...
Raine Mede had been trapped in the basement of the Elk Mansion for half a month.
He had thought he could stop Jacques, but he didn't expect him to act in advance.
"Here's today's lunch, enjoy," the long-faced butler, Sean, handed a plate of gooey food to the edge of the cage. It looked like a mixture of porridge and vegetable leaves, and the portion was only the size of a palm.
"Let me out, you idiot!" Raine overturned the plate on the ground, grabbed the bars and roared, "Jacques is an idiot too, he doesn't know what he's doing. It's not too late to let me out now!"
The butler shook his head regretfully and wiped the dirt off his shoes with a handkerchief. "If I were you, I wouldn't waste the food that hasn't reached my mouth yet. The Earl has ordered that, in order to save you some energy, only one meal a day will be delivered this week."
"Damn it, didn't you hear what I said?" Raine cursed, "This is not about a meal. If you don't stop Jacques, he will ruin the Elk family! For my father's sake, open this cage!"
Perhaps the second half of the sentence worked, and the butler, who was about to leave, stopped. "Your father? I think if he were still alive, he would immediately kick you out of the house." He turned his head and looked at Raine expressionlessly. "Young master, you seem to have forgotten that it was the Fourth Prince Roland Wimbledon who killed the Elk Earl, and the Honeysuckle family not only sided with the Prince, but also helped him suppress the other four major families. Now your brother is correcting this mistake, but you are so frightened. Can you be regarded as a knight?"
"Whether I am a qualified knight is not up to you to judge," Raine said angrily. "In the past three years, while I was fighting evil beasts on the Hermes defense line, Jacques only enjoyed his romantic life in the royal capital. Do you think he is attacking the Honeysuckle family now because of courage? Don't be ridiculous, he is just blinded by profit!"
Sean sighed. "Even if you are Jacques's younger brother, you should maintain the most basic respect. After all, he is an Earl and the head of the Elk family."
After speaking, the butler ignored Raine and quickly left the basement along the stairs. When the door closed, the underground returned to silence.
"Damn it!"
The second son of the Elk family slammed his fist hard on the floor.
Since the beginning of winter, Jacques had been visiting other families more and more frequently—he didn't pay much attention to it at first, after all, he had no interest in managing the family, and Jacques refused to pay the ransom when he was first captured by the Prince, and it was Pero who helped him escape from prison, so the relationship between the two fell to freezing point. Even so, Raine had no intention of competing with him for the position of head of the family. When he heard the news that Border Town was planning to build a city, he even considered going to the town to pledge allegiance to the Fourth Prince and officially become a guardian knight. But the situation changed later. At a private banquet held at the Elk Mansion, he heard that the four major families were preparing to jointly deal with the Longsong Stronghold.
That night, Raine rushed into Jacques's room and questioned him about this matter, but was rudely kicked out by the latter. After thinking for a night, he planned to tell Pero about this matter first, and then take the patrol team to stop Jacques, but he didn't expect the latter to play tricks in the breakfast. When he woke up, he found himself trapped in a cage.
After that, no matter how Raine roared and warned, he never saw Jacques again. Every day, he could only judge the time by the light and darkness of the skylight in the corner of the basement. The only person he could contact was Jacques's personal butler.
"Grumble..."
A long cry sounded in his stomach, and he realized that he was a little hungry.
Looking at the scattered food on the ground, Raine turned his head and leaned back on the haystack behind him. Let's just sleep... he thought, if he fell asleep, he wouldn't feel hungry.
Just as he closed his eyes, footsteps sounded in the basement again.
Could it be... Jacques is here? He jumped off the haystack and stuck to the bars—with the help of the faint light shining in through the skylight, the figure was small and slender, obviously not the arrogant Earl.
"Brother, are you okay?" When the other party came to the edge of the cage, he realized that it was Aurelian, the third Miss of the Elk family.
"How did you get in?"
"My brother is not here, and those servants can't control me," Aurelian glanced at the porridge on the ground and said in disbelief, "They only give you this to eat? It's too much! Wait for me, I'll ask the kitchen to make you something to eat."
"Jacques is not in the mansion?" Hearing the first half of his sister's sentence, Raine's heart sank, and he didn't even bother to fill his stomach. "Where did he go?"
"I don't know... he left two days ago," Aurelian shook her head, "and took most of the guards at home. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the chance to enter the basement."
It's over, Raine's heart turned cold. He hasn't returned for two days, and today is the third day... Even if he could get out now, it would probably be too late.
"Brother, I heard that my brother wants to do something bad to the Honeysuckle family, is it true?" Aurelian looked worried. "Will Lord Pero be okay?"
That's right... The third sister has always liked Pero Helmon, and he also intended to bring them together, but unfortunately that friend seemed to have someone else in mind. But it's useless to think about these things now. Raine leaned against the bars and sat down, feeling weak all over. According to Jacques's way of doing things, he would definitely not let go of the Helmon family. Next, the entire Western Region will inevitably face the thunderous anger of the Prince.
Jacques had stayed in the royal capital for too long, and he didn't realize what he was going to face... Raine closed his eyes, and couldn't help but recall the day of the attack on Border Town—flames bloomed in front of his eyes, thunder rumbled incessantly, and the knights rushing in front seemed to hit an invisible wall. The armor was vulnerable to the transparent arrows, and the skills trained for many years and the courage to fight for honor were all useless in the face of the opponent's weapons.
From that moment on, he could no longer have the idea of being an enemy of the Prince.
No one can defeat His Highness's army—at least not mortals.
If the Fourth Prince knew what was happening in the stronghold and swept over again, what would be the use of the Elk family gaining more benefits? This time... he probably wouldn't let go of the four major families again.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Aurelian shook him, but he didn't move at all.
The Elk family is finished.
Just then, through the thick ceiling, Raine heard a faint roar, and then the ground trembled slightly, as if something had slammed into the mansion.
Was he hearing things? Raine turned over, only to see that his sister had the same surprised expression.
Then there was another muffled thunder, but this time it was much clearer, followed by a series of short, staccato sounds, and the frantic shouts of servants came from overhead.
Could it be... the Fourth Prince's army is here? Raine was stunned. How is this possible?
"What's going on outside?" Aurelian stood up. "I'll go take a look."
"Don't," Raine grabbed his sister's hand. "Don't go anywhere, just wait here!"
"Eh?"
"Listen to me..." He swallowed and said dryly, "It might be dangerous outside..."
The roar subsided after a while. After about a quarter of an hour, a team of people broke into the basement—they were wearing uniform brown uniforms and holding strange long-handled weapons. Raine recognized at a glance that the visitors were the Prince's troops!
He was utterly devastated. He knew that His Highness would retaliate, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.
Could it be... this is just a drama written and directed by the Fourth Prince himself?
"Who are you! How dare you break into the Earl's Mansion!" Aurelian stood up and scolded.
A tall, strong man walked out of the team. His facial features were sharp and angular, and he had a stern look between his eyebrows, looking like a foreigner.
"Are you the second son of the Elk family, Sir Raine Mede?" the other party asked.
"You, you know and you still don't retreat? What do you want to do?" The third sister's voice trembled a little, but she still stood in front of the iron bars.
"I am Raine! Don't hurt her... she is innocent!"
Raine thought he was about to see an unbearable scene, but he didn't expect the other party to completely treat Aurelian as air, and the following words were completely beyond his expectations.
"I am Iron Axe, the commander of the First Army. His Highness Roland has ordered me to come and find you," the man said in a deep voice. "He told me to tell you that Mr. Pero wants to see you."(。)