Angus froze in place as he heard the maid's words.

"What are you talking about ? It's not possible... It's not possible that you did that, Ruth ?!" he asked, completely shaken.

The maid only lowered her head and cried harder.

"B-but... What made you do that ? You're one of the people I trust the most here ! How could you betray us ?! Answer me !" he asked, shouting.

"I-I had no choice, Your Grace..." she whispered with a broken voice.

"What do you mean you had no choice ?!"

"T-they kidnapped my son ! They took Hugo from me ! And they made me do what they asked if I wanted to see him again ! They forced me to do so, Your Grace !" she exclaimed, crying.

"Who ? Who asked you to do this ? Who kidnapped your son ?" he asked, confused.

"A-A group of bandits called Aulsnam, Your Grace. I was out yesterday morning to do some shopping. I took Hugo with me since he was bored all alone at the palace. I was heading towards a small candy shop, a little far from the main square. Passing through a small alley, they surrounded us there..." she answered, trembling.

"How many were they ?"

"About ten men."

"And what happened next ?" Angus asked impatiently.

"They told me that if I wanted to see him again safe and sound, I had to put the poison they gave me in His Majesty's food. They told me that I have only five days ahead of me and that if they don't hear the news of His Majesty's death within the time limit... They... They... They will kill him... They will kill my son..." she continued, sobbing hard.

"But why didn't you say anything ? You could have warned us or asked for help," Matthew interjected.

"T-they threatened me that if I spoke about it to anyone, they would kill him immediately... My poor child must be scared now... He's only 6 years old..." she confessed, trembling like a leaf.

"When did you put the poison in His Majesty's food ?" Angus asked again.

"Last night... During dinner..." she confessed, lowering her head in shame.

"Fortunately, His Majesty didn't die. Otherwise, the consequences would have been more than serious," he added coldly.

"Regarding this... I made sure it was that way..."

"What do you mean ?" he asked, confused.

"I couldn't put the full dose on His Majesty's dinner... My conscience wouldn't allow it..." she answered, lowering her eyes.

"I see..."

Angus nodded thoughtfully.

"And how were they going to return your son to you after the mission is done ?" he asked.

"They asked me to go to their hideout to pick him up."

"At their hideout ?" Angus asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, Your Grace... I know it's completely stupid of me to go there alone... I know they'll get rid of me once I'm there... But do I really have a choice ? I'm ready to do everything to save Hugo."

The duke sighed.

"And where is this hideout ?"

"In the forest of Ogrence. In a small villa hidden by the trees."

"This forest isn't very far from here. It's not even two hours away," Azusa informed.

"Yeah, that's right. I've been there a few times for walks and trainings," Matthew added.

Angus stayed silent for a moment, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

"Dad ?" Azusa whispered, approaching him and putting her hand on his shoulder.

The duke raised his head and sighed heavily.

"Sir Carter," he called out firmly.

"Yes, Your Grace ?"

He turned around to him and approached him.

"You're going to Ogrence Forest tomorrow morning. I want you to find this villa and eliminate those bastards."

"Understood, Your Grace," the young knight replied, bowing.

"I want you to be very careful not to get spotted. We can't risk losing Hugo."

"As you wish, Your Grace."

"Also, try to bring their leader back to me alive. We need to get as much information as possible from him. Maybe he can get us to whoever wants to kill His Majesty."

"As you wish, Your Grace," said Matthew, bowing again.

Angus turned back to Ruth who was still slumped on the floor on her knees.

"Mrs. Lander..." he called her softly.

"Y-yes, Your Grace ?"

"You know that what you have done is very dangerous and unforgivable, right ?"

"Yes. I know that, Your Grace." she replied, lowering her head in shame.

"You betrayed our emperor and tried to kill him."

"Y-yeah... I know..."

"You know the price to pay for such a crime, right ? Death."

"I'm ready to accept any punishment inflicted on me, Your Grace. I just want... you take care of my son after my death... This is my one and only wish... This child has done nothing... Please..." she begged with a broken voice.

"Get up, Ruth Lander," he ordered.

The maid stood up slowly, trembling slightly. The duke approached her and smiled slightly at her.

"We're going to find your son, Ruth. And we're not going to punish you. You have my pardon."

"O-oh... Y-Your Grace..." she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"It's true that you did something horrible. But you had the courage to sacrifice everything for your son. You are a lady of a great sense of moral. The fact that your conscience has prevented you from committing a crime, and the fact that you came to confess everything to me is proof of what I'm saying."

"T-Thank you so much, Your Grace," said the maid, smiling slightly.

Angus nodded at her.

"You can go now. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Thank you, Your Grace."

Ruth bowed to the duke before leaving the office.

══════ ∘◦❁◦∘ ══════

The next morning, at the entrance of the palace, Matthew and his group of four knights were getting their things and horses ready for the departure.

"Everything's ready, guys ?" he asked.

"Yes, Captain. We're waiting for your signal."

"Have you prepared some extra weapons just in case ?"

"Of course, Captain. Everything is prepared as you asked."

"Very good."

Matthew got on his gray horse and walked towards the exit, not knowing that there was someone watching them from her bedroom window, a hand over her raging heart.

"Take care of yourself. Come back safe and sound... Please..." Azusa whispered with a sad look on her face.

══════ ∘◦❁◦∘ ══════

On Luana and Lucas's side, they continued their long road towards the center of the forest while talking about anything and everything.

After a few minutes of walking, they felt a strange smell emanate from the bushes that surrounded them.

"What's this smell ?" Luana asked uneasily, hiding her nose.

"What bothers me the most is not the smell, but the aura that these herbs give off," the young captain remarked.

"The aura ?" asked the confused princess.

"Yeah. Look."

Lucas approached the bushes and pointed to the very dark green leaves with his hand.

"These herbs are not normal. Not at all."

He focused his gaze on a little rabbit that was a few feet away from them, nibbling on one of the leaves.

After a few seconds, the poor animal collapsed to the ground, uttering a horrible cry. Since then, he has shown no sign of life.

"Poison..." Luana concluded.

"Exactly."

"The Alickina potion was brewed using one of these herbs, I'm sure. Rufus told us that Abras has already entered this forest before," she added.

"Yeah. It's very likely."

Luana walked over to the little bunny and stroked its head.

"Poor creature..." she whispered with a sad look.

"Luana..."

"Yeah ?" she asked, turning around to look at him.

Suddenly, a huge tiger-like creature with a black and golden coat, long white horns and long sharp claws, advanced towards them with a very menacing look.

Lucas quickly drew his sword and hid Luana behind him while Leo stepped in front of them.

The creature let out a terrifying roar, showing its sharp canines, before rushing straight into them.

Leo quickly jumped on it and bit its neck hard, digging his teeth into it. The tiger struggled, trying to claw at the wolf with its big paws.

Leo released him and quickly backed up as the other animal prepared to attack again, not noticing Lucas who was behind him. The latter quickly climbed onto his back and jumped on him, chopping off his head.

The creature's body fell to the ground as its large head rolled until it reached Leo's paws.

Lucas put his sword back in its place and walked over to his pet and Luana.

"Are you all right, Your Highness ? You have nothing ?" he asked.

"Yeah, don't worry. What about you ?"

"I'm fine."

Lucas walked over to Leo and stroked his head gently which made the animal whimper with happiness.

"You did a very good job, Leo. Congratulations."

"I felt that something was following us for a while now. But I thought it was just a small harmless animal, not a huge tiger," Luana confessed.

"I felt it too. I just didn't want to alarm you."

"This place is getting more and more dangerous the further we go in," Luana remarked.

"Yeah, you're right. We should hurry."

The small group continued on their way again, oblivious to the fact that there was a figure watching their every move, a few feet away from them.

══════ ∘◦❁◦∘ ══════

Matthew and his companions arrived at Ogrence Forest and found the villa faster than they expected.

"Ultimately, this place wasn't that well hidden," the young knight remarked, confused.

"You mean not hidden at all, Captain," retorted one of the knights.

"It's very weird. It can't be a trap. Right, Captain ?" asked another.

"I don't know. There's only one way to find out."

Matthew slowly dismounted his horse and crouched down towards the villa.

He saw, in front of the front door, two men of average build wearing slightly damaged clothes with swords hanging from their waists.

"We have five minutes left before the change of positions. We have to watch over the kid afterwards," one of them announced.

"Are we going back to the stables ?! My god ! That's awful !" the other replied in disgust.

"Those are the boss's orders. There's nothing we can do about it, man."

Hearing this, Matthew turned to his companions.

"Did you hear that ?" he whispered.

"Yes, Captain."

"So you know what to do now. You two are going to bring Hugo back. You two are going to get rid of those two and I will go in the back door and capture their leader," he ordered each one of them.

"Yes, Captain," they all answered in unison.

The knights parted as Matthew ordered them while he walked over to the back door.

In not even five minutes, they embedded themselves in the villa and massacred the group of bandits.

They found their leader on the second floor, standing in the middle of a room at the end of the hall, shaking like a leaf.

"W-Who are you ?!" he asked.

"You don't need to know who we are," Matthew replied icily.

"W-What do you want from me ?!"

Matthew walked over to the man and grabbed him by the neck.

"You attacked a widow and her child without any mercy. You took her son and you forced her to poison our emperor," he said angrily.

"I-I..."

"Why did you do that, huh ?! What's your goal ?!" he shouted, tightening his grip on the bandit's neck.

"I-It's not me... I swear... I just followed orders..." he tried to say, completely red because of the choking.

"Who do you work for ? Who gave the order ?!"

"I-I..."

Matthew took out his sword impatiently and pointed it at the man's throat.

"Listen. Either you answer my questions, or I torture you until you decide to speak," he said coldly.

"I-I'm going talk ! I'm going to talk ! Please ! Don't kill me !"

"Hurry up. I don't have all day."

"T-the one who gave us the order... I-it's..."

"Quickly."

"I-it was Duke Lobelia who ordered me to do this !" the man confessed, letting out tears of fear.