"Bastards!!!"
*Crash*
*Clank*
The King screamed in anger and frustration and threw a Jar made of glass on the ground, breaking it into pieces.
In front of him kneeled a man wearing black colored clothes and beside him stood a man wearing the same, black colored clothes.
"Keeve, what happened? Why have all your subordinates become so useless? Have I become too lenient? Is that the case?"
Ricardus, who was trying his best to hold back his anger, questioned.
"That is not it, your Majesty."
Keeve declined.
"Then what is it? What happened? Have you started recruiting useless pieces of shit into my Shadow Unit, by any chance?"
The King questioned again, glaring at the man kneeling in front of him with unconcealed anger.
"No, that is not it either, your Majesty."
"THEN WHAT IS IT!?"
*Crash*
*Clank*
The King threw away another Jar and roared.
"Your Majesty."
Unlike his subordinate, Keeve was intimidated by Ricardus's actions and replied calmly.
"You have to understand, we are talking about Consort Amaya. You know it better than anyone else what type of woman she is."
The King glanced at Keeve and Keeve continued.
"Yesterday, she came here to inform you about how she was going to sneak out of Palace. Notice the words she used, Your Majesty. 'Sneak'.
She wouldn't say those words if she wasn't sure of herself.
You have to understand, it is not his fault and neither has the Shadow Unit become 'useless'. It is just that the opponents that we are facing are too strong or smart this time."
"So are you saying that you are too weak to handle your enemies?"
The King stepped towards Keeve and questioned while his purple eyes shined in ruthlessness.
"No, what I am saying is that our enemies have become too unpredictable. However, it does not mean that we can't take care of them. We just need a bit more time.
And Your Majesty, I dare say, we, the Shadow Unit are the only ones who can actually go against these enemies. You know that as well.
So, Your Majesty, I believe that rather than just pointlessly blaming everything on your subordinates and cursing them, I think it would be better if you would try to find out how Consort Amaya snuck out and figure out a way to ensure that something like this does not repeat in the future."
Keeve looked back into the King's eyes.
The Staring contest continued for a few minutes and then, Keeve stepped back and bowed,
"I apologize for my rude behavior, Your Majesty. I guess I have been on edge lately. Things… aren't really going my way…"
Ricardus looked at Keeve for a while and then, he narrowed his eyes,
"I would have executed you for talking to me like that if you hadn't proven your worth to me before."
Keeve kept his head low and didn't retort.
The King snorted and then, he turned towards the man kneeling on the floor.
"So? What happened? How did you lose her track? She shouldn't have been able to use her cultivation, so she is no different than a mortal.
How did you let a mortal escape your eyes?"
"I was attacked... from behind..."
"Who attacked you?"
Keeve questioned.
"I do not know…"
"Tell me what happened, from the start."
Keeve ordered.
His subordinate nodded and then, he started.
"Just like you ordered me to, I started keeping an eye on Consort Amaya from yesterday. Everything that happened was natural, after drinking her tea, she returned to her room and lay down on her bed.
30 minutes later, that horrifying Dark Mist started oozing out of her body, from her expression, I knew she was in pain. Soon, her entire body was covered with Black Mist and she stopped moving.
The rest of the day passed, then early in the morning, the Mist surrounding Consort Amaya's body started disappearing, then, she stood up.
After freshening up, she ate some food then…
Then she started walking…"
"Walking?"
Keeve frowned.
"Yes, walking…
She started walking aimlessly, first, she walked into the garden, then she walked around the palace, this continued for 30 more minutes and then suddenly,
She looked at me."
"She looked at you?"
"Yes, she looked at me, she smiled at me, and then…
I passed out…"
"…"
Keeve narrowed his eyes.
"Someone attacked you from behind, correct?"
Ricardus questioned.
"Yes."
The man nodded.
"And of course, you did not see his face, did you?"
"No… I did not…"
"Heh."
The King chuckled condescendingly.
"Well, we can say that whoever he was, was related to Amaya."
"Yes, that is what I assume as well."
The man nodded.
"But… but how did Amaya know that you keeping an eye on her?"
The King couldn't understand.
"It's the walking."
Suddenly, Keeve spoke up.
"Hmm? What?"
"Yes, her walk.
It wasn't just pointless walking. It was Consort Amaya's plan to figure out who was keeping an eye on her and where he or she was.
If she moves, you would have to move as well, then, her subordinates would trace you down. No matter how far away you hide, if you follow her for 30 minutes, even a child could tell that you are the one she is looking for her.
And well, once she found out…
The only thing she needed was to take you out.
Once that was done, she left the Palace."
"But how did she even leave? Why was she not seen by anyone?
She is just a mortal, how can she fool so many cultivators and sneak out?"
The King questioned.
"Or maybe, she didn't 'fool' anyone. She didn't have to."
Keeve spoke up.
"You mean…"
"Yes… the guards who saw her simply didn't say anything because…"
"They were already on her side."
"…"
"…"
"…"
The three of them turned silent.
A few minutes passed by and then,
"We need to catch those traitorous bastards."
The King spoke.
Keeve, however, shook his head.
"We can't do that. We do not have any leads. There are thousands of guards inside the Palace, we can't capture every single one of them.
We need to find out who they are first."
"How do we do that?"
The King questioned.
However,
"I do not know…"
Keeve shook his head.
"…"
The room turned silent again.
