Chaos in the Lombardi mansion

Duke Brohm Lombardi did not know what to do, walking side to side in his spacious office while waiting for the orders he had given to be fully carried out. However, some doubt plagued his heart.

—"That hooded man, spoke as if he knew very well our family situation... Simply, his instructions were too exact." The Duke could not trust the words he had heard from his prisoner, so there was a certain tinge of displeasure in his expression.

After some reflection, he finally stopped his steps to observe the courtyard from the window of his office. In the distance all his servants could be seen running back and forth, making preparations for the Duke's announcement.

After some reflection, he finally stopped his steps to observe the courtyard from the window of his office. In the distance all his servants could be seen running back and forth, making preparations for his announcement.

All the servants seemed to be in a state of clearly visible anxiety, for at the very moment when the news concerning the Duke's giving an important announcement was broadcast, almost immediately, Rumors had begun to circulate that the future heir of the Lombardi house would be appointed at that time.

The duke simply watched that scene with discomfort, as he thought whether to follow his prisoner's advice or not. There was a lot at stake, so one false move would be disastrous and if that prisoner was not friendly, it would be a disastrous situation for the Lombardi family.

What caused him insecurity was that probably the advice of the hooded man was too specific and the man in question seemed to know what he was saying, but that did not play in his favor. On the contrary, what he was doing was putting the Duke in a state of insecurity.

After a few more minutes of meditation, the Duke finally came to a conclusion.

—"I will not follow that man's advice and make the announcement myself."

In the end, he decided not to follow the advice of letting Cristóbal conduct the respective interrogations. At that point, the Duke could do no more than pray that it was the right decision.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the Lombardi mansion, Miska hurried to her older brother's office. Once he was in front of the door of his brother's office, she didn't even bother to knock on the door, she just rushed into the room.

—"Brother! This is bad, our father has lost his mind!"

—"Who gave you permission to enter like this, Miska?"

—"This is no time for that, Augustus. Our father is looking for the one guilty of poisoning Priscilla's food."

—"Do not exaggerate, even if that is the case, I have been very cautious choosing different people each time, so even if they discover one, we will only lose a worthless servant."

—"That's right" Miska visibly relaxed when she heard those words.

—"Now that you've calmed down, could you ask my maid to come?"

—"Why do you request the presence of your personal maid."

—"Is this family full of fools? Obviously, because it's very likely that the maids have the information I'm interested in this moment."

—"You don't have to say it like that."

—"Just do as I say and get out of my sight. Of course, if you still want to receive what I promised you in exchange for your help." Augusto smiled in a rather macabre way when he spoke those words to his sister.

—"Okay, I'll tell him to come." Miska was afraid of her brother, so she left without protesting the ill treatment she had received.

Augusto simply kept going through his documents while waiting for his personal maid to arrive at his office. It was not long before your maid finally entered your office.

—"you called me, my lord."

—"You took too long, Fey." The maid bowed in repentance.

Fey, a woman belonging to the race of the elves of the caverns, her skin was dark and her ears long, she had beautiful features that were difficult to ignore that, along with her sculptural figure and black hair, made her a beauty undeniable.

—"Forgive me, my lord."

—"I don't expect too much from you anyway. Now, tell me what is the reason for this scandal?"

—"Rumors have begun to circulate that the Duke will appoint Miss Priscilla as his rightful heir, my lord." Augustus, who before seemed stoic and boring, suddenly rose from his desk in surprise.

—"What did you say?!" In great fury, he took his chair and threw her in the direction of Fey. "That old fool!" Fey did not try to dodge the chair that had been thrown at her, because doing so would only make her situation worse, as she knew from previous experiences.

The chair across the room struck the elf in the face, leaving a mark on her beautiful face and causing fresh blood to begin to flow from her eyebrow. However, Fey barely moved as she desperately endured the pain she felt.

Previously, her fate for complaining of pain had been so cruel that he didn't want to go through something like that again, so she just sobbed inside.

—"You are an incompetent slave, Fey!" she shouted in fury. "How could you wait so long to inform me? I suppose your race fell into slavery because of its stupidity and weakness?" he said as he approached the Fey. "Be grateful I don't have time to punish you for this." Due to her lack of time, Augusto pampered himself to kick Fey in the stomach, making her fall to her knees at her feet, desperately fighting for a breath of oxygen. After enjoying seeing the aching elf, he finally took her by the hair and forced her out of the room.

—"Get out of here, you useless piece of shit." After closing the door of his study with great force, he went to one of the numerous booksellers that decorated his office.

Augustus stood in front of one of his booksellers, then stood on the right side of the bookseller and began to push it, giving way to a small door that was located in the back of the bookseller.

—"And to think I'd have to resort to this... It's all the old man's fault for making rash decisions, it's me who deserves the title of Duke, not that incompetent Priscilla." After complaining a little, he opened the small door with discomfort and entered a small passage behind the bookcase.

At the entrance of the passage was a small torch that did not seem to be used too regularly, using the apprentice-level spell [Ignis] to light the torch and illuminate the dark, narrow passage so that it could move forward without inconvenience.

It took him about ten minutes to reach a rather dusty room, it was noticeable that whoever occupied the room did not bother to clean it, as there were several cobwebs decorating the room and Inside that room, were six men.

All were armed and two of them were wearing hoods, another had his whole face completely bandaged like a mummy, the other three were wearing clothes that an adventurer would wear.

—"Oh, what could cause this visit, my lord?" One of the men wore makeup very similar to a harlequin and wore a black hat very similar to a Christmas hat.

—"Merigar, stop acting like a fool and get ready. The time has come." The corners of the harlequin's mouth were distorted into a gigantic smile.

—"Ajajaja, tell me, tell me." Merigar rubbed himself in Augusto's body like a dog. "Who should we kill? After all, it was you who freed us from the death penalty and gave us a place to live."

—"Stay away, you are unpleasant." Augusto struggled to keep away the peculiar man who rubbed himself against his body.

—"Come on, don't be so cold to me." Merigar stubbornly hugged Augustus' legs as the latter tried to drive him away using all his strength.

—"Uhum, let's leave this for later. You guys, it's time to work, stop slacking off." Merigar finally stopped rubbing himself against Augustus' body and after he got up he called his companions.

—In response the six figures were incorporated, there were five men and a careless-looking girl. "Lord Augustus will finally let us take revenge on that damned Duke who condemned us to death."

—"I have not said anything yet." Augustus said.

—"What else would bring him to the lair of people like us? After all, I know those eyes Ajajaja!"

—"What do you mean?"

—"The weakest of us was a master-rank adventurer in the past, not to mention that I am a Graaaaaaaaaaaand Master." He said exaggerating his tone in a comical manner. "If you have come to us, it is because he fears the soldiers will thwart your plans, but with us at his side, no one will be able to oppose his wishes, my lord." Merigar made an overreaction, as he began to laugh like a madman.