The Villain's Retirement-Chapter 51: Lurking (2)

Moving through the halls, Ard’s shadow dove into the shadow of a male noble, bringing him with it.

"Did you get a look at her earlier?" the male muttered as they walked. "The Mur girl."

The other let out a quiet chuckle. "Hard not to."

"As expected for a former noble, she’s quite pretty," the first said, lowering his voice. "No, she’s prettier than most I’ve seen."

The second glanced around before replying. "You thinking of sneaking a look?"

"Let’s enjoy it while we can. Maybe we can even score on her."

The shadows stretched quietly like paint as Ard followed silently behind their shadows. Soon, they reached what seemed to be an underground cell.

There, the corridor sloped downward, the air growing colder and damp. Iron bars came into view, torchlight flickering against stone.

One of the guards at the cell straightened when he saw them approach.

"Young masters, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He asked. But the male noble suddenly stepped forward and dropped a heavy pouch of gold.

"What is this?"

The noble grinned. "Relax. We just wanted to... confirm something."

Albeit already taking the pouch in his pocket, the cell guard raised a brow. "Confirm what?"

The second noble dropped another heavy pouch of gold and even a book as he smiled with intentions.

"Written there is one of the sword techniques passed down in my family." The second noble said, "I’m giving it to you as reward."

Seeing them, the cell guard narrowed his eyes, hesitated, but then smirked. "I understand, young masters, but I will only allow you to look."

He stepped aside slightly, and woke up his sleeping companion to substitute him while he went inside with the two.

Placing their hands on the guard’s shoulders, they continued walking.

Soon, behind the bars, a youthful lady with black straight hair and emerald eyes sat on a narrow bench, wrists bound loosely with rune-etched restraints. She was still wearing the dress from the banquet—dark silk clinging to her frame, the fabric rumpled but unmistakably elegant. One shoulder strap had slipped, exposing pale skin that caught the torchlight.

She hadn’t been given a cloak.

Her head was lowered, long hair spilling over her shoulders, but when she shifted, the two nobles caught a glimpse of her profile—calm, composed, infuriatingly beautiful even here.

"...Damn," the first noble breathed.

The cell guard then spoke. "Young masters, don’t be fooled of her looks. While she looks like that, she’s a knight."

The second noble however only smiled.

"We know it. Just keep quiet for now." The second noble said, then looked at Elara, "Those mana suppressing chains looks good on you, Elara."

Elara did not say anything, but she already knew what was happening.

"Indeed," the other said, jokingly punching the cell guard, "Who cares if she’s a knight? That simply means she won’t tire out easily and with those mana suppressing chains on her, what could she do?"

The two nobles then exchanged glances.

"So are they gonna execute her or something?" One asked.

The cell guard nodded. "Yes, first of all, she is a traitor’s daughter. Madam Lucilia is very keen on claiming her life. The other nobles are also in agreement that she shall be executed especially for crimes of conspiracy to commit treason and treason. The Imperial knights of the kingdom have been searching for the Mur family for a while now, but she had never surfaced and now she’s been involved with unknown and dangerous entities who just attacked nobility."

"You’re right." The noble clapped as if not expecting the cell guard to be right.

They then opened the cell without permission, pulling the keys from the cell guard’s waist.

"Don’t worry, don’t worry." The other said, with his eyes glinting, "We’ll make sure those chains stay on her and that she won’t escape no matter what happens."

The cell guard stared at them, then chuckled nervously.

"I’m glad you’ll young masters know that. That is enough."

"Doesn’t look broken at all," the second muttered. "Hard to believe she’s a traitor’s daughter."

The cell guard chuckled softly. "Enjoy your inspection while you can. After tonight, she might get executed anyway."

The noble’s eyes lingered on the cell guard a moment longer, before pointing to the exit.

"Stay there."

When the cell guard was gone and stood there to block the entrance, the nobles looked at the beautiful prisoner in a dress with eyes roaming shamelessly. "Shame, you are a traitor’s daughter. I could have made you my concubine."

"Hah, if your crimes weren’t treason, I would have done everything to purchase you."

Elara didn’t look at them, as they started to approach her.

It was at that moment.

The shadows watching from behind them were unsettled. On that brief moment, he had confirmed what the Duke said was true. There were other prisoners in the other cells. They were all similar to each other in the sense they reeked of blood. It made sense that these people would either be enslaved or get executed. After all, it was the truth these people were assassins, just like the people who attacked him. In fact, he could even see some of them.

But maybe, because something had changed in him.

’I don’t know why,’ Ard started to come out of the shadows in the darkness appearing in the view of the prisoners and to Elara, with the sole exception of those sleeping and the two nobles busy touching the prisoner.

’Is this heroism?’ Ard continued, ’I feel angry for some reason. "Anger", this is something unimaginable in the past. It’s probably because I now wear this ring.’

One of the nobles reached out, fingers brushing the silk at Elara’s shoulder.

She stiffened.

The other laughed softly. "Relax. It’s not like you’ll need this dress where you’re going."

The torchlight flickered.

Then the shadows behind them moved as cold pressure washed through the cell, as if the air itself recoiled. Then a shape detached from the darkness—tall, silent, impossibly still, walked forward into Elara’s vision.

Elara gasped.

Crimson eyes opened behind the nobles and an expression of indifference were staring at them coldly.

"What—" one of them began, turning—

There was no scream then bodies fell on the stone floor with a thud simultaneously, creating a pool of blood.