Chapter 90: Tenth Episode: Chapter 8 (1/2)
Chapter 90: Tenth Episode: Chapter 8
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The nobles of Titan carried themselves as modest and prudent gentlemen. Even when they get angry they stuck to their principles.
First, never hit a woman. Second, never vent one’s anger on someone else. Third, lock oneself in the room. That wild and hysterical self should never be seen by another person. Fourth, reflect. Think about what initiated the fury and decide if it was worth the trouble of going through all these waves of negative emotions. It is believed that if one acts according to this principle, exasperation will soon pass.
O’Neil Andrew Morisette was in rage. It has been so long since he has flown into a rage. According to the gentlemen’s rules of venting vexation, he proceeded to the third step and locked himself in the room.
Not everyone likes destroying things around them when they are angry or sulking, but once they try it they somehow became addicted to it. Of course, that person has to be born into a wealthy family in order to vent their anger this way. Poor people can only play safe in life.
Oscar’s initial destruction already transformed the quiet and tiny room into complete chaos. The oil painted hung on one side, the sofa was overturned, a fist-sized hole was punched through the study desk, and the rapier used as decoration was even stuck into the thick wall. However, it seemed that Oscar has not totally lost his mind. It was fortunate that he did not set his hands on the burning candle positioned on the lamp stand, perhaps he was not yet intending to burn down the entire place.
The prince’s companions gathered outside the small room. They told the ladies of the household to return to their respective rooms, assuring them that the prince was alright although slightly irritated because the luxurious carriage was written off.
Ricky and Captain Vick shared their seats on a long sofa. One of them was a butler, the other a confidential secretary. Both of them are qualified as the prince’s most trusted confidant, but at this moment they could do nothing other than just whisper to each other about the incident earlier. If all the ministers in Dulin capital are said to be seasoned sly old foxes, then Rudolf Hoss, the person-in-charge of Secret Service Department was undoubtedly the oldest and most insidious out of all.
No one in understood why the emperor chose to secretly release the prince’s captives without leaving any trail behind. The Majesty should not have taken that action himself. Anyway, it did not matter if it was His Emperor the Majesty’s own decision or the Head of the Secret Service Department’s idea, according to their understanding of O’Neil Andrew Morisette so far, based on his character and style of handling affairs, they knew that the person behind this scheme would definitely be send to death.
Imagine, Oscar swore by blood previously that he would never let those guys off the hook, especially the ringleader named Morpheus! But now? He has been slapped in the face by the Head of Secret Service Department! Rudolf Hoss was well aware that Oscar should not be involved in this affair, as he could have send his own secret agents over to finish up the tracking and questioning tasks as planned by the emperor. However, this malicious guy chose the most humiliating method possible to put the Imperial Highness to shame. Perhaps he was not in his right mind at the time, or maybe his was filled with the hatred to take revenge for the sacrifices of the secret agents who worked under him. Nonetheless, everyone agreed that Rudolf Hoss would be immensely remorseful of his own actions when he reminisced about this in the future after his retirement.
Doramy Basinger could not take it anymore. He was old, and he needed to retire to bed earlier than the others.
”I think this is not doing the situation any good.”
Silence.
”Alright then! Let me give it a try!”
Doramy walked to the door and knocked on it lightly, ”Your Highness…”
Before he could even finish his sentence, a heavy object thumped on the other side of the door, and the loud noise sent the frightened old men a few steps backward.
‘Walking Stick’ Torry waved his hands in excitement, ”Haha! Mr Paul and Mr Sarlat, both of you lost again! Hear that crashing noise? This time it’s the antique vase, give me my money quickly! Give me my money… a reminder that only cash is accepted, credit is not allowed!”
Snowstorm and former paladin unwillingly threw a couple of Golden Tis onto the table. Immediately they began to place their bets on the next item that could possibly suffer the same fate as the antique vase.
”I can split the door into two!”
Ricky glanced at Godot, ”Right, then the Highness will split you into two next.”
”Is there no other solution?” Baron Messier was getting antsy too, he thought the Imperial Highness ought to step forward to preside over the overall situation.
”I do have an idea, I’m just not fully sure if the guy dares to risk his life!” Ricky squinted, the liar did that whenever he was planning a scheme against somebody. ”You know, the best way to deal with an enraged man is to give them a woman, and the second most effective way is to send them a veritable scoundrel.”
”But we have already shooed away all the ladies!” Torry said.
Ricky smiled slyly. ”I know, but there is a scoundrel among us, am I right?”
Tove Van Sukhoi was quick to realize everyone landed their gaze on him.
”No! No! No! That’s bullying! After all this while, I have come to agree with the rumors outsiders gossip about the Highness Prince. I’m not going to take the risk, I’m still not married yet!”
”Is that so? Then this gambling party doesn’t count too?” Snowstorm said while retrieving his Golden Tis from the table simultaneously. Sarlat followed suit in delight.
Torry clenched his teeth, furious. No one dared to do this to him before. ”Take a look at yourself, now who are the scoundrels among us?”
Just as the two parties were wrangling over the matter, the door to the small room was opened abruptly and everyone stood up in panic.
Oscar looked rather normal apart from his disheveled hair.
”Come in, all of you! It’s absurd that I actually thought of a solution!”
”What’s the solution? It’s not what you said earlier? That the dead cannot bear witness?” Torry was confused.
”It’s not that! But quite a similar concept!” Oscar straightened the overturned sofa, and plopped himself into it. ”We have to think of a solution that makes more sense. As they might have expected that they would need to pay the price for their escape, if we just let them go that easily even the captives themselves would doubt the rationality.”
”And then what happens next?” Ricky wasn’t too fond of the suggestion. ”Secret Service Department will certainly send their men to monitor the movement of the captives, by then things would be out of our control.”
”No!” Oscar shook his head, ”Send a message to Thomas Aulet and ask him for more men. We need some people from the south.”
”What are you planning to do?” Ricky fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.
”I plan to have our southern men launch another attack aimed at the guards of Secret Service Department in order to retrieve our captives.”
”Ptui!” Torry spitted the coffee in his mouth after hearing Oscar’s idea. Everyone casted their gaze on him once again.
”Walking Stick! You have anything to say?” Oscar gave Torry the evil eye.
”Er… er… Your Highness, you have to admit you’re quite impulsive in handling this matter.”
”I know!” Oscar turned his head away to the other side, ”But Rudolf Hoss is no different! He can definitely achieve the same result by torturing the captives, but why must he choose this impractical way! It’s good now! So much trouble would arise now that the captives are let loose. What if his secret agents cannot effectively keep the captives under their surveillance? Haha! Then things are going to get interesting!”
”Which means that we still have to hand the captives over to Secret Service Department eventually,” Ricky thought it through now.
”The thing is they do not wish for the same!” Oscar was in rage again, he was never this restless before.
Torry helped himself with another cup of coffee, ”Your Highness, why don’t you just go to meet His Majesty the Emperor! You’re a member of the Imperial Family, also the fiancée to Her Imperial Highness Princess Alanis, therefore I think His Majesty still thinks highly of you, or at the very least he will take your words into consideration. I believe there is a high probability of His Majesty changing his mind once you tell him the reason and importance behind this all, His Majesty the Emperor is a bright man after all.”
Ricky also nodded his head, ”That’s right! Rudolf Hoss is having his way only because he has the Majesty’s support, so why don’t we seek for this kind of support as well? By the way, you do have to head back to Dulin anyway! Out of courtesy, you have to visit the First Prince, and the injured Second Prince who is currently undergoing recuperation in Westberg Fort. Not to forget Her Majesty the Empress, Her Imperial Highness Princess...”
”Alright, alright!” Oscar waved him off mid-sentence. ”So… I should give up just like that?”
”Haha!” Torry laughed while slapping at his own thigh. ”I figured why you’re taking this matter so close to your heart! It’s because of Young Lady, am I right? I have to say, if you regard this as a matter between one man to another…”
”Enough! I know what you want to say!” Oscar shouted impatiently. In fact, that was the exact reason he was unwilling to let bygone be bygones. Perhaps he was envious, perhaps he was fighting for his sister’s attention, but he knew that it was time for him to make up his mind.
”Okay then, I guess I’ll have to visit Dulin again.” Everyone was relieved at the decision.
”We shall let Secret Service Department to deal with the troublemaker. As to what they will do with him… it’s none of our business anymore! On second thought that’s actually a good idea. At least if anything were to happen, I would not be the one to blame, but Rudolf Hoss.”
”Thank heaven, praise the God! It’s great that you think this way!” Ricky expressed his heartfelt approval.
”Then… what about Young Lady?” Captain Vick asked worriedly.
”Sasha….” Oscar frowned at the mention of his sister, ”I hope she will be the last one to find out about this. Of course, it would be even better if she doesn’t.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
In fact, Young Lady Sasha already realized what happened when Oscar and his Cavalry Company set off for their journey the next morning. She hurried to the base of Red Tiger, only to be told that Major General Murat was away for a trip with a couple of professors from Imperial Military Academy. Without the permission from the division commander, no one dared to open the iron gate for Young Lady Sasha.
Sasha was only allowed to converse with Mr Morpheus from outside the gate for a brief moment. Although she had much respect for the man, this time a dispute broke out between the two. The offense on eight nobles was an undeniable fact. Although she spoke in a tactful manner Sasha could not help but condemn the terrorist attack.
Morpheus was an insurgent himself so undoubtedly, he defended his comrades. He claimed that it was the only path to seek refuge in freedom, and argued that nobles were not worthy of any sympathy.
Sasha shook her head to express disagreement, ”Do you really think slaughtering innocent people is the way to seek freedom? Just like the time you held me hostage.”
Morpheus laughed coldly, ”Slaughtering the innocents? That’s the nobles’ privilege! You can’t describe my action using those terms.”
”No matter which side you’re supporting in a war, it no longer positions you as the innocent party!” Sasha was firm in her opinion.
The conversation ended with an unpleasant note. Sasha felt a slight regret that her last meeting with this opinionated revolutionary was in this way.
***************
In a blink of an eye, Oscar’s stay in Dulin turned into a week. First, he paid Alfa III His Majesty a visit. As a matter of fact, the Emperor always doubted the ability of Secret Service Department. Hence, he retrieved his order when his youngest son-in-law mentioned to him about the danger and uncertainty of the whole incident. As the prince suggested, it would be safer to formulate a reliable plan.
In the end, the captives were redirected to the Secret Service Department. Although Oscar has not met Rudolf Hoss after the incident, he knew that the Head of Secret Service must be extremely disheartened by the emperor’s decision. Withdrawal of the strategy clearly explained the Emperor’s distrust of the Secret Service Department, and this must be a hard truth for Count Hoss to digest.
Things seemed to have finally come to an end. Oscar concluded the whole incident as merely a hilarious farce. At this moment in the city of Dulin, another story-like tale was bound to begin. The commoners’ hatred of the rich was slowly rising, without hesitation they wished for the death of these affluent people who travelled by extravagant carriages as soon as possible. They even regarded the insurgents as knight-errants. In their eyes, these people were the heroes who sought benefits for the common people, and were fearless in rising to challenge the nobles.
Oscar encountered some troubles when meeting with Alanis. Since the insurgents have already reached out to the Imperial family members, the capital garrison was closely guarded by several of the emperor’s own relatives. Her Imperial Highness Princess, who has been grounded for the past couple of weeks, was naturally exasperated and complained incessantly the moment Oscar stepped foot into her room. She grumbled about why he did not come to visit her and criticised him for not being considerate of her. Initially Oscar did not want to quarrel with her, but the prince felt that he did not deserve to be trumped-up by these false charges. Therefore, he had a row with the princess, and was eventually shooed away by the princess from her sleeping quarters.
Things did not go well with Her Majesty the Empress too. It appeared that women functioned by a same pattern, as Rolyn Kate complained the exact same things to him as her daughter had earlier. This time Oscar learned from experience and pretended to apologise to the empress, and swore that he would take care of the Empress like how he took care of the princess. However, that wasn’t Empress Rolyn Kate’s intention. What she wanted was for her son to befriend someone who really cared for him. Oscar understood the meaning of the empress, but he knew that this attractive woman who was past her prime was not protecting her son. On the contrary, she was using various means to destroy her son’s dream.
As expected, the mood of First Prince Lobble was terrible! He cursed the insurgents madly and complained why Oscar did not kill all of those guys! He also grumbled that Oscar did not write to him! Anyway, Oscar recognized what Lobb really cared about was not himself but the hotel. He understood the First Prince’s state of mind. If it was not for the successive assassinations plotted by these insurgents, perhaps the Highness was still managing his grand hotel in Sparjoxin instead of being demanded by the empress to return to Dulin. Lobb has completely lost his freedom in the capital, he was even assigned with paladin to follow him to the washroom. Even if he was bold enough to glance at the hotel’s accounting records, Rolyn Kate would immediately call him over for punishment.
As for the Second Prince, Oscar had total sympathy for this poor guy. The unlucky man’s spleen was punctured, and he could have lost his life if he hadn’t been treated promptly by the Poison Doctor right after the assassination. Lobmus at the moment resembled a wild dog exhausted after a passionate mating session. His breath was weak and his face pale, but he did not forget young Oscar’s assistance. He thanked his brother-in-law sincerely and promised to return Oscar’s favor in the future. Anyway, Oscar did not regard the words of the Second Prince with much seriousness. He was not interested in this half-dead guy, and hurried away after dropping a gift for the sick man.
After that Oscar visited the lair. The baron was still the same, extremely occupied with the affairs all over the capital. He had loads to handle on his plate, as the big brothers of the lair were not easy to deal with. Disputes broke out among them every other day; for territory, for income, for women, sometimes even trivial matters that held no importance. In short, they could find fault with each other every time of the day! In order to avoid fights with real swords and spears, the baron had no choice but to spend great effort to rectify the order of the lair and further clarify the boundaries of their respective territory. However, it wasn’t an easy task to correct the vices these people have been used to. The baron thought that it would take at least a few years for him to achieve this impossible task.
It seemed the only place he has not visited was the Dog Biting Club, but Oscar really did not want to face those humanoid animals. Therefore, he assigned Miss Mirandez for the task to visit Lady Zoera. After all, Mirandez was from that place herself, she should not feel more uncomfortable going back there compared to Oscar.
A couple of days later, the prince threw a ball in Swan Hill Castle to celebrate in advance the Holy day of God for year 792. Numerous people were invited, some of whom he knew, some of whom he did not know at all. Nevertheless, according to Butler Ricky, getting acquaintance with more eminent people of the capital’s noble circle was certainly advantageous for His Highness the Prince.
After these days, Alanis’s arrogance also cooled down. She appeared gracefully at the ball, and received the guests with much enthusiasm like a proper lady hostess. Oscar understood Her Royal Highness was so absorbed because Young Lady was not present. He did not make any comment but quietly let the princess fully display her social skills.
Oscar finally endured until the last day of his visit to the capital. Thank goodness! He could finally return to University City! He missed the Imperial Military Academy, but he had not been doing his reading for almost a month. General Raleigh Thomas would probably not be very happy to learn that.
”Your Highness, the owner of the carriage in front would like to give you a ride.”
Oscar asked in astonishment, ”Who’s that?”
”He didn’t reveal himself, only stated that he’s from Secret Service Department.”
”Secret Service Department?” Oscar squinted his eyes, ”Invite him over.”
The knight directed over a frail man in a full-body cloak, and a Narcissus military officer inspected him to make sure he boards the prince’s carriage unarmed.
”Alright Count Rudolf Hoss, remove that cloak at this instance. You look like some diseased witch right now.”
”How do you know it’s me?” Rudolf removed the hood of the cloak.
”I detected your scent from afar,” Oscar smiled while simultaneously retrieving a basket containing hot tea and snacks. Although he was curious about the surprise visit of the Head of the Secret Service Department, he tried to regain his composure as not to present himself as a bold child.
”Thank you!” Rudolf received the cup handed over by the prince. The bumpy carriage caused some of the tea to overflow, and the man smiled helplessly at the stain of spilled tea on his clothes. ”Mr Snowstorm, would you mind passing me that towel?”
Oscar and Paul exchanged a quick glance. Both of them were a little shocked, not many people in this world knew about the real name of the King of Assassins.
”Thanks!” Rudolf never lost his smile even after he cleaned up himself.
Instead, Oscar became rather annoyed. His smiling face was filled with irritation.
”Your Excellency, I believe you’re not here just to show off the ability of Secret Service Department?”
”Haha! Your Highness, you should be the one who boasts!” the Count took in a sip of tea in a pleasant manner, ”Look around you, and you will realize that you’re being served by so many famous and capable people. You should be proud.”
Oscar found himself speechless. Since he left Damorga prison, there wasn’t a day he didn’t worry about his prisoner friends’ identity being exposed. Was his biggest fear about to manifest? However, Oscar was still doubtful, this shouldn’t have happened so soon. If Rudolf Hoss really did get hold of the concrete proof, then… the prince would really be in huge trouble!
”Your Highness, I’ve served Alfa III His Majesty for the last twenty plus years. All this while, ministers surrounding His Majesty changed again and again, but I have never seen anyone who receives more favors than you. I think we need to talk.”
”Yeah, to talk about the conditions I bet,” Oscar murmured to himself. He wasn’t sure why Rudolf decided to spill this information to him at this moment, perhaps… perhaps he didn’t have any proof at all, and was just making a wild guess based on some investigation conducted by his secret agents.
”Although I’m not completely sure what you’re talking about, but I do think we need to talk.”
”Perfect!” Rudolf nodded, ”First of all, I would like to apologise for my rashness from the incident before. His Majesty the Third has spoken to me about this, and I admit I did not give enough consideration before making any call.”
”Ola! Is that so?” Oscar forced out a smile, ”I should apologise to you too then. You know, it was really pitiful, the death of your innocent Secret Service agents. I took their lives thinking they were a bunch of bandits.”
As expected, Rudolf Hoss couldn’t take the provoking! His body shook uncontrollably with anger after being ridiculed.
”Since you’re being honest then there’s no need for me to beat around the bush either! Your Highness, are you planning to keep challenging my department? Or do you have any other plans for the future?”