14 Secret of Azmar Village

"I see, so that's why the two of you came here." The Viscount said upon hearing the reason the Archduke traveled from the capital to the Southern Alynthia. Their conversation bores him until a servant came and talked to the Viscount. 

The expression on the Viscount's face turned sour after hearing what the servant said, "I guess I have to take my leave, your grace. You're free to roam the estate as long as you want." Viscount Wyman said as he bowed to the Archduke and excused himself. 

Sylvester decided to go back to his room to get some rest. Before getting inside, he knocked first to make Titania aware that he was coming in. He didn't want to see her again in her underwear. It wasn't a pleasant view. 

When he opened the door, an empty and quiet room greeted him. There's no trace of the young lady coming back to the room, which made him dubious of the situation. Although he wanted to rest, he chose to look at the next room, but she was also not there. 

Sylvester's forehead creased as he got outside of the room, and there he noticed a servant walking past him. He called up to the said servant and asked if he saw Titania, but the servant just shook his head and stormed out of the Archduke's way. 

This made Sylvester feel uncanny. Although he knew what a troublemaker Titania was, this still feels unnatural. And so, the Archduke decided to go out of the manor to search for the lady. 

He went to the village to see if she was there, but all he saw were people with empty eyes and a gloomy aura. As if they don't eat enough. There must be something going on in the village, is what he thought, but he didn't bother to think deeper about it. 

"Luca!" The Archduke stopped from walking when a young boy blocked his way. Sylvester saw how thin the young boy was, and he had lots of bruises on his arms and legs. He looks like he doesn't take a bath. With his face filled with dirt. 

"I apologize, your grace. This kid is not in his right mind." A woman that looks like she's in her mid-40s said as she pulled the young boy named Luca away from the Archduke. 

"No! Help me, your grace! My mother, they took my mother, and she's still had not come back." Tears filled the eyes of the young boy as he struggled to escape the woman's grasps on his arm. 

Sylvester felt uncertain before, but what happened just confirmed his doubts. 

Sylvester looked at the young boy with his usual cold eyes, making the woman feel scared. "Tell me about it." 

The young boy brought the Archduke to his home. Sylvester saw how messy the home was; it would look like no one lived there anymore. "I apologize for the mess, your grace." The boy said as he cleaned one of the chairs for the Archduke. 

Sylvester's gaze followed the boy as he kept moving and cleaning just for the Archduke to feel comfortable. He noticed how mature this young boy was. 

"You don't have to bother cleaning up. Just tell me the things you want to say." 

Although hesitant, Luca sat down in front of the Archduke as he suppressed his tears. "The Viscount, he took my mother three weeks ago." 

Sylvester raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arm on his chest. "And why did he do that?" 

Luca felt pressure with how intimidating the Archduke looked, "My Father went to the Sherfield city to check the circumstances because the trading got slower." Luca gulped, "He didn't come back. My mother was devastated, and so she couldn't work. And we couldn't pay the taxes." 

Luca began fiddling with his fingers as he sniffs, "They took my mother a week ago, and until today she still hasn't come back." 

The young boy couldn't help but cry out of sadness and frustration. "The other villagers said that I should wait and shouldn't anger the Viscount." 

Sylvester, who continued looking at the boy, felt nothing. He thought that he'd indeed feel bad, but it wasn't like that. As if his emotions were stolen from him, he couldn't feel empathy for the boy that lost his parents at a very young age. 

"But you're different, your grace. I know you're not like them." 

The Archduke winced upon hearing that. 'Am I?' he thought as he watched the boy wipe his tears with the back of his hand. 

Luca smiled and caught Sylvester off guard. He wasn't expecting him to smile after crying. Sylvester felt conflicted; he's not well-acquainted with these feelings. 

Sylvester stood up, "I am not as good as you think." He walked towards the door and was about to go out.

"There's something wrong with their basement! I know my mother is there!" 

That was the last thing he heard from the boy. He didn't want to listen to his complaints; it doesn't concern him is what he thought. Sylvester shook his head to remove unnecessary thoughts as he continued to explore the village to find any kind of clues on where Titania was. But he ends up with nothing. 

Meanwhile, Titania, caught by the mysterious person, was placed inside one of the cells. She's now suffering from the cries of agony that permeate the whole basement. 

She didn't expect it to be that person. "Isn't this like a thriller movie? Where I get killed in the end?" she said to herself. Being alone in a secluded place with only screams and the sound of whip cracking makes her go out of her mind. 

Titania sighs as she sits on the damp floor without minding how dirty it is. "Sylvester would probably kill me if he knew." 

She roamed her vision through the whole cell where she was in to find a way out. But it was utterly hopeless. "How did this happen?" she asked herself as she grunted. Knowing the Archduke's temper, he's probably searching for her now.

"Is it my fault that Titania's too pretty that every man likes her?" she rolled her eyes as she stared at the bars.

"Help!" 

She heard another scream for help; although she knew that covering her ears was useless, she still did it. The continuous sounds of whip-cracking make Titania jumpy as she feels terrible for those receiving those hits. 

Instead of possibly helping them, she ends up becoming one of them. The smell of blood lingers through the dungeon-like basement, making her want to vomit what she ate at the dining table. 

When she was about to give up on the thought of escaping, she noticed something moving from the other cell in front of where she was locked in. "Bonbon!" she exclaimed upon seeing the small orange creature. 

Titania remembered why she ended up exploring the basement; she followed that creature, which led her to where she is currently. "Hey! It's your fault I ended up being locked in here." She caught the creature's attention.

"Help me, please." She begged. 

The little orange creature took a bite of her dress and ran away, "Wait! Don't leave!" Titania groans after it gets out of her sight. She began kicking the bar out of frustration. She couldn't control her annoyance which made her look quite scary. 

The Archduke who got back inside the room laid on the bed. "This is why I don't want to bring that girl." He twisted and turned but ended up looking at the ceiling. 

Astra came into his mind. He thought that he'd surely get a long nagging if he went back without Titania by his side. 

As he was thinking about finding the young lady, he heard a sound coming from the vent. He unsheathed his sword and was ready to cut whatever it was until an orange fox came out of it. 

Sylvester halts upon seeing a tiny piece of cloth in the fox's mouth. His forehead creased as he placed his sword back to the sheath and made a gesture to the fox to come to him. Like what he thought, it is a part of Titania's dress. 

Sylvester looked at the fox with his fierce eyes; he noticed the same demi-human they met on the way there. Since demi-humans could take a human and demon form, it didn't surprise him that much. 

"Lead me to her." 

The little fox ran out of the room, followed by the Archduke. They arrived in front of the door towards the basement. There wasn't a glimpse of suspicion in the Archduke's face because he probably thought that Titania would go even with the sign telling that it's a restricted area. 

"I am sorry, your grace, but you're not allowed in that place." 

Sylvester stopped from opening the door upon hearing a voice behind him. He turned around and immediately dodged a punch coming at him; he chuckled after seeing the face of the servant that lied to him. 

"Where is Titania?" 

The servant smiled, "I apologize, I don't know." 

The Archduke's face turned grim, "Bold of you to lie to me again." The servant didn't wait for Sylvester to react anymore and quickly tried to punch him, but Sylvester evaded his attack and struck the servant in his guts, making him curl up as he fell on the ground. 

Sylvester left the servant and went inside the basement slash dungeon, where he heard those hellish screams. His hand turned into a fist as he rushed to find the young lady. 

"Please help! My son, Luca." The voice he heard made him stop from following the little fox. 

His gaze turned into the person behind bars at his left side; it was a woman. Her arms are covered with blood, she's limping, and her left eye is swollen. Sylvester remembered the young boy's face that pleaded to him to save his mother from the Viscount. 

"Please, my son couldn't cook well. His father is dead; he needs me." The woman pleaded as tears came rushing out of her eyes. Although conflicted, Sylvester decided to postpone his search for Titania. 

"Fox," he called up to the orange creature, "Make sure that girl is safe." He commanded, the fox whose name is given by Titania obeyed the Archduke's command and immediately ran in the direction of the young lady. 

Sylvester turned back to the woman inside the cell, "Move," he said as he unsheathes his sword. 

Sylvester cut the bars as if they were paper and freed the woman. He helped the woman by holding her hand as they walked back up the stairs. 

"Your grace, it seems like there's a bit of problem here."  Sylvester and the woman by his side were blocked as soon as they got back up the stairs. 

The Viscount, whose both hands are at his back, smiled, "I can't just let you go, lad. You should learn your place."

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