The vicinity remained busy as the knights continued the inspections and the medical team treated the wounds of the other victims.

  As Duke Streya observed the surroundings, one of the saloon managers ran towards the exit in the hopes of escaping. In his attempt, he crashed head first onto the invisible barrier and when he tried again, it barred him from going out further.

  Duke Streya personally arrested the manager while he continued to fil in his hold, trying to free himself from his grasp.

  “Let me go!” he shouted in frustration and the duke restrained him in a more forceful manner due to his threatening demeanor.

  As they apprehended the said manager and cuffed his hands, the duke stared above.

  The whole area of the Grand Saloon became barricaded with invisible magical barriers. Curious about its functions, he tried walking back and forth where the said barrier stood but passed through without any problems.

  This is incredible, he thought.

  “Your Excellency! We’re done looking for all those who are involved.”

  He nodded absentmindedly, still marveling at the barriers. “Even the Grand Duke?”

  “Yes, even the—Yes?” the knight excimed and gasped in realization. He saluted him then returned to his post scampering and reyed the message.

  Just a few minutes ter, the arrested Grand Duke smiled wryly at Duke Streya. “So, you’ve already suspected me right from the start, Alex?”

  He shook his head. “A little slip up of yours, Your Highness.”

  “Right.” He huffed. “I should have been more careful.”

  After the short conversation, the magical arrays finally vanished and Duke Streya gazed at the stars instead. “Imprison all of the people you’ve caught. Investigations will start tomorrow.”

  The other knights took them away while he continued monitoring the victims and helping the others put away the rubbles out of the way.

  The Padins arrived a few minutes ter and he subtly ignored their presence.

  Duke Streya highly regarded the people who served the temple—the Pontiff, the Padins and Priests—and after knowing about their involvement in the auction, not only disgust but he also harbored hatred towards them.

  Inevitably, even when he clearly avoided them, the padins pestered him about the incident.

  With the involvement of the Grand Duke, and Duke Streya currently the second-in-rank right after the said noble, he held the authority and divulged not a bit of information about what happened.

  “Duke Streya!” one of the padins called out in anger.

  The Knights of Streya backed away a little and called for the Duke’s Knight. In the midst of their retreat from the scene, the Duke’s stern voice loudly spoke: “I am assigned by the Grand Duke to investigate this matter, hence it’s under my jurisdiction. If you continue to hinder me from doing my duty, I might as well submit a report to the temple about their padins hindering what I’m supposed to do.”

  “But, Your—”

  He stood proud. “I am a noble of this State. I have the authority. And you? What are you?”

  “Padins,” the meeker one muttered.

  “And what does a padin do?”

  “Someone clearly used magic and arbitrary use of—”

  “This is the State of Stavros,” he interrupted again, voice clearly annoyed. “Must I remind you again?”

  “Duke Streya, you are but an official!”

  “And you are foreigners in these nds. Stavros never had padins since a century ago and who are you to meddle in our affairs when we clearly have our sovereignty? Did the temple finally make their aim clear to take over us?”

  The older padin flushed in anger and left hastily; the meeker one trailed behind him, bowing his head in shame.

  “That’s right. Just because we cked Padins, they treat us like this,” he muttered to himself.

  Duke Streya’s personal knight witnessed the exchange and approached his master. He aided him to sit down on the nearby bench and offered his fsk. “Calm down, Your Excellency, and rest here for a bit.”

  “Thank you. I need this,” he replied and drank mouthfuls from the fsk.

  Aside from investigations and providing for compensations to the victims, he would also need to face the wrath of the Stavrovians ter on. Even the Temple wouldn’t be pleased by his actions.

  “Paulo,” he called his knight, exhaustion clearly evident in his tone. “Longer days are ahead of us.”

  The knight frowned and sympathized with him. They might have found the auction and saved the victims but this operation was only the tip of the iceberg.

  “Your Excellency, we found these mediums around the saloon.” One of the knights handed him small wooden cylinders with unknown engraved characters. He examined it and felt the magic residue in it.

  I want to know more about you.

  He clutched tightly onto the cylinders, thinking of keeping them as a memento after the investigations.

  “I still think you should rest for a bit more,” said the assistant trailing behind him. “The victims won’t go anywhere now that they’re safe. We temporarily sheltered them in the empty annex and the physicians are currently treating them.”

  “That’s right, Your Excellency. Please rest for today instead.”

  His measured steps echoed in the corridors along with his firm voice. “You know I can’t do that—”

  “Your Excellency?” another voice called him.

  He turned around and called the teen peeking from the door they just passed by, “Jericho?”

  “I heard about what happened.” A concerned look painted his face. “You don’t look well.”

  The assistant and the knight saluted him, “Your Highness, please tell the duke to listen to us and rest.”

  The prince frowned deeper. “Uncle Austin gave you a hard time, didn’t he?”

  Duke Streya smiled, strained and finally gave in after a few more words from the young prince. He rested for the whole day and continued the investigation personally the next day.

  When Duke Streya saw the werebeasts the other night, he paid no attention to their unique appearances—furry ears and tails, a bit of whiskers on their cheeks and a darker ring on their already dark pupils.

  Oh, their eyes gleam in two different colors when struck by light.

  One older werebeast—having a tiger blood in him—chuckled at his reaction.

  “When we werebeasts are high in emotions, we can’t control our beastly nature and our other blood will react instinctively.”

  The duke looked at him with wide eyes.

  “Your Excellency has curiosity written on your face, I couldn’t help but comment.”

  He shied away a little and coughed awkwardly behind his fist. “The Immortals were supposed to be legends and yet here you are in front of me.”

  The man ughed, not in mockery but amusement. He indulged the duke and told him stories as they waited for the able-bodied victims to give him their testimonies.

  After every question reted to the auction, he asked about Karel.

  “We only knew a little about him but the Marles Cn is a known noble of the empire,” a werebeast answered.

  “Marles…” an older werebeast hummed. “A dukedom if I remember correctly. They have served the imperial family since its establishment.”

  The elf leaned back, and smiled as he received the medicine. “He’s possibly a retive of the Ramayan who visited Beiyul once.”

  “Beiyul?”

  He nodded with a smile as he thought about his homend. “The Elven Kingdom of Beiyul.”

  Duke Streya nearly gasped, curiosity now written on his face.

  The elf’s smile turned wistful at the next spoken words, “I never saw Her Royal Highness so happy when she spent her time with that Ramayan. If anything, that woman who visited us resembled the man who also saved us. Ah, the world is truly small.”

  Duke Streya frowned as he saw longing in those eyes.

  “I’m a Louvika from the empire,” another man introduced and scratched the fabric of his pants nervously. “I saw him once standing beside the Emperor and the Empress along with the other imperials.”

  Duke Streya bandaged the Louvika’s arm. “Is he truly reted to the imperials?”

  The man frowned. “I cannot speak about who they are but they hold a high rank in the imperial family.”

  The duke momentarily stopped after he heard that. He’s a noble but also holds a high imperial ranking? What does that mean?

  The injured man sighed. “This only I can say—the surviving imperials as of now are the only ones left in the aftermath of the Ramayan Civil War 4000 years ago.”

  Duke Streya’s eyes widened, astonished by what he heard.

  Another man lightly tapped onto Duke Streya’s shoulder. “You mustn’t associate yourself with the Immortals, especially the Ramayans, Your Excellency. If he helped you, be grateful. Don’t seek for more.”

  “But—”

  “I agree with the statement, Your Excellency. Don’t put yourself in danger just because of your curiosity about that race.”

  “Father, we should have asked that man to bring us back to Zeev1Zeev, also called Zeev's Hamlet, is actually a city in the Ize Region in the Ramayan Continent housing the werebeasts..”

  He smiled at his son and patted his head. “That’s right. I actually hoped he could bring us back to our homend.”

  The father and son sighed in regret while the duke was only left with unanswered questions.

  Like Karel initially said, it only took him a week at most then returned to Norn. He reappeared in Kani’s study and the brunet nearly fell out of his seat because of his sudden reappearance.

  “You scared me!” Kani excimed, holding tightly on his chair.

  He bowed. “I’m back, Master.”

  Kani sat properly and sighed. “Welcome back, Karel. Did your mission go well?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Kani scrunched his nose and looked at him questioningly.

  “I need to rest for now. Please don’t overwork yourself, master.”

  Kani looked at the broad back of his bodyguard as he exited his study.

  A few days of Karel’s absence made him uneasy and seeing his reliable back once again had him breathing a sigh of relief. He shut himself up in his study or his bedroom most of the time knowing Karel created barriers to protect the rooms.

  He remembered their conversation before he left and frowned. Despite what happened and leaving for Stavros, he still did his duty.

  Right, he only did his duty to protect me as per the contract.

  He put down the pen and leaned back on his chair.

  Why am I getting my hopes high?

  Crimson eyes blinked open and it noticed the warm light coming from outside the window. Karel focused his vision on the sheer curtains as scarlets painted the horizons and progressively turned to the usual color of the skies.

  It was te afternoon when he arrived yesterday and slept soundly through the night.

  “I should be more careful in the future.” He grasped onto the sheets. “I can’t be vulnerable even when I’m in this state.”

  Doing the same routine to start the day, his feet led him to the master’s study. However, before he could even enter, he ran into Cashile and was told about the Master’s arrangements.

  The stablekeeper cheerfully greeted him upon his arrival and gave him one of the horse’s reins. “Master ordered you to follow him north.”

  Karel rode the horse, smoothly settling himself onto the saddle and left hastily. He saw the expanse of the meadow gleaming under the morning sun and followed the figure sitting atop the lone horse among the fields.

  “Master!” called Karel as he slowed down the horse to match his pace.

  “Accompany me for a while, will you?”

  “As you wish.”

  The silence stretched on for a few more minutes before Kani spoke, “Some of the servants pleaded with he murder case. In the end, the investigators finally closed the case. They never found a motive, any signs of intrusion and accomplices.”

  Karel looked at the distance as a soft breeze fanned his face. “And the people of the estate?”

  “Afraid that it might also happen to them.”

  “I’m not someone who kills for fun, unless a person harbored an ill intent then—”

  “Stop it, I told you before.”

  Karel harrumphed. “Do you really want me to stop? You know what’s happening around you but you always turn a blind eye. In the first pce, you can even protect yourself but you still hired me.”

  Kani turned silent at that.

  Karel gripped onto the reins. “I don’t get you sometimes. You’re contradicting yourself and acting like an innocent when you’re not. What do—”

  “Stop it,” he said through gritted teeth, angered by the blond’s words.

  Karel stopped talking and let the horse gallop forward. “Acknowledge what you don’t, Kani.”

  He gazed at his back, nose scrunched.

  When Karel looked back at him, those crimson eyes gred. “Accept whatever is thrown at you and survive.”

  Kani stared at him again, now at a loss for words.

  “As long as you live, the contract stands. And as I’ve promised, I will protect you no matter what.”

  Those crimson eyes expressed more than those words spoken from his mouth. Kani’s anger dissipated as he processed the blond’s words.

  Tell me, mother. Am I doing this right?