”

“You will be punished for what you did in a company that wasn’t recognized by the Empire, so you will not die. Now. Will you cooperate?”

“…Yes, yes!”

 

The mercenary nodded vigorously.

 

“If you will spare me! I’ll do anything!”

 

The mercenary shouted thank you, and seized the Duke’s foot. As if he didn’t want to miss the opportunity that came to him, he put his strength into the hand that held the shoe.

 

“….”

 

The Duke of Oates looked down at the mercenary, and soon turned his head.

 

The person who held onto his shoe, bowed his head, and said he didn’t know who he’d attacked. However, this didn’t excuse the man’s crime.

 

Holding a knife without knowing who it was touching meant, in other words, people’s lives weren’t important to him. His only consideration would be money.

 

Besides, before he shot the bow, he must have checked the family crest on the carriage. The fact that he was aiming for the Oates family didn’t change.

 

He was very reluctant to reduce the punishment of such a person, but the Duke promised nonetheless. His priority right now was to save evidence, and capture Count Blackbore.

 

***

 

“Your Majesty, just like the mercenaries said, everyone else seems to have run away.”

“Okay.”

 

Upon hearing the report from the Knight Commander, Ian let out a deep sigh.

 

They’d chased after the mercenaries for a long time, but they were only able to catch two of them. Those that were left behind because of their injuries.

 

“Ha.”

 

The knights of the Imperial palace had gone out, searched all the nearby doctors, and managed to capture two of them.

 

Unfortunately, they knew too little. They didn’t even know who had commissioned them.

 

What’s more, they didn’t know that the woman they were with was Diana Avery.

 

They just thought of it as a confidant attached by the client.

 

“Your Majesty, what are you going to do now?”

 

Ian’s forehead crumpled even more at the Commander’s words.

 

Even if they could find information about the company they belonged to, it would take a long time to catch them.

 

It was also questionable whether he could find out who the client was.

 

“For now, we’ll take the captured mercenaries and join the Duke of Oates.”

 

Ian swallowed a sigh of annoyance, and hurriedly ordered the move.

 

Looking at the darkened sky, it seemed as if the sun would rise soon.

 

“Join the Duke of Oates, share the current situation, and return to the Imperial palace.”

 

It wasn’t a good idea for the Imperial knights to leave the palace for too long. Also, Rachel would be waiting for him.

 

“Let’s hurry.”

 

The situation in the Oates family didn’t seem to be very different from theirs. The reason why the Oates family got involved in this was because of the Imperial palace’s mistake. Because they couldn’t catch Diana Avery, it was his fault that the Oates’ people were injured.

 

“Tsk.”

 

Ian thought about what to say to the Young Master and the Duke of Oates.

 

***

 

Knock Knock

 

“Young Master Mike, Duke Oates has arrived.”

 

The knight opened the door of the hospital room, and announced the Duke’s visit.

 

“Father?”

 

Mike, who was lying down after his treatment, heard the news that his father had come and put his hand on the bed as if to get up in a hurry.

 

Before Mike could sit up, the Duke entered the room and raised his hand to stop him.

 

“Stay lying down.”

 

The Duke hurriedly scanned his son. The Duke’s eyes were infinitely meticulous as he watched Mike.

 

Within just a few hours, the Duke’s face seemed to have a few more wrinkles.

 

“Father.”

“Tsk, you did a good job. So, what did the doctor say?”

“He says I’ll be fine after a month’s rest.”

 

At Mike’s words, the Duke breathed out a sigh of relief.

 

“More than that, what happened to Rachel. I heard she’s not here?”

“Rachel went to the palace with the Prophet.”

“Oh….”

 

Only then did the Duke nod as if he understood why Rachel was not there with him.

 

“The Prophet was the man who appeared with His Majesty? The man with the red eyes.”

“Yes, I heard that from His Majesty.”

 

The Duke frowned as if his head was complicated by various thoughts.

 

The Prophet

 

He’d never seen the Prophet, and there was very little information about him. No one had ever met him, and there were only rumors of his unknown origin.

 

That’s why, just like some people in the Empire, the Duke thought that it was just a story made up by the Imperial family.

 

“I never thought there really was a Prophet.”

“I know, right.”

 

Red eyes. A prophet with ghastly, ominous eyes.

 

“He must’ve taken Rachel to the palace, right?”

 

Was he trustworthy?

 

The Duke frowned at the anxiety and ominous imagination that came from uncertainty.

 

“His Majesty entrusted Rachel to him, so he must be a reliable person. Rachel seemed to know him.”

“Rachel knows him, too?”

“Yes, it seemed so.”

 

The Duke sighed deeply at the new revelation.

 

“More than that, Father, have you met with His Majesty? What happened to the mercenaries who fled?”

 

Mike’s question cut off the Duke’s thoughts, which were about to deepen.

 

“I haven’t met with His Majesty yet. Maybe we’ll see each other soon when he arrives here. His Majesty planned to come here, too.”

“…I see.”

“More than that, I caught Diana Avery.”

“What? She wasn’t dead?”

 

The Duke nodded, restraining Mike, who was once again trying to raise himself up.

 

“The Count of Blackbore is mixed up in this affair.”

“You’re saying Count Blackbore is involved?”

“Yes. It was the Count who hired the mercenaries.”

 

The Duke kept his voice low, and continued to speak about this secret.

 

“He tried to poison the mercenaries to get rid of all the evidence that this was related to him, but…….”

“What? Poison?”

“Yes, but we found the antidote.”

“How did you find the antidote…”

“We captured a mercenary who could not escape due to injury. Fortunately, the doctor was able to confirm his symptoms, and said that it wasn’t a very rare poison.”

 

The doctor examined the mercenary, and identified the poison quite quickly.

 

A poison that slowly hardens the body, and caused the heart to cease. The only issue was that the antidote was quite expensive.

 

“The doctor said it would be delivered within an hour.”

“Then the mercenary…”

“They told me to rest assured that they won’t die within an hour.”

 

It was only then that Mike smiled lightly, as if his tension had eased. It reminded him of how much had happened to the Duke during the time he was lying down.

 

“Thank you, Father.”

“Okay, I’m here. So, you don’t have to worry about anything, and you can be treated in peace.”

 

The Duke looked out the window of the brightening room. Before he knew it, the darkness had broken and it was stained with gray light.

 

The sun looked like it would rise soon.

 

“I’m going out now, so get some rest.”

 

The Duke slowly got up from his seat, and tidied up Mike’s blanket before carefully closing the door.

 

***

 

Knock Knock

 

The knight, who knocked on the door of the room where the Duke was resting, soon opened the door.

 

“His Majesty is here, Duke.”

“Ah, he’s here. Guide me to him.”

 

The Duke followed the knight out of the building. He frowned when he saw the knights of the Imperial palace, which were located behind Ian.

 

He thought Ian was here alone. He didn’t expect the Emperor to have the Knights of the Imperial Palace with him.

 

“Your Majesty.”

“We’ve caught two mercenaries, but I don’t think they have much information. I’m sorry, but it’ll take a while to catch Diana.”

“Your Majesty, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“What? Don’t tell me..”

“We’ve got Diana Avery.”

 

Ian breathed a sigh of relief at the Duke’s words. However, he soon nodded decisively.

 

“Thank you Duke.”

“Through Diana, we also found out who was involved in this.”

“Ah. I see.”

 

Ian nodded at the Duke’s words.

 

It would’ve been difficult for Diana, a fugitive, to find mercenaries by herself. It was to some extent expected.

 

However, all the families related to the Duke of Avery had been investigated.

 

“So, who was it?”

 

Who would really take the risk and help Diana?

 

“She said that Count Blackbore hired the mercenaries.”

“…the Count of Blackbore?”

“Yes, she said he poisoned the mercenaries to hide the fact that he was involved in this.”

“Ha….”

 

Ian frowned heavily.

 

“Sir, this is the antidote. We’ve already given it to the mercenary we captured.”

“Thank you, Duke.”

 

Ian grabbed the bottle of medicine from the Duke.

 

The Count of Blackbore, maybe the reason he helped Diana Avery was the resentment he felt towards him.

 

If the Duke hadn’t found out that the Count of Blackbore was involved in this matter. If they hadn’t found out that he’d poisoned the mercenaries.

 

“Sigh….”

 

It almost turned out the way the Count wanted.

 

“I will not forget your aid, Duke.”

“My aid. He touched the Oates children, of course I would come forward.”

“We’ll take Diana and mercenaries with us. After that, the Imperial palace will take care of it.”

 

The Duke nodded at Ian’s words.

 

“The Duke, come up slowly with Mike.”

“Yes, is Your Majesty planning to go up to the capital right now?”

“Yes, and Rachel is waiting, too. I still have a lot to deal with, so I’m going up without delay.”

 

Of course, there was still a lot of work to be done, but the path seemed to be visible thanks to the Duke of Oates.

 

“Then, I’ll go up first, Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll follow you soon.”

 

Ian handed over the antidote he’d received from the Duke to Commander Heinev. He ordered him to take control of Diana and the mercenaries.

 

***

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