Misfeasor

The Dark Knights of the silver tiger legion, or better known as the Shadow Knights were a subgroup of the Knight Order the Grey family was in charge of.

As their name clearly stated, they worked in the shadows often doing covert mission or doing the more 'dirty' work for the Kingdom and this also included assassinations.

They made up about five percent of the order but even with only five percent of its members, they were a force to be reckon with.

They specialized the most on intel and information gathering, securing the spot for the most proficient networking system in the entire continent.

Donellan didn't utilize them often, expect in dire situations when he needed intel quickly. As soon as Donellan got wind of this situation that was affecting his son's well-being, he quickly alerted the knights to get into action, commanding them to find everything they could on the scarred man. 

Let us go back to two months before this party… 

Donellan had been in his study, catching up on some work that had been pilling up because of his trip to the capital.

With Emille constantly breathing down his neck to get his work done, he finally caved and got to work.

Even if Donellan was the most skilled, intelligent and wildly respected person in the Kingdom, even he hated to do paperwork. But it couldn't be avoided.

As he was working, he felt a presence in his room. He looked to the side, and told the person to show themselves. 

"My lord, as requested, we've fond out the man's identity." He said, without wasting any time.

This man had been working under Donellan for over ten years now. He knew his boss' attitude as well as his likes and dislikes. Hence the reason why he never wasted a single time on idle chatter and got straight to the point. Which Donellan appreciated. 

"As quick as ever Akae." He then gestured for him to continue with his report. 

"Yes my lord. The man we are looking for is Mathias Braunt. Mid thirties used to be a high ranking officer in the military police and later became a mercenary. He formed his own group called the Scarlet Blades. He was later recruited by the Syndicate of Supremacy and has been a member since.

It is not clear what position he holds within the Syndicate, but he was personally recruited by the leader Mithridates Eriksen so it is safe to assume that his position isn't low. As for now, we aren't certain of what his goals are, nor his whereabouts, but we are currently searching for him right now."

Akae finished his report with a bow and stood up-right. Waiting for Donellan to speak. 

Donellan who had been reading the report but was also paying attention to what his knight was saying. He finally looked up at Akae and studied him.

Akae had recently been appointed the new head of the Shadow Knights division at a young age. He was only twenty-six years old, but had already reached such a high level, this only showed his talent in not only leading, but his fighting and networking skills.

Upon looking at the report he had conducted, he was satisfied with his choice in appointing him. With Donellan, he had no restrictions such as age or experience.

If you had the capabilities to lead and to fight, anyone could be chosen. 

This was well known among the knights hence the reason why they worked hard to secure a good position in the ranks.

Of course such a method and philosophy could still lead to problems such as power struggles within the order, but his knights knew better than to start meaningless problems that would only incur Donellan's wrath.

As much as his knights respected and admired him, they also feared him even more. No one was dumb enough to try anything. So when he had appointed Akae although there were many other capable knights in the mix, he knew it was a risk.

Akae also knew this, and did everything he could to gather as much information he could and quickly too. 

"Well done. So he really is a member of the Syndicate. This complicates things a little." Donellan's face darkened a bit.

"I see in the report that there's a link between him and Sylia. So he was close friend's with her father which probably helped him greatly in his promotion… hmm I see, this clears things a little."

Donellan finally looked up at Akae and dismissed him. 

He then called on Emille and discussed the report that was brought to him. Emille suddenly felt extremely distressed, because he knew things weren't going to end well this time.

"I don't think this is something we can rush into without a plan." Emille said quickly. Donellan turned to look at him with a clear look of annoyance on his face. 

"Of course I won't be going in without a plan Emille. Just who do you think I am?!" 

"R-right. I apologize sir. I just think this situation won't be as simple as the usual ones." 

"Naturally. They decided to mess with my son, I won't let this go until the bastard who did this is brought down." 

Since then, the Shadow Knights have been tracking his movements steadily and have been looking into the activities of the Syndicate.

Although they didn't pose a huge threat now, Donellan knew better than to let these "rats" be.

They could quickly end up becoming a problem for him later on, and since they were a resistance group who opposed the King, squashing sooner rather than later would be best.

The knights predicted that he would indeed be attending Johannes Friedrich's coming of age party. Mostly because there was going to be a lot of high ranking nobles that could potently be poached for the Syndicate. 

Back to the present… 

"So that's why you wanted me to attend the party?" I asked while giving Donellan an accusatory look. 

Donellan knowing he was in the wrong still feigned ignorance and simply said. "It was only partly the reason, of course I still wanted you to come and have fun."

He said without an ounce of guilt. 

"Dad, you are the most shameless person I've ever met." I said with a half serious and half joking look on my face.

How dare he use this as a pretence to catch the culprit. 

The knights and others that were around us couldn't help but explode in laughter, not believe the interaction both father and son were having in the middle of a party right now.

The onlookers could only stare in confusion wondering what was happening at the moment. 

Donellan didn't hesitate to give them a look which quickly shut them up.