"Father...no, my lord, I will follow you all the way into the world in order to make you happy!"

It was for this very reason that a few years ago, I had decided to espouse Umarth's cause. He was not afraid like Galadon or like Arvedui -- no, he was brave, magnificent and magnanimous, always putting his people first. Yes, this was the kind of man I wanted to serve and for whom I would die!

"Good!" Umarth replied, who judging by his face, seemed satisfied with my reaction;

"Now listen to me carefully: catch Elaine now is very dangerous: If Elaine stayed with the man who rescued her, which is very likely, then it would be dangerous to go after her, since it cannot be ruled out that the man has contacts with the higher ups. Elaine knows everything about our plan and what we have done, so it is likely that the Republic of Mykotos knows everything by now..."

"... And that's a problem right?" I said to Umarth, looking down and realizing what my failure had entailed;

"Well... maybe" Umarth said, in a calm voice, giving a slight smile – "You see, as I said before, it's possible that this Ron has connections with politicians who work closely with the capital. But at the same time, it's been more than a week since you came back to Lorien, and if Elaine had revealed everything, I don't think the two of us would be here talking today. So it may be that Elaine didn't say anything, or that Ron has no interest in getting involved, judging by the fact that he let you go.... So, at least for the time being, it's best to let Elaine go for a while and use Plan B...." Umarth concluded, with a serene face, almost satisfied with what he had just said;

At that moment, I wondered what the plan B was, since he never told to me about a plan B; I wanted to ask him, but I had the distinct feeling that if he wanted to make me a part of this plan B, he would tell me without any problems; so I decided to stay in ignorance, thus avoiding that Umarth could lose his temper;

"So now? What's the next move, my lord?"

"I was hoping you would ask me! in fact, I had in mind to entrust you with a very important mission, much more important than capturing that little girl: I want you to go to the "Slum Kingdom" to recover something that belongs to me."

Hearing that name, a kind of gasp came to my heart; I was ready for anything to satisfy him, but set foot in that foolish kingodm was something I hadn't taken into account in the slightest!

Umarth in the meantime closed the black book he was holding in his hand, and then threw it at me;

"Do you see that book I gave you? Well, that book should enclose the history and secrets of our people."

"W-What?! Then this is..."

"That's right. That book is "Valde Orum"... Or rather, that's what that fool of your biological father tried to make us believe."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You see, that book you keep now is a semi-fake; much of the things that are written inside are true, but one detail is completely false, a detail of great importance concerning the death of Eledwen and the birth of the three houses... For years, the Blueheaven and my father have kept this "little" detail hidden, and only when I discovered the truth, that that coward of your father, Arvedui, ordered someone very familiar to you to hide the real book, taking it with him right into the Slum-Kingdom, away from prying eyes..."

"...Someone familiar to me?" I asked Umarth; I thought that besides Elaine, there were no other members still alive, who the hell was he talking about then?

Umarth gave a small smile, and pointed with his index finger to the book he had just thrown at me; I looked at the book, and I noticed that there was a photo that protruding; I took out that photo, and I immediately noticed that photo portrayed a person; it didn't take me long to understand who the person was, making my blood boil with anger; how could I forget the face of the one who since I was little, did everything to make my life hell?

"S-So.. you are telling me that this prick is still alive?!" I said in a trembling voice, forcefully tearing the photo in two.

"Heh, I was surprised too... I have to admit it, your father was smart like the devil..."

As he spoke in a calm voice, Umarth approached me, pulling out of his pocket a small glass ampoule, containing a strange pitch-black liquid;

"Listen to me carefully: don't let your "trauma" stop you from failing this mission, because this time I won't be magnanimous; I want you to now take the first ferry available to the Slum; once there you will look for your grandfather and make sure you find him. I'm sure he will be wary of seeing you there, so do everything to make sure you can get into his graces, and once you can find the real book, use this poison to kill him. I repeat, if you fail this time too--!"

"I won't fail." I said with a resentful voice, taking Umarth by surprise, but he didn't seem angry about it, on the contrary, he seemed almost amused to see me like this; When my biological father said his father died, I was very happy about it, because that man, more than any other living being, deserved to die for what he had made me go through.

"I see you determined" – said Umarth smugly, who turned around and then headed to the large window of his room – "Then I won't hold you any further. Don't let me down, my son..."

"At your orders, my lord..." I said in a firm voice, and then got up and headed for my room: at that moment, I was like a machine without any emotion, ready to carry out any kind of order; the hatred I felt for those two earthlings and for Elaine had gone into the background, since at this moment, the fate had given me the opportunity to balance my past, I would not miss such an opportunity, for nothing in the world;

[I'm coming to get you, damn Blueheaven!]

*End of Rudolf's P.O.V.*

------

Umarth observed the beautiful landscape in front of him, thinking of everything that had happened in recent years, and that they had brought him here, in the room that once belonged to his father, although for him, it was but a mere pebble in his street.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

He was satisfied with what he had managed to achieve in such a short time, and he was satisfied to see that everything was proceeding smoothly, although the Elaine case was still open; he really wanted to recover Elaine right away, but due to Rudolf's continuous failures, he was forced to use the "B" plan, although he hoped to use this plan for other matters; he was not so happy to show his terrible ace up his sleeve, but at the very least, further trouble would have been avoided.

But this small inconvenience, for Umarth, was not serious, as he, in his future, saw nothing but the conquest of all of Earthland.

"...You sure that you can trust that guy?"

Suddenly, a female voice interrupted Umarth's thoughts;

"Oh, I forgot about your presence in the room..." said the patriarch of the Darksold who, turning around, looked at a point in the room where apparently no one was there.

“Apparently,” because a few moments later a woman's body slowly began to appear, which was entirely covered by a purple robe, with her face half covered by the huge hood placed over her head hiding her eyes and nose, while leaving the other half of her face in view, thus showing her chin, lips and dark orange curly hair;

"I don't understand why you didn't kill him..." said the woman crossing her arms, with a tone of voice that showed a little of her disappointment with Umarth's behavior, who in response gave her a small smile;

"Well... Your job was to check if he was lying, right? So I believe that the fact that you didn't say or do anything, means there's no need to worry, he's not a traitor..."

"That's not the point... the thing is that although he didn't lie, it doesn't seem reliable to me."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about this..." - replied the man, while in his face, an evil smile appeared – "Once he completes this mission, you'll see that he will change... I'm sure."

"How do you say that?" Said the woman, rather skeptical about what Umarth said;

"You see, he's like me: I too, before becoming the man you know today, i didn't really know what to do: I didn't know if I was really ready to cut off all the relationships with my family, in order to realize my dreams of conquest. He is in a similar situation, that is, his subconscious does not allow him to do what he has to do: but once he kills his grandfather... then he will become like me! A machine of destruction!"

The woman, watching Umarth laugh out loud, she realized two things: the first, was that in truth he didn't care about Rudolf: he put him in complicated situations just for the sake of seeing how far the boy would push, and in the case, hold him by his side, since he would eventually find in Rudolf the perfect gallop ready to do anything; second, while Umarth spoke, she realized that the man in front of her was more dangerous than she could actually imagine, and that perhaps, her "boss" had hurt to trust such a dangerous man and calculator.

[This man... He's too dangerous...] thought the woman with a cool mind; in Umarth, the mysterious woman saw a threat that, if not stopped immediately, in the not-too-distant future would undermine the stability of her boss.

In those moments of apparent calm, the woman contemplated the idea of killing Umarth immediately, and in all likelihood, she would be able to take him out without too much difficulty. But it was not her place to make this decision, which would undoubtedly ruin her boss's business; therefore, she reluctantly abandoned the idea of killing him, although she would certainly report to her boss.

"Anywhat... what's so special about that book you're looking for? If you want, we can get it back..." said the woman, intrigued by the task that Umarth entrusted to Elaine's brother;

"Hey... You don't want to know, believe me..."

Suddenly, Umarth released his murderous aura, trying to scare the woman; to his surprise, however, the woman was not intimidated, practically ignoring the danger coming from the man

"... You from the Slum are dangerous people..." - Umarth said with a sinister grin, slightly surprised that the woman was not upset by such a reaction - "Anyway, these are not things that concern you, woman. Let's say it's a matter of 'family'...

[BS...] The woman thought; The woman understood that there must be some kind of spell in that book, since Umarth had told Rudolf that thanks to that book, he would get closer and closer to his dream. This or... something even more dangerous.

But then the woman thought deeply about what she heard Umarth say, and she realized that if the man really did not want her or her organization to stick their noses into the book business, then Umarth would be very careful not to talk about it in front of her; Umarth was a strange man, too unpredictable and dangerous, and at that moment she could not understand what was going through his mind.

[Maybe... the book is just a way to distract us to his real goal?] The woman thought, beginning to believe that the book, perhaps, didn't really contain anything interesting.

"Well, i'm off, then." said the woman, who at that moment, knew she had a lot to discuss with her boss, once she returned to the Slum-Kingdom;

"Open the portal."

Suddenly, in the middle of the room, a huge space-temporal fracture appeared, which gave off an icy cold air and emitted an annoying reddish light;

"Before leaving..." - said Umarth, thus stopping the woman, who already had a foot inside the portal – "When will you finish with that little "commission"? You know, I have to retrieve a lost sheep..."

"It will take months." said the woman, understanding what the man was referring to – "It's a difficult process to complete, but our doctor is the best of all Earthland...So, we'll let you know." Concluded the woman, who once she passed through the portal, disappeared into thin air, just as she had appeared

"Months, huh?" Umarth said snorting, throwing himself on the ground; he hoped he could have them a little earlier, but he wasn't in a rush: he wanted to create that sense of security in the mind of the girl, he wanted to make her believe that she was safe by now...

And only at the most opportune time, that he would catch her without her being able to do anything about it....

"Elaine... you are mine!" exclaimed Umarth, with a smile that would make even the devil shudder....

END OF CHAPTER 16 – Ambition and Vengeance