After the council meeting, Hunter headed straight to the Archduke's mansion. However, upon arrival, what he saw was the sight of soldiers he had sent earlier standing in front of the main gate, unable to enter the Duke's mansion.
"Why are you all standing here like this?"
The aide looked at Hunter's and shouted. The leader of the soldiers stepped forward and explained,
"Even though we came under the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince, they won't let us in. A few hours ago, an intruder entered, and they are conducting a search. The Duke himself is not inside."
"It's been 6 hours since the Guild leader left, and 4 hours since you were sent here. During that time, Does it make sense to fail not only to locate Alexis Duke, let alone Prince Del!"
Hunter said in a subdued voice. Though his tone was calm, everyone present could sense Hunter's anger.
"Moreover, despite having a direct order from the Crown Prince, you refused the order. Should I personally accuse you of treason so you will move?" Hunter added.
"We apologize! It's the Duke's mansion, so we couldn't act recklessly..."
"It seems the gates and walls of this mansion are higher than the walls of the Royal Palace," he said, sarcastically mocking the Duke's high authority.
The soldiers, with pale faces, closed their mouths and bowed their heads. They had been entrusted to the Archduke for a few months, receiving instructions from him, but they were Hunter's specially trained troops. From commoners with no notable titles to high-ranking nobles, people from various classes had gathered solely out of loyalty to Hunter. These were the shadows operating in the dark, preparing for the day when Hunter would ascend to the throne.
Hunter didn't doubt their loyalty, but the power held by Duke Alexis in the Melian Empire was simply too great. Instead of scolding his people, Hunter stepped forward.
"Tell them I have arrived.
It was a matter of verifying with Hunter's own eyes whether the Archduke was in his mansion or not.
***
Andrea wondered if there might be a hidden training ground in the Duke's mansion. Andrea sighed inwardly as he watched knights. It seemed like they were patrolling the mansion in groups of about ten, and whenever they cleared one area and moved to another, a new group appeared, creating a cycle.
Over thirty knights had passed through this way. Even though I chose to run away without fighting at the last minute, I felt like I was going to lose consciousness at any moment because my whole body was so damaged
"Haha... Is it natural for them to charge in so recklessly?"
Andrea mumbled, squeezing into a small gap between the building's outer wall and a pillar. Fortunately, his black clothes didn't show much of his wounds, but being soaked in blood made the fabric heavier and unpleasant against his skin.
He had always been fully prepared before making a move. He gathered information about the target as much as possible, made multiple plans for any unforeseen circumstances, and tried to handle things as quietly as possible.
Charging in recklessly with just a few magical tools and weapons was not Andrea's style at all. However, this time... there was no time to plan and sit idly. Every moment he hesitated could be a life-or-death situation for Del.
No, actually, I didn't think at all. I just acted on instinct. Duke Alexis was a very aggressive and cold-hearted man. Not only was he a powerful political figure but his physical strength was strong. Putting the rumor aside of him defeating monsters with his bare hands, there was an unusual aura emanating from the man himself.
For almost a year, the Duke had been searching for Del to take Del back to the ice prison.
While Del and others might not know, Andrea knew what the Duke did to prisoners brought to the ice prison.
The Duke mainly practiced sexual torture using tools. He enjoys pleasure from completely destroying prisoners' bodies and their minds by giving them pleasure and pain.
There were more than a dozen prisoners who committed suicide after being tortured, they were buried silently. There are also many who claim to have fallen in love with the Archduke and those who attempted to assassinate the Duke and, failed and received execution or were sent to the imperial prison.
So, the Duke's obsession with Del was undoubtedly a serious issue. If the Duke even lays a finger on Del...
He was a pitiful person who couldn't even bear undressing in front of others. After being molested by the second prince due to the karma of the real Del Narcissus. Not only once but twice he had already suffered humiliation from the Second Prince. He couldn't be satisfied just by tearing him to death but now he had fallen into the hands of the Duke.
Andrea staggered to his feet. There was no time to catch his breath. Though drops of blood fell on the spot where he had been sitting, he moved on his feet without looking back.
***
In the mansion's first-floor hall, Andrea and Hunter crossed paths. To be exact, Andrea spotted Hunter first. Sneaking into the first floor quietly like an assassin through the back door, Andrea hid behind the curtains when he saw Hunter and his group crowding the hall.
Hunter, showing an order to the mansion's steward, elegantly and calmly criticized the Archduke before moving on. The aide who always followed Hunter glared at the steward and cursed the mansion's servants.
The steward, whose arm was prosthetic, remained impassive even though the Crown Prince, his aide, and the soldiers were inside the mansion.
"Currently, His Grace is not in the mansion. Wouldn't His Highness know best that the Duke has been traveling the continent to capture an escaped prisoner?"
The steward said, offering to personally show the Duke's bedroom.
"If you confirm it with your own eyes, you'll believe, right?"
Although the steward's words were somewhat sarcastic, the aide was about to retort, but Hunter simply followed the steward without a word. Andrea, who had been silently holding his breath behind the curtains, only stood up when they reached the second floor.
Perhaps the Duke wouldn't be in his bedroom. However, Andrea's intuition was screaming that both the Duke and Del were inside this mansion. Even if it was the Duke's mansion, the thorough security seemed suspicious. It was even more intense than the Royal Palace. Even for Andrea, who had infiltrated tight places for assassination requests.
Not on the second floor.
The mansion had four floors, as confirmed before entering.
However, for a four-story building, the mansion's size seemed too large. Andrea thought so, tilting his head upward. The height didn't seem particularly high compared to other buildings, so why did it look so unusually large and tall from the outside? Maybe...
There might be hidden spaces.
Andrea roughly wiped away the dark red blood flowing down his eyebrows and jumped out of the window. If there was a hidden floor inside the building, it would be impossible to find it from within. It had to be searched from the outside.
He placed his foot on the building's bricks and reached upward with his hand. Despite his minor muscle spasms and dizziness, he couldn't stop. Because Del was somewhere here.
***
There was no one in the Duke's bedroom, the steward opened with a reluctant expression. Despite the soldiers thoroughly searching the room under Hunter's orders, neither the Duke nor Del was found. The steward politely stood still, but his expression hinted at something like saying, "Look all you want."
"All rooms connected to the bedroom, including the bathroom, the small room, and the wardrobe, have been searched. No sign of anyone" reported a subordinate.
Hunter nodded in response and issued another order.
"Check everything, even the top floor."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
As the soldiers scattered in different directions, the steward shouted
"How can you freely enter His Grace's mansion like this...!"
"Report to the Archduke later. Tell him that the Crown Prince has reduced his mansion to rubble,"
Hunter said softly. The steward involuntarily bit his tongue, though his expressionless face exuded an overwhelming aura from the Duke he served.
At that moment, a loud crashing sound from above reached their ears. Hunter instantly caught the steward's perplexed reaction as he raised his head.
Something's upstairs.
Such a thought was only natural. Hunter quickly headed upstairs. Although the steward and aide followed, shouting "Your Highness!" Hunter didn't have time to wait for them.
Running up to the fourth floor, Hunter surveyed the surroundings. However, strangely, both floors were clean and quiet. A few maids stood in shock, not knowing what to do, merely bowing their heads in front of Hunter.
Was there some external damage to the building? Hunter opened one window and looked outside. Everything appeared to be fine. Down below, one, two, three, four rows of windows were all sparkling clean...
Wait a moment.
One, two, three, four.
This is the fourth floor, but the row of windows visible below is four. Hunter closed the window and turned around. He questioned one of the maids who was prostrating her face down.
"Where was the last place you cleaned?"
"Y-Yes?"
"I'm asking for the location you cleaned recently. Guide me there."