Adrienne's story - III

'"This is...?"

After interrogating the man, Adrienne managed to get out some precious information about the culprit. Along with the details, the man handed him a few items within a bag that were sent to them by the person who had hired them.

An empty pouch tied with a golden-coloured shiny thread, an envelope with a red stamp on it, and a vial that once contained lethal poison. Adrienne knew how costly and precious each one of those was.

He stared at the golden thread and the red stamp. He couldn't bring himself to believe what he was seeing. Those were the items that looked identical for some reason.

The stamp was something only the nobility used. Since he was unfamiliar with most stuff related to nobles, there wasn't any way for him to identify to whom it belonged.

Maybe if it held any letters within it, he could've found a clue or two. But, sadly, there was nothing inside the envelope. Buying poison was almost impossible since it was prohibited by the law. That meant it was someone from a higher class of nobles.

'Just who?'

Adrienne couldn't figure it out on his own. He had already wasted three months just roaming around the city in hopes of finding information. There was no more time to let go in vain.

At that moment, something flew along with the wind and stuck itself on his face. It was his luck that he had managed to get his hand on the piece of paper. The bold font of the words on it became clear to him.

-HIRING WORKERS FOR THE CROWN PRINCE'S CASTLE

It was a coincidence that he found it...? No. It wasn't.

From a distance, a small person watched over Adrienne while standing on the roof of a building. Their entire body was wrapped under the cloak and a mask, and then that child vanished when Adrienne picked up the parchment.

"There might be a way..."

He grabbed the piece of paper, making it crumble within his fists. Though it was a risky one, he couldn't think of any way other than this.

Infiltrating the castle, Adrienne spent two weeks preparing himself. The first thing he needed to do was change his hair and eyes' colour.

The red-coloured wig he managed to get using the thugs covered Adrienne's black hair. To hide his eyes, Adrienne had to go through some adversity.

There existed a rare, unique herb that would let one brew a potion that was able to change the colour of the iris. He had to sneak out of the kingdom to obtain it from the southern part, where it originally grew.

Adrienne had no alchemy skills, but he knew how to brew that single potion. Sierra, who had expected a situation where he would need to disguise himself, taught him how to do so.

Finally, it was time for him to infiltrate his own home like a spy. Adrienne had steeled himself for whatever would come in his way going forward.

He went up to the castle along with the people who had come to apply for the posts. Thanks to the clothes the thugs gave him, he looked like a regular commoner.

Everything went well, and Adrienne managed to enter the castle. He had succeeded in the first half of his plan. The next step was something ridiculous.

A few days were spent by him learning about his work. And after a total of twenty days, he was able to see the people he had wished to see for a long time.

Her blonde hair was still glistening, like it did five years ago. The woman's emerald green eyes had the charisma that could attract others.

The two males with caramel brown hair had cheerful smiles on their lips. The young boy's green eyes had joy filling them. Adrienne had never seen the boy before, but it was obvious who it was.

They were sitting by the dining table, and he could see them clearly being well. His sharp gaze fixed itself on them as he moved forward.

The potion he was using to hide his eyes' true colour had been finished a day ago. If it was not used within twenty-four hours, the iris would go back to its original colour.

He slowly threw aside the wig, which made his black hair visible to everyone. The emperor and the empress shuddered at witnessing the ominous colour that they had loathed for so long.

The dull black eyes, along with a calm smile on his face, made the two get goosebumps. Before Adrienne could say a word, the emperor's sound resonated throughout the dining hall.

"IT'S A SPY! GUARDS, CAPTURE HIM!"

The emperor was a cunning man who had plotted his own brother's death. The words that fit well with the current situation made everyone trust him deeply.

The royal guards were pointing spears at Adrienne's neck the very next moment. His lips were left gaping at the sight he never wished to see.

'Huh...? Why...?'

He couldn't understand it. They were the very people he thought had cared for him. He was hoping for them to search for him relentlessly when he went missing.

But what did he get in return? They announced him to be dead without even giving any definite proof. And now the guards threw him into the underground prison.

His hopes had come crashing down. His dull eyes didn't show a bit of resistance when he was being pulled towards the place where they kept the worst of the criminals.

From the public, the features and anything related to the prince, who had died five years ago, were kept hidden. He stumbled upon these details in the past 3 months he spent in the kingdom.

If he had gone to the castle and introduced himself as that very prince, he would've been arrested without even getting a chance to meet his parents. That was the reason he thought of an absurd plan with nothing to lose for himself.

Had he used his mana, he would've successfully escaped without any scratches. But here he was, sitting on the ground with his hands tied up in iron chains above his head.

'How much time has passed by now...? When will they come...?'

All steps of his plan had been executed without failure until then. Now it was time to put an end to his plan. Adrienne awaited their arrival eagerly.

He had no idea how many hours he was being kept in prison. The only thing he knew was that he needed to meet them to resolve the misunderstanding.

Soon, the sounds fell on his ears. The voice he remembered was something precious to him.

"P-please don't be harsh on him."

The woman spoke. He couldn't figure out why she was reacting as she did when they met earlier.

"What a saint our empress is... To even worry about a spy..."

Not a single person in the kingdom had any idea about this couple's true faces. They simply praised them as if it were the truth.

----------------

"Can you let us have a proper talk with that spy?"

Calan asked the guards while pulling Emilia close to him with a worried expression. This was all a farce; as usual, they had put up after coming across the person they had tried to kill.

The guards didn't waste a single moment and just left them alone. There were no worries since all the prisoners were tied down by iron chains.

The two turned around with a grim look on their faces. They were doubting whatever was happening at the moment. How could a person they declared to be dead after killing him still be alive?

They slowly opened the gate to that chamber filled with darkness. It was already nighttime, and the place had very few candles burning.

'I-it must be a misunderstanding...'

Adrienne thought as the creaking sounds fell on his ears. But then, no words came out of Adrienne's mouth, seeing the irritated expression of the person he wanted to meet.

He was about to speak the next moment when a throbbing pain spread to his shoulders. The sound was heard clearly in that silent place.

Thamp thamp

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!"

Emilia kicked his shoulder brutally without taking a break. Calan only watched her do so from the sidelines. He had a smile on his lips from the amusement he was feeling.

They were certain that it was Adrienne, seeing how he had the familiar features. What they were expecting from him was that he had come for revenge.

If they had known that he had no idea who tried to kill him, then maybe they would've been able to fool him somehow. But no, they were making a huge mistake.

Adrienne bit his lips while enduring the kicks. He never whimpered, not even for a second, from the pain, but just kept on holding on like that.

"YOUR MOTHER DIED EASILY UNLIKE YOU-!"

His eyes shook at those words. He couldn't comprehend the meaning of what she had just said. It was said that she died from excessive loss of blood after giving birth to Adrienne.

Seeing his eyes tremble from confusion, a smirk formed on her face. This wasn't something Adrienne had a clue about. She spoke while laughing hysterically, like some maniac.

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW? WE KILLED HER, BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, YOU SURVIVED THE SAME POISON-"

When he was stabbed with a sword five years ago, he could feel a burning sensation throughout his body. That was because of the poison that had been applied to the sword used on him.

Adrienne stared at the floor with no sound audible to his ears. He couldn't believe what he was hearing at the moment.

The darkness clouded his vision momentarily. He couldn't feel anything aside from an unsettling rage when the words slid down his ears.

"DON'T WORRY. YOUR FATHER'S DEATH WAS ALSO OUR DOING! WE POISONED HIM TO DEATH JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER!"

The truth that had been hidden from him for so long had finally been revealed. The butler's uniform he had been wearing had turned brown from the stamps on her feet.

After a few moments, the kicking came to a halt, along with slight movements in Adrienne's body. Looking at the lifeless boy lying there, they smiled one last time before turning around to walk away.

They didn't say a word after venting out their frustration on the boy's body. But they didn't know a few things about Adrienne, who had returned after five years alive.

Clank clank clank

The chains that shackled his hands melted down as the temperature around him increased. The black glow of light spread within the room, illuminating the surroundings.

"Why...?"

His cold voice had become dry, with no emotions left in it. The two couldn't move their bodies despite wanting to because of the fear that was being instilled in their hearts.

The black flames spread across the underground prison in very little time. Adrienne's right eye glowed golden, making the veins around it pop out.

The two people that he had deemed to be his enemies turned their necks around while trembling with fear. Without even realising it, Adrienne was letting out intense bloodlust towards the two.

There were countless legends about the royal families of every kingdom on the continent. One legend said that they had received the power of dragons, while another said that they were dragons themselves.

The kingdom to which Adrienne's mother belonged was a place where it was said that a certain dragon had shared his own blood with the founder of the kingdom. That dragon was infamous for being ruthless to his enemies and kindest to his allies.

The reason Adrienne hadn't inherited a single feature of the Agustus Royal family was because the blood of the very dragon ran through his body. And at that time, it was gushing throughout at such a speed that Adrienne ended up losing his mind.

He was going through a mana deviation. The mixed emotions of grief, sadness, regret, and anger he was feeling made his mana run berserk.

The death was about to approach the two fools who had triggered the wrath of such a being that they shouldn't have even dared to touch. They could see madness engulfing Adrienne's eyes.

'What is this...?'

Adrienne could think straight before a minute passed by. He was still undergoing mana deviation, but his sense of thinking was still intact. This was possible because of certain reasons that even he wasn't aware of.

Naming ancient deities was considered taboo for a reason. By breaking it, he had managed to get some of Sierra's powers for himself. But that was along with the power of a dragon contained within the restrictions placed on her.

The affinity for attributes that he had no idea about had become clear to him. The black flames that devoured everything in their way made him realise this. He laughed loudly like a maniac.

"I AM THE DARKNESS ITSELF! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Tears flowed from his right eye as he continued to walk towards his enemies. He laughed at himself as if he were a pathetic being. He had only one question on his mind.

"Why did you both do that all...?"