Twelve years. That's how long Keith had served the third prince. Four years as a trainee, eight as the head butler. He had seen the prince grow up from a troublesome younger brother to a highly uncooperative and rebellious younger brother.
Unfortunately, he wasn't old enough to compare him like a parent like most other staff members.
This young butler was one of the few who agreed that the palace was too big.
Too much area to cover. Unnecessary rooms to clean. It was too much work. Add the troublesome master into that equation and it was a bad work condition all together. Keith was a subject of pity to the staff from other palaces.
Unbeknownst to them, the staff at Ioannis's palace were quite happy with their circumstances. The said unruly prince had made sure to increase their salaries, and didn't treat them badly.
It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say he treated the staff at his home better than the nobles. Keith was years behind in experience compared to the older butlers, but he was paid a lot more than many.
The prince hated working, but was a good employer. Every staff member at this maze with furniture shared the sentiment.
But that didn't mean they didn't have their fears.
In the beginning years of the job, Keith had multiple near heart attacks. Cause what do you mean the ten-year-old fell off a wall? How did that even happen?
Out of all the pets in the world, he wanted to raise a tiger? He definitely heard him planning to set it off against the guards.
By the age of thirteen, Ann was already throwing death threats in all directions. Keith still remembered the gardeners being fired cause they planted too many roses.
Compared to everything, not finding the prince in his room in the morning had become mild.
Setting aside the first time he found the room empty and sent forth a chain of panic throughout the palace, after being through it nearly a hundred times now he knew what to do.
Keith had a detailed data map on how to deal with each situation.
Firstly, inform the guards and look for him within the area. At the same time, send a message to the main palace just in case. The head of security was no joke; he was sure to find and bring him back within an hour or two. Secondly, don't panic, he would be safe within the palace, no matter what he did. Thirdly, don't inform the rest of the family in a fit of panic. That was the endgame.
Keith dealt with this calmly, cause what use was panic? That just made people more inefficient.
Then how were the guards supposed to react when the same composed person was throwing a fit of terror? Running to the knight station with nothing other than the words to say. Words that made less sense by the minute.
It was like any other morning. Keith had gone in to wake the prince in the early hours, expecting the usual bitter comments and curses thrown at every random object. But what greeted him was a disheveled room and bright stains of red across it, so much so that it hadn't even dried up despite turning dark.
The simple message that the prince was missing wouldn't have been anything new, just the daily practice they had taken a break from for a while.
But once the door opened before them, they didn't know what to do. "Send the knights out immediately. Don't spare any corner."
"But the security team is already working around the palace, your highness." There were hundreds of people watching over the palace grounds every moment. They were already searching desperately.
Ceron didn't look at the guards. He couldn't look back from the sight before him. "Send them across the kingdom."
"And call for the royal mage. We need to see if it's really Ann's…Ann's– just go."
They needed to look. Before something unimaginable could happen. Before their failure to do the one thing they were paid for became a dark mark of guilt in their hearts.
"It can't be…it can't be his…your highness, you think so too, right?"
Ceron didn't know what to say to console Keith. He didn't even know what to say to himself.
Ann was cunning. Even if he was too weak, he wouldn't have let anyone hurt him. This had to be one of his pranks. Yes.
Ceron wanted to believe that. They all did. But there were traces of intruders. Marks of soil on the ground. Traces left behind in a hurry. Something Ann could not have faked. "Sir Phineas, what am I to think?"
Phineas didn't utter a single word. He wasn't a man to give excuses. He had let rats sneak into the palace due to his failure. In his heart, he could only pray that the blood belonged to the enemy.
———
Well, of course, it belonged to the enemy. The enemy of peace, well-known by everyone in the palace. The one and only, Ioannis Reis Caelestis, the third prince.
Reis couldn't be more pissed. Did he map out the whole collection of his escape routes from the palace so he could get kidnapped? That was confidential information, for god's sake! How did people get in? How did they freaking reach his room without getting caught?
Answer: Through a route he, or the others, didn't know.
Yeah, that happened. The enemy also had their way. A pretty modified one if he said so himself. He could never have had the funds to make an underground route to the inner palaces with so much developed lighting and trap management.
"Are you sure he isn't dead?"
"Dead people don't breathe, you idiot."
"But he looks like he might be dying."
Appearance-wise, he looked half dead. 'Ann's' wardrobe was a great collection of white. Red just had a special talent for settling onto it.
Reis had taken the role of a possum. Not entirely, cause he couldn't just stop breathing when his heart and lungs already felt like he had swallowed needles. But even after he had regained his consciousness, not after too long, unfortunately, he chose not to move. At all.
He was already tied up and thrown onto a sack of hay, which, surprisingly, wasn't too uncomfortable. What use was opening his eyes? He didn't need to be introduced to his kidnappers.
"As long as he's alive until the boss gets here."
Yeah, I hope so too.
Because of how much it was hurting, he wasn't so sure about that.
|Once the accumulated energy spreads out to open your mana channels, it won't hurt as much.|
Oh, you're alive.
|Due to an overdose, your body has taken some damage. Once the residue is cleared up, it will begin to heal.|
|After that, you will be able to use your skills again. |
As if he had any useful skills to begin with.
But at least the pain would go away.
Reis didn't have many complaints about the kidnapping. It was more like a cliche. Ann had too many people who hated him, and so far, he had done absolutely nothing to change that.
He was suddenly paying attention to work on top of that. Surely some people would get anxious.
He was curious, though. About who managed to hire such skilled people for the job. The security wasn't a joke. They kept records of every small animal that passed inside, but missed two full-sized humans.
It would have made more sense if they attempted an assassination. Wasn't it too risky to kidnap a prince?
|You really do think like a criminal.|
"Why is he unconscious?"
A new voice joined the voice channel of kidnappers one and two.
"Did I tell you to beat him?! He looks half dead!"
"That's not our fault; he was already bleeding when we found him."
"Maybe he was poisoned?"
No, it was simply a mistaken dose of mana awakening herb. Administered by none other than himself.
"I don't care! Wake him up! Pour water on him."
What? No!
It was the beginning of winter. Pour water on him after all that? He'd definitely die.
Kidnappers one and two thought so too. So out of the kindness of their hearts, they first chose to call him to wake. "Your Highness? Are you alive in there?"
Reis moved with a low grumble. "Where am I?"
|Acting Skills: +5|
The two Kidnappers sighed in relief. The same cannot be said about the prince and their employer.
Isn't that guy part of the council?
The man, dressed formally, was looking at him with contempt. Reis had seen the same kind of contempt before, at the morning council meeting.
"Good morning, your highness." Unlike his eyes, which were comparable to a vulture's, his mouth held a smile, and his tone was respectful as ever. "I hope it hasn't been too uncomfortable for you."
"Counselor, you do realize you have kidnapped a prince of the country, right?"
A crooked smile formed on the man's lips, sending chills down Reis's spine. "Yes. I know I have taken the great duty of fixing the mistakes of the kingdom." You really don't need to. "I hope your highness will comply."