Marcello tested the breath and pulse of his attendant, making sure that he was merely unconscious, and felt slightly relieved. But in the next second, he suddenly turned pale with shock, "Damn!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He whipped his head around, no longer caring about the attendant who had collapsed on the bed, and quickly ran out of the room, "Your Excellency, hurry and come with me to check on Lady Adelina! If this guy could bypass the guards and sneak into the inner castle, who’s to say he’s the only one? If there are accomplices and they harm the Lady, it would be disastrous!"

Hearing Marcello’s sudden concern, Leon finally reacted.

After all, he had only been serving as a knight in the Thorny Flower Family for a short time, so he hadn’t instinctively considered the Baroness’s safety like Marcello did.

And compared to them, the Lady of the Farolis Family seemed more likely to be the target.

Dragging the criminal who was stumbling and crying out in pain, Leon and Olivia followed Knight Marcello, quickly descending to the bottom of the tower.

At the inner castle passageway, the night guard who usually watched the stair entrance had mysteriously been dragged to a corner at the foot of the staircase without a sound.

The guard’s body lay with eyes shut, a serene expression on his face, but with a massive, fatal wound opened by a sharp weapon on his neck, pooling blood beneath.

Aside from that, the armor on the body was still neat, showing no signs of struggle or fight, as if he had been killed in his sleep.

Olivia looked away in sympathy, now understanding whose blood stained the dagger the thief held.

Having apprehended the murderer of the guard, the three hurried to the inner castle’s courtyard. Upon entering, they were immediately assailed by the calming, strange scent wafting through the corridor and hall.

Using the light from the candle chandelier in the great hall, they glanced at the incense burners hanging on the surrounding pillars, where the incense inside still emitted flickers of ember, dispersing a hazy trail of white smoke.

The normally benign incense in this courtyard had somehow been replaced with a sedative, unbeknownst to them.

Seeing no trace of the guards at each passageway, Leon guessed that under the hallway’s pervasive effects of the sedative, they had either been killed or had already passed out.

Leon frowned and covered his nose; the scent was much stronger than in Olivia’s and the attendant’s rooms. Now he recalled smelling the same scent when he was woken up in his own room.

If that was the case, it’s likely that Knight Marcello’s room hadn’t been spared either.

But for some reason, without Miss Lora’s help, he didn’t succumb like Azeryan and Lokhak had previously.

And Marcello showed no signs of being affected either.

Could it really be that the stronger one’s constitution, the less they were affected by this mysterious sedative?

Leon set aside his speculations for the moment.

Though it was unclear why the incense had little effect on Olivia, himself, and Lord Marcello, considering the state of Marcello’s attendant and the dead guard, it was clear that the drug had a significant effect on ordinary people.

It seemed Lady Adelina was truly in danger.

Leon doubted that the elegantly dignified Baroness they had met during the day possessed the robust constitution of a warrior.

Olivia’s constitution was a rare miracle in this world.

Olivia’s prior ordeal was probably an ill-conceived act of impulse by this thief, an unexpected development.

The thief could have never imagined that the seemingly fragile girl he targeted was in fact the most powerful entity in the castle.

"We can’t delay anymore! Your Excellency, leave your maid to watch this thief and let’s move quickly!" Marcello, as a precaution, covered his mouth and nose and picked up the pace, looking back somewhat urgingly.

Having the broken-handed prisoner with them undoubtedly slowed down their pace substantially.

Leon knew that Knight Marcello didn’t understand how capable the seemingly delicate Olivia was, otherwise Marcello would have certainly asked him to stay and guard the prisoner.

Olivia, hearing this, also looked at Leon, her eyes inquiring whether they should follow Marcello’s plan.

Leon shook his head at the girl, considering the likely impending conflict; he did not want to leave this powerful young lady behind.

And after the frightful shock he had just experienced, now Leon didn’t want his... his lover, out of his sight for a moment longer.

But without handcuffs at hand and unable to kill the captive whose testimony had not yet been extracted, Leon stopped briefly and, amid the thief’s terrified screams, swiftly broke both of his legs.

Stepping on the writhing scoundrel, Leon tore off the man’s shirt, used it to bind his hands behind his back, tossed him into a corner, and then, finally, caught up to Knight Marcello’s urgently receding footsteps.

The situation was likely dire, so they dared not waste time summoning more knights from their chambers in the tower lofts. They needed to confirm the Lord’s Wife’s safety as soon as possible.

...

Deep within the main castle.

In the only luxuriously candle-lit corridor of the inner castle, a sturdy man dressed as a castle servant carried an unconscious noble youth on his shoulder, swiftly walking toward his destination.

As he moved, he calculated the time left to retreat.

Though he didn’t know where the bought-off castle servant had gone, he didn’t care; that idiot was meant to be left behind anyway.

The strong man arrived at the door of the Lord’s room, pushed it open, entered, and then locked the door from the inside.