19 days after the explosion – ????

Since he wasn’t sure in what kind of troubles he would get, the prince asked Rebecca to make him a small figure that if it was destroyed or got too far away from him, it would call for her

She reluctantly made it and personally hand it to him the day before the departure(she teleported to his room in the middle of the night scaring the crap out of him)with a warning to not bother her unless he was half dead, because if he wasn’t she would personally leave him that way

Thanks to the warning and previous experience, he REALLY didn’t want to use it, but it was a security measure in case he got into an ambush or kidnaped and since he was acting as bait, he needed as many aces as possible

The problem was that after being kidnaped, there weren't any sounds of explosions around him....

This meant the security measures he asked Rebecca didn’t activate, but the prince wasn’t sure that it was because the item didn’t work, it was sealed, or Rebecca was too lazy to help. Worst part was that there was a good chance it was the last one

The idea was to carry the small figure around, and if he was in danger, break it

The distance part was in case a sudden kidnapping happen, so when they separate it from him, it would activate alone. but since nothing happened so something went wrong probably

Still, he could only blame himself for been kidnaped. He really had his guard up constantly but sadly, pudding was one of his weakness. So he ended up lowering his guard when they brought it to him, resulting in this predicament

But was he the kind of guy that would trust his fate to a whim of his sister or the reliability of a mad dog and taciturn magician?(that turn out to be a traitor)

The answer is nope. He still had another trump card that no one knew and was saving for a special occasion

He slowly gathers mana around his arms to increase his strength, and after struggling a little, the ropes broke. He checked his hand since they were in pain, and found small burn marks because of the ropes frictions, but nothing serious

Learning from the mistakes just now, besides increasing the strength, the prince made sure to increase his legs resistance so he wouldn't feel pain later(he was still a noob in inner mana)

After freeing himself from the constraints and looking around the room just to be sure no one was there, he secretly smiled to himself since his paranoia was well-founded

He had been able to use inside mana for a year, but he keep to himself how since he was planning to make a killing in the black marked, and it would be helpful in a dangerous situation. So basically, not telling not only save him from a dangerous situation, it stopped his family from trying to "get the recipe for the good of the country", earning him some praises and 0 gold

He already had a whole business plan to get the greatest profit possible, and was in the middle of acquiring the necessary capital when the Explosion occurred, but he still kept it hidden and prepared so if/when he run away, he had a secure income, capable of buying a small villa far away of all the conflicts

Still, the prince stopped thinking about his plan b, something that may be used in the REALLY near future if he gets away from this place

He fist got out of the bed really slowly and was about to put his shoes on when he realized it would be quieter without them. The next step was to turn off the magic lamp so the light wouldn't tell someone was opening the door, and if a guard came inside the room, he would take advantage of the darkness to take him out

So he slowly approached the lamp and when he was about to turn off the light, he saw why Rebecca wasn't burning the place. The figurine was in the nightstand

Someone probably put it there after checking his pockets(now completely empty), and since it wasn't far enough, it didn't' activate

This brought new solutions to the problem he found himself right now, but the prince really didn't want to use it. Besides the obvious problems like he would turn half dead after using it, it wasn't his last option. Instead of using his last trump card now, it was better to use it when he had no option left

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So the prince chose to put the figure in his pocket and get after turning off the light, he approached the door to try to hear if someone was outside

With mana he could increase his senses, so he could listen to the noises outside the door without a problem, and since he didn't hear even the sound of someone breathing, he decided to slowly open the door

After he took a small peek outside, he decided to slowly come out since he didn't  saw anyone around

The prince was glad that so far everything was going great(considering the situation he was in) and started to look around to get a better sense on where he was

The first thing he notices in the darkness was that he was in a hallway with a lot of doors around him and a set of stairs at the end

Since the stairs went downstairs, the prince guessed that he was at the 2 floor of the villa

After thinking for a second what his next step would be, he decided to check the rooms to see what was inside

Well, that was his plan until he heard the noise of wood cracking under heavy weight coming from the stairs

The prince almost sh-t his pants, since he understood that someone was coming upstairs and he was in the middle of the hallway

move idiot(prince) said to himself

And after trying to find a place to hide unsuccessfully, the prince went back to his room and hide behind the door

breath in, breath out( prince) tried to slowly and quietly breath to calm himself while trying to listen what was going outside

The prince could hear the steps slowly approaching, and since they sounded heavy, he guessed they belonged to one of the guards

The foots steps suddenly stopped near the door and a moment later, someone knocks at the door

" hey! Why is the light out?"(guard?)said a rough voice

The prince didn't answer but instead calm himself and started to think how to take him out

It didn't take long for the door to open, and a person in leather armor(probably a guard) step inside the room

Since it was really dark, the guard couldn't see if the prince was on the bed, so he approached the night stand to try to turn the light on and that's when he felt a tap on his shoulder

The guard turned around a little startled, expecting ti find someone behind but found no one

We will never know if he would scream, sh-t himself or panic since before he could properly process the information, the guard felt a great pain on the chin and fell to the floor. Then he felt another blow to the head and felt unconscious

Of course the one that knock him out was the prince, and even though he panicked for a second since the guard made some noise when he fell, since no one reacted, the prince was pleased with himself since everything went according to plan

After checking that the guard had been properly knocked out, the prince decided striped the guard and changed to his clothes. Luckily they had similar builds, so they managed to fit properly after some adjustments, even if they were a little lose all around

If he was lucky, with the disguise he may be able to fool someone long enough to approach him and take him out

Now the problem was what to do with the guard, should he slit his troth with the knife he got from the guard(and a sword, but that would be overkill) or should he simply tie him up and risk it?

He disliked killing, but he wasn't in a place where he could hold back and hope everything would turn out ok

Note: In case you are wondering, the inner mana didn't come out of nowhere. I have thrown hints since he sneaks out of the castle at the beginning. How it happens.... alchemy accident obviously, and it will be explained how exactly latter.