The Devil’s Cage

‘Colin knew?!’

Kuer Horton was stunned.

She had thought of many replies but definitely not this one.

After all, her disguise wasn’t as simple as wearing a set of male suits, which could automatically blind the men around her. She really used all kinds of mystical spells to pull off this disguise.

If she didn’t remove the spell, naked eyes could never differentiate her as a female, even in terms of organic structure.

Could it be some mystical spells of the Demon Hunter?

Rumour had it that the Demon Hunters were good at tracking and differentiating their targets, they were able to easily and quickly pinpoint a pagan in a crowd of humans.

The young noble looked at Kieran with doubts in her heart.

Then… she grew embarrassed and shy.

At the thought of appearing before her friend in a seemingly flawless male disguise yet in her friend’s eyes she was a female, a heavy blush appeared on Kuer Horton’s face, not even the mystical spell covering that up.

“Then, then…”

Kuer Horton tried to say something to cover up the awkwardness in the atmosphere but her nervous mind and panicked state robbed her of her words, putting her at a loss of what to say.

Likewise Kieran, who didn’t have the intention to speak.

The reason why he knew Kuer Horton’s real gender wasn’t because he discovered something but a part of Edatine VI’s memories were searched by Bloody Mary.

At the same time, it also saw why the dead Prince Svenson purposely stepped up to look for trouble. It was because Svenson liked Kuer Horton and he had tried to ask Edatine VI to marry each other for more than once.

Unfortunately, Edatine VI had already arranged a marriage for his ‘son’ and the wife was the granddaughter of another royal court elder, not Kuer Horton.

Edatine VI arranged the marriage because it would undoubtedly help to balance the power in the royal court, but Svenson didn’t share the same thought.

The young prince thought he should have the right to choose, even more so after he was crowned prince.

A person getting something must definitely lose something else.

Trying to get the best of both?

Possible, but extremely unlikely.

Besides, Svenson obviously didn’t possess such capabilities.

Aside from the fact that his identity was fake, the fact that he stood in the way of Edatine VI’s plan would be enough for this so-called prince to be treated with the cold shoulder.

Kieran also wouldn’t sympathize with him.

Other than the once hostility, Kieran’s personality wouldn’t do so either.

Since he killed the prince, he KILLED the prince and he wouldn’t feign benevolence just so he could sigh emotionally.

Of course, he would never tell Kuer Horton the truth about everything.

Both of them were friends in the world of eating but it didn’t extend to other aspects.

Therefore, Kieran kept quiet.

Kieran’s silence made the young noble more at a loss for action.

“L-Let’s go for a flower viewing?” stuttered the young noble after holding up for some time.

“Sure,” Kieran nodded and walked first to the parterre not so far away.

With support from the mystical spells, the parterre in the palace, despite it being in the middle of winter, bloomed in a myriad of beautiful colors.

Kieran had limited understanding towards plants. He couldn’t tell the species of the flowers planted, all he could tell was that they were not poisonous and free of dangerth. Oer than that?

They might not taste as good as they looked.

Kuer Horton read about the flowers a while ago, so in order to sooth the awkward atmosphere, she started to grind her memories, searching for the explanation her home teacher taught her, but no matter how hard she recalled, all she could remember were the seeds of several types of plants that could be used as seasoning in cooking.

The young noble grew shy.

‘Kuer, what are you doing? You should pick a topic that Colin would like and you are good at it… Huh? A topic that Colin likes?’

Finally, the young noble caught the key point.

How did she meet Kieran in the first place?

Because of Food!

The assassination or whatnot wasn’t important, the important thing was the food!

“Colin, do you want to go visit the royal kitchen?” The young noble’s tone had anticipation when she asked.

She had always wanted to visit the royal kitchen but unfortunately, with her identity, she was destined to never get access to the place, but now it was different. With Colin’s identity as prince, getting to the kitchen would be problem-free!

Kieran noticed the anticipation in Kuer Horton’s gaze, he knew what she was planning but he didn’t dislike this kind of harmless intention.

After all, he too was looking forward to visiting the palace’s kitchen.

“Lead away,” Kieran said straightforwardly.

“Okay!” Kuer Horton’s eyes shone brightly, turning around and bringing Kieran to the side.

The whereabouts of the two would never escape the eyes of the palace guards and the agents.

Soon enough, the old marquis had a clear grasp over the location of his daughter and the true heir to the throne.

Monte, as the vassal, knew also.

“Kitchen?” The old marquis was caught off guard, then laughed.

He praised his daughter’s wits.

Although it was just a quick meeting, the news that he had gathered was sufficient for him to know what the heir to the throne liked.

Monte, on the other hand, had his brows locked tightly together.

He thought he was the one who arrived first, yet how did he allow this old fox beat him to sucking up to that prince?

Was it so great to have a daughter?

The old fox was always worried sick and had always forced his daughter to be in disguise.

‘What a petty snob!’ Monte commented on the old marquis in his heart, yet his face was covered with a smile.

He knew that as long as Kuer Horton got close to the heir of the throne, he’d have to do this, albeit unwillingly.

“Sir marquis, His Majesty had rested, you will have to officiate some of the ceremonies later,” said Monte respectfully.

“I’ll do my best to aid His Majesty to complete the tasks,” replied the old marquis appropriately.

It didn’t look or sound over, neither did it lose its decency.

Since the upper hand was seized, he ought to keep it up. Showing a pressuring bearing wasn’t a good option. Quite the contrary, showing a bit of humility wasn’t exactly the worst thing to do.

Both men, with respective ulterior motives, walked side by side as they returned to the grand hall.

At this point of time, a blazing light appeared!

It wasn’t the palace, neither was it from anywhere within the Upper Three Rings, yet it was near the noble district. Otherwise the fiery scene wouldn’t be so clear.

The two of them exchanged a quick gaze before they strode towards the palace’s gate.

The secret agents automatically vanished into the shadows in a much quicker way.

…

Horlaika brought two field agents with him as they walked along the edge of the noble district of Edatine Castle.

The increased patrols and sharpshooters hidden in the shadows slowed them down by a lot.

Fortunately, as field agents of Silent Night Secret Society, both Horlaika and the other two field agents possessed rather skilled undercover techniques, so they were not exposed.

After another squad of patrol walked past them, Horlaika stopped, standing in the intertwined shadows cast by the house and trees; the other two field agents were hiding nearby too.

“Luncar’s discovery is there: Etorin Tailor Shop. It’s a tailor on the bright side but actually a hidden sentry outpost for the Inquisition. This is the place where Luncar discovered the traces of that unknown God,” said Horlaika inaudibly.

The two field agents switched their gazes to Etorin Tailor.

Both of them of course heard of the Inquisition, they knew it well.

Compared to the notorious Dark Hall of War God Temple, the Inquisition didn’t exactly have a good reputation either, but most of the people had never heard of the name before because it was a department which was founded specifically for spying and intelligence gathering, not only on enemies, but allies as well.

Therefore, most of the time, even the internals of War God Temple begged to stay away from the Inquisition.

“What should we do?” asked one of the two field agents.

Since they were assigned to follow Horlaika here, both of them of course knew their responsibilities.

First, follow Horlaika’s orders.

Second, confirm the facts.

Even though they never once doubted Councilman Kurtzargert’s words, things that needed to be confirmed must be confirmed, but the second point must be carried out in a more inconspicuous way.

Both of them were smart, they knew that rather than being on the dark side and ultimately defying the first point, they might as well obey the first one while secretly carrying out the second.

“All we have to do is watch him, the rest… leave it to Councilman Kurtzargert,” replied Horlaika.

A very steady suggestion, it matched their intention and they had no reasons to reject it.

“We will watch him together today but after dawn, we split up into 3 shifts, with 8 hours each shift, any objections?”

The two of them nodded at Horlaika’s question once more.

A reasonable suggestion.

It was impossible for all three field agents of Silent Night Secret Society to stay in observation all at once.

Many spots in Edatine Castle at the moment were in dire need of manpower.

After double confirming, Horlaika took the lead and walked to Etorin Tailor, the two field agents following closely.

Although it was late at night, there was light at the first floor of the tailor.

The three of them exchanged a glance and split up quietly, Horlaika picking the window on the left and the two on the right.

Beyond the window was an elderly man with white hair and glasses, sitting in front of his work station. A measuring tape was around his neck and he had scissors in his hand, with a short, slightly hunched back but every move he made was clean and rhythmical.

With a clear chopping noise, the cloth under the sccisor’s blade was turned into roughly the shape of a shirt.

There was no alteration or pauses throughout the whole process, it was completed in a single move.

Anyone who saw the cutting would never doubt the tailor’s identity, but the two field agents at the right window didn’t think as such because when the old tailor cut with his scissors, they saw the shadow of a sword being wielded in a flurry.

The old tailor might seem like a tailor cutting cloth but he heavily resembled a sword-wielder attacking his target.

A master who merged his sword skill into daily routine!

Even in Silent Night Secret Society, there were only a handful of such masters, probably only one because no one in the secret society would be satisfied with the ‘common’.

Something was wrong with the tailor!

Both field agents exchanged a gaze intuitively, then continued watching.

However in the upcoming time, the tailor didn’t show excessive expressions, because other than cutting cloth, he was measuring.

The tailor finally stopped after working for two continuous hours.

Seeing the tailor putting down his scissors, the observing duo were refreshed, yearning for more information, but to their disappointment, the tailor didn’t stay for long. Instead, he headed to the basement—there was another flight of stairs under the stairs to the second floor, which led to the basement.

Although they couldn’t see, they could hear.

The secrets were hidden underground?

Both of them frowned.

If it was true, it would be a lot more difficult for them to pry into the secrets of the tailor, unless they snuck in.

But if they snuck in, it was also difficult for them to guarantee that the old tailor wouldn’t notice anything unusual; if they disguised themselves as customers, there was also a high chance that the tailor could expose them. They knew how much they were worth under the eyes of an unknown God.

Right when the two of them were communicating via eye signals, they simultaneously noticed a black figure that appeared in the garden behind the shop. The figure popped up from the secret exit hidden under a withered flower pot.

It seemed like it wasn’t the figure’s first unannounced exit.

Skillfully placing the flower pot back to its original spot to cover the secret door, the figure walked away.

‘Follow him’

One of the field agents signaled to the other and the other instantly nodded.

But before he left, he signaled Horlaika.

After getting Horlaika’s permission, he vanished into the shadows.

Etorin then appeared in the room again.

Like before, he continued cutting cloths.

It seemed like business was rather good for the old tailor, he had to put in extra time to complete his orders.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Half an hour later, the field agent returned from following the figure who exited through the garden.

After his return, Horlaika and the other agent returned to their previous hiding spots.

“How did it go?” Horlaika asked.

“It’s War God Temple’s person!” said the agent surely, he then added, “I just don’t know whether he was from Dark Hall or Inquisition!”

“Is there any difference to us?” Horlaika chuckled, then the two of them followed.

Up until this point, the two field agents had almost made sure Etorin was the hidden sentry of War God Temple.

The only thing left was to watch the old man and search for clues leading to the unknown God.

Returning to their watch spot, Horlaika on the left and the two of them on the right, nothing changed at all.

It was exactly the same as before, but Etorin, who was cutting the cloth in the room, suddenly put the cloth down.

“As His Majesty said, there ARE rats around!” said Etorin as he looked at the right window, the scissor in his hand was fired out like an arrow from a bow.

Pang!

The glass window was shattered.

The scissors grazed one of the field agents’ faces, cutting a bloody line on his cheek.

As a matter of fact, if he didn’t realize something had gone south, hence dodging in advance, his throat would have been perforated by the scissor.

However, he still failed to escape his grim fate.

His cheek, where the cut was, rotted with exponential speed.

“Aaaarh!”

Painful screams spread uncontrollably. Under Horlaika and the other field agent’s watch, the field agent’s head was corroded into a skull in a breath’s time.

“RUN!”

Without any hesitation, Horlaika signaled with his hand and dived into the shadow.

The other one didn’t stay long either, tumbling and running towards the Center First Ring.

After the two of them escaped, a fire appeared from inside the shop and swiftly grew, engulfing the whole shop quickly.

The body of the field agent was tossed into the fire.

‘Etorin’ inhaled the scorching air deeply.

“Just nice!”

As his voice faded, ‘Etorin’ vanished on the spot.

A while later, Edatine Castle’s patrol, the elite knights of War God Temple, appeared simultaneously at the fiery scene.

The latter looked at the blazing building and their faces turned sour.