The Fake Madam Disappeared

Despite the sun having risen, not a single ray of light penetrated the basement, leaving it steeped in darkness.

“Your Excellency.”

In response to Nick’s inquiry, Edmund exhaled the smoke from his cigar and turned his head.

“He still refuses to talk.”

Nick, who had spent the entire night assisting in the interrogation, wiped the sweat from his brow. His face displayed exhaustion with splatters of blood all over him.

“If we keep wasting time like this, we’ll get no information, and that b*st*rd will die first.” Nick groaned, massaging his stiff neck. One of the subordinates who had been assisting in the interrogation spoke cautiously.

“Your Excellency, I think it’s time we use the drugs.”

They had already been impressed by the man’s tenacity, especially after he tried to escape by severing his own leg, but no one had expected him to hold out this long.

“How much longer can he last?”

“At best, an hour. At worst, thirty minutes.”

There wasn’t much time left.

“Administer the drug.”

With Edmund’s approval, the subordinate re-entered the cell. A scream of agony rang out, followed by the subordinate’s return.

“You may enter now.”

Creak—

The rusty door swung open, revealing a man hanging limp, drenched in blood from head to toe. As the subordinate grabbed the man’s hair and yanked his head up, his swollen, bruised and bloodied face was exposed.

Edmund sat down across from him.

“What is your name?” He began with a simple question to check if the drug was working. 

“Why did you come here?” 

“I… don’t have… a name… I came here… to receive… a letter…”  The man answered in a raspy voice, with his teeth missing. 

“Does Marquis Bled know that Daphne disappeared?” 

“He does not…” 

Edmund leaned back, rubbing his face with his hands. Tension drained from his body in an instant. So, Marquis Bled wasn’t aware of Daphne’s disappearance. That meant she hadn’t received his help in escaping. But then another thought struck him.

‘She crossed the North’s border alone?’ 

It was a feat even seasoned residents of the north struggled with. Daphne, a noblewoman raised in luxury, was certainly not equipped for such a task.

Impossible.

“Your Excellency.” 

The subordinate urged Edmund when he suddenly paused the interrogation. Aware of the ticking clock, Edmund swiftly pulled a note from his pocket. Nick squinted at Edmund, surprised to see him ask on something he’d only seen once before.

“This. Did you write this?” Nick asked again. 

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“... N… no…” 

“What’s your role?” 

“I… only deliver… letters…” He was merely a courier. 

“Translate this.” Edmund held the note up, and the man squinted at it. His blood-red eyes barely opened.

“Return soon… The plan is… about to begin… Don’t… make any foolish moves….”

“The plan? What is this plan?”

“For the peace of the world… and eternal rest… Everything follows His will… For the peace of the world… and eternal rest… Everything follows His will….”

The man was like a puppet. He had answered well at first, but now he was stuck on a loop, repeating the same phrases like a broken record.

“A mind-control spell… Vicious.”

The man had clearly been under the influence of this powerful spell for a long time. Any further provocation could cause his brain to rupture.

“Stop. Ask him something else.” Edmund quickly intervened. The man’s eyes, glowing red, gradually dulled, though Edmund didn’t notice the change.

“When did you start exchanging letters?” 

“Five years… ago…” 

Just after he got married. 

“What was the main content of the letters?”

“Only He knows… I don’t….”

Edmund felt a sudden sense of foreboding.

“…Who is He?”

“I can’t say… I can’t say… I can’t say….”

The man trembled, repeating the same phrase over and over again. His eyes darted around the room in terror as if conditioned by fear.

“Stop it!”

“I can’t say! I can’t say! I can’t say!”

The subordinate urged Edmund to halt, but the man’s seizures only grew worse. As foam began to gather at his mouth, the subordinate quickly reached for a syringe.

“I’ll administer more drugs!”

As the syringe pierced his neck, the man calmed down almost immediately. Edmund had grasped the downside of this mind control.

“Is He Marquis Bled?”

Though the man couldn’t give direct answers, Edmund had hoped he could at least manage a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

“… No.”

Edmund was astonished. The letters had come from Bled, but the Marquis wasn’t the mastermind?

“Your Excellency, we’ve already administered two doses of the drug. We don’t have much time left.”

The subordinate urged Edmund again. Edmund’s mind raced. If Marquis Bled wasn’t the one behind this, only one person remained.

“Then, is He Sergei Bled?”

“Yes….”

Sergei Bled. Daphne’s brother and heir to the Bled family.

Edmund froze for a moment. Seregi Bled was imprisoned in Ruvuz Prison, where Nick had once escaped. Ruvuz was no ordinary prison; it held those convicted of crimes against the Imperial Family, and neither wealth nor power had any influence there.

How could Sergei be sending letters from such a place?

“Where is Sergei now?”

“I don’t know… .”

“Is Sergei… . imprisoned in Ruvuz prison?”

“No… .”

Sergei had escaped from Ruvuz. 

This was news to Edmund.

Edmund asked more questions about Sergei, but the man only repeated that he didn’t know or began convulsing again. 

It became clear that Sergei had layered several mind-control spells on himself as a safeguard. The seizures were becoming more frequent, and foam once again gathered at the man’s mouth.

“Your Excellency, time’s up.”

It was the last chance to ask a question.

“…” Edmund hesitated, his lingering doubts gnawing at him.

“Leave.”

The subordinate hesitated.

“But, Your Excellency, he’s still dangerous. What if….”

“Do you think I can’t handle it?”

“No, Your Excellency!”

“Nick, you too. Leave.”

The subordinate exchanged glances with Nick before they both left the room.

Edmund watched the man convulse, blood pouring from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

“…Was Daphne the one exchanging letters with Sergei?”

The man’s mouth moved, but his vocal cords were too stiff to produce sound. Edmund moved closer to hear him. His head hung low, his matted hair obscuring his blood-red eyes.

“It was….”

As Edmund leaned in to listen, their eyes met, and something flashed in the man’s gaze. Sensing danger, Edmund quickly stepped back just as something whizzed past him.

“Your Excellency!” 

BOOM! 

A massive explosion echoed through the room.

Edmund blinked and looked up. The man, whose eyes had glowed red moments ago, was now pinned to the wall, a sword embedded in his skull. Edmund had sensed the danger just in time to dodge, but the proximity had been too close. If the sword hadn’t struck the man’s head first, Edmund would have lost an arm at the very least.

“Your Excellency! Are you alright?”

It was Johann, the one who had thrown the sword. He rushed over.

“I was terrified when I heard they’d administered two doses of the drug… I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner…”

“Enough. We’ve learned what we need.”

The explosion seemed to have been triggered by the overdose. Leaving Johann to clean up the mess, Edmund exited the basement. It was only then that Edmund noticed the sun had risen.  He stood still, gazing at the fresh start of another day. At that moment, someone approached him from behind.

“Alec.”

“Your Excellency.”

It was Alec, panting as though he had been running.. 

“Madam… I found Madam.”

They found Daphne.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Crack. 

A shattered image flickered across the surface of the crystal ball.

“Lord Sergei.”

A servant softly called out to his master, but Sergei simply stared at the broken screen in silence, taking no action. That silence made the servant even more uneasy.

Sergei Bled.

Though the Bled family was on the path to ruin, Sergei was different. Unlike his treasonous father, Sergei had only been an innocent heir. However, he had chosen to take his father’s place in Ruvuz Prison, a gesture that had earned him much admiration.

His cold, blue hair contrasted with his warm and considerate nature, which was well-known in high society. But which child would willingly take on their father’s sins and choose imprisonment? Many were moved by Sergei’s filial piety. The Emperor, touched by Sergei’s plea, had spared his father from a harsher sentence. Still, the Marquis Bled was sent to another prison, while Sergei was confined to Ruvuz. But those who knew Sergei well understood that the public image differed significantly from the reality. 

Even when Sergei smiled, his servant couldn’t shake the tension.

“What do you think that drug was?”

After a long silence, Sergei finally spoke, catching the servant off guard. Momentarily stunned, the servant snapped to attention when their eyes met.

“Ah, that drug… well…” 

Feeling pressured to give an answer, the servant blurted out the first thing that came to mind, but no words followed, as he truly had no idea.

“Why don’t you bring me the person in charge?” Sergei gestured at the broken screen.

Grateful for the opportunity to escape the awkward situation, the servant quickly fetched the person responsible for the deceased. The one in charge was none other than the chief overseer, who was always called ‘Noah’ by his inferiors.

Noah, being in a higher position than the servant, was brought before Sergei.

“Lord Sergei, what did you call me for?” Noah bowed down.