"I don't understand," Keiren responded, lacking the knowledge of imperial etiquette and thus failing to comprehend the offense Duke Castell was feeling. By having the only seat in the room and being served by someone who wasn't a household servant, Keiren was unconsciously displaying a lack of trust towards the Duke and his entourage. Furthermore, the fact that Tadorion was standing instead of sitting indicated that Keiren believed himself to be superior to the Duke's son, which was a serious affront in the noble circles of the empire. However, before the Duke could react with anger, his son stepped forward and hugged him, dissipating the Duke's frustration and leaving him only with confusion.
"Father, please calm down and listen," Tadorion said as he guided Duke Castell to a chair. Tadorion stood back and served his father tea and pastries from the tray, further confusing his father as he refused to take a seat himself.
"What are you doing, son? Don't humiliate yourself by acting like a servant. Why aren't you sitting by my side?" Duke Castell asked, his voice filled with anger. "You should let the servants do the serving...oh, my God," Duke Castell suddenly realized that there were no servants from his own household present in the room.
"I am currently in no position to sit in the presence of the people in the room," Tadorion Castell said. To emphasize his point, he knelt down on Keiren's empty side. "What! Are you his servant or something?" Duke Castell's voice echoed in the room and reaches the hallway where Harald and Lelogas were still locked in a tense gaze. Lelogas tightened his grip on the hilts of his sabers, hissing, "Let me through!" Harald, unfazed, stood calmly with his hands clasped behind his back, making himself appear less threatening. However, his eyes never strayed from Duke Castell's bodyguard, and he was prepared to react to any move he might make.
"He is my captive, not my servant," Keiren said, taking a sip from his tea. "Your tea is excellent, by the way."
The Duke, still seething with anger, asked, "Then what do you want?"
"Fifty percent," Keiren replied, as if it was a trivial matter.
"Fifty percent of what?" The Duke asked, struggling to keep his temper in check.
"Fifty percent of everything you possess: gold, resources, lands, businesses, etc.," Keiren replied, his tone nonchalant.
As the Duke prepared to unleash his fury, a loud "THUD" echoed in the room. The old family butler, Gula, who had been standing frozen beside the door, fainted and crashed to the floor. The Duke was too overwhelmed by his emotions to move, and his breathing worsened by the second.
"Tadorion, explain the situation to your father!" Keiren instructed, seeing that the Duke seemed unwilling to do as told.
Tadorion continued to recount the details of his mission, painting a vivid picture of the events that had transpired. He explained how he and his team had been tasked with capturing a half-Angel woman suspected of being a traitor by Emperor Konrad von Stein. He described their pursuit of her, their capture of her and how they bound her on their wagon. He then described the strange surge of weakness they experienced and their encounter with Keiren in the forest, including the crushing defeat they suffered at his hands and the humiliation they endured.
He spoke of how Keiren killed nearly everyone in his group with seemingly little effort, and how two of the knights he had been tasked with guarding were resurrected by Keiren. Tadorion also highlighted how these once mediocre knights had become incredibly strong and were able to defeat two skilled warriors, Ser Regal Solum and Ser Mitum Darkus, in a 2-on-2 battle.
He spoke of the impressive strength of the Valkyrie who stood behind Keiren, revealing that she was able to release Thunderlance from his spell with ease. By the end of Tadorion's tale, Duke Castell's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. Despite knowing that Trekon was controlling Thunderlance, he was astounded by the power of the Valkyrie.
---------------------------
Somewhere deep underground in Stonehaven, the hideout of the notorious Black Hood assassins.
This group of individuals was well-known for their ability to accomplish anything as long as someone paid the appropriate price. True assassinations were just a small part of the Black Hood assassins' operations, in comparison to their more profitable endeavors of infiltration, espionage, and kidnapping.
Kidnapping came in at a close second. The nobles of the empire preferred not to kill each other, so instead they often paid the Black Hood assassins to capture the objects of their desire, most of which were beautiful and talented daughters that triggered greed, envy, or lust. The majority of these kidnapped individuals were sold into slavery, which was a common practice in the criminal underworld of the Black Hood assassins.
The remaining 10% of those captured were geniuses that had the potential to pose a threat to some powerful figure, and were therefore enslaved to do the bidding of their new masters.
In the heart of the Black Hood assassin hideout, there was a secret cave fortified by complex formations and booby traps powerful enough to take down even an Emperor Realm cultivator. The cavern was adorned with luxurious furnishings and artwork, creating an atmosphere of opulence and elegance.
Sitting at the center of the room was a tall figure, cloaked in form-fitting black leather armor that left no inch of skin exposed below his neck. The man's face was hidden behind a hood, his features obscured from view as he leisurely sipped from a goblet of what was assumed to be wine. This was the infamous Master Varmark Shadowclaw, the founder and leader of the notorious Black Hood assassins.
Across from him sat a guest, intimidated by the aura of power and authority that radiated from the hooded figure.
"I'm having trouble understanding your and your prince's motives," the master assassin said, his eyes shining like red torches from under his hood. "The debt my organization owes his mother is not enough to justify capturing the princess. I wouldn't even consider the job if it wasn't for this debt. It's 150,000 Immortal Essence Stones, not a spirit stone less. If you want the best, you have to pay the price."
"Master Varmark, I'm sure you understand...," the man began, but was interrupted as he pulled out a communication device from his pocket. "Just a moment, Master Varmark," he said, bowing respectfully to the assassin before stepping back. Into the device, he hissed, "You'd better have a damn good reason for calling me right now. I'm still in the middle of negotiations."
Varmark took another sip from his drink while eyeing his customer whose face went from anger to a vampiric pale in the span of a few breaths. The master assassin wasn't able to hear what the one on the other side of the magical item said, but judging by the reaction from the other before it wasn't anything good. A few moments later, the conversation ended and his guest walked towards the table and bowed deeply to Varmark before he began to speak again.
"Master Varmark I want to apologize for my earlier rudeness-"
""200,000 Immortal Essence Stones. A down payment of 50,000, with an additional 10,000 for every man my organization loses in the process. Anyone captured alive, aside from the princess, will be at our disposal to do with as we see fit. Upon successful completion of the mission, the favor owed to your prince's mother will be cleared and you will no longer burden me with your political dealings." Varmark interjected before his negotiation partner could offer an apology. The master assassin was astute, having deduced from his guest's reaction during the phone call that something had gone terribly wrong with the young prince's plan.
"I have to concede," the negotiator admitted to the assassin, "We've lost control of Thunderlance and Archmage Trekon was severely injured from the backlash of the control spell."
Varmark let out a booming laugh, "It seems like another player has entered the game, and their opening move cost you a knight and a mage. Haha!" The negotiator felt like the amusement was directed at their misfortune.
Varmark emptied his glass and stood up from his desk, took his down payment, before kicking the negotiator out of his office.
After he was alone, he packed up his office and left nothing behind except activated traps. Varmark wasn't the kind of guy that would leave something behind. He had no treasury or something like that. He had all his possessions on him at all times, because his job might force him to abandon Stonehaven on a moment's notice.
He called upon the best 20 assassins he had at his dismissal and started a debriefing for the mission.
"This mission will be a Stage 4 difficulty one, with the primary target to capture the princess and the secondary target to kill everyone loyal to her that stands in our way. Treat this as a massacre mission, so there is no need to hold back whatsoever. We will enter through the hidden entrance and start the mission immediately after that, kill everyone you meet and leave no witnesses."
Varmak pointed at four members of his group. "Ron, Twog, Trex, Fuor, you will protect the hidden door and make sure we have a safe passage to retreat if necessary. Sven, you take five of your brothers and meet the young prince as soon as you get my signal, demand payment for our service and bring him our way.
"The rest will split in pairs and clean the area of everyone that walks inside. No need to distinguish between innocent maiden or corrupted noble, you're free to kill them all wantonly. Use your own judgment if you wish to capture those who could fetch high prices, but only if their transport is feasible without compromising the mission. An extraction group will wait on the dark side of the hidden door to evacuate our captives if we find worthy trophies.
"Quinto and Secad, you two will come with me to capture our main target. If possible, we will take the twin maids that protect the princess alive. If not, they will make a fine pair of undead…" Varmark's speech continued and lasted 6 hours.
By the end of the speech he had shared with them Plan A to Z with contingency plan 1 to 168 had been explained. The plans covered everything from the sudden return of the Emperor, up to the sudden appearance of meteors falling from the sky. The last 20 were solely covering the possibility of the unknown new third party getting in their way.