Chapter 64: Kin-Slaying

At dusk, the moonlight was hazy.

After three days of sweeping cleanup, the Ore Town was now quieter than ever.

The brothels, once lit all night long, were now completely empty, swallowed by darkness.

Meanwhile, the town’s dungeon was packed to capacity.

At the very bottom of the dungeon.

Here, it was damp and icy cold; moss coated the walls, black mud covered the floor, and the air reeked of decay and rot, making one nauseous.

Unlike the overcrowded upper levels, this level held only two prisoners—Fran Hughes and Eli Hughes.

“Kalen, you beast! How dare you lock your own uncle in prison!”

“That venomous woman will drag the entire Hughes family into the abyss!”

Fran, despite three days without water, still gripped the bars and roared with full vigor.

After all, though he was sixty years old, he had long achieved the rank of Extraordinary Knight—going a few days without food was nothing.

If he were ten or twenty years younger, he could have smashed the rusted prison door barehanded.

“Grandpa Fran, can you please stop shouting? I want to sleep.”

Eli, curled up on the straw in the neighboring cell, shivered violently from the cold.

Raised since childhood outside the castle without noble education, neglected and indulging in lust, he had long since drained his Qi and held only the mortal rank of Knight Apprentice.

Three days without water, not even a peasant’s black bread to eat, plus the dungeon’s damp chill—his body was now utterly weakened.

If this continued, he wouldn’t last many more days before joining his ungrateful father in death.

Damn it! If you hadn’t dared to molest your aunt back then, I might already be the lord!

“Sigh,” Fran glared at Eli, who was shivering uncontrollably and clearly running a fever, his expression filled with frustration.

Then he let out a long sigh and fell silent.

Though Eli was the classic example of a lost cause, he still carried Hughes blood and had been raised under Fran’s watch—so some familial affection remained.

“Kalen is weak-willed and indecisive—he could never have done something so extreme as imprisoning his uncle and nephew. Only Danielle Marsha could have manipulated him.”

“How come Kalen’s last two wives were both venomous women? Is there some strange blessing on him?”

Calmer now, Fran couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Kalen’s previous wife, a maid, had used slander to murder his elder brother and indirectly driven his brother-in-law to death.

Thankfully, she died of illness early—but who knew his second wife, the Marsha family’s heiress, was even crueler? Now it seemed she intended to torture even his own uncle to death.

“But what is her true motive?” Fran’s mind grew more confused.

He didn’t believe such a cruel woman would act for some vague sense of justice—only for profit.

Yet clearing brothels and gangs brought only losses!

Brothels were a major source of tax revenue; for traveling merchants, adventurers, bards, and other passersby, only seductive prostitutes could make them willingly empty their purses.

Most of that money eventually became tax revenue flowing into the lord’s coffers.

As for gangs, they were the nobility’s black gloves—no respectable lord could ever be seen engaging in darkness, even if he secretly relied on it.

That was why he had supported Eli in unifying the brothels and gangs under his control—outsiders were never as reliable as family.

“Is she afraid her young son is threatened? But even Kalen alone could wipe out the entire territory.”

“Or is her real goal to kill me? But if Haidon Hughes truly carries Hughes blood and possesses the Great Strength Blessing, I would unconditionally support him!”

Fran’s brow furrowed tightly; he pondered long but could not fathom Danielle’s true motive.

He ran through multiple hypotheses, yet none fit her position.

What Liyi could possibly drive Danielle to persuade Kalen to imprison his own uncle and nephew?

Tap-tap-tap.

At that moment, two footsteps suddenly echoed.

It was Kalen and Danielle—they entered the dungeon’s lowest level carrying an oil lamp.

“Kalen, stop listening to that venomous woman’s poison! Cease these reckless actions—you’ll drag the entire Black Wolf Domain into ruin!”

The moment he saw them, Fran seized the bars and roared at Kalen.

“Uncle, Auntie, please spare me—I haven’t done anything wrong…”

Eli, nearly asleep, was jolted awake by the lamp’s light; he knelt on the ground, pleading desperately.

“Sigh.”

The scene left Kalen with a complex expression—he didn’t know what to say.

“You heartless venomous woman! What is your purpose in inciting Kalen to do this?!”

Seeing Kalen remain silent, Fran turned his sharp gaze on Danielle.

Even if he died, he must understand—his eyes could not close in ignorance!

“Hehe, Uncle, why be so angry? This is all for the Hughes family.”

Even as she was called a venomous woman to her face, Danielle’s delicate face showed no anger—only a sweet smile.

“Bullshit! Closing every brothel and gang, cutting off the Hughes family’s lifelines—how could that possibly benefit the Black Wolf Domain?”

“Have you been reading too many fairy tales and bards’ stories?!” Fran roared in fury.

Danielle, unperturbed, stepped to the cell door and whispered softly into Fran’s ear.

Instantly, Fran’s anger faded, replaced by utter shock—and a flicker of joy—his expression shifting like a chameleon.

“Kalen, did that prince truly promise—if we clear the brothels and gangs and punish the wicked—he will become little Haidon’s godfather?”

Fran immediately turned to Kalen for confirmation.

“Yes… the prince is kind—he would never break his word.” Kalen hesitated.

“Ha ha ha ha! After a hundred years, the Hughes family finally has a chance to rise!” Fran threw his head back and laughed like a madman.

“Grandpa Fran, you—” Eli stared in shock. Was this the same stern, disciplined man who had raised him since childhood?

“Danielle Marsha, I retract my slander and offer you my most sincere apologies and praise—you are unquestionably the wisest and most virtuous wife the Hughes family has had in a hundred years!” Fran lavished praise, his wrinkled face alight with ecstatic joy.

Danielle merely smiled, saying nothing.

This old fool had just called her heartless—and now, hearing it would benefit the Hughes family, he changed his tune instantly.

But that was fine—his presence meant Kalen wouldn’t have to stain his own hands with kin-slaying blood, which might have created a rift between us later.

“Open the cell door.” As the wild joy faded, Fran took a deep breath and spoke calmly.

Click.

Before Kalen could react, Danielle unlocked Fran’s cell.

Then, before Eli Hughes’s stunned eyes, his Grandpa Fran stepped out, expressionless, and seized his throat with iron fingers.

(End of Chapter)