Chapter 99

The rumors about Duke Arenheit Hartmann flipped in an instant.

"Have you heard about Duke Hartmann?"

"You mean how he tore up the religious painting donated by the royal family to the temple during the Corpus Christi celebration? Which noble wouldn't know about that?"

"From what I've heard, Duke Arenheit has suffered from such mental illness since childhood."

"I've also heard that this is a disease that the Hartmann ducal family has suffered from for generations! It must be hereditary."

"Is that why he didn't appear in social circles since childhood? My goodness, raised while hiding that, no wonder a madman became a duke."

"Moreover, there's a rumor that he was trying to harm His Highness the Crown Prince or the High Priest with the candelabra, but due to an onset of madness, he tore the painting instead."

"Goodness, how frightening. How could such a person have ascended to the ducal position?"

"I wonder what punishment he'll receive."

To Arenheit, who had been the leader of the noble faction,

And the legitimate heir of one of the few remaining prestigious noble families, insulting nicknames were instantly attached.

The young duke suffering from madness,

The disrespectful and arrogant patient.

And.

"It seems like everyone wants the Duke to completely step down. Or give power to others to keep him in check."

"......"

"Just the charge of attempting to assassinate a royal dramatically changes people's attitudes. That one thing was interesting to observe."

"......"

"You look like you want to ask why I deceived you, but bets are like that. They're inherently impossible. Because you're human and I'm the biological son of a god. God doesn't play dice, right?"

In the gloomy and dark royal underground prison.

The prisoners who had received amnesty in commemoration of the Corpus Christi celebration had already left.

Only Yurik and Arenheit were in this level of the underground prison.

Arenheit was stuffed into a corner of the prison.

Yurik continued to speak toward the spot where shadows had fallen, making it difficult to see.

The stone horn dangled completely intact from his neck.

It was once worn by Arenheit.

"I think it's unfortunate that you were deceived. But well, I don't intend to kill you like this, so rest assured. It will soon be my father's birthday. I'll consider special amnesty then."

"......"

"I'm not sure if the Hartmann ducal family, having lost its head, will remain intact until then. But I think someone like you will somehow claw your way back up even if you fall to the bottom."

Yurik peered carefully into the prison.

Arenheit's soiled clothes could be glimpsed.

"You met me too late. So I have to bring you down like this so that for the next 10 years, you can meticulously plan to kill me. It's a consideration of sorts, so don't resent me too much."

"...sel."

"What?"

"Russel."

"Ah, that escort knight. Since he has no crime, I sent him back to the townhouse for now. But you know that visiting is impossible, right? Requests keep coming from your servant, and my heart aches each time I have to refuse."

Yurik hummed as he rose from the chair he had been sitting on.

It was an old and ugly chair where a jailer might sit.

But there was no jailer in the prison.

Yurik lightly flicked the iron bars once and then left the prison.

Only after the sound of footsteps echoed and the creaking door closed did Arenheit open his eyes.

Fierce brown eyes appeared over his emaciated face.

* * *

How many days had it been since he was thrown into prison?

He recalled the life he had lived before his very first regression.

Being treated as a monster that had eaten people, being ruthlessly beaten and locked in a warehouse.

...Though it was probably true that he had eaten people.

After Yurik left, he remained seated, lost in thought the entire time.

Without sleeping or eating.

Where had it gone wrong?

Had he not done something he could have done?

Were there signs he hadn't noticed?

When had he begun to take Leandros's place?

This was the first time Yurik had shown interest in him.

Before his regression, Yurik had never spoken to him so blatantly.

If there was a reason for the change this time, it was probably.

'Killing a god.'

Even if it was a god derived from humans,

He had defeated a god with his own strength in Leandros's absence.

Setting aside whether it was possible for a non-protagonist to defeat a dangerous enemy.

In a situation where there were now three people who had defeated gods here, Leandros had declared his own seclusion.

That's why Yurik must have turned his attention to another possibility that could defeat him.

If he disappeared from here, the next target would be Russel.

If Russel disappeared, he would wander in search of another protagonist.

At this thought, he jumped up.

He couldn't let that happen.

Did they think he had come this far just to replace the protagonist with someone else?

Did they think he was repeating regressions to see an ending where only the character names were different?

He had to create change somehow.

First, he had to think about how to escape from this damn prison.

He approached the prison bars, pressing his face as close as possible, trying to look outside.

Since coming in here, he hadn't felt any human presence at all.

Either there was no one else besides him, or they were all dead.

Judging from the sound of water droplets falling somewhere, it seemed very humid.

That was natural, given that there wasn't even a single window.

Besides the guard who brought meals, only Yurik came here.

It was fortunate that there were no other jailers, but since Yurik visited quite irregularly, he couldn't be at ease.

It would have been better if he didn't come at all.

He was feeling around the prison looking for tools to dig the ground while pondering various escape methods.

From far away, the sound of a door opening loudly echoed.

It seemed to be the guard bringing a meal.

The guard put food into the prison twice a day.

Of course, since he never ate the food, the guard would grumble as he took away the leftover meal.

To avoid suspicion, he hid in the shadows, sticking close to the prison wall.

The footsteps grew louder and stopped in front of the prison he was in.

He expected to hear a clattering sound soon, along with a voice muttering curses.

But.

"Your Grace."

This voice was.

"Arndt!"

"Shh, don't raise your voice! Your Grace, how did you end up like this? How worried I've been during the entire time you didn't return!"

Arndt, wearing a dark hood, whispered while sticking close to the iron bars.

His face was barely visible, but his eyes seemed swollen.

"Everyone is in an uproar, saying Your Grace has gone mad. What happened to you?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain. How did you get here?"

"I came by pleading to just see Your Grace's face. I even slipped a few gold coins."

He had become accustomed to using bribes. Well done, Arndt.

But now wasn't the time to praise him.

Asking what he was curious about came first.

"That's not the issue. Did Russel return safely to the townhouse? Where is he now?"

"Only I came to the prison. Sir Russel is outside. I thought it would be better for me to come since it would be difficult to let a warrior in."

"That was a good judgment. By the way, did you come here just to check my face? Fortunately, I'm not dead yet."

He showed his sleeve, which was dirty and slightly torn but otherwise fine.

"Yurik told me he might give me special amnesty on His Majesty the King's birthday. Want to wait until then?"

"Really, what are you saying! The late Madam would absolutely scold you."

"No, you're already scolding me."

"Be quiet!"

Arndt, showing his temper, handed something through the bars.

It was a small, rough key.

"Keep this. You'll need it when you go outside."

"But aren't there guards guarding?"

"Yes. But there's no prisoner here except Your Grace, so they haven't been able to increase the personnel much."

Arndt spoke distinctly, pointing out one by one.

"You can't see outside from here, but it's evening now. If possible, I'll come back tomorrow night. I'll divert the guards' attention briefly, so if you hear the signal, come out immediately."

"Can you tell me what kind of signal it will be..."

"I think I'll arouse suspicion if I don't leave soon. Then tomorrow, I'll definitely see you outside."

Arndt left hurriedly.

All that remained after he disappeared was a small key, small enough to fit in his palm.

Could this open the prison bars?

First, he shouldn't do something foolish like opening it in advance, since Yurik might come.

There must be a lock somewhere.

After feeling around the bars for the lock for quite some time, he looked up and was shocked.

What kind of prison had the lock attached at the top!

Moreover, it was in a position that would be quite difficult to reach, especially with Arenheit's height, which seemed like that of someone who had stopped growing midway.

Wasn't it usually attached in the middle?

Right there on the door that the jailer opened and closed, at about the waist or lower abdomen if comparing to a person?

Contrary to his initial thought of not unlocking it in advance,

He had to perform an extraordinary show of climbing the wall and picking the lock for several hours within the prison.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

Listening only to the sound of water droplets falling,

Praying all the while that Yurik wouldn't come, he was keeping his ears perked when.

-Knock knock.

Had he heard wrong? Or was it the sound of a guard outside dropping a weapon that echoed all the way here?

-Knock knock knock.

There was a sound of someone knocking on the door.

The sound continued regularly until he carefully opened the prison and stood in front of the door leading outside.

Though hesitating, he slowly knocked on the door.

-Knock.

"Your Grace!"

Suddenly, the door opened wide, and someone lifted his body and pulled him outside.

A heavy cloak covered his head, and he was pushed back and forth without being able to see properly.

After walking for quite some time with his head bowed, they reached a place where soft grass rustled underfoot.

The aerial view of the royal palace that Amelia had provided, the small forest on the outskirts of the palace shown there.

Sleigh, who had brought him to the townhouse, was tied to a tree.

"Your Grace, please mount first. Sir Russel is waiting ahead."

"Arndt, what about you? Aren't you coming with us?"

"I'll go to the townhouse first. I need to clean up, and I also need to take care of Amelia."

After pondering for a moment, he said.

"Arndt, don't stay at the townhouse for long. If possible, evacuate the employees and only gather items and jewels that are easy to convert to cash. Escape with Amelia. If possible, also let Leandros know and ask him to come with us."

"What? Without returning to the ducal residence?"

"Don't come. Russel and I won't be going to the ducal residence either."

"Then what do you intend to do?"

What to do?

He had roughly planned for the future while in prison.

Mounting the saddle of Sleigh, who was stomping his feet as if wanting to run, he said.

"The west. Meet us at the western port."

Because if they couldn't go to the south, east, or north, all that remained was the west.