Second Arc (His Art of War) - 73. Rats In The Castle
Angel walked through the corridor that was still in a mess from the battle, past the corpses that were lying as long as he walked. The servants were seen busy tidying up the corpses while his troops were on guard around them. Behind him, Frost followed with King Eudon and King Esteve's surrender letter in his hands.
"Your Majesty, are you all right?" asked Frost worriedly. Again, he felt the dark power within Angel continue to flare up due to his unstable emotions.
"I'm fine. Where did you lock up those two people?" he asked. The only thing he could do now was to immerse himself in his work, that way he hoped to forget all the personal feelings that get in the way of his duty.
"I'll take you there." Even though Frost knew Angel's condition was still unstable since he tried to keep suppressing the dark power within him, at least from his answer Frost knew Angel could still control it.
They arrived at an unused room, the two Asteria troops already tied up while several of his troops were on standby to make sure they couldn't escape. Angel glared at them while both of them looked at him with the same gaze.
"I'm only going to ask you once," he began his interrogation.
"What are you here for?"
Both of them didn't answer, while their eyes didn't change.
"Hey, are you deaf ?!" said one member of his troops impatiently.
But of course, they still closed their mouths. He knew that Asteria's elite troops were known for their loyalty to the king. They would not give any information even if they were tortured.
A burst of evil laughter came out of his mouth.
"I told you I would only ask once. Take them to the front of the gate!" If they didn't want to tell him then he only needed to find out through their memories.
Several of his troops took them to follow him to the front of the gate.
After arriving at the gate, both of them were dragged in front of him. He looked at them one more time and they still returned the same gaze. Without saying anything else, he extended his hand to grip the servant's face and cast 'Corruption of Mind' to him. The dark aura coming out of his hand enveloped the servant's body.
Angel closed his eyes as he looked into the servant's memories, trying to figure out the reason why the Reinheart family sent them and looking for clues for what happened today.
The servant screamed in pain, his head felt like being stabbed by thousands of needles which were getting more and more painful as Angel's head felt heavier when the servant's memories moved into his head. The image when Ilex met Ivetta and rebelled to force King Eudon to give poison visible in his head, as well as the purpose why they were sent here.
He opened his eyes and released his grip as he gasped breathlessly, while the servant fell motionless to the ground.
'Ilex Ferris ...' In that memory, he saw clearly the one who ordered them was Ilex, not King Gervis. Ilex ordered them to kill King Eudon and Rose, so that his lover, Ivetta Rosemond Crowheart could take over Zephyrus. That way he could ask her to help him fight and free Asteria from Euphorion, even King Gervis didn't know about it. Apart from that, from that memory, I also knew that Ilex had been secretly helping Zephyrus rebels, in other words, Ilex had been going to Zephyrus not to see Rose but to meet Ivetta.
A smile began to bloom on his face. He was relieved that he made the right decision by undoing his intention to kill King Eudon and Rose. And more than that, he finally found out that Rose was completely uninvolved and didn't even know anything about this.
In the midst of his turbulent feelings, secretly, the maid took out a small hidden knife in her sleeve and cut the rope that tied her to escape. After that, she advanced as she stabbed her knife at him. But he swiftly drew his sword and beheaded her in one slash. Even though it was abstinence for him to hurt women and children in war, the maid who tried to kill him was a soldier and for him, both women or men, soldiers were soldiers. They must be ready to die at any moment.
Meanwhile, Rose was silent in shock as she watched Angel decapitate her maid at the castle gate from a distance. She, her uncle and the Fallensoar Family were on their way to the guest room to treat Artheur when they saw Angel in front of the castle gates. So they decided to stop and see what happened. Flare and her troops who were guarding them also didn't seem to mind that, but the next scene they saw is his cruelty. In their eyes, Angel tormented the servant and when the maid came over to help the servant, Angel cut off her head mercilessly.
Realizing someone was watching him, Angel turned his gaze towards the window and vaguely could see Rose and the others watching him. Suddenly he remembered that some of the maids and servants who always followed them were the elite Asteria troops who were ordered by Ilex to kill Rose and King Eudon.
Without wasting time, his feet quickly moved through the courtyard and back into the castle.
While Rose was still in shock, her hands clenched into fists in anger and disappointment. She did not think that the man she had loved was just a cruel monster who could even kill an innocent woman like that maid. A pat on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts.
"Rose, we must treat Artheur immediately," said King Eudon.
Rose turned and walked with the others without saying anything. Several servants and maids also followed them to help treat Artheur.
After several minutes of walking, Angel suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor behind them and ran in a rush. His eyes were fixed on the servants and he recognized that some of them were Asteria elite troops.
"Flare, protect King Eudon and Princess Rose!" he ordered.
Hearing his orders, Flare immediately pulled King Eudon and Rose close to her, separating them from the others. Likewise with Euphorion troops who escorted them.
Rose's heart beat fast as Angel approached them with the sword that was already in his hand.
Meanwhile, thinking Angel was going to attack him, King Esteve handed Artheur over to Queen Thea and took an attack stance.
"Angelus Raizel! Stop it!" screamed Rose in frustration, she tried to move forward but Flare got in her way.
Angel threw his sword and King Esteve prepared to catch it but no ... The sword flew through and pierced a servant's chest, killing him instantly. While King Esteve looked at it in confusion, Angel reformed his sword in his hand and returned to swinging it at the several maids and servants nearby.
Feeling threatened, the Asteria troops in disguise were about to pull out their weapons but he killed all of them before they managed to do it. The remaining maids and servants froze in terror when they saw their comrades die before their very eyes, while King Esteve was still staring at him in confusion.
"Why did you kill them?" asked King Esteve.
He didn't answer, but instead gave orders to his troops.
"Examine their bodies."
His troops immediately carried out his orders.
"Angelus Raizel ... How could you be so cruel? I totally misjudged you ..." said Rose filled with disappointment.
But after a while, his troops started to stand up one by one and show the weapons that they found from the corpses.
"Your Majesty."
A smirk appeared on his face while the others' faces turned in shock and confusion. He turned his gaze to King Eudon.
"Your Majesty, King Gervis, your castle has too many rats. I think you should clean them up more often or they could take your life one day," he said sarcastically.
From his words, they could deduce that someone else was planning to kill King Eudon and Rose.
He sheathed his sword and turned around.
"Flare, protect them. Don't let your guard down," he said as he walked away.
"Yes, Your Majesty."