<h4>Chapter 4: The Old Duke</h4>


    The way to the duke''s chambers wasn''tplicated. Lyle knew it by heart as he made sure to memorize where to go after he had talked with the servant girl 2 days ago.


    ''Left path, pass by two turns and then turn right at the 3rd turn, continue forward, go left on the next turn, pass by 2 again before turning right at the 3rd one, straight up until the second turn, go left and then straight until reaching the door at the very end.'' Lyle repeated the words in his head as he ran.


    It didn''t take him long before he came to the first turn, he simply continued, passing by the three guards who were on patrol and had turned right. The tenth floor wasn''t like the other floors, it was simr to a maze and had a variety of different rooms on it.


    There was a dining hall where the duke would frequently go to eat with the other higher-ups, they usually met for breakfast and dinner there. There were multiple rooms that were used for, well, less ethical purposes.


    Some were used by the ministers and higher-ups that resided in the castle, and even by the nobles that lived outside the confines of the castle to have ''fun''. They would bring maids, servant girls, and even brothel workers there in order to enjoy them.


    Most of it would end in a harmless fashion, at least physically. There were many servant girls who had their first time in that manner, either with one noble or more. Orgies were also hosted at least weekly, the nobles and ministers would all indulge themselves and rape wasn''t umon.


    The servant girls whose first time was with one person and was consensual could be called lucky as there were many that were raped. Their screams of pain and agony would only work to get the men fired up more and they would usually be held in the room for the whole day and night.


    Even the archmage, a person who was supposed to be above normal people and should have high morals also took part in such things. That was of course kept a secret as the man would usually use his magic to mask his appearance, he still had to keep his reputation in front of the people that simply believed he was employed by the duke solely because of the debt he owed his father.


    The archmage under the young duke''s service was an odd one. He wasn''t a part of the empire, at least not originally. The archmage came to the empire about 10 years ago, back then the empire was still powerful and an archmage of his caliber was not something the empire needed.


    Even today, the archmage that served the young duke was called the weakest of them all, nobody knew where he came from, or what he did to be found in the empire, almost dying of starvation.


    He swore fealty to the empire and was given a title, although barely. He stillmanded great respect from most mages, but when put next to his peers, he was the absolute lowest one.


    There were even some High Mages that had shown greater capabilities than him, slowly making his reputation plummet.


    It was only after the old duke visited the emperor that his situation took a turn for the better. The old duke was for some reason interested in the old archmage and employed his service, whether he truly did that for the archmage, or to gain good grace from the emperor who was spending the crown''s money on the archmage, was unknown.


    The story that followed was a wondrous one for the duke''s only son who was taken as an apprentice by the old man. The duke back then had just received his title and was slowly working on improving hisnd, and forming a personal army.


    He was a general of the empire andmanded great respect from others as he rose to his position alone. He held no titles before and rose to prominence during a great war again a neighboring empire.


    From the ranks of normal soldiers, he distinguished himself with his great strength and talent. By the age of 22, he had already reached the realm of a silver knight, bing one of the youngest in the history of the empire to do so.


    In the following years, the young knight made astonishing feats. He had killed tens of enemies of the same realm as him, led his troops to victory time and time again, and never suffered defeat.


    By the age of 26, he rose to the next rank, broke through a siege of the enemy during a hopeless situation, and took the head of the enemy general. He immediately received the position of vice-general following that.


    Even though he was a vice-general, hemanded more respect than others, even though some of the generals were below him in the eyes of the soldiers.


    It was, however, only when he turned 40 that his truly astonishing feats showed themselves. In a span of a single year, he had won 6 great battles and managed to not only regain the empire''s territory but also conquer some of the territories that the enemy empire held.


    His soldiers worshiped him as a god of war as he fought on the frontlines each time. His valor and strength shook the hearts of the enemy and in the end, the enemy was forced to sign a peace treaty and give more territory to the empire.


    The old duke was given his title and he put a pause on his conquest. He hung his cape and put his sword down until the next time the empire needed him. The other nobles either had respect for him or feared him. None dared to even think of using underhanded methods to suppress him as his bloody appearance at the peace treaty signing was still carved in their minds.


    But after a mere 5 years, tragedy struck. The enemy hadn''t forgotten the humiliation that was brought to them. They conspired with neighboring kingdoms and attacked the old duke when he was called to the capital by the emperor.


    It was said that 10 Titled Knights participated in the battle against the old duke who was a Titled Knight himself. Out of the 10, only 6 were left alive, two of which were heavily wounded.


    The old duke and his wife, however, were killed.


    The young duke took over the mantle of his father and swore revenge, only for that notion to slowly be forgotten as the young boy indulged in riches andfort. The people that once sang praise of the duke now hated and feared the young boy while the empire was attacked by its old enemy and an alliance of kingdoms.


    In the short 5 years that the war took ce, the empire had lost 40% of its territory. The number of soldiers that were killed was in the millions and only after paying a heavy price, were they able to inflict serious damage on the enemy and force them to stop their conquest.


    The situation now was at a stalemate, nobody knew when the war would go full throttle again and who would be the one to strike again.


    As for the young duke, it was as if he had forgotten all that he had said when his father was killed. The talks of revenge slowly died down, he never mentioned his father or mother again and simply stayed in his castle.


    The one thing that the organization that Lyle was part of managed to uncover, however, was the real truth of the matter.


    Why did the enemy manage toy an ambush inside the empire''s territory?


    How did nobody notice them, how did they know where the duke was going to pass through, and why didn''t the duke try to flee and not die a useless death?


    It was all told by a servant girl a couple of weeks ago. There were many theories before, but her statement to an agent of the organization made it clear what had happened.


    The duke''s death was not only nned by the enemy but by his son as well.


    The young man was useless, he had no talent in martial arts like his father, and neither did he have a high affinity for magic. He was bound to live a normal life, he would never inherit the position of duke as he would probably die of old age before his father who was a Titled Knight and could live much longer than normal humans.


    In his anger and jealousy, the young duke plotted with the enemy, together with the archmage, who was actually a person that came from one of the neighboring kingdoms, he slowly started his n years ago.


    With the help of the archmage and the other kingdoms, the young duke poisoned his father. It wasn''t a poison that could kill the duke, and it worked slowly, but over the course of many months and even years, the poison had taken root.


    It was a kind of poison that was untraceable and would not show any difference normally, it was only during battles that it would re up. The duke had lived in peace for a long, he trained and sparred with his men, but never to a point of going all out, which is what the poison needed in order to be activated.


    After the poison was activated, one would not only feel an immense amount of pain, but they would be unable to use mana as effectively as before.


    The servant girl had managed to overhear the conversation the young duke had with some person, the man wore a hood and his identity was unknown, but the contents of their talk made it clear that the young duke had plotted against his father all those years ago.


    It was that conversation that allowed the organization to find out what kind of poison was used and how they poisoned the old duke.


    The servant girl was for some reason not found out by the young duke or the hooded person, but she was still chosen by the duke to service him the next day. She never returned to the agent who was supposed to lead her to safety and have her tell everything to the higher-ups, but her statement to him alone was enough for the empire to allow the organization to assassinate him.


    The organization wasn''t one that simply killed people without care, they had their rules, and one of them was to never kill nobles without any proof of wrongdoing as they didn''t wish to go against the empire and be destroyed.


    The empire didn''t have enough proof to take the young duke in custody, so they could only deal with him this way. Any that helped the young man out would be arrested after his death as there was already a squadron of soldiers outside of the city, waiting for the duke''s death so that they could enter the city under the guise of investigating what happened.


    They would not investigate, however, but collect proof of what had happened so that they could get all the traitors in one fell swoop.