Chương 30: Vigil

Vanessa Dairy log 30 The day of his return, the world turns upside down. I had never experienced terror like this—the feeling of helplessness in the face of danger. I held my injured bodyguard's sword. Knowing it would do nothing. I accepted it right then. My death. Then he came. Bringing his brave troops to save me. Me. They followed me. The humanoid cursed, watching me like delicious morsels of meat. They came to kill me... Why? My husband knows why, but I will wait.

I believe in his expertise on matters of battle. And I'd rather not think of today anymore. TARION I leaned back, dusting off the dirt on my clothes, trying to take it in. A new enemy. With the ability to summon cursed beasts and hide throughout the city's tunnels.

"Your Grace. A chest." I went to Jimmy, who was standing over a wooden, grime-covered chest that was dug out with us. I kicked the lid open with my boot, revealing more empty boxes.

"I think I have seen them before." Jimmy bent to take a closer look.

"They are meant to keep bugs for transport. Seen them in the travelling circus." I lifted one up. Not as empty as I thought. They stopped before they could unleash the full load.

"Jimmy, note this as evidence to pick up."

"Yes, Your Grace." I looked closer. From house spiders to venomous arachnids, I recognised them from their supersized form. Drained bodies, runes, and small spiders.

"They used the women's blood in a sacrificial ceremony to make these spiders grow with the curse and attack the city."

"Pure evil from beginning to end," Jimmy said with disgust. I placed the box of insects down.

"Burn it." A fifth circle did the honour by unleashing a ball of fire on the box." Jimmy, assign officers to search through the sewage tunnels. Any signs of red writing, let me know. And..." I regarded the recovered bodies dug up by my men; my heart dropped as anger made me boil within.

"Yes, Your Grace. We will help find their families." With a salute, my gamma captain sped away in a flash of mana. I made my way to the carriage. I nod for Charles to get back into the driver's seat. I opened the coach door and chucked my sword in.

"Hey!! Watch out! You'll hurt someone with that thing!" Peculiar… I stepped into the carriage, and a mysterious hooded figure sat with a nervous head maid next to them.

"I am not in the mood." I fall onto the carriage seat.

"Who is this?"

"Um, our liaison with horn matters," said Beatrice"Ahh... The spy." I didn't know we had a spy.

"So, you have matters to discuss."

"Of course I bloody do; you nearly made me faint with your sudden appearance. And then you ignore me—" I hear the Liu accent. A resident of Osberg for quite a while. but not enough to remove language ticks. Beatrice muffled the stranger's mouth with her hand.

"Please excuse their poor manners!"

"Ah. The bartender. Name?" I folded my arms.

"Now it makes sense. Such detailed information had to have come from somewhere close." The stranger pulled Beatrice's hand from her mouth." Bieye... You didn't tell him about me?" Beatrice looked away.

"Had to keep him separate from such matters…" I interrupted the conversation; my serious tone made them pause.

"Why are you here?" The spy pulled down her hood, revealing a woman a little older than the usual sex workers pimped by The Horn. Her long black hair unfurled, and she picked something from her dark green cloak.

"An update.

"I wanted you to see it from me." She handed me a rolled-up piece of parchment. Educated and a go-getter... I read through the list of names, which detailed their locations. A smile grew on my face that disturbed the women. Phase one accomplished. Now I need a figurehead, and it seems I am a lucky man.

"Well done, my lady. You shall be rewarded."

"Thank you... One thing of note..." She looked nervous. I became intrigued.

"Speak."

"Your Grace, the assassin Drac was hired to kill you." Beatrice grabbed her informant by her shoulder with force.

"Drac!? Why didn't you tell me!?" The bartender's eyes shied away.

"You were gone. Too long... Could not reach you. I thought it was done, our... relationship."

"I-i-i..." Beatrice uncharacteristically stumbled over her words as she lessened her grip on the hurting Liuen. I had other responsibilities." 55 points in intelligence – it became so clear to me. Her work on the underworld was an extracurricular activity. With the Umber dormat, she wanted to see to the issue herself. But recently she had become my head maid and was talking over several duties for her teacher, Susan.

"It's my fault," I said.

"If only I had been the duke I should have been." I feel the gawking eyes as I bow to the prostitute.

"I'm sorry. I promise you will get proper support from now on." Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Beatrice and her friend stare at each other as if they saw something taboo. They bow, hand on chest.

"Your Grace," they chant, accepting my apology.

"Hm," I leaned forward, asking Beatrice.

"So this Drac fellow... Report!"

"His reputation is equal to a hero of fable. He steals from the rich to give to the poor; only nobles and evil-doers suffer his blade. There is nothing he can't steal, nothing he can't escape from, and no one he can't kill." I smiled, feeling goosebumps on my skin. After failing to kill you, he increased his price." Bieye spoke.

"Go on. How much is my head worth?"

"10, 000 silver marks." I laughed until my belly hurt.

"HAHAHAHAH That is fucking absurd! Loving this guy more and more! HAHAHAHA." I laughed more. However, from squinting eyes of joy, I saw a Liuen sit in silence.

"Is there more?" Bieye nodded; another parchment was sent from the shadows again. He knew a pimp couldn't acquire that much coin, so he sent a new request. Your head for a special poison, famous in my lands – GU. A terrifying poison that withers your meridians, destroying any chance of performing martial arts ever again. Sufferers of the poison soon end up shrivelling to skin and bones until they die." Beatrice looked at me as I looked at her. Very familiar...

"Beiye, get in contact with him again. Tell him we would like to hire him."

"You want better for yourself, right?" I told Bieye as she jumped off the carriage.

"You came over here to this cold wasteland from so far to fulfil some dream, or you were taken away and sold to a rich slob." The spy squirmed as I relaxed in my seat.

"I see… Such a situation wouldn't suit you. It could not be your fate. I see it. Your eyes burn with passion and eagerness to succeed. You wouldn't let anything cage you again. So by blood and sweat, you work your way up. But it is never enough. Every step up makes you realise your place in the world should be higher. Up, up, you go. But a ceiling blocked your way out. An outsider has a hard time in these parts. Your enemies have power beyond your understanding, and your peers are as stuck as you are.

Then Beatrice found you. How fortunate. Or well-deserved." She followed my every word, still waiting by the carriage.

"You have your way out. You can return to your lands with the gold we will give you. Start a new life. Make a family. Leave this treacherous life behind. But I must ask. Are you satisfied?"

"No." Beiye stood strong.

"I am not."

"Good. I will speak to you later. Bye, my lady Bieye." At my signal, the carriage drove off, leaving the spy to blend in with the masses of the slums.

"I quite like her." The road rumbled below the carriage.

"Her personality makes her hard to work with, but she is truly talented. Has a wide network, is personable, and is trusted by the workers. You have picked well, Your Grace."

"No," I point to her.

"You did." Watching the city pass by, I remembered something.

"Beatrice. I need a favour."

"What do you require, Your Grace?"

"Your... patience?!" Her eyebrow climbed high.

"I would like you to inform Charles of Umber's business."

"How much does he need to know?" She asked. I replied.

"As much as I need to know."

"It will be done." She waited.

"Another favour?"

"Aha, you're learning! My captain, Kurt, bring him in."

"Your grace, I can understand the butler, your closest aide, but a stranger with no ties to even a vassal family?"

"I have a hunch." Her eyebrow tightened at my dumb answer, but she accepted my request.

"As you need, Your Grace."

"Great, you won't regret it." One last duty. The sun set below the high buildings, casting the clear sky in orange. My carriage made one more stop by Mouve Square, where people gathered in droves, carrying lit candles.

"See you in a bit." Having changed into cleaner clothes, I stepped out of the carriage without my blade; I joined the current of lights. I stuck out like a black hole in a sea of stars, and the deeper into the crowd I walked, the more I felt swallowed by the river of grief. Slowly, people turned their necks as I waded through. Faces change to fear, then surprise. They speak of my name, of a hero. But there is no such hero here. Just a soldier trying to be a Duke.

I reached the front of the crowd, ready to kneel in front of the vigil with laced fingers on my forehead. Oh? To my left, Vanessa kneeled, hands clasped together, praying. The soft orange light glowed on her round cheeks. Her hair shone like a golden amber in the firelight. Her eyes flutter open, surprised by my presence. Then a smile made the stressful day better. TARION Night. Books crammed in dozens of shelves, touching the fifty-metre ceiling of the Greystone library.

Many books and tomes containing the vast history of our great house—histories of this country's past and lands beyond—filled the candle-lit reading space. As I walked through the aisles, I encountered an old geezer sitting by the tall moonlit window, reading a book I knew he didn't care for.

"Finally found you."

"What do you mean by 'found you'?" Uncle Laron sputtered, putting his book down.

"Why did you take so long?!"

"You know," I shrugged.

"Duties. Why did you ask me here?" Uncle groaned from his chair.

"Come with me." Down the long corridors of the castle, Uncle Laron regaled the many tales of his battles in the east. Many victories and some failures; my fist clenched as he told of soldiers starving in the cold with no word and little help from Osberg City, from the dowager duchess and from me. Uncle stopped by a humble cupboard door and said, "We're here. Take." From his pocket, he gave me a rusty key and a clean one.

"I should have given you this a very long time ago. I… had given up on you. Putting all my hope in your brother, I taught him to be the future patriarch. Spoiling him rotten, I left you alone. I thought you would be fine..." I saw his hand quake. I embraced him, feeling tears falling from my eyes.

"I am sorry, nephew… I let you down…" I felt drops on my shoulders.

"It's okay. It's okay…" I felt a strange twinge in my heart. I never realised I – no, Tarion – felt this kind of bitterness. However, it made me understand a little about the great hatred I experienced whenever I looked at my brother's face. We separated, and I saw my uncle's smile on his tearful face.

"Lands above! You have grown strong! HAHAHA!" he said, patting my shoulder. The bitterness I briefly felt was washed away by the care I had for this cranky old man.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get this door open, shall we?" After wiping my wet eyes on my doublet sleeve, I turned the rusty key. The door hummed, and vibrations shifted dust. Runes sparked as dust puffed from the open door leading down.

"Go on. It's yours now." I stared into the dark stairway, hearing my uncle's footsteps down the corridor. With mana around my hand, I descended the spiral staircase, lighting it. My last step took me to the opening of a large cave with sharp stalactites hanging high and a round training platform in the middle. I took a step, and a ripple of light streamed through lines on the floor around the large room. One by one, crystals lit up, revealing a large obsidian monument next to a large armour display.

I crossed a platform to have a closer look at the hundreds of names etched in the black-mirror surface. Albert and Mary Greystone. I touched the engraving, feeling one more tear flow.

"Sorry, I am late." I touched the grooves on the black stone.

"I have been working hard on restoring Osberg." I felt my words stuck in my throat.

"Many of my people died because of my negligence. Every innocent soul—every husband, wife… child lost—feels like a mark on my soul. They were my duty, and I let them down too many times to count." I looked at the silver armour set in glass and rubbed the rusty key.

"I will make it up to the city, to the duchy. I will blacken my soul and wet my sword with red, so I will not see another vigil in those streets. I will cleanse Osberg and bring prosperity back to this land. I swear on our household for a thousand years to come. I shall not shame the name any further." With my hands together on my forehead, I pray. For Success. For help.

"Please watch over me from above. Mother, Father." Now you bloody talk! I heard the footsteps of a skilled Umbra.

"Beatrice, we start tomorrow." about a month until the ball.