On the main roads of Obsidior...

A navy-blue steam carriage moved at a relaxed pace through the crowded streets of the city.

Horse carriages rolled across the stone roads beside heavy steam wagons transporting seal boxes and wood toward different districts of the city.

People moved everywhere.

Flower shops displayed colorful bouquets outside their entrances while food vendors loudly called out toward passing customers.

The scent of roasted meat, baked bread, smoke, and engine steam mixed together in the air.

Obsidior carried the noisy life of a major city proudly.

The navy-blue steam carriage eventually made a sharp turn away from the main road.

Soon...

It entered a narrow one-way path surrounded by tightly packed stone buildings.

The carriage continued turning deeper and deeper through hidden routes until the lively noise of the city slowly disappeared behind them and the atmosphere changed.

The roads became emptier and the passing buildings looked older, then eventually...

The carriage entered an isolated area surrounded by forest, making it feel almost like they had already left the city itself despite technically still remaining inside Obsidior.

Inside the carriage...

"Dan..."

Zara crossed his arms while leaning back against the soft seat.

"Is this really the right way?"

His voice carried obvious annoyance.

He sat in the center of the back seat dressed in expensive royal-blue clothing.

A medium-length tailored coat with brass buttons rested neatly over his shoulders.

Underneath it, he wore a clean white inner shirt, a royal-blue vest lined with decorative brass patterns, pressed trousers, and polished pointed shoes.

Everything about him screamed wealth, even the faint perfume around him smelled expensive.

"Yes, Young Master."

Dan replied respectfully from the seat near the driver.

"You should already know..."

He rubbed his hands together while smiling awkwardly.

"...for gangs like this, their base naturally has to remain hidden."

"Is that so?"

Zara relaxed slightly, but then a suspicious look suddenly appeared on Dan’s face.

"But Young Master..."

Dan carefully glanced backward toward him.

"Why exactly are we suddenly visiting this place?"

His tone lowered awkwardly.

"Did you sleep with another commoner’s daughter again?"

The moment those words left his mouth...

The driver stiffened slightly while continuing to focus ahead silently.

For a long time now, ever since Ezra left for the Trial of Steel...

Zara had gradually gotten involved in increasingly troublesome situations.

Rape, violence, beatings and even accidental killings.

Most of the victims were ordinary commoners wealthy enough to live within the larger cities.

Though many incidents also happened in smaller towns because Zara preferred places far away from his parents’ eyes.

Places where nobody important would recognize him.

And every single time something went wrong...

Dan handled the cleanup, either with bribes, threats, disappearances, silencing witnesses or threatening grieving families not to press charges. All done by hiring a certain gang to do the dirty work.

That had become his role.

"No."

Zara casually waved his hand dismissively.

"This time it’s different."

A pleased smile slowly appeared across his face.

"This one is for killing Ezra."

"Huh?" Dan’s eyes widened instantly. "The second Young Master?"

"Don’t call that trash Young Master!"

Zara sharply glared at him.

"Hasn’t Father already forbidden that?"

"I-I’m very sorry Young Master."

Dan immediately bowed repeatedly in panic.

"It was only a slip of the tongue."

He carefully raised his head again afterward.

"So, this time..."

He forced out a nervous smile.

"...we’re eliminating the trash to cover up the mistake..."

"We aren’t covering up anything."

Zara coldly interrupted him.

"That useless rat should have died long ago."

His eyes moved toward the carriage window where his own reflection stared back at him.

"But somehow...He kept struggling to survive."

Zara sighed irritably.

"But now it’s reached the point where he absolutely has to disappear."

His fingers slowly brushed through his hair while staring at his reflection.

"How unlucky was I...to be born with a useless twin like that?"

He shook his head slowly like he genuinely found Ezra’s existence disgusting.

"The stain needs to disappear quickly so I can rise higher."

Zara suddenly raised both hands slightly while smiling brightly. His imagination had already started drifting again.

The Royal Academy, Ashenlocke recognition, Status, Power, Respect and the Noble ladies.

He could almost picture nobles praising him already.

"The Young Master is about to become one of the pillars of Ashenlocke."

Dan immediately lowered his head respectfully again.

"I only hope you won’t forget me once you enter the Royal Academy."

Zara’s expression instantly disappeared with the pleasant smile vanishing so quickly that Dan’s spine turned cold.

Zara slowly stared down at him like he was looking at dirt.

"I overheard something recently."

His voice came out calm.

"Apparently...You’ve been bragging to people that you’ll follow me into the Royal Academy."

Dan’s heart instantly tightened.

"...without even asking me first."

The atmosphere inside the carriage suddenly became heavy.

Then...

Zara slowly released a portion of his Cognis presence.

Only a little...

But for ordinary people like Dan and the driver, that alone was enough to make the atmosphere inside the steam carriage suddenly feel suffocating.

The driver’s pupils shrank instantly.

Fear gripped his body so suddenly that his hands lost control of the steering handle for a moment.

The steam carriage swerved violently across the road; the wheels scraped hard against the soil path of the forest.

Then...

The pressure disappeared.

Just like that.

As though nothing had happened in the first place.

The driver immediately grabbed control of the carriage again.

His breathing turned rough.

Sweat poured down the side of his face beneath his cap while his hands trembled against the controls.

Even though the steam carriage only shook violently for a few seconds...

If they had actually crashed...

Only the Young Master would walk out unharmed while normal people like him and Dan would either die on the spot or remain crippled forever.

Still...

The driver didn’t dare complain.

Not even slightly.

He simply adjusted his cap with shaky fingers, straightened his posture, and resumed driving silently.

Dan had it far worse.

His entire back was soaked with sweat.

He almost felt like pissing himself from the pressure in Zara’s gaze, he couldn’t even raise his head anymore.

His chest moved heavily while sweat dripped continuously from his jaw onto his clothes.

"Well..."

Zara suddenly smiled again like the earlier pressure had never existed.

"You’ve helped me quite a lot over the years."

He lazily leaned back against the soft seat.

"But..."

A smug smile slowly stretched across his face.

"You’re still not someone worthy of following this genius into a place filled with true power and geniuses."

Smack, smack, smack.

Zara repeatedly slapped the side of Dan’s head lightly while grinning proudly.

Dan forced himself to smile along nervously despite the humiliation burning inside him.

"But don’t worry."

Zara waved his hand casually.

"I’ll make Father promote you again after this and once Ezra disappears...I’ll reward you heavily."

The words sounded generous, but Dan clearly understood something.

The reward depended entirely on whether Ezra died successfully and even if it did, this was the level Zara saw him as.

’A useful dog only worthy to lick his boot and not to walk beside him’

The steam carriage slowly came to a stop in front of an abandoned building hidden deep within the forest.

Snow gathered around broken fences and cracked stone walls.

The building itself looked rotten from the outside.

Dark, cold and quiet.

"Young Master..."

The driver finally spoke softly after remaining silent the entire trip.

"We’ve arrived."

Boom!

A massive figure suddenly landed on top of the carriage roof.

The heavy impact shook the entire vehicle violently.

Dan quickly rushed out first.

"Thank you, Young Master!"

He bowed repeatedly toward Zara before hurrying toward several armed men already surrounding the carriage.

A bulky man holding a spear stood at the front.

The man’s size alone looked intimidating.

Dan immediately approached him and started speaking quietly.

At first...

Their conversation remained low, but after some time...

Both men suddenly burst into laughter.

Zara remained inside the carriage listening faintly while narrowing his eyes impatiently.

After a few more minutes...

Dan hurried back again and quickly opened the carriage door respectfully.

"Please Young Master."

He lowered his head deeply.

"Let’s go."

Zara slowly stepped out.

The moment his polished shoes touched the muddy ground...

His face immediately twisted slightly with disgust.

The place looked terrible.

Broken wood, a forest with flying insects, rotten looking walls.

The smell of damp soil and old alcohol lingered around the area, even though he had secretly hired this gang multiple times through Dan to clean up his mess...

This was his very first time personally stepping into their hideout.

And honestly...

He already regretted coming.

"This place smells like animal dung."

Zara immediately covered his nose and mouth using his navy-blue handkerchief while following behind Dan through the hallway.

The wooden floor beneath his shoes creaked with every step.

The walls looked old and cracked from the outside, yet the deeper they walked into the building, the stranger the atmosphere became.

Dan pushed open a large door leading into the main room.

And the moment Zara stepped inside...

His eyes widened slightly.

"Wow..."

The room looked far different from the rotten exterior of the building.

Warm lamps glowed around the walls.

Expensive carpets covered the floor.

Alcohol shelves lined the sides of the room while polished furniture rested neatly around the area.

It still couldn’t compare to the interior of noble estates or rich merchant mansions, but for a gang hideout hidden inside a forest?

It honestly felt shocking.

At the center of the room, a shirtless man relaxed lazily across an elegant sofa.

Different scars stretched across his body like old battle marks, his muscular frame also looked strong and sturdy.

Only a pair of dark-green flexible trousers covered his lower body.

"This is suprising..."

The man slowly smiled while pouring wine from an expensive bottle.

"Our best customer finally decided to visit us personally."

His rough voice echoed through the room casually.

"Care for a drink?"

He slightly raised the bottle toward Zara.

Zara quickly composed himself again after the brief surprise earlier.

Still...

His eyes quietly scanned the room once more.

This place really doesn’t match the outside.

The thought crossed his mind while he accepted the offered glass.

"I understand your standards, Young Master Zara."

The man chuckled lightly while pouring wine into the cup, even though Zara was still technically underage for a drink like that, but Wallace already knew exactly what kind of noble he was.

"For a lowly place..."

Zara slowly sat down across from him.

"...you designed this area surprisingly well."

Wallace laughed.

"I’ll take that as praise."

He leaned back comfortably into the sofa while sipping from his own cup.

"So then...What exactly does the Wallace Gang need to do for you this time?"

Zara glanced toward Dan silently.

Dan immediately understood and quickly pulled out a printed colored photograph of Ezra from his coat pocket before placing it carefully onto the table.

The gang members nearby instantly leaned forward curiously.

"Huh?"

A female gang member resting lazily behind Wallace’s sofa pointed toward the picture.

"Isn’t this just you?"

"No." Zara sharply glared at her. "That trash is Ezra. He’s my twin."

"Ehnn..."

The woman placed a finger against her lips while staring closely at the picture.

"Oh..."

She jumped lightly over the back of the sofa and grabbed the photograph from the table resting near Wallace’s lap.

"Now that I’m looking carefully..."

She compared the image against Zara’s face repeatedly.

"He has white strands mixed to his black hair unlike your plain black hair..."

She swung her legs playfully afterward while smiling.

"And honestly...He looks cuter than you."

Silence spread through the room for a few minutes with Dan eyes widening because he already knew what was about to happen.

The vein near Zara’s temple instantly bulged hard.

"How dare you!"

Bang!

He slammed the wine glass violently against the table.

The glass shattered instantly while Cognis burst out from his body.

The pressure spread through the room sharply.

Several ordinary gang members immediately stiffened.

The female gang member quickly hopped behind the sofa like a cat avoiding danger.

Yet instead of fear...

She started laughing harder.

"Haha..."

She peeked from behind Wallace’s shoulder dramatically.

"I’m scared Wallace...He’s terrifying."

Her mocking tone only made Zara’s expression twist further.

"Betty."

Wallace sighed helplessly while rubbing his forehead.

"Stop provoking the Young Master."

He casually picked up the photograph she dropped onto the sofa, then he studied Ezra’s face carefully for several seconds.

"He looks scrawny and..."

Wallace smiled brightly afterward.

"Honestly... he’s weaker than you."

The moment Zara heard that...

His anger immediately settled slightly with a pleased expression slowly returning to his face.

"That trash was always weak."

He leaned back proudly.

Wallace dropped the picture onto the table afterward.

"So...How much are you paying...And how quickly do you want the job done?"

"The payment will be in gold coins."

Zara’s expression became serious again.

"I don’t want mistakes. I want him dead painfully and fast"

His voice lowered coldly.

"Even if it happens today...I absolutely need him dead before the end of this week."

Because that would be when the unveiling party begins and Ezra absolutely can be allowed to appear there alive.

"Deal."

Thunk!

Wallace suddenly stabbed the photograph with a knife straight through Ezra’s face.

The surrounding gang members immediately gathered around laughing excitedly.

Some cracked their knuckles, others stared at the photograph with cruel smiles.

The atmosphere inside the room instantly turned darker.

"Do you know where we can find him?"

Wallace asked while his smile slowly became twisted.

"No."

Zara answered honestly.

"But he’s definitely somewhere within Obsidior...Or maybe one of the nearby towns, he could even still be near the capital city."

Then suddenly...

"Ha..."

Wallace slowly started laughing.

"Haha..."

The laughter gradually became louder.

"Hahahahaha!"

The other gang members joined in too.

Their laughter echoed through the room louder and louder until even Zara and Dan began feeling uncomfortable hearing it.

Then Wallace suddenly spread his arms wide while grinning viciously.

"IT’S A HUNT GUYS!"

His malicious smile stretched across his scarred face while the gang behind him erupted into loud cheers filled with excitement toward the hunt for Ezra.