The Emperor heaved an exasperated as he looked at the letter the Duke just placed on his desk. It was a situation that he could have never expected, not in a million years.
"This doesn't make any sense."
That was true, it was impossible for anyone to not be pissed after reading the letter Evan left behind as he 'disappeared' from the Duke's mansion last night.
[Yo! Whatsup Dad?
I know I'm definitely feeling good.
So, I decided to take a leave from being a Duke's son for a while. Don't bother sending a search party, I'm already out of your range, after all.
As for the reason I left; I wanna go explore some dungeons, prevent a few disasters, and save a few million lives.
I'd be saving citizens of the empire so you're gonna let me off, right?
I'd be back in about 5 years.
PS. Tell mum it's not her fault, I was gonna leave either way.
With Love;
Your friendly neighbourhood temporary ex-Duke's son]
Rudeus sighed once more before turning his gaze to the Duke, Roger, and asking a question.
"Have you discovered how he left?"
"Yes, we discovered a magic circle drawn on the floor in his room.
Jenson said it was a transportation magic circle, most likely shadow magic."
"But he doesn't have the ability to use shadow magic, does he?"
The two men were confused about how he managed to cast shadow magic when they were interrupted by a third voice.
"He doesn't, but the little creature in his shadow definitely did. It seems he had planned to leave for a while now."
"Little creature?"
As Rudeus asked back in a voice tinged with surprise, the intruder, the Empress, Claudia replied.
"I noticed a shadow creature in his shadow earlier that day.
I didn't think he knew it was there so I left it, deciding to address it later. Sadly, the commotion that occurred later prevented me from doing so.
However, judging from the fact that he used it to leave, it seems he was aware all along. He probably put it there too."
Claudia spoke as she took a seat beside the two men and read the note Evan left. She then voiced out a question that the two men had previously discussed before he left.
"Even if that shadow creature helped him teleport, it doesn't make sense how he was able to leave freely."
Indeed, that was the case.
The Eris household was a Ducal Household, with its head being the Prime Minister of one of the most powerful countries in all of Aidos
The level of security that his family's main residence possessed was even more than that of the royal families of some lesser countries.
It possessed hundreds of physical traps and magic defence circles intricately woven together, along with multiple anti-magic formations.
These were magic formations that prevented the use of other types of magic in the residence, and the Duke made sure to place dozens of them in each section of the mansion.
Moreover, there were also magic circles that weakened the effects of skills within the walls of the mansion.
Magic circles that could only be deactivated by the head of the family.
Last but not the least, teleporting in and out of the mansion, should theoretically be impossible for anyone with magic below Tier 5.
Naturally, Evan was included in this category.
After all, the anti teleportation magic was placed there by the Chief Court mage, Jenson. Someone who possessed Tier 5 spatial magic capabilities.
Although the effects of the other magic circles and formations were weaker on members of the Ducal family who possessed a family badge, this did not extend to the teleportation restrictions.
In other words, Evan should not be able to teleport out without breaking all of these formations, and one could not do so without the family head, Roger, being alerted.
This then brought the question of how Evan was able to seamlessly teleport outside and escape all the guards without alerting anyone.
It was something that also baffled Rudeus too!
Rudeus placed a hand on his chin as he sorted out his thoughts, however, the sudden shout from beside him brought him out of his seas of thoughts almost immediately.
"That idiot! He told me three years!"
This was Laurene who was annoyed at Evan's extension of his return. Hearing this, Roger couldn't help but ask.
"Your Highness? Did you know he was going to leave?"
"Yeah. Found out a few hours before he did."
To his question, Laurene replied as nonchalantly as ever, evoking an annoyed reaction from Roger. However, before he could speak, Rudeus fired another question at her.
"Did you not think to stop him from doing so? Perhaps advice him on the consequences of his actions?"
"I did, I really did but-"
Laurene sighed and put down the letter in her hand before clearing her throat and continuing,
"You see, this thing I have that happens to be called a 'life', I really like it and I want to keep it.
In order to do that, I won't try to stop someone more than ten levels above me with force if he refused to listen to me now, would I?
Also, I can't exactly do anything when I'm being stared at by a person twice my level with lightning literally...
I repeat, 'LITERALLY!' coming out of her eyes.
Oh! Did I say stared, sorry I meant 'glared'."
Her words shocked all of them present, as it insinuated that Evan threatened her into keeping silent about it.
Ignoring their surprised states, she continued speaking nonchalantly.
"If you all knew about 'what' Evan and I are, as well as our 'Purpose', you would probably understand part of why I let him go.
Don't ask what though, I can't say.
Really don't wanna lose an eye."
Rudeus' eyes narrowed upon hearing Laurene's words, he had already given the order for the researchers to present him with more information by the end of the week, especially on why and how one of the 'Seven Symbols' was in Evan's eyes.
'Perhaps, does Laurene have one of the symbols somewhere on her body too?'
He was about to ask when he saw Laurene casually flip the paper in her hands over and read the contents of its other side as she spoke.
"Oh well, even if I didn't know Evan's reason for leaving, I couldn't stop him even if I wanted to. The combined might of everyone present there yesterday probably won't have been able to ei-WHAT???!!!"
Laurene suddenly screamed out mid-speech, surprising the other three in the room. Seeing her hold the paper in her hands with trembling fingers, Rudeus remembered that the note had a second part that was addressed to Laurene specifically.
[PS. II
Tell Laurene that the one I got from the dungeon had actually been reduced to Level 50.
I bet she'd scream out in shock when she hears this, too bad I wouldn't be able to see her expression.]
The moment Laurene saw the note, she remembered the high demon Evan was contracted and instantly figured out what he meant.
'So, I was scared for no reason?!
A random mid-level knight of the duke could have taken her out!'
She stomped her foot on the ground multiple times before gritting her teeth and dropping the note back on the table.
She then proceeded to walk out, ignoring the shocked expressions of the three others in the room. Upon getting to the door, she turned to her father and spoke up, all earlier traces of rage in her voice nowhere to be found.
"Oh yeah, I'm quitting all my classes and going for magic training and dungeon expedition full time, just wanted to let you know."
And like so, she walked out of the room, leaving the dumbfounded trio behind.
◇ ◇ ◇
The event of a Duke's son 'disappearing' from home caused an uproar among the nobles of the empire.
If it was just any random noble, then it might have not blown up much but Evan was the son of the Prime Minister, it was impossible for rumours to not escalate.
Many criticised Evan while some took this as an opportunity to mock the ducal couple a bit.
Others said it was all a ruse to gain attention, while some simply didn't care.
Naturally, the reputation of the Eris Family took a hit due to this, with a few rival nobles taking advantage of the situation to reduce their credibility and influence among the masses.
Among the vassals of the Eris Dukedom, Evan's favour with them had dropped to an all time low, with a few of them even saying that Evan should be removed from the position of successor to the title of Duke.
They said his actions were unsuitable for someone who was to be the next Duke and that Arnold should take the position.
While some of them really meant it, they were the minority as most of them only said that to put pressure on Evan wherever he was, making him think he would lose his position as successor if he didn't come back and act in line.
Little did they know that even if Evan heard about what they said, he would have agreed with them saying that Arnold should indeed assume the position of successor.
After all, Evan felt it was impossible for him to hold such an important position in the country and felt it would be better if it was given to Arnold.
To the young hero, it was Arnold's birthright and he was only giving him back something that originally belonged to him as the first son.
◇ ◇ ◇
Eris Main Residence
Great Western Empire
April 12th
Year 1051
While Duke Roger was in the castle with the Emperor and Patricia had cried herself to sleep believing her son running away was her fault, a certain person was calmly drinking tea in his private drawing room.
It was none other than the last member of the Eris Family, and the Elder brother of the runaway Evan, Arnold Del Eris.
He placed his teacup down silently before taking a bite of the sandwiches prepared as his other hand streaked across the newspaper on the desk.
His green eyes that he inherited from his mother darted around as he solved the crossword puzzle while taking a few bites of the sandwich.
'This is quite good. I should have them send in more.'
As he thought that, he picked up the bell beside him and rang it slightly, the sound being heard outside the door as a servant knocked twice immediately after.
"Enter."
He gave the go-ahead and the servant entered the room and walked up to the desk before stopping and bowing in silence.
All of the servants knew the attitude of their young master and did not speak unless spoken to.
"This sandwich is quite good. Send in more, and see if you can give the chef a raise for this week. He seems to be doing a good job."
The servant nodded and left the room immediately, as if running away, leaving Arnold who noticed this behind.
He heaved a sigh as he turned his gaze back to the crossword puzzle, only to hear a knock on the door the moment he did.
**KON! KON