281: Plan B?

Chapter 281

In the dark, silence had claimed the royal palace, instilling a calm that almost felt ominous.

Many were asleep following the hectic day, but those who really decided the fate of the kingdom were still awake, still deciding the future of the kingdom even through the dark night, sacrificing their sleep, and eliminating every thorn in their path.

“There cannot be a mistake,” Galliard said as he swirled the wine glass in his hand, gently stirring the red liquid inside.

Near him stood three individuals. A man and a woman. In knight armor different from Galliard’s golden one. Silver armor, which was the official color of the kingdom of Newmark.

Their expressions were unreadable. One could say they were practically dead. Almost as if they had been especially trained to shut their eyes, ears, and most of all, emotions when secrets of their masters were discussed.

Away from Galliard, stood a few more. An old man all too familiar to everyone, and a priest and a nun. The priest and the nun had their robes covering their bodies and their hoods covering their faces.

Only the Cardinal had his head exposed, his expression full of dissatisfaction.

“Galliard, I hope you do not forget that I do not listen to your orders.” Cardinal JaVale said, his voice matching the expression on his face.

Galliard stopped, but kept his eyes on the glass. His knights, however, turned their eyes to their corners, looking at the cardinal without moving their heads, their hands already at their swords as if ready to cut him down.

Galliard heaved a sigh and placed the glass down. He looked at the JaVale slowly and smiled, his expression so serene one would think the words out of his mouth next would be words of benevolence.

“Shut up, before I rip your tongue out of your throat.”

They weren’t.

JaVale was stunned and practically forgot to speak for a moment, and when he recovered his voice, about to say something, Galliard didn’t let him and continued, “If not for you, I wouldn’t have to send people out in the night. Your loudmouth turned the entire court against us. How do you think the pope is going to react when he hears how you almost cost us everything?”

JaVale was about to say something halfway when he stopped. The mention of the pope stopped him dead in his tracks, and he swallowed whatever he was about to say.

“You’re lucky we only have to take care of the boy. But just in case, prepare if the old goat has someone else prepared and the boy is just bait.” Galliard said, with no respect in his tone even when his expression was full of benevolence.

“…” JaVale remained silent for a while before he said, “I shall see to it.”

“Don’t see to it, you old bastard.” Galliard said back, “Make sure there’s nothing standing in our way when I ascend to the throne. If we fail, peaceful deaths would be mercy.”

“…” JaVale once again didn’t say anything and swallowed whatever he had to say to the disrespect. “Alright.”

“Good.” Galliard replied, then turned to his male knight, “Just in case we fail, we should have a backup plan, right?”

The male knight didn’t say anything and simply nodded, turning to the female knight and exchanging silent words through their dead gazes, and walked out, leaving Galliard and the church party alone in the silence of the night.

Galliard dismissed the church’s people and picked up the wine glass again, his gaze looking at the moon from the giant balcony of his quarters.

In the still silence of the night, he muttered under his breath, so low that probably he himself didn’t hear.

“Why bother?”

~~

Three figures in dark clothes signaled each other and moved in, moving so silently that even those next to them wouldn’t notice unless they saw with their own eyes.

Silently, they made their way to a certain, unguarded room. The soldiers patrolling through the corridors didn’t notice them, or even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have stopped them.

Silently casting spells, they turned to shadows and entered the room without utilizing the door or letting even the air in the room change.

As they did, they found a young man, barely an adult, sleeping peacefully under the covers on the bed, unaware of them.

The hooded figures exchanged silent nods, and one of them stepped forward to stab the sleeping figure. Just as he was about to, the sleeping young man opened his eyes suddenly, even startling the seasoned assassin, and grabbed the arm that was coming down, aimed at his chest.

The assassin tried to step back, but he was caught mid-strike and held in place. His eyes flinched as he realized he lacked the physical strength to free himself from the young man.

The other two also understood what happened by then and tried to intervene, and while they were focused on that, one of them felt movement behind him, and just as he did, a knife penetrated the precise point in the middle of his throat, piercing all the way through to the other side, slowly choking the life out of him.

The other assassin didn’t notice this, as this all had taken place too silently. He was still focused on his companion struggling with the young man and was making his way to him when…

Slice…

The next moment, the world was upside down, and he didn’t understand how he died.

On the other hand, the assassin engaged with the young man and finally managed to free himself using magic to turn his body to smoke, but even that was done for a brief moment because it wasn’t the magic of a level that could help in this situation.

Unfortunately, as soon as he materialized, he felt piercing pain in his chest that confused him until he lowered his head and saw the front of a dagger sticking out of his chest, pierced right in the middle of his heart.

Just before life faded away, he heard, “Damn. They really don’t know how to give up.”

~~

Three attempts in one night. Even in the world of martial arts, I didn’t face this many assassins in one night. Well, assassination attempts, to be more accurate.

That was the third one. I tried investigating the first batch, but they had tight lips. Or it would be more accurate to say they couldn’t speak.

Their tongues were severed. Quite brutal, if I have to say.

But it ensured anonymity, so I guess it worked.

Anyway, I removed the dead bodies and dumped them in my inventory, where many others were still fresh. These would be my fuel for the next ritual. But that was a bit far away since I wasn’t strong enough to bear a real body modification yet.

Anyhoo, the doppelganger went poof as his time ran out, and I set pillows in its stead. That’s how I dealt with the second batch since the doppelganger’s time had run out and he had vanished. Only when the cooldown ended was I able to use him again for the third turn, making the second turn very difficult because just pillows couldn’t fill professional assassins who could hear heartbeats clearly.

[Turtle breathing has ended]

My own heartbeat returned to normal soon after that. I activated the skill once again and hid in the corner, hoping no one else would come for the night, and even if they did, they’d come only after my doppelganger could be made again.

~~

Needless to say, luck wasn’t on my side. Four weeks of no sex, and when I had a little sex bomb at my mercy and was just starting after warming up for the seventh round, I was interrupted by Elara and brought to the royal palace, and even then I had no action.

Well, except for the assassins, but they don’t count. I couldn’t fuck them. Even if some of them were women. I wasn’t into that sick shit.

The night came to an end with five assassination attempts and no information except for the fact that all assassins had no tongues to speak.

Mind reading spells were too much for a weak guy like me as of now, so that was out of the question too.

But a lot of it was answered when we reconvened the next morning in the royal court, all parties present from yesterday but one.

Galliard showed a surprised glint when he saw me but didn’t let it stay. Instead, his gaze moved to the cardinal, who had a frustrated expression on his face, and he didn’t bother to hide it. Most likely it was him.

“Where is Lord Kendall?” Elara asked.

Kendall was the ducal lord on the third prince’s side. He was a merchant, and the master of the gold manor of the kingdom of Newmark. He was also the one we had been waiting for the past ten minutes. Or cycles, as they say.

That was when the door opened, and a knight came running in.

“Your Majesty!” He knelt before Elizabeth, but only greeting the highest figure of authority, not anyone else, and continued, “Lord Kendall has been found dead in his room.”

“…”

Plan B, huh?