Tristan pressed the end of a cigarette to his lips.
“Haa…” He sighed while exhaling a puff of smoke.
The basement was filled with cold air.
The Grand Duke of Valentine usually used this place to interrogate suspects or criminals.
He leaned back on a chair and put back the cigarette into his mouth.
The smell of cigar smoke filled the room, and the place became nothing more than a smoke-filled haze.
“So, have any of you ever seen his face?” The Grand Duke said as he pointed to Vincent.
The young lad was paralyzed to the spot, the menacing aura holding him in a tightening grip as he bit his lips out of sheer panic.
There were two men lying flat on the floor in front of all the important people present in the interrogation.
Both of them were prey of the rats.
One was captured by Count Beauport, while the other was captured by the Grand Duke himself.
‘Bloody hell, I can’t believe he actually caught one,’ Count Beauport, who had been watching from the side, thought as he broke into a cold sweat.
Although the man he caught had been proven as an actual prey of the rat, the Grand Duke of Valentine still held many doubts. Thus, Tristan went out of his way to capture one on his own.
And he himself might have even personally gone to the gutter as well.
If the statements of the two prey differ from one another, it will be them, not Vincent, who would be having knives on their throats.
What if they didn’t get their money’s worth?
Count Beauport glanced to his side.
The vassals, including Rosen, shook their heads with resolution in their eyes.
‘Everything should go according to plan.’
All of them smirked.
It seemed that they were sure of their victory.
Seeing their determined expressions, Count Beauport felt a bit relieved and decided to relax his mind.
“If you don’t tell me the truth, I will intercept your master’s hard-earned spices distribution rights.”
“……”
“Still thinking of lying?”
Even after being threatened and tortured, the prey did not talk at all.
The prey’s tongue had already been cut off, it was to prevent them from exposing their masters.
They would only open their mouths if the gutter rats were harmed or killed.
Only then did the prey captured by the Grand Duke opened his mouth.
The Grand Duke threw him a mana stone that enabled him to use telepathy.
—I’ve seen him before.
The prey’s message resonated in everyone’s minds through telepathic magic.
Count Beauport sighed out of relief. He smiled as he began to feel more confident.
On the other hand, Vincent couldn’t help but feel more and more anxious.
“When did you see him?”
—When he was nothing but a mere child. He had a striking appearance. So he had always been famous in the gutter.
Tristan narrowed his eyes.
He suspected that the prey was just spouting nonsense, but he had nothing to benefit from doing so.
Rather, he should know that doing so could only lead to raising the Grand Duke’s anger.
Surely, the prey of the rats wouldn’t be willing to make such a risky decision.
That should have been his last choice if he actually wanted to safely get out of this dilemma.
Tristan was convinced.
Without a doubt, Vincent
Her prophecy became a reality.
The boy gritted his teeth but didn’t say a word.
As his shaking eyes slowly turned dull, he closed his eyes tightly.
Suddenly, the basement door slammed open with a large thud.
“…!”
Someone had just grabbed his hand.
The hand was small and soft.
Startled, Vincent slowly opened his eyes.
In front of him was a girl wearing a cute rabbit mask, her ruby eyes staring deep into his soul.
“Why are you here…” Vincent muttered, confused.
He couldn’t believe it.
The Black Falcons could not forcibly remove Aria’s hand.
However, it would be cumbersome not to violate the order.
“…Refrain yourself from unnecessary contact,” Lloyd said as he took Aria’s hand away from Vincent’s.
He was the one who opened the basement door.
Tristan furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.
He spoke, “I’m sure I told you not to let anyone in.”
Count Beauport joined in.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. Your Highness, I’m afraid you must leave… Of course, I understand that you must be concerned about your younger brother…” he said, staring at Lloyd and Aria alternately with an irked expression.
“Who’s worried about who?” Lloyd snarled as he cut the count’s speech and stared back at his father.
“I am not here because of him.”
“Then, is there anything more important than that?”
If that was not the case, then he would have to pay the price for interrupting such an important moment.
Lloyd silently grabbed Aria’s hand and lifted it into the air.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Aria and to the object she was holding in her hand.
She was holding a branch.
‘…What the? A twig?’
It was dried up and looked like it could crumble in a single hit.
The scribes and the vassals were confused beyond reason.
However, the expressions of the Grand Duke and the Knights changed in an instant.