They started with kidnapping. Damian had the target ready. With a matching physical description and a lonely existence, one particular servant was the perfect object of impersonation. Aurelius worried about there not being any reference for personality. Amadeus responded with a nonchalant wave of his hand and had a few minutes of conversation with the young servant before they knocked him out in his own home.

Amadeus first covered his birthmark with a salve that dried in a way that took on the face's color perfectly. Then he took the man's uniform and locked himself in a room for a while and came out talking Rykian in the way of the capital. Aurelius knew because he didn't understand all the words right away.

There were differences in how Miran was spoken in Mircrest and the Thropes, but many of Arkryk's dialects were borderline incomprehensible. Damian said it was because of Arkryk's business landscape. And Miran, he said, was the common tongue that had been kept strictly the same after the founding of the Thropes. Apparently, Mircrest was founded by rebellious 'Thropians' and the language was kept the same so they could one day absorb the Thropes without issue.

The information was new and boggled Aurelius' frenzied mind, but he listened eagerly to Damian's explanation while Amadeus asked a few questions from the restrained and blindfolded servant. Damian seemed to explain eagerly as well, seemingly having discovered a passion for the linguistic history of the continent in wait for the operation to begin. For morning to come.

Aurelius still wasn't sure how it would all go down. Having to rely on an innocent person to do the dangerous part after being on his lonesome for so long was nerve-wracking. And the dangerous part was only becoming more and more dangerous in Aurelius' mind. What if he was exposed? Caught by Uzbec? Hell, what if he came face-to-face with Orpheus? Would he try to assassinate the man right there?

He wanted to cancel it. Send Amadeus home and go in alone. But it was too late.

As they ran through the plan over and over, morning arrived. Amadeus said something in Rykian as he stood up.

Aurelius and Damian followed suit, watching with grave eyes as Amadeus was about to leave.

"Wait?" Aurelius said in rykian, walking over to Amadeus. Then right as he turned to face him, Aurelius wrapped Amadeus in an embrace. "Do not take unnecessary risks for my sake." He gave him a few powerful pats on the back before pulling apart, holding the boy with both arms. "The world needs your music, and the last time you play should be for yourself; not me."

Amadeus's expression changed from surprise to something pleasant and he opened his mouth. Only to shut it and give a firm nod. Then he turned his back and left.

Aurelius hadn't felt so helpless since...

The capital was colossus. Walking from one end to the other would've taken at least a day. Orpheus' fortress was still too large in relation. It was like a city of its own. Three walls surrounded it with servants and their families within the first layer, soldiers and their families within the second layer and finally Orpheus' castle behind the last wall.

Getting inside the first layer had been relatively easy. The second layer, however, was a world of its own with nothing but soldiers behind it. How wealthy Orpheus was to keep such an army of his own was a mystery, but Aurelius would've placed him among the five richest men in the world.

The question was, could Amadeus really make it in without a problem like he said?

***

Amadeus walked through the first layer of the gate with a polite smile, the guards nodded to him as he entered.

The castle ahead was larger than any building he had ever seen. Or structure for that matter. It was ugly sculpted gray and dark gray rock stacked gradually higher towards the center that one could see only if he was looking at the sky.

Soldiers were not only on the walls but located at the gates as well as guard towers all around the angular castle.

Amadeus kept a straight but pleasant face as he walked inside. Exactly as if he'd seen the place a thousand times. He then made his way through the red-carpeted halls confidently following the mental map he had inquired from the object of his impersonation.

He greeted other servants who of course didn't recognize him but reciprocated out of a sense of obligation from his apparent familiarity. He spun around a corner to a less populated wing of the castle, smoothly stole a tray of wine and grapes off a cart, and opened a side door into the servant's staircase.

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Then he put his head down and started making his way up, his expression growing more grim with each step.

There was a reason he had asked to interrogate the servant alone. The first question he'd asked was instructions to Orpheus' quarters. Aurelius was untouchable physically, but he had a flaw of character. Amadeus wouldn't let such a flaw risk the operation.

The plan Amadeus had first pitched was to ask around about any future occasions during which Orpheus might be absent. The risk was minimal. All there was to do was make inquiries to servants, and if unsuccessful, approach soldiers with some made-up stories. If neither of those yielded anything, he would try seeking a job in the decoy staff and find out that way. If done in rapid succession, lower risk attempts wouldn't sabotage higher risk ones.

However, Amadeus knew that the lower-risk ones were just hopeful thinking. The plebians of this place didn't know anything, and he wasn't going to let his chance at revenge slip through his fingers because of cowardice. His 'plan' had just been a necessary lie to get Aurelius on board.

Making it to the end of the small staircase, Amadeus pushed himself onto the top floors of the castle. He wasn't supposed to be there. His interrogation had yielded as much. Only a few servants were allowed on the very top floors.

He heard chatter in the hallway and slipped back into the staircase. After waiting until it passed he rushed out and almost ran as he was careful not to spill any wine. He had no idea about the structure of the top floors, but he knew there was a staircase in the middle that led to the highest floor where Orpheus' quarters were. With that information, he could just wriggle his way through the different halls and avoid any people and open rooms. Fortunately, the floor was almost completely abandoned, luxurious rooms left to gather dust. Meant for family, Amadeus assumed.

Then he saw it. The large spiral staircase was in the middle. He waited until there was no chatter or footsteps before approaching and beginning to walk up. He glanced down and saw a fall that would've killed an enhanced soldier, but quickly averted his attention to walk with a measured pace. Servants had a certain way of walking, he'd observed.

Unfortunately, so did soldiers. And it was a silent one.

It was a cough that shook him almost out of his own body. His eyes flew wide as he felt his heart in his throat. Then he amicably looked to the other side of the staircase. A man with a black mask making his way down. He realized had stopped walking and resumed promptly in the exact same manner.

He and the soldier got closer. He was sure to be one of Orpheus' close men, but it wasn't likely that servants were paid much attention. As they were past each other, Amadeus grew hopeful.

Then a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned, startled and saw shaded eyes watching him.

"Who are you?" the soldier asked with a muffled low tone.

Amadeus was a master at faking all things, but tone of voice was nigh impossible to fake convincingly. The human ear just had a way of telling. What he could do was adapt his natural reaction to the subject.

"Wha— Oh, I'm just doing a delivery." His voice shook and cracked, but not overly. Just like a servant's would if stopped by a scary soldier. "Adreno asked me to take this to Orpheus and he's... I'm—" Amadeus pulled a name from his interrogation. One close to Orpheus. That gave him some space to work but brought all kinds of risks.

The soldier's eyes narrowed. What if Adreno would walk up to them? What if he was out sick today? Then the soldier grumbled to himself. "Alright. But Orpheus is in a meeting right now. Leave the tray behind the door." With that, he was off.

Amadeus was tempted to laugh. His ways of finding out if Orpheus was in the room had been quite risky. He ought to thank the dutious soldier.

He rose to the top floor and left the tray behind the door before sneaking inside.

The room's roof rose from the sides to the very sharp top. There was no illumination in the place, but the light through the shadowy windows lent the room a shade of dark blue that contrasted with the black.

He was clear, however, he wasn't loosening up. He walked with utter silence through the room, gazing around with curiosity. It was unexpectedly messy. Of course, Orpheus was a lousy piece of shit, but he hadn't even let himself be cleaned after. Bookshelves, bust sculptures, and golden decorations were dusty. In the corners of the room, there were paintings worth fortunes just lying around. And most of all, there was a piano left unattended. The most beautifully made piano Amadeus had ever seen. Only to be left to gather dust and fall apart in the hands of a moronic, treacherous, filthy, imbecile piece of the world's feces.

On the other hand, the bed was obviously well-kept. It was huge. Unnecessarily so to the point, it was ridiculous. On top of that, it had tall white curtains around it.

Amadeus didn't linger on that for long, however. He made his way to the desk at the end of the room and started the search.

The desk was dusty but less so than the other things. It was used on occasion. There had to be some indication of where he would be. A letter of invitation. There had to be.

Amadeus searched the drawers with increasing nervousness. He checked them for false bottoms as well, but there were none. He looked through unorganized stacks on the desk. Still nothing. Then he crawled around looking for some on the floor.

That's when he found it.

The next meeting between the leaders of Nexus. He looked through it with scrambling fingers. His open mouth started to curve up as he saw it wasn't held in the castle. But then his face went loose. It was in half a year.

His lower teeth bit into his upper lip until he tasted blood, a reckoning inside his mind. Then he heard a clink and his world fell out from under his feet. He looked to the side. There was no new light. The door had remained closed, but there was someone in the room.

Amadeus' frenzied gaze then pointed at the bed where there was a gap in the curtains and he met the fearful eyes of a chained young woman whose mouth hung agape.