Rosie's Games

Chapter 198: Kill the Count

There was indeed a secret pathway.

However, Rosalind did not expect it to be in the fireplace.

She coughed, perhaps for the tenth time since they started crawling in this… tunnel. It was only enough for one small person so, Fraunces had to go in first, then Leonardo who was telling Fraunces where to go, and finally Rosalind. Luckily, both Rosalind and Fraunces had a small frame and Leonardo was still young, thus, he could perfectly fit inside the space.

"To the right," Leonardo said. "Then… that's it."

"That's it?" Fraunces asked. She had been complaining since they started crawling in this… crawl space.

"Straight… we should be there in a second."

"Why is this place so… far away when the entrance was just in the other room?" Fraunces asked.

The entrance was just two rooms away from the Count's room.

"This was not made for a person," Leonardo said. "But my dog."

"Dog?"

"He passed away two years ago."

There was a little silence before Fraunces asked again. "Why would you want your dog to travel in this… place?"

"So, Marchiana could not find him."

"Oh?"

"He is a wolf."

That explains it, Rosalind thought inwardly.

After a few minutes, they finally arrived on the other side of the wall. Luckily, Rosalind used her illusion to make the three of them invisible just before they reached the end of the passage as there were three assassins inside the room.

The three of them looked at the assassins that Denys was fighting alone.

Leonardo immediately ran towards his sleeping father. Seeing this, Rosalind looked at the fighting men just a few meters away from her.

Clearly, the assassins outnumbered Denys, but he was easily fighting against the three of them at the same time.

"Those are not normal assassins," Fraunces said.

"What do you mean?" Rosalind asked.

"Those are shadow assassins, very popular in the North. They are not exactly human."

"Shadow assassins? Just like shadow guards?" She heard Antolin mention something about shadow guards in the black market.

"Denys is a shadow guard."

Rosalind nodded and started checking the Count.

"He is fine."

"Are we going to take him out of here?" Leonardo asked.

"There is no need for that. We just need to help them out," Rosalind said as she waved her hand. The first two assassins stopped moving and Denys took this opportunity to slit their throat. Now that the other two were dead, Denys easily defeated the last one.

"What is going on here?" Rosalind asked as she chose to reveal themselves to the rest of the room.

"It seems that these people want to get rid of the Count."

"No," Frances shook her head and looked outside the windows. The sound of fighting from outside of the mansion interrupted the silence of the night. "They are here to kill the heir."

Rosalind and Denys looked at Leonardo. Currently, this young man was the weak link inside the mansion. His death could potentially harm the Count too. After all, he was the Count's only child.

"Perhaps, they wanted to kill them both," Rosalind said. "But we should talk about this when we are safe. Those people did not come here to play."

"Do you have any plans?" Denys said.

"No," Rosalind shook her head. First of all, she was not a warrior, her fighting skills were close to nonexistent, and second, she did not want to risk her life out there. "Aside from staying here."

The best way to hide from them was to hide in plain sight. Using her illusion, she could hide everyone inside the room, letting the attackers think that they had already left.

"We are going to do that," Denys did not hesitate. After all, he had seen what Rosalind was capable of. Even Fraunces said nothing to rebut her plan.

"Put the Count to the corner. It's easier for me if we are close to each other." She did not know how long it would be necessary to use her illusions. It would be better to save her Blessings if she could.

They immediately lifted the Count up and carefully placed him in the corner. Together, with Leonardo and Fraunces, Rosalind created an illusion that would hide their location.

Denys told them to stay there as he was planning to take care of the assassin outside of the room.

"The Prince should have knights around him," Rosalind commented. "Isn't it strange?"

In fact, she found this whole thing strange. There should be many guards around the Count's estate. How could the assassins penetrate the house? Moreover, the Crown Prince and Princess were staying here, they had guards and knights that were trained to protect them. Even if the assassins were stronger, they would have a hard time getting into the Count's room if they fought against those knights!

The fight would have caused a commotion and woken everyone up.

But everything happened so silently, so stealthily.

It could only mean one thing.

Someone let them in.

"The Count is not here!" Countess Marchiana's voice echoed outside of the room as she marched inside the room with knights in tow. "Find him and keep him safe!" she ordered.

"Madam, the Duke must have instructed his people to keep the Count safe in events like this," one of the knights said.

"The Count is my husband! How could they just take him out of the estate without my permission?"

"Find the Count," another voice echoed from the outside of the room. It came from the Crown Princess who walked in with her own knights. Next to her was the Crown Prince.

"Heed my words. Kill all assassins and make sure that the Count is safe. To ensure everyone's safety, do not let anyone enter or leave the estate. As for the Count… find him. We are not sure if the Duke will harm him after all."

Rosalind looked at Fraunces.

They were going to lock down the place?

Rosalind froze when she realized something. This was their goal all along. josei

They wanted to lock down the estate and used the attempted assassination as a reason not to let the Duke's people in— just in case he asked for reinforcements.

"Send a message to the palace! Someone is trying to kill one of us. Do not let anyone… in or out of Lonyth. We must find whoever it is that wanted to kill the Count." The Crown Prince looked at everyone. "At all cost."

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