Chapter 106

‘Thud.’  

Someone pushed Lucas from behind. Trembling with fear, Lucas glanced back and opened his quivering lips.  

“Aitor. Please… open the door.”  

Hearing Lucas’s voice, Louis and his group exchanged quick glances.  

The person who should have already crossed the gate to the Empire with Vivian was now standing outside the door.  

Seeing the rapidly hardening expressions of the four people, Aitor hurriedly unlocked the door. As he slowly opened it, Robert Fame, the leader of Inferna, appeared behind Lucas.  

“Oh dear… You seem quite surprised.”  

Noticing Aitor’s shocked expression, Robert furrowed his brows slightly, as if disappointed, and gave Lucas a small push on the back.  

Lucas stumbled helplessly into the room.  

Passing the frozen Aitor, Robert stepped inside. Following behind him were a woman who was always by his side and a tall, slender man.  

“I greet His Highness the Crown Prince of the Empire. I am Robert Fame, the leader of Inferna.”  

Robert Fame greeted Louis with impeccable courtesy, a brazen smile on his face. Even as Louis’s sharp gaze bore down on him, Robert spoke calmly.  

“To think that His Highness the Crown Prince of the Empire would be in such a shabby place… I am at a loss for words. If I had been informed in advance, I would have prepared a better room to receive you instead of this one.”  

Louis stared at Robert for a moment before smoothly sheathing the sword in his hand.  

As Louis withdrew his sword, Robert raised and lowered his eyebrows as if satisfied, flashing a polished smile.  

“Where is Vivian?”  

Louis asked bluntly. At this, Robert widened his eyes as though surprised before letting out a small laugh.  

“How insolent!”  

Rayden took a step toward Robert, but the man standing behind him quickly drew his sword and stepped in front of Robert.  

Although their swords didn’t clash, an intense energy surged between Rayden and the man following Robert.  

“If a famous knight of the Empire and Jackson, a mercenary notorious for his ruthlessness, were to clash here, wouldn’t that cause quite the commotion?”  

Robert asked Louis.  

The tension in the air of the last room on the right of the third floor was razor-sharp. The atmosphere was so taut that it was hard for anyone to breathe.  

Louis broke the silence, calling out to Rayden.  

“Stand down, Rayden.”  

“Your Highness!”  

When Rayden gripped his sword tighter, refusing to back down, Duke Tereon stepped forward.  

“Commander Rayden. For now, obey His Higheness’ wishes.”  

With even Duke Tereon stepping in, Rayden glared at the man called Jackson before clicking his tongue and lowering his sword. As Rayden stepped back, Jackson quickly withdrew his aura and retreated behind Robert.  

“They say you’re as cold and calculating as Emperor Henry. It seems the rumors are true.”  

Louis, who had been heading toward the chair he had moved earlier to talk to Aitor, stopped in his tracks.  

Seeing Robert’s smirking face, Louis let out a brief chuckle, sat in the chair, and slowly crossed his legs.  

Robert’s expression stiffened momentarily at Louis’s relaxed demeanor, but he quickly erased it and signaled to the woman with a glance.  

The woman pulled a magical device capable of displaying images from the bag she was carrying.  

She placed the device on the small table in the hotel room. With a soft humming sound, the device projected an image.  

“Vivian!”  

The woman in the image had her knees pulled up and her head buried in them. Although her face was not visible, everyone in the hotel room immediately recognized the small figure as Vivian.  

Seeing Vivian, Duke Tereon clenched his teeth. His expression was on the verge of losing control, and Robert Fame adjusted the magical device.  

“What have you done to my daughter?!”  

The situation escalated in an instant.  

The moment Robert removed his hand from the device, Duke Tereon grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Jackson quickly pointed his sword at Duke Tereon’s neck.  

As Jackson aimed his sword at Duke Tereon, Rayden leapt at Jackson, while the woman who had accompanied Robert aimed another magical device at Louis’s head.  

In response, Aitor and Teresa also assumed combat stances toward the woman.  

“Jackson. Stand down.”  

Even as his face turned red from being grabbed by the collar, Robert continued to smile. This only made Duke Tereon press him harder against the wall.  

“If I were to die here, you’d never find the lady again. Surely you wouldn’t make such a foolish choice. So, Jackson. Stand down.”  

Duke Tereon’s brown eyes, burning with rage, wavered violently. Seeing this, Robert smirked and raised his eyebrows, urging Jackson to lower his weapon.  

Jackson scowled, clearly displeased, but withdrew his sword. The woman aiming at Louis also lowered her arm.  

“D*mn it!”  

Duke Tereon released Robert with a growl and slammed his fist against the wall.  

The loud bang echoed through the room as Robert exaggeratedly widened his eyes. Fixing his wrinkled shirt, he whistled softly.  

“The rumors about the man of steel weren’t unfounded.”  

Glancing briefly at the cracked wall, Robert approached Louis, who remained seated in his chair, unmoving.  

“Your first deal with Inferna. What do you think?”  

Robert asked Louis with a friendly smile.  

***

The cramped space of Teresa’s laboratory felt even smaller with four large men and one shorter man inside.  

“Hey! Don’t touch that carelessly. Ugh! I told you to stay still.”  

Rayden had to hunch his neck as magical devices hanging from the ceiling kept hitting his head whenever he moved.  

Before Teresa could explode, Lucas, using his small frame, darted around to create enough space for Louis and the others to sit. Once the men finally settled into their seats, Teresa sighed deeply and grabbed her head.  

“Everything’s such a mess. Seriously.”  

Hearing Teresa’s words, Lucas flinched and lowered his head in apology, but Duke Tereon shook his head.  

Duke Tereon had changed completely in a short time. His gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s before a hunt, and even the air around him felt razor-sharp.  

“Given the circumstances, escaping Palterno with Vivian would have been impossible. Don’t blame yourself. What matters now is figuring out how to resolve this situation.”  

Duke Tereon was right. This was no time for self-reproach; they needed to think of a solution.  

However, no one in Teresa’s cramped laboratory could easily speak. The faint clinking of magic stones colliding was the only sound, a reminder that time hadn’t stopped.  

“The terms they’ve proposed are absolutely unacceptable.”  

Rayden cautiously broke the silence.  

The condition presented by the leader of Inferna was simple:  

To exchange Lady Vivian Dinever for Luideos Lindez Tapeullon as a hostage.  

“Calling that a deal is…”  

Teresa trailed off, swallowing her curse as she noticed Louis’s hands. His tightly clenched hands were so tense that his nails had dug into his skin, leaving deep marks and drawing blood.  

She got up and began rummaging through the cramped space, searching for something. After a while, Teresa found what she was looking for and shuffled back to Louis.  

“Apply this. It won’t work like magic, but it’s effective.”  

Lucas, who had been sitting with his head bowed in guilt, suddenly looked up. Only then did the others notice the wounds on Louis’s hands.  

“I-I can heal it with magic right away…”  

“There’s no need for magic for something like this.”  

Louis waved off the suggestion and opened the lid of the ointment Teresa handed him. As he applied the sticky ointment to his hand, Louis slowly began to speak.  

“If I were to become their hostage, what would they demand from the Empire?”  

“Your Highness!”  

Rayden shot to his feet at Louis’s words, causing the magical devices hanging from the ceiling to clatter noisily as they hit his head.  

“There’s no need to get worked up. I’m not saying I’ll become a hostage. I just want to understand their motives.”  

Rayden reluctantly sat back down, still looking unconvinced.  

“They’re likely aiming to pressure the Emperor.”  

Duke Tereon spoke while glancing at Louis’s hand.  

Louis closed the ointment lid and stared absentmindedly at his sticky fingers.  

“To pressure the Emperor…”  

Louis trailed off, slowly lifting his gaze. His golden eyes, darker than ever, made Rayden’s throat tighten.  

“If they were to install an anti-Imperial figure as the Mage Tower Master and take His Highness the Crown Prince as a hostage, the Empire would undoubtedly be cornered. They’d overturn agreements and rewrite them to suit their agenda. The worst-case scenario would be deposing the Emperor, but that’s highly unlikely. Ultimately, it would lead to war.”  

As Duke Tereon spoke, Louis nodded slowly.  

At that moment, Teresa quietly raised her hand. When Louis and Tereon looked at her, she crossed her arms with a troubled expression.  

“I don’t think Inferna wants to take the Crown Prince hostage just for that reason…”  

“What do you mean?”  

Duke Tereon asked.  

“Inferna may be an organization of mages, but they don’t necessarily act in the Mage Tower’s interest. They exist solely for their own benefit…”  

Teresa trailed off, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. At that moment, Aitor, who had been deep in thought, spoke.  

“Their interests may not align with the anti-Imperial faction.”  

Everyone turned their attention to Aitor.  

“Marquis Cloak mentioned something. He said Robert Fame was once an imperial citizen. Someone close to the Imperial Family.”  

Rayden and Louis exchanged glances. They searched their memories for information about Robert Fame being connected to the Imperial Family but found nothing.  

“Could he have ties to His Majesty the Emperor?”  

If Robert Fame was once connected to the Emperor, his motives might differ from those of the anti-Imperial mages.  

“In that case, if we capture Marquis Cloak and force him to talk…”  

“Marquis Cloak is being thoroughly protected by Inferna and the anti-Imperial mages.”  

Aitor interrupted Teresa.  

This was all because of him. His father’s death was tied to the Emperor, not Louis or Vivian. They had done nothing wrong.  

He had been blinded by revenge.  

He had fallen for Robert Fame’s whispers and pushed Louis, Vivian, Rayden, and Tereon, who had trusted him, to the edge of a cliff.  

He recalled Vivian’s radiant smile, as bright as the flowers blooming in spring.  

He needed to think. He needed to find a way to save Vivian.  

At that moment.  

“Uh…”  

Lucas, who had been sitting in the corner, weighed down by guilt and shame, finally spoke. As everyone’s attention turned to him, Lucas fidgeted nervously and pulled something out of his pocket.  

“Would this… help?”