Helen's entourage entered Seagate City smoothly, with a warm welcome from Kekaru, and was taken to a mansion at the southern end of the city.
On the way, Helen's charming face grew dark and unhappy. Previously, when Helen had come to Seagate, the townspeople who had heard the news had crowded around, craning their heads to catch a glimpse of her face. But this time, apart from Kekaru's men, the street was sparsely populated. These people only looked at her carriage from a distance, showing no sign of respect. This made Helen feel uncomfortable.
After her personal guard at the mansion had been properly organised, Helen declined Kekaru's offer of a banquet in her honour, claiming to be tired. She feared that Kekaru would assassinate her in his own castle. She was afraid of Kekaru's plans. Like her, Kekaru was not a benevolent person. It was quite possible that he would do something at the banquet.
On the other hand, Helen didn't want to endure the inevitable unfriendly looks at the banquet. She'd had enough of those scornful looks. But she couldn't kill them just because of their hidden contempt.
This was the mansion where Kekaru received his guests. It had a large area surrounded by Helen's thirty thousand strong personal guard. Helen was in the centre of the area and was safe enough to sleep peacefully. The full moon was slowly rising in the night sky. Ten guards stood tensely at the door of a central, luxurious and spacious room. Inside the room, Helen worried endlessly by herself.
With no wind, the window opened automatically and a cloud of grey mist suddenly flew in front of Helen. The mist stopped swirling as the window closed, revealing Han Shuo's figure.
"You're here!" Helen gathered her scattered thoughts and raised her head to look at Han Shuo. She muttered softly, "Kekaru has always wanted to remove me from my position as Duke. He once wanted me to marry his son Kasega, but I refused. His Seagate City has always disobeyed my orders. If I hadn't tried to prevent the Duchy of Helon from falling into turmoil, I would have acted against him long ago instead of hiring assassins.
"I'll go there tonight. I'll help you deal with him!" Han Shuo looked at Helen calmly, as if he had just said a simple and common thing.
"If it's possible, I want to work with you. I want to end his life myself. This person was the one who killed my mother. I hate him!" Helen was a little unusual today, talking to Han Shuo with a certain malice.
Wrinkling his eyebrows, Han Shuo thought for a while before replying, "How about this. You stay here, I'll bring him over and you can kill him yourself." Han Shuo did not follow up on the statement about Helen's mother. Everyone was sure to have some memories that haunted them. Han Shuo believed that this incident was definitely not a pleasant memory. Sometimes respecting someone's privacy was more touching than showing respect on the surface.
Helen lifted her head and looked deeply at Han Shuo, unclear if she was thinking of something sad, her gaze a little weak. She laughed at herself and said, "Thank you. I'm still a woman after all. It seems I need a man's shoulder to lean on as well. After all these years, I'm really tired."
Smiling and nodding, Han Shuo tried to walk towards Helen. When he noticed that Helen's gaze wasn't attentive, he continued walking towards her. When he reached her side, Han Shuo gave her a light hug. Feeling Helen's trembling body, Han Shuo patted her shoulder and said softly, "It's all right. I won't ask about your past, but I will bring Kekaru to you. Then you can exact the price for his sins."
"Bryan, I don't know if I should hate you. When I came here today, none of the citizens came to greet me. It looks like they've already begun to reject me in their hearts. The main reason for this is you, but for some reason I can't hate you. Why, Bryan, why can't I hate you?" Helen leaned gently against Han Shuo's shoulder, her voice a tired, faint whisper.
"Maybe you should hate me, but if you always listen to me, not only will I not let you hate me, I'll help you to be happy again little by little. I promise!" Han Shuo whispered into Helen's ear and added, "Alright, you should rest for a while first. To reduce your hatred for me, I'll start with Kekaru first."
Gently pushing away Helen, who'd exposed her weakness in the quiet night, Han Shuo silently left the room like a ghost in the night, floating weightlessly towards Kekaru's castle. For Han Shuo, his only prey was Helen. As long as Helen held the reins of Helon Duchy, he could secretly control Helon Duchy without wasting any men or resources. At the right time, this secretly treacherous Helon Duchy could become a hidden blade in the Coalition Army, bringing immense benefits to Han Shuo.
Although Helen was the Duke of Helon Duchy, she was still a woman. The most reliable way to treat a woman was to win her heart. A man should be publicly overbearing by day, but gentle and refined by night. This was equally deadly for a woman. Helen was of great use to Han Shuo. Therefore, Han Shuo didn't mind spending some time in order to have her and her duchy thoroughly and securely in his hands.
Deep within Kekaru's castle was a secret room that was zealously guarded by soldiers. It was in this room that the three people from the morning had gathered. "Father, this woman is in Seagate City. We must kill her before she leaves. Otherwise, once she's gone, I'm afraid we won't have another chance." Kasega looked at his father Kekaru and proposed his idea once more.
"Lord Marquis, I'm afraid this is our only chance. If we really wait until she returns to Helon City, it would be difficult for us to act even if we wanted to!" Magistrate Mori advised similarly.
Kekaru's eyes were still calculating as he replied to them, "I know that too. However, she has thirty thousand elite troops at her side. Assassinating her is no easy task."
"Lord Father, she can't always hide among her thirty thousand troops. We just need to find ways to make her leave her protection. It's not difficult for us to kill her in Seagate City. All we need is a reasonable excuse. Kasega replied.
"Sir, isn't Young Master Kasega engaged to Miss Lejeame of the Galileo family? We can use this opportunity to arrange their marriage in the next two days. With the Lord's standing in the Duchy and her being in Seagate City, she has no reason not to appear to offer her congratulations. She can't possibly bring her thirty thousand guards to the wedding banquet. As long as she comes, we'll be able to kill her. What do you think?" Magistrate Mori's eyes shone with malice.
"Uncle Mori, this method isn't bad!" Kasega smiled happily and turned to Kekaru, "Father, what do you think?"
Kekaru's eyes continued to turn in thought and after a while, he nodded and said, "It could work. But we have to be extra careful, so I'll have to think about it more carefully. We can only act if we're sure of success. This woman is not easy. We massacred her mother's clan years ago, but she managed to escape. All these years, she clearly known that we were the culprits, but she never shown it. This calculating cunning is something no normal youngster would possess.
"Hmph. I want to kill her the way the Lord Father killed her mother. This woman doesn't give us any face, even going so far as to refuse my offer of marriage. And then she was raped by an unknown brat. She brought it on herself! What good is a woman in such a high position? A man still rode her in the end!" Kasega was still brooding over Helen's rejection and mocked her viciously.
"Capturing her is enough. We can't touch her. I've promised Benedict Sackville to hand Helen over as soon as we've captured her. After all, it's not easy to deal with thirty thousand family troops. We still need Benedict Sackville's help. Kekaru reminded Kasega.
"Lord Father, I can still fool around, right? It's not even her first time. Even if she reaches Benedict Sackville's hands, he won't be able to tell! This woman has always been like a goddess high above, and I've wanted to try riding her for a long time. Lord Father, please allow me to taste that feeling!" Kasega seemed to imagine the scene of Helen being conquered by him as he begged Kekaru.
Kekaru was still very devoted to his only son. He also knew that after Helen had rejected Kasega, his son had played three maids to death before calming down. He hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Fooling around is possible. But you must erase the memory afterwards. If not, it would be bad if Benedict Sackville found out. We will have to deal with this person in the future".
"Thank you father, thank you father! Hahaha! I've wanted to ride that bitch for a long time!" Kasega smiled slyly and chuckled. Hints of obscene violence slowly grew on his face. Magistrate Mori licked his lips and forced a few laughs as well, itching inside. But he knew there were things he couldn't touch. Therefore, he didn't dare to make any presumptuous demands.
As the three vicious villains imagined a better future for themselves, a crisp, abnormal sound suddenly came from beneath their feet. This secret room was underground, its perimeter reinforced with thick iron plates, impervious to the attack of blades, swords or magic. It was the safe haven where Kekaru discussed his evil plans.
Logically, such abnormal sounds shouldn't echo with the thick iron plates under their feet. Therefore, when that abnormal sound appeared, the three despicable people were stunned for a while, and they all looked at the ground in disbelief. However, before they could react, the previously soft abnormal sound suddenly grew louder. The three of them were shocked. Kekaru was the first to react, shouting, "Assassins!"
With this cry, Kekaru was the first to rush towards the opening mechanism, trying to alert the surrounding guards. Kasega drew a knight's saber and focused all his attention under his feet, ready to deal a fatal blow to anyone coming from below.
Clang!
An arc-shaped disc burst through the ground with a deafening sound. The disc was extremely thick and was obviously the iron plate protecting their feet. At the same time, a figure dashed out of the circular hole in the ground.
Kasega let out a loud scream, his sword slashing at Han Shuo, who'd used the Demonslayer's Edge to cut a large hole with great difficulty. Han Shuo had wasted more than ten minutes using the omnipotent Demonslayer Edge to cut a hole in the iron plate, cursing the designer of the building inwardly. He swung the Demonslayer Edge to parry the attack.
With a series of clear cracks and bangs, Kasega's sword was reduced to scrap iron. One of Kasega's arms had gone the way of his saber and turned into bloody meat. As Kasega screamed in horror, Han Shuo's Demonslayer Edge was suddenly flung out, pinning Kekaru's outstretched left hand to the wall. He had run to the mechanism with great difficulty and was about to scream for help. The Demonslayer's Edge was firmly embedded in the wall and continued to pin his left hand to the wall, some distance from the mechanism.
"Damn it, who are you? Who let you in?" Kekaru looked at Han Shuo and shouted pathetically. His left hand was pinned to the wall by the Demonslayer Edge, fresh blood trickling down in streams. The heartbreaking pain made Kekaru want to cry.
"My hand, my hand, ahhh....."
Kasega's right arm was completely torn to shreds. It currently looked like a peeled and sharpened slice of pineapple, with streams of blood dripping from the meridians, gruesome beyond belief.
"Damn it, a bird face like you wants to mess with my woman?" Han Shuo snorted, ignoring the howls of the father and son duo. He walked in front of the frightened Magistrate and grinned as he asked, "Apart from old Kekaru's three sons, five daughters and forty-seven assorted relatives in this castle, are there any others who have the qualifications to succeed him as Marquis?"
"No, no!" Magistrate Mori looked at the grinning Han Shuo, his fear causing him to shake uncontrollably. After answering in a trembling manner, he cowardly knelt before Han Shuo and cried, "This has nothing to do with me, don't kill me.
I am innocent."
"Okay. Looks like we shouldn't have missed anyone." Han Shuo muttered to himself.
He grabbed the Magistrate neck with one hand and said, "The deadly trap you just demonstrated is extremely interesting. I'm afraid that people like you are the most terrifying, I can't spare your life!" Han Shuo twisted his hand after finishing this sentence, making a clear crack. The Magistrate with his back to Kekaru hadn't changed his position, but he was now facing Kekaru with an agonised whimper on his face. It was obvious that his neck had been broken.