The skinny man started to sweat as he backed into the carriage building. "Y-you can't touch me. The lord and lady will have your head if you do!"

Arthur covered his mouth with his good hand. "Pfft—Do you really think my father even knows you exist? And if he did, would he even care whether you lived or died?"

Foster drew the slim sword from his waist and slowly approached, causing the man to trip over himself. "L-lady Elyria will! She w-won't let you get away with this!"

"Wrong again!" Arthur cheered. "Do you really think Elyria will admit to playing a part in the abduction of a noble's guard to save some stableboy?

"You'd have a better chance of my father knowing the names of each and every family member you've just sentenced to death... You tell me the likelihood of that, considering we've already established that he doesn't even know you exist?"

Arthur waited a moment for the man to stew in his thoughts. "Foster, kill him. I'm sure one of the other stable boys will know where his family lives. We'll go take care of them next."

"W-wait! WAIT!" The man screamed as Foster raised the sword.

Arthur raised his good hand and stopped him. "I'm only going to ask this once. So be really sure of your answer before you speak. Who took my guard, and where was he taken to?"

Arthur was already ninety-nine percent sure Elyria was behind it, but he needed to make sure either way. It would also benefit him if he could get the stableboy's confession, as it would make freeing Harkon that much easier.

"It wasn't me, lord! I swear!" The man pleaded as he twisted his body into a kowtow.

"Of course, it wasn't you. Harkon may be young, but he's a fourth-circle mage, and you're just a stableboy." Arthur sucked air through his teeth and shook his head before lowering his hand. "Unfortunately, that wasn't what I asked."

As Foster raised the slim sword again, the skinny man cried out in a hurry. "Wait! It was Merin! It was Merin!"

Arthur raised his hand again and urged the man to continue. "Keep talking."

"S-she gave me a list of names this morning and said that if any came by to accuse them of trying to steal a ruik. I swear, lord! That's all I did, I swear!"

Arthur's eyes lit up at the mention of the familiar name. "Give it to me."

"H-here it is, lord." The man handed Arthur a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket before hastily returning to a kowtow. "Please spare my life."

"I'll go recheck the manor's dungeon." Kyren announced before flying off.

Arthur nodded to Kyren before looking over the list of names. He wasn't surprised to see the twelve personal guards he had been assigned, but even Senna's name was on the list.

Rage boiled within him as Arthur's eyes fell upon her name. As if killing his mother wasn't enough, they were going after his surrogate mother now, too. That crossed his bottom line.

He had been kind enough to let them live a few years longer while he grew, but since Merin wanted to die so badly, he was more than happy to oblige her.

Arthur handed the note to Foster. "Give me the sword, then wait a few minutes before taking him to my father's office. I'll meet you there."

Foster hesitated. "Young master, are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Arthur assured him as he removed the hidden blades from his sleeves. "Throw those in my room before you go."

Removing them caused the wound on his left arm to reopen, resulting in fresh blood trickling down his hand. He didn't cover it up; instead, he let it bleed openly as he made his to the manor's main entrance.

Kyren returned to his side as he arrived. "The kid's down there. He's pretty beaten up, but he's alive."

Arthur nodded, entering the manor where he was met by a maid's cry.

"Ah! Lord Arthur, you're bleeding!" The maid shouted as she hurried to his side.

Arthur smiled and raised his right hand to stop her. "Where's Merin?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The maid tilted her head as if she heard him wrong and gave him a puzzled look. "She should be in the dining hall preparing it for dinner, but—"

"—Thanks!" Arthur shouted out as he ran past her.

"Lord Arthur!" The maid shouted in frustration before running in the opposite direction, likely to inform someone of the situation.

A few manor staff released gasps and shouts as he dashed through the halls, but Arthur ran past them silently until he reached his destination. He caught his breath and entered quietly as a pair of guards turned the corner behind him.

Three servants were within the room, but the moment Arthur entered, his eyes locked onto one in particular. Merin stood with her back facing him, hunched over the elongated table, placing dishes and silverware from a rolling tray beside her.

One of the servants on the other side of the table noticed his entrance and met his eyes, looking confused by his disheveled presence. Arthur unsheathed his sword and charged at Merin as the servant's bewildered expression rapidly transformed into horror.

The servant released a scream, causing Merin to turn around as Arthur reached her. He drove the slim sword forward, piercing her chest in one fluid motion. The momentum of Arthur's thrust knocked the unbalanced woman into the table behind her before she dropped to her knees.

He heard the doors behind him slam open as he looked into Merin's disbelieving eyes. He fought against the pain he felt in his left arm, lifting it up and using it to grab her face before whispering into her ear. "That was for abducting my guard."

"And this—" Arthur twisted the sword as hard as he could. "—is for poisoning my mother."

The nearby servants continued to scream as Arthur released Merin's face and withdrew his sword from her chest. He unhurriedly wiped the blood from his sword using Merin's apron before turning toward the two guards who had entered the room behind him.

They stood in shock with their hands gripping their swords, unsure what to do in such a situation. On the one hand, Arthur had just committed murder before their very eyes, but on the other, he was the Marquis' son.

Arthur sheathed his sword and giggled innocently as if he were caught trying to pull off a prank. "We should probably go see my father, huh?"

When Arthur and his escort arrived, Foster and the stableboy were already waiting outside Edward's office.

"Are you alright, young master?" Foster asked nervously as they approached.

Arthur smiled as the guards knocked and entered through the office door. "Yup! I'll be right out!"

Edward was sitting behind his desk, scribbling away with his quill as if he hadn't moved since Arthur last saw him. He glanced up as if by accident before catching sight of the blood dripping from Arthur's hand. "...You're bleeding on my floor."

Edward sighed before placing the quill beside him and folding his hands on the desk. "What did you do?"

"I killed an Agelian spy who nearly had me killed!" Arthur stated excitedly as if proud of his achievement.

"A spy?" Edward raised one of his eyebrows, anger evident in his expression. "And who might that have been?"

One of the guards stepped forward. "Lord, we heard a scream from the dining hall, and when—"

Edward shot a glare toward the guard. "—Was I speaking to you?"

"F-forgive me, lord." The guard hurriedly apologized and stepped back beside Arthur.

"That servant, Merin," Arthur stated as he grinned from ear to ear.

"An Agelian spy..." Edward let the words float around the room. "If that's the best you could come up with, then perhaps I was mistaken in my assessment of you."

Arthur let loose a cryptic laugh. "I guess word has yet to reach the manor."

Edward squinted his eyes. "What are you—"

—BANG!

The office door slammed open as Elyria stormed inside. "Good! The little monster is already here! Edward, I demand that he be locked away!"

Edward's eyes lazily tracked Elyria as she approached, but he remained silent long after she finished spewing her demands. "Are you done?"

Rage filled Elyria's face. "He butchered my servant! If I told my father about this, he'd have the little monster's head on a spike!"

Edward appeared unfazed, no longer paying Elyria any mind. "What word has yet to reach the manor?"

"Hmm, it's really too shocking." Arthur shrugged. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"He shows you such insolence! Just throw the little monster in the dungeon and be done with it!" Elyria shouted as she stomped her foot into the ground.

Edward's eyelids fluttered as if he were holding back a sudden rage. "No one will forget you are there even if you don't speak, Elyria. So. Be. Silent."