IDED | Chapter 135

Episode 135

Nocturne, who had entered the duke’s castle without a sound, walked down the corridor and spoke.

“This place hasn’t changed.”

“Because the master of the house hasn’t changed.”

“Then, it’ll change soon enough.”

Nocturne chuckled as if he were making a joke.

He was the only one who could enter the secret space inside the duke’s study.

The reason Pai had been able to enter was that he was a half-breed of a demonic beast. He was also a keen animal, capable of sensing and avoiding the traps the duke had set.

As Nocturne moved quickly, he muttered to himself.

“James needs to keep causing a commotion for a long time.”

“Leo is there, so he’ll handle it properly.”

“Since when did you start calling Leonard ‘Leo’? Weren’t you the one who used to say he was stiff and annoying?”

“I take that back. I must have misjudged him. My eyes must’ve been mistaken.”

“…I can’t believe you’re actually admitting you were wrong. You’re not sick, are you?”

“You sound like you’re hoping I am. Even though you’re the one relying on my help.”

“As if you’re not clinging to Greenwood yourself just to maintain its lineage.”

“Shut up. I still don’t understand why Leo would be friends with someone like you.”

“Stop calling my friend ‘Leo’ over and over. It’s creepy.”

“No. It’s my mouth, and I’ll say whatever I want. What’s it to you?”

“Haa, seriously.”

Nocturne instinctively recoiled in discomfort, but Ophelia didn’t budge.

What exactly had happened between Ophelia and Leonard while he had been imprisoned?

He recalled how Leonard’s ears would flush red whenever Ophelia was mentioned and frowned in disgust.

The idea that that Leonard and this Ophelia had developed feelings for each other…

It was a horrific event that could turn the world upside down.

“Leonard is wasted on you.”

“…Do you want to turn back now?”

“Oh, we’re here.”

Nocturne completely ignored Ophelia’s words and gestured toward the study. The guards had already been sent away by Ophelia, leaving the place empty.

Nocturne, moving stealthily, opened the study door and examined the location of the secret compartment.

The lock, which was intricately woven with elemental magic, was a product of Nocturne’s forced labor under the duke.

Originally, only the duke was supposed to be able to open it. But who was Nocturne?

Just imagining the duke’s frustration is already giving me strength.

The key he had given to Pai was a single-use magical artifact that could temporarily deactivate Nocturne’s lock.

For anyone other than the duke to enter, they would need high-level elemental magic.

Nocturne used elemental magic on both himself and Ophelia to release the lock.

Click.

With the sound of the door unlocking, the Greenwood Duke’s jewelry box opened.

And when they saw what was inside, both Ophelia and Nocturne grimaced at the same time.

“This is disgusting.”

“For the first time, we agree on something.”

“Just how many mages has he experimented on?”

Nocturne swept his gaze around the room with a look of utter revulsion.

Then, something caught his eye.

“That’s…”

Numerous drawings, presumably of an Awakener’s insignia, were displayed in one corner of the room.

Beneath them were records of whether the experiments had been successful or not. The content detailed horrific human experimentation.

“Has he gone insane?”

Ophelia covered her eyes with both hands as if she had seen something unbearable and muttered in a strained voice.

What the duke had done was beyond tolerable.

The reason the number of Awakeners in the Cloten Empire had dwindled was all in this room.

The duke had systematically eliminated those with unique magic superior to his own.

So that only he could reach the pinnacle.

Nocturne barely managed to keep his composure as he spoke to Ophelia in a low voice.

“Hurry. We need to swap the originals with the copies before the duke arrives.”

Late at Night

Returning from the villa in the deep hours of the night, the duke headed straight for his study without a word.

His expression was so menacing that the servants hesitated, merely watching him cautiously.

His strides were so quick that his aide struggled to keep up, panting.

“Your Grace!”

“Come in.”

The duke flung open the study door and ushered his aide inside.

As the aide swallowed nervously and followed him in, the study door shut firmly behind them.

The duke said nothing as he fixed his gaze on the aide.

Then, after a moment, he lightly tapped the aide’s shoulder.

At that moment, the magic inscribed on the aide’s body flickered, and his eyes widened.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t checking to kill you.”

“Your Grace, what…?”

“It seems we have a traitor among us.”

“A traitor? Who…?”

“Someone who knows my magic. I don’t know how they managed to undo it yet.”

“Shall I send someone to investigate?”

“No. If they realize we’ve caught on, it’ll only make things worse. Besides, I have a good idea of who’s behind this.”

The duke muttered coldly, resting a hand on the sofa to steady his breath.

His expression was harsher than a frozen river.

He recalled what had happened at the villa.

By the time he had arrived, Nocturne and James had already had a scuffle.

Nocturne’s clothes had been slashed in multiple places by James’s sword, leaving him a complete mess.

As they were locked in a standoff, the moment the duke entered, James froze with an uneasy expression.

His flushed face suggested he was heavily intoxicated, making the sight even more distasteful.

James, I seem to have misjudged you.

“Don’t act like you ever judged me correctly in the first place. I know everything from Ophelia!”

“I don’t know what Ophelia told you, but I do know that you’re a fool.”

“Your Grace!”

“I was even considering giving you an important position, but you’re too useless.”

The duke had been about to retract the magic he had placed on James.

Lately, James had been acting so foolishly that maintaining the spell felt like a waste of mana.

It seemed wiser to strengthen his hold over Nocturne instead.

But then…

Who was it? Who dared to do such a thing?

The duke clenched the sofa’s backrest in irritation.

Even in his old age, his grip was strong enough to crush the furniture.

There was no magic left to retrieve from James.

He had certainly placed a spell on him when he was named heir, yet now there wasn’t a single trace of it left.

Not even a fragment of mana.

The truly ridiculous part was that he hadn’t realized any of this until he had tried to retract the magic himself.

The same was true for Nocturne.

And after hearing James’s outburst, he was fairly certain he knew who the traitor was.

The duke finished his thoughts and spoke.

“Bring Ophelia here.”

“Pardon? But at this hour…”

“No, that was the wrong command. Drag that wench Ophelia here immediately.”

At the duke’s oppressive order, the aide swallowed hard and bowed his head.

A short while later, the aide returned—bringing not Ophelia, but Lydia.

Looking troubled, he spoke.

“Your Grace… The young lady is nowhere to be found.”

“What?”

“Well… This one was lying in her bed, pretending to be her. I found it suspicious and brought her here, but she seems… unwell.”

Before the lieutenant could finish speaking, Lydia trembled and rubbed her hands together in front of the Duke.

“S-S-Save me!”

The Duke looked at her with disdain.

Every time Lydia rubbed her hands, the ruby ring on her finger gleamed, but there was no time to pay attention to such details.

Just as the Duke was running a hand over his face in deep thought, the communication stone, used only for major incidents, flickered.

Upon checking, he saw that it was a transmission code from the Knight Commander, who had been ordered to torture Nocturne.

The moment the Duke activated the stone—

—”Your Grace, this is a disaster!”

“What do you mean, a disaster?”

—”Well, we were escorting Young Master Nocturne to the underground prison when we were ambushed.”

“What?”

—”All the knights who were with him were killed, and Young Master Nocturne has disappeared.”

“Hah!”

The Duke, unable to contain his rage, hurled the communication stone to the ground. Even that wasn’t enough to quell his fury, so he stomped on it, seething.

The timing was too perfect. It was as if they had known in advance that Nocturne would be taken away and had set up an ambush.

‘How dare they…’

His bloodshot eyes darted around the study before he grabbed the sword placed to the side. He then pointed it at Lydia’s neck.

“If you don’t want to die, tell me everything you know!”

Meanwhile, Leonard successfully led the fake Nocturne to safety and returned to the Gordon Merchant Guild. Upon arrival, he found Serena blocking Ophelia’s way.

“You mustn’t go back.”

Ophelia frowned and asked curtly,

“What if I don’t? Are you saying I should hide in this shabby office?”

“Didn’t you hear from Sir Leonard earlier? The Duke has found out.”

“He won’t be able to accuse me without any evidence. If I go into hiding, it’ll be the same as openly declaring that I’m the informant.”

“No. Even a cornered rat will bite a cat. Let alone a predator like the Duke. So stop being stubborn and stay here.”

Serena’s firm insistence made Ophelia sigh heavily. Then, just as Leonard arrived, their eyes met, and hers widened in surprise.

“You made it back safely!”

Forgetting her earlier irritation with Serena, Ophelia rushed toward Leonard.

The way she examined him, checking for any injuries, made her look like a wife welcoming her husband back from the battlefield.

Leonard, having overheard part of their conversation, grasped Ophelia’s shoulders and spoke.

“Where do you think you’re going without me?”