Chapter 18: The Identity of the Voice
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door of the annex.
Ian lowered the bed sheet he was lifting.
‘Who is it?'
It was incomprehensible.
Clearly, no one had come to this place in the future he had been through. At least not until nightfall.
Then, an unexpected person opened the door and entered.
“Pardon my intrusion, I’m here to help.”
“!”
It was just a servant.
It was also apparently the servant who was standing next to the head butler in the audience room before.
So Ian frowned.
‘Strange. Seeing the Duke’s and the head butler’s nature, there’s no way they will allow a servant to go help me.’
That was true.
The servant looked at the dusty Ian and broke into a smug smile.
‘I knew it, you're struggling alone.’
In fact, the servant was none other than the assassin who came to kill Ian.
He was a ruthless assassin who had been hiding in the impregnable dukedom of Garcia early on.
Of course, it was not easy to infiltrate into the territory of Duke Garcia, although it took a long time for him.
And this time, after hearing the news of Ian's return, he was given a new mission.
[There are rumors going around that there is one more heir to the throne. Be sure to get rid of the royal bloodline that Duke Garcia brought in beforehand.]
It didn't matter if he was really a prince or not.
All that was important was that this little boy was the one brought by Duke Garcia.
‘This kid will surely cause a stir in the succession war.’
The king and other members of the royal family were unaware of the existence of this child yet.
It would never be known unless they continued to spy on Duke Garcia, who had lost his successor candidate.
So, before the king, who trusted Duke Garcia the most, noticed…
‘I have to get rid of him.’
There was hardly any difficulty.
This was the dukedom of Garcia, which had plenty of outstanding knights, but he had confirmed it for sure when he came here.
[Look at them. It’s the knights.]
[Come to think of it, they have training this evening, right? Has it started?]
[As expected, the knights are different.]
Soon the Duke had to go to the capital to prove Ian's legitimacy as a prince.
It would probably be a large-scale event that attracted the attention of the people. Therefore, the operational meeting of the knights for that had begun.
In fact, all the knights in the castle were summoned under the name of the knight commander.
Even Nathan couldn’t defy the commander's order. It was a mandatory summons for Galon as a squad leader as well.
That meant…
‘The prince is alone right now.'
The current prince did not even have a personal attendant.
Not to mention there was no cleaning oil there because of the head butler.
It was definitely dreary for the prince.
He would be cleaning the annex by himself.
‘This is my chance.’
In fact, in the past, Ian had cried and fell asleep on a dusty bed.
If so, there was only one thing for the assassin to do.
Pretending to help clean up, gaining the prince's favor, approaching him, extracting information, and killing him.
‘I was really lucky. If the head butler had not taken a break from being beaten by the Duke, this opportunity would not have fallen into my lap.’
The assassin rechecked the poison in his hand.
This colorless, odorless poison, which was used the most by the First Princess and her guardian, would provide him with the perfect alibi.
This was the best chance to kill someone.
No, he thought it was an opportunity.
“But I don’t need it? I already finished cleaning.”
“?!”
The assassin was shocked.
He thought the prince was bluffing, but it was really all done.
And the assassin was stunned by the sparkling appearance of the annex unlike before.
"What? I'm sure no one has come here."
Ian answered calmly.
"It finished quickly thanks to the knights."
The assassin doubted his ears. What? Who's helping you with what?
“Are you saying that the knights helped with the cleaning? Those proud knights who can’t even do anything other than fighting?”
"Yes. I asked for it. They must have helped me as I am still a child. So, go back.”
When Ian was about to drive the servant out with a heartless voice, the assassin panicked and caught Ian up.
“No, the knights are asking me… for this, and so I’ll help you… finish it!”
Ian tried to shoo the servant away without listening.
It was only natural.
‘Is he the assassin who is going to kill me?”
Ian immediately recognized the assassin.
His facial features were quite unique, and that past experience remained a trauma, so it was a face that was hard to forget.
And Ian also knew the identity of the assassin.
‘He is Duke Lavaltor’s assassin.’
The second duke and a prominent nobleman that was honored by the kingdom together with the Garcia ducal family.
At the same time, he was the natural enemy of Duke Garcia.
‘In fact, the Duke was furious.’
The Duke saved his life, but the damage done to him was immeasurable, so Ian had the urge to kill him right away.
But.
‘I have no reason now.’
If so, the only answer was to kick him out as soon as possible.
If he stayed in the room, the nature of this room would be exposed, so Ian shouldn't have let him in in the first place.
Moreover, he would be killed by this guy at night.
‘If it’s the thing that Karan found, he'll definitely be able to use it, too.'
When Ian kicked the servant out of the room, the assassin trembled in panic.
"Wait… Wait a minute!"
Ian didn't look back despite his shout.
"Then I'll just give you what the Duke has ordered me to and leave."
"What? The Duke?"
When Ian scrunched his forehead, the assassin smirked.
He thought of proceeding with the work right away.
‘If I drag this onany longer, the knights will return soon.’
It was better to deal with him before then.
But it was just then.
“Wow, this is ridiculous. They are sending you now after ignoring us all this time? These crazy people!”
“?!”
The assassin was startled by the voice coming from behind him.
But without a moment to turn his head, a nimble hand flew in.
“If you are going to come, you should have done so sooner! I’m so pissed off you show up only after the cleaning is all done! Are you ignoring the Prince's orders to get out now?!”
He was none other than Nathan.
Fuming with anger, he grabbed the assassin roughly by the collar.
“The cleaning is almost finished, so go right—"
Nathan, who grabbed the servant by the collar, flinched.
It was because the servant tried to free his grabbed collar by twisting Nathan's hand, his eyes flashing menacingly.
It was then the assassin came to realize his mistake.
‘Shit! Without realizing it, I reflexively—!’
Startled by Nathan’s sudden appearance, he almost revealed his original ability.
Nathan also furrowed his eyebrows.
"You…"
"Nathan, what's going on over there?"
“!”
Hearing the voice, the assassin gritted his teeth again.
This was because the voice heard inside the room was none other than Galon.
The assassin was really frustrated by this.
‘Damn it. Haven't these knights gone to the summons yet?'
But he was playing dumb. He wasn't an assassin trained long in the dukedom for nothing after all.
“I-I apologize! I'll leave right away, so please let me go…"
When the assassin bowed politely, Nathan nodded and let go of his hand.
The assassin laughed sheepishly.
"Thank you…ughh!"
The assassin couldn't continue his words as Nathan's fist thrashed his cheek straightaway.
Nathan closed the door with a big smile.
“Yeah, it’s good to go now.”
Bang!
The assassin, who was suddenly kicked out, was dumbfounded.
‘That punk is really!'
But then the door opened again.
Creak!
“!”
Ian popped out behind the open door.
The assassin smiled with joy.
“Prince… you opened…”
"Please clean this on your way back."
Ian smiled brightly as he shoved the tray of food he had finished eating.
And the door was closed once again.
The assassin, who was eventually driven out with a pile of rubbish, gnashed his teeth.
‘I will kill this brat today. For sure.'
After all, after a little while, those stuck-up knights would also be absent for operational training.
That was his chance.
The assassin was shaken by the humiliation he had never experienced during his nearly 20 years of camouflage mission.
At the same time.
"Oho? They're a bunch of funny guys."
Outside the terrace.
There was a young man watching the scene from a huge tree.
The same silver hair as the Duke.
Contrary to his playful smile, his eyes were cold.
A man resembling the appearance of the Duke in his younger days was grinning contently.
***
That day at 9 p.m.
The assassin finished his servant work as usual.
"Then I'll get going now."
And the moment he closed the door to his room as usual.
‘I will not fail this time.’
He threw away his servant facade.
He quickly changed into his assassin outfit and left the accommodation through the emergency exit that had been prepared in advance.
His goal was the abandoned annex.
‘I have already confirmed that the knights who are supposed to protect the prince are going to be in the training ground.'
In fact, half an hour ago, the assassin even confirmed it with his own eyes.
– Prince, we're going to go now because it's time for the meeting. We got an order to participate in the knight training.
– I'll be right back.
– What's wrong with your expression, Galon? No one here can harm the prince. This is the unrivaled Garcia dukedom after all.
Ian also laughed.
– I'm fine. Hurry up and come back.
Now Ian was alone.
A shrewd little boy who couldn't be left alone without any soldiers or attendants.
This mission was almost a breeze.
‘Still, I don’t mind. I will secretly assassinate him so that my identity remains hidden.’
It was then.
[What? You are moving already?]
The assassin turned his head to the voice coming out from his hand.
It was a voice heard through a communication tool.
[Isn't it too early?]
"No, please leave it up to me."
Ian knew it was going to happen at midnight, but the assassin had moved up the time a little.
Seeing the attitude of the knights toward the prince, it was better to hurry.
‘I don't know if this simple job will help much, but I’ll do anything for him.’
He was going to deal with the prince at this time, while the training would be going for a long time.
Usually, they would not return here after training, but he was still anxious.
In the next moment.
The voice disappeared from the communication tool, and the assassin, avoiding people’s eyes, arrived at a remote place in the annex.
And as investigated in advance, he headed to the secret passage through the ceiling.
‘Just in case, I looked into it. That's a relief.'
Creak.
The ceiling was too old. There's a sound every time he moved.
But that wasn't a problem for the assassin.
Shhh.
When the assassin made up his mind, his movements became lighter.
If it's this much, it could pass as the sound of wind brushing past.
No one would have noticed that he was here.
After moving for a while.
‘Gotcha.'
The assassin confirmed Ian’s location from the ceiling.
Ian lay alone in bed while hugging a pillow in his arms. He slept very soundly and his chest movements were also regular.
He must be tired after coming all the way here.
The assassin smirked.
‘All right. I'll take care of him.’
The assassin fished a thread and a jar out of his arms. The thread quickly descended from the ceiling and stretched out toward Ian's mouth.
‘Now all I have to do is pour the poison into the thread and it’s done.'
The moment the assassin sprinkled the poison in his hand.
Whoosh!
“!!”
Something shot toward him who was hiding in the ceiling.
It was an attack aimed at his neck!
‘Damn it! The prince is sleeping, so who is it!’
However, the assassin had no time to panic.
Crunch!
The floor of the ceiling that was holding his weight was broken.
Bang!
"Yes, big catch!"
“!!?”
The assassin was startled by the familiar voice.
He had no choice but to do so.
"See? Am I right?"
It was none other than Nathan who knocked down the assassin.
Even there was Galon next to him!
The assassin couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
‘What the heck, why are they here?'
It was a summons from the Duke, for God’s sake!
It's so important that the knights would get a penalty if they ignore it!
Meanwhile, Nathan met Galon’s eyes and shrugged.
"I knew this would happen, so I kidnapped Galon."
"Tell that to His Excellency."
As they drew their swords, the assassin hastily retreated.
But the real problem wasn't the knights.
“Ughh!”
Something different from the knights' attack pierced the assassin's stomach.
And it was when he couldn’t even tell right away what it was.
“!”
Ian, with eyes wide awake, hit the assassin.
Tuk.
A crystal ball fell from his hand.
It was the communication tool.
Sure enough.
[What's this sound? Hey, did something happen? Have you taken care of that younger brother who came out of nowhere?]
A young man's voice was heard from the communication tool.
And at that voice, the two knights opened their eyes wide. Ian, too, couldn’t help but grin.
‘Ah. I thought you were Duke Lavaltor's assassin. Is he the real culprit?’
This man was not the duke.
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