The Duke's Passion

Chapter 669 Jump scare

Meanwhile...

Yulis was walking through the hallway on his way to the inner palace when he saw a kid's shadow turn toward one of the doors. His brows furrowed as he tilted his head to the side.

"Claude?" he muttered, knowing there was only one child in this place and that was Stefan's adopted child, Claude. The son of Lucia and their late eldest brother, Dyrroth. But what was that child doing in the inner palace? Shouldn't he be in the west palace?

Out of plain curiosity and knowing how dangerous the inner palace could be for a child like him, Yulis followed the boy's tracks. Although Claude was a capable child, he was still a child.

"What is Klaus doing?" he wondered, catching the boy's shadow entering the royal library. "Shouldn't he be looking after the child?"

While Yulis was wondering what Klaus was doing to let their nephew out of his sight, he carefully headed towards the library and entered it with caution. For some reason, Yulis wasn't even sure why he was being discreet, but he was already tiptoeing, looking around at the massive royal library.

He wasn't very close to Claude. Actually, the only person who was close to that boy was Klaus. The latter had too much on his time to play with the crown prince, while the rest were too busy surviving in this damned hell. Still, Yulis, who always kept to himself and stayed on the sideline, was still concerned about this young crown prince.

Claude had lost his parents at a young age and he had to live as the son of his parent's murderer. Letting him face another misfortune while no one else was looking was something Yulis couldn't turn a blind eye to.

Yulis looked around the aisle of shelves. His steps barely made a sound, looking from his left to right.

"Where did he go?" he wondered as his forehead creased, arching a brow when he heard fast footsteps. He twisted his neck to where the sound came from, but nothing. His already knitted brows creased even more as he held his breath.

"Your highness?" he called aloud when he couldn't take this hide and seek anymore.

"Hehe..."

Once again, Yulis turned and looked at where the footsteps and giggle came from. All he caught was a shadow in one of the aisles.

"Your Highness, I'm not playing. You shouldn't be in the inner palace. It's dangerous," he said as he followed where he heard the giggle and footsteps, entering the aisle and making his way to the end.

When he turned his head to his left, there was no one.

"Your highness?" he called once again, feeling this sense of dread creep up his spine. Yulis moved forth, checking the next aisle, only to see nothing. There was no one, and silence soon enveloped the entire royal library.

THUD!

Yulis jolted when a book tumbled from the shelf. His eyes fell on the book and then on the shelf where it came from. He held his breath when he realized there was no way it was the wind that caused that book to fall from the shelf. Everything in this place was arranged properly and someone had to pull it out.

'Is someone playing a trick on me?' he speculated as a frown resurface on his face. He closed his eyes to feel if he was under an illusion, and when he reopened his eyes, he cocked his head to the side.

"What's wrong with me?" he mumbled, marching towards the book on the floor and picking it up. "I'd know if someone is trying to play with my head. I don't think Hanz had the audacity to play with me now of all times since Stefan isn't around."

When Yulis picked up the book, he straightened his back and read the book cover. "Huh..." He rocked his read, seeing it was a children's book that he read in passing in the past, but didn't dwell on it. His eyes shifted towards the empty slot just four levels from the lowest section of the shelf. So he still needed to squat to put it back properly.

Yulis clipped his trousers and raised them before he squatted down to put back the book on the shelf. However, the second he raised his eyes at the empty slot, a pair of emerald eyes were looking at him.

"Ah!" he yelled in surprise, jolting back as his heart raced. His blood felt like it shot up to his head, holding his breath as the boy looking at him from the other side of the shelf took him by surprise. Don't mention the build-up tension before he appeared.

Yulis had faced different situations in the past. However, he never thought he would ever get this scared in his life.

"Goodness..." he patted his chest as he gazed at the pair of emerald eyes still looking at him from that tiny gap. "What... you... who are you?"

He narrowed his eyes as he studied the boy. Although all he could see were his eyes, Yulis immediately knew it wasn't Claude. He wasn't close with Claude and barely interacted with him, but he was certain this boy was someone else.

The boy didn't answer and just ran away, catching him off guard once again. When Yulis realized a lost boy had entered the palace, he sprung up to his feet.

"Hey!" he called, thinking this was just a boy an official brought and got lost. But who would do something so stupid as to bring a child into this place? Yulis shrugged at whatever unnecessary thought as he tried to catch the boy.

As soon as he reached the end of the shelf and into the open space of the library, he halted. His eyes fell on the boy, who was standing several feet away from him. Silver hair and emerald eyes... his forehead creased. Except for the color of his eyes, this boy had an uncanny resemblance to someone Yulis knew.

Samael.

"You..." he whispered and tilted his head when the boy smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Uncle," said the boy. "I just came to say hi."

"Huh?" Yulis was baffled, but before he could raise a question of who was this boy and why he was calling him Uncle, he already run away. "Wait—!" but to no avail.

The boy was fast and chasing after him after a second was already enough to tell Yulis a second hesitation was enough for the boy to flee. Looking around, there was no trace of where the boy went, as if he was just a mirage who disappeared without a trace.

"What the...?" Yulis then gaze down at the book he was holding. He then raised his head again and cocked his head. "Uncle? I don't remember having such a nephew, though. How strange... he looked almost exactly like Hell."

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