City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 99: Breach

“My Lord,” I said as I entered the secure room. It took some convincing and usage of ‘Persuasion’ for them to bring me here.
 
A fortified place, which is defensively enchanted and guarded by powerful guards. Lancel is sitting there, and so is the bloodied Viscount Atre along with two of his men. 
 
One of them is laying on the ground while being treated by the leader. 
 
Lancel is sitting on the head chair, looking angry.
 
I wanted to ask what happened so badly, but seeing Lancel's expressions, it wouldn’t be wise to do that.
 
The only thing I know is that Viscount Atre and his men had got attacked, and at least one got killed. There are two sittings here, with one being treated by a healer.
 
Still, I mouth the words to Robin beside me, who mouth ‘later,’ back. I nodded and turned to Lancel, who was still staring at the table.
 
“This is a fortress, for the emperor's sake. The assassins have come here and killed two people under their noses, while they watch like dumb chickens.” cursed Lancel angrily and turned to the middle bald man, who was sweating profusely under Lancel’s glare.
 
“Our sincerest apologies for this security lapse, Lord Lancel. The commander himself searching for the perpetrators to bring them to justice for this heinous act,” replied the man shakingly.
 
It made Lancel glare at him further.
 
The man shuddered under his glare and sweated even more. That made Lancel shake his head in pity and turned away from the man.
 
The silence is deafening, and I wish I had some telekinesis skills, but I did not. So, I sat in silence. 
 
“This damned stickiness!” cursed Viscount Atre suddenly, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. “Bring me a new set of clothes,” he said, and looked at the guard standing beside him.
 
The guard instead looked at the bald man.
 
“What are you waiting for? Go bring Viscount Atre a new set of clothes,” snapped the bald man. 
 
I couldn’t help but get surprised seeing that. Gone was the pitiful face and now, he had an angry look on his face, filled with irritation. Though it had only lasted for a second, before reverting to the old pitiful face, with sweat coming all over.
 
I am not the only one to notice that.
 
I am impressed. The bald man is doing something, that very few could do in this world.
 
He was able to fool even Lancel and the rest. Even now, when he broke the cover for a moment, very few people noticed it. 
 
This is the weakness of this world; they depend on their skills too much. They think, if someone deceives them, especially on their face, they must be using their skills. 
 
Despite sitting close, Lancel had not noticed. Though Viscount Atre did, that man was sharp. He immediately caught it but did not show he did.
 
Though I may be wrong, he might be using acting skills. They are acting skills for a reason.
 
A few minutes passed and fortified doors opened, and the guard walked inside with the set of clothes for Viscount Atre.
 
“Well, congrats. You did not botch this,” said Viscount sarcastically, as he took the clothes from the guard's hand and walked toward the bathroom.
 
Looking at his gait, he only looked slightly injured, despite his bloodied clothes. 
 
Soon, the Viscount returned wearing a fresh set of clothes. He looked completely fine, except for being a little pale. It could be due to the injury or stress of the situation.
 
He sat down silently, without uttering a single word. Which couldn’t help, but irritate me. 
 
Usually, I like silence, but there I know all the facts of the situation I am in. Here, I am nearly blind. I only know that there is an assassination attempt and at least one person had died.
 
I don’t know who the assassins were, how they enter the fortress, or whether any of them had been captured. 
 
I don’t like it, but there is nothing I could do about it.
 
“Lord Viscount. Mr. Calvin is stable now,” said the tired healer, who had been healing the man on the ground. 
 
“Will he be fit for travel in the morning?” asked Viscount, surprising the healer. “He will, but I hope. He will take as much rest as possible to recover quickly,” the healer replied.
 
“Thank you, healer. You are the only person in this damned fortress who isn’t disappointing,” he said while glaring at the bald man, who again started sweating pitifully.
 
Though this time, the Viscount is not fooled.
 
An hour passed and barely any word when the fortified doors opened, and Harrison Dane walked inside with his men having a sour look on his face.
 
“Did you find them?” asked Lancel, and his face become sourer. “We are still searching the fortress. We will find them,” replied Commander Dane. He looked like, he ate something disgusting as he replied.
 
“So, you have failed in finding them,” said Viscount Atre as he slowly raised his head and looked directly into Commander Dane’s eyes.
 
The first hour is the most important in finding the assassins. If you didn’t find them, by that time, then it is very hard to find them later. 
 
“We have not failed. We are still searching for them,” said Commander Dane forcefully, while those grey eyes of Viscount turned thunderous.
 
“You have failed Dane. You have failed since the moment the assassin attacked us in your fortress.” “They tried to kill me. They killed two of my people and injured one while you have not only failed to stop them, but have as well let them leave freely. 
 
“If this is not a failure, I don’t know what it is,” said Viscount slowly, with each word fury in his voice rising.
 
“We are searchi”
 
“Shut up!” shouted Viscount, and suddenly invisible pressure surrounded the entire room. 
 
It is so heavy that I had stopped breathing; forgotten the first instinct I have learned since coming to the world. It took me a second to remember what my old instructor had told me about it and forced me to act on it.
 
I controlled my fear and forced myself to breathe, which is much harder than it looked, but I did it after a couple of seconds.
 
Aura. 
 
Viscount Atre had released the aura.
 
I did not know he awakened the aura; it is very hard. Only a select few could awaken it. It is shocking, and I am not the only one feeling it. Even Commander Dane and Lancel seemed shocked. 
 
Though, unlike me, they seemed to take an aura much better. Especially Commander Dane, whom the aura is targeting.
 
They are used to the aura and had even been trained to bear it. Lancel, like all the people from great noble houses, had been trained to bear it. It is also said to increase the chances of awakening it.
 
Lancel had not awakened the aura, nor his father, but his uncle, the Duke of Valeshire, had and so had his older brother.
 
Count Darrow is very proud of him.
 
Thud Thud!
 
Suddenly, the loud sounds of falling rang out. I turned back and saw two guards falling to the ground and more seemed to be close to doing that.
 
“I want them found Dane or you won’t like the consequences,” warned Viscount Atre.
 
Commander Dane looked at him before walking out of the room without saying a word. Though it is clear from his eyes that he is angry about the aura and the warning that came after. 
 
He did not look like a man who would bear such insults.
 
“Viscount Atre congratulations. The awakening is a great milestone,” said Lancel with a smile, but I could see the hidden jealousy within it.
 
“Thank you. Lord Lancel,” he replied.
 
There were a few seconds of silence before Lancel’s expression turned serious. “Do you think we should delay the trip?” Lancel asked, to which the Viscount shook his head.
 
“No, we cannot do that.” Replied the Viscount, and he seemed quite adamant about it.
 
“You have lost two people. Will you be able to make do without them?” Lancel asked. “It will be a little stressful, but I will manage,” he replied.
 
Lancel seemed like he wanted to say something, but did not.
 
Time passed, and soon it was five.  The sun will start to come out in a few minutes. This means we only have two and a half hours before we depart for the Navr.
 
I was thinking about that when Viscount Atre got up. “Lord Lancel, we should make the preparations,” he said, to which Lancel nodded and got up from his seat.
 
“Lord Lancel, Viscount Atre. It would not be a wise choice to go out now. The assassins haven’t been caught yet,” said the bald man.
 
“Fuck off,” said Lancel angrily and walked past him and toward the door. 
 
The guards looked around in hesitation before opening the doors. Soon, we walked out of the fortified rooms with heavy guards around us.
 
“Lord Lancel, Viscount Atre. We would be grateful if you remain in the security of the guards,” said the bald man, but neither Lancel nor Viscount Atre gave a response to him.
 
“Be ready. We have to leave at seven,” said Lancel.
 
Soon we separated. I went to my suite, while Lancel and Viscount went to theirs, which is the main fortress, on the same floor as Commander Dane.
 
“What had happened?” I asked Robin. Even now, I do not know the complete details.
 
“A group of assassins attacked Viscount Lancel and his men. They succeeded in killing two.” 
 
“Viscount had fought and injured the assassin that attacked him before alerting,” replied Robin. I had thought he was a negotiator, but it seemed like I was wrong.
 
It is hard to guess with the ruling classes. They are encompassing; one could be many things in a single class.
 
“He must be quite powerful to fight off the assassins,” I said, to which Robin nodded. “He is. He had acted as the fourth prince's bodyguard on many occasions.” He replied, and that couldn’t surprise me.
 
Being a prince's bodyguard is not a simple task. He should be at Level 35 and above and with him, having a ruling class. He should be more powerful than the people with the combat classes.
 
I shouldn’t be surprised. He had awakened an aura. Only those above Level 30 do that. 
 
It is very rare for people below Level 30 to do that.
 
Soon, we reached our suits, and I went inside with high security. My three guards and nine from the fortress. 
 
After assassins, I do not mind this extra security.
 
The first thing I did after entering, is freshening up and shower, before taking a look at the documents one more time. By the time I was finished, there was only half an hour to leave.
 
I readied myself and walked out with security. Feeling relieved that I did not get attacked in the suit.
 
I was fearing it might happen at any moment.

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