Enki was still immersed in his thoughts while arriving at the palace kitchen. After mulling over his lack of supporters and connections, he had decided to simply go and beg his sister for help. Frankly, she had more power than he did right now, having the full support of the Barca house behind her.
'I'm sure she isn't heartless enough to reject her dear brother.' Enki thought and gave a self-satisfied nod.
Stacking up a mountain of food for himself and Madelein, Enki made his way back to the office. Once again when he opened the door, Madelein's expressionless face greeted him.
'If one thing in this world is forever to remain unchanged, it's that face.' Enki mused.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully and Enki decided to visit the Barca first thing tomorrow morning.
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Within her chambers, the Empress was in a fit of rage. Her son was held captive by the Barca's and now the Emperor had locked her up, preventing her from helping her precious son.
Seething by herself, the Empress thought about what she could do in this situation. She tried to rack her brain but didn't come up with even one viable solution. How she wished that all of the people going against her would just disappear!
'Hang on a second... Disappear...' the Empress thought. A plan started to form within her mind. If her son was being held captive, she could free him in an equal exchange. The brat's sister was staying within the Barca mansion, and if she could get a hold of Enki, she could use him to free her son.
Sure, they would suspect that she was behind it, but if they couldn't get their hands on any proof, there was nothing that they could do to her.
Previously the Empress had also tried to investigate the secret powerhouse that protected Enki but had found no evidence that such a person existed. Then she had started to look into the aide herself and was shocked to find out that she was a highly recommended person from the wealthiest merchant group on the western continent, the Golden Globe Trading Company. Apparently, there was some speculation that the aide was an illegitimate daughter of the president of the company.
The Empress had soon come to the conclusion that Madelein most likely was a bastard child of the company president and had someone protect her from the shadows.
'How unlucky was I to pick her as the target?' the Empress reflected.
Summoning her private guards to her room, she gave them brief instructions and went to bed with a wicked smile on her face. This time the brat would pay.
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Within the dimly lit streets of the Imperial capital, Valopolis, two men were making their way into a shady-looking alley. The alley was clean like the rest of the streets of Valopolis, but it was filled with homeless people clad in rags. Along the alley, some men dressed in dark clothing with tattoos on their arms, that indicated the gang they belonged to, stood at watch.
When the two men came up to the men guarding the back of the alley, they tossed them a few coins and passed by them, unhindered.
At the back of the alley, there was a rundown shop. The two men entered it and were greeted by a clerk that was lazily standing behind a desk. Within the shop, all kinds of cheap junk were on the shelves, something not even regular commoner tourists would buy.
"What can I do for you, gentlemen.", the clerk asked while scrutinizing them from head to toe.
"We need to order one retrieval and shipping of goods.", answered one of the two men.
"What kind of goods are you hoping to move?", the clerk asked while slightly perking up.
"The best quality kind you can find. Also, the goods are fragile, so please take good care of them. If any harm is to come to them, you will not get your commission. Further details are written on this note.", replied the man and handed a piece of paper to the clerk.
"Very well, I'll write it down. Now, as for the payment, we will need you to make a deposit. Even if any harm comes to the goods, the deposit will not be returned. As for the rest of the payment, we will collect it upon delivery.", the clerk stated.
Agreeing to the terms, the first man signaled to the second man, and the second man threw a bag filled with gold coins to the clerk.
Quickly counting the coins, the clerk nodded to them, satisfied.
"Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen.", he said while the two men were walking towards the door.
After the two men left, the clerk's face turned sharp and his eyes narrowed as he was glancing at the note in his hands.
'This is a big gig.' the clerk mused. While the two previous men were dressed in common clothing, the way they bore themselves clearly showed that they were trained soldiers, and the slightly arrogant air around them indicated that ones of high rank at that.
The clerk quickly surmised that they were most likely high-ranking officers in the army or the personal guards of a high-ranking noble. The personal guards of a powerful noble were always the most arrogant ones. With an important figure as their master, the guards always got some misguided delusion that they were important as well.
'Now who could want to kidnap the crown prince?' the clerk quickly went through all the noble houses and Imperial family members. He came up with three possible perpetrators. One was the house of Qaveron, which was the family of the First Queen and prince Gaius. But they had been keeping a low profile ever since the youngest prince had been named as the crown prince, so the clerk didn't find this to be very likely.
The second option was house Lapius, but knowing the Duke's personality, it was unlikely. While he did use some underhanded means, he would never stoop low enough to kidnap someone.
That only left the third and final possibility, the Empress. It was no secret that the Empress wished for her son to ascend on the throne and the youngest prince was certainly an eyesore for her. Also, knowing the Empress' vengeful personality, she was the most probable one of the three.
'Now why kidnap him instead of assassinating him and getting rid of him once and for all?' the clerk pondered. He ruminated for a while but couldn't come up with a reason. It wasn't public knowledge that prince Darren was a prisoner within the Barca mansion, only the ones involved in the incident knew about it, so the clerk had no way of finding out.
Shrugging his shoulders, the clerk dismissed his useless thoughts. The reason why they were hired didn't matter to them, anyway. He knocked on a hatch on the floor and waited a few seconds. Soon the hatch opened and a figure clad in a dark uniform came out.
"We got a job.", the clerk simply said and handed the piece of paper to the man. The man simply nodded and started to go down the hatch.
"Oh, and try not to hurt him. It was a request from the client.", the clerk suddenly remembered, just before the man closed the hatch.
The man didn't bother to reply, and the clerk wasn't bothered about it. The man never spoke much anyway.
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The morning of the next day arrived. Enki was getting on a carriage, intending to pay a visit to the Supreme Commander's mansion. He only had four guards with him and had left Madelein to handle the work in the office.
Enki had already prepared a heart-wrenching speech that he planned to give Elise if she was reluctant to help him.
The carriage traveled slowly through the streets of the capital, taking a slight detour through the Merchant Quarter since Enki wanted to grab some breakfast for him and the two girls at the mansion. The white marble buildings of the capital were sparkling in the morning sun. While Enki did not have the best of memories in this place, it truly was a breathtaking sight to behold.
People were busily scurrying along the streets, going to work or stopping by the bakeries to get some freshly baked goods. The merchants were opening up their shops and some street peddlers were setting up their stands.
'I wish to help them all preserve their peaceful lives.' Enki thought to himself. This was a truly tranquil sight. Enki had never held any ambition towards the throne, but now that he was thrown into the midst of the Imperial family's internal feud, he frankly had no choice anymore but to aim for the throne. As the crown prince, the only way his siblings would let him go would be in a body bag.
'Being the Emperor...'
While Enki was lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the carriage taking a turn to a deserted alley. Only when the carriage pulled to a stop, he realized something was wrong.
He turned towards the palace guards that were escorting him, about to order them to check out what was going on. But before he managed to even make a sound, something hit his head, and he lost consciousness.