Chapter 257: Piast Pieces Things Together

"Father," Lech called out, confused. "What’s that?" Pointing up to Klara’s room, Henryk felt goosebumps run all over his body. Without hesitation, he ran forward and threw the door open, running up the stairs. His heart sank. Seeing the two dead guards surrounded by servants and pushing them away, he walked into the room.

"no." His voice was soft, and he nearly stumbled, only to be caught by Lech. Despite not caring for the boy and his mother, seeing their dead bodies made him feel like he had a pit in his stomach.

"WHAT HAPPENED!" Lech quickly took over for his father and screamed at the servants, who all cowered in fear. Henryk stumbled forward, ignoring everything behind him, and clutched his grandson. He wasn’t stupid and knew the boy had died quickly but, in a desperate attempt, checked every vital he could, praying that it was all a sick joke.

"Some of us saw a gardener inside. We know the duke had one arrest earlier." Henryk’s eyes went bloodshot, and he stood up, pushing past everyone. Lech took a final look at the mother and son before following behind.

"Is it Piast man?" Lech asked quietly, but Henryk could only nod. Lech gulped but said nothing, following behind. It didn’t take long to see the unguarded dungeon door. Twisting the key that had been left inside it, the first body revealed itself instantly, killed in one move.

Heading down, Lech stayed silent, terrified of the whole thing. It hadn’t been before, but now he knew he was only a diversion. Had he really been the target, the one who killed his nephew would have gone after him. Reaching the dungeon, another body lay before them. Lech went over and examined it.

"He had his neck snapped. The guard weapon is also missing." He didn’t need to turn around to see his father’s fury. His deep breaths and grinding teeth told enough.

"Mobilise everything. We are seeing that bastard." Henryk spun, leaving Lech alone, who looked down at the body once more. Goosebumps ran over his body. It was too terrifying, knowing it could have easily been him.

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It was the middle of the night when Horace stumbled into the safehouse. His men quickly readied themselves to face the intruder, but seeing their boss, all put down their weapons and helped him in. Grimacing in pain, Horace sat down and sighed in relief, finally able to rest.

"The targets are dead. Prepare to leave." He took off his sock and examined the injury. His ankle had doubled in size, but he sighed in relief that it wasn’t a break, only a sprained ankle.

"Boss. You can’t move in this state. Besides, not all men are back yet." Horace practically growled at the news.

"Our man with Piast is practically dead. The Duke will head over Piast will likely reveal everything to save his ass. As for the other, he will be back soon." No one flinched at Horace, having given one of their comrades a death sentence. They all moved for the Empire, and if their deaths could help that, then it was a worthy death. Any family would be taken care of in their deaths, but most didn’t have any.

"Shall we dispose of the woman?" One asked, and Horace squinted, shaking his head.

"I’ll deal with that, just pack up and prepare to move. Hand me that." Horace pointed towards a rod used for fireplaces and pushed himself up. All the operatives moved quickly to carry out the order, bar one who watched Horace’s back suspiciously. He knew he hadn’t gone soft while doing his mission, but handling the woman still confused him.

Horace pulled the bookshelf and walked underground into Lena’s room. The woman looked at him and softly smiled. Walking to her bed, he sat down and lent the iron rod next to her. He caught Lena’s eyes darting to it but said nothing.

"How have you been?" Politely asking, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Good." Lena saw Horace wasn’t paying attention and gently touched the iron rod. Clenching it, her hand shook, and looking at the man, she breathed heavily. Time slowed as she looked at him, but eventually, she let go, unable to bring herself to do it.

Horace heard the slight movements and smiled, hearing her return her hand to the bed. "That’s good." Opening his eyes, he looked deep into her eyes. "I don’t want you suffering after all. You don’t deserve it."

Lena smiled at his words, but looking down at his foot, she frowned. "What happened?" She tried her best to hide it, but she was obviously worried.

"An injury from work. But it means you can get home faster; I ensured it." Lena’s face bloomed into a smile hearing that.

"Really? I can see my kids again."

"Of course. You have been so good; it is only right that I speed things up for you." Horace reached out and grabbed her hand. Instinctively, she pulled back but stopped before she was fully out of his clutch. "Just be careful when you go home. Your husband nearly endangered you."

Lena squinted, looking at him, and Horace pretended to weigh up if he should say. Right now, it was only a guess as to whether Piast would rat him out to Henryk, but if he did, then it meant he would have Lena in his hands in the future.

"Your husband." He sighed, eventually beginning. "He told the Duke everything. I only found out after I finished the job." Horace squeezed her hand tighter, but not painfully. "I should have done something to stop him. Used you, but I couldn’t. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t."

Lena gulped but said nothing, shyly nodding instead. Despite that, she didn’t completely trust what Horace said. Piast loved her. He wouldn’t endanger her. "When will I go?"

"Tomorrow." Horace tapped her hand and stood up, grabbing the rod for support. "Have a good night, and look forward to it." Closing the door behind him, Lena looked at it with strange feelings she couldn’t understand. But the desire to see her children and husband soon overwhelmed her.

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Piast paced across his room, unable to calm himself as the operative looked out the window at the large army at the front gates. He saw Paists, a small household guard, trying to calm the situation, but it was all meaningless in front of the raging Duke, who kept trying to break in.

It was obvious he couldn’t storm the gates without setting off a war, but it was coming close, making the operative smile. Piast saw this and frowned, eventually sighing. Going over to the bell and ringing it, the butler walked in a few seconds later.

"Tell Duke Henryk I wish to talk. Hopefully, to avoid conflict." Piast knew instantly what was happening, seeing the operatives smile. The suspicion that they worked for Konrad grew with each passing moment. He couldn’t help but feel stupid.’They wish to wipe me out.’He was the biggest thorn in the Royal Family and the one who pushed hardest to stop the royal consolidation of power.

The butler moved quickly and arrived at the front gate within a minute. He could see Henryk look up to the windows to try and find Piast. Eventually, he relented and walked in with his son and a few guards. Piast took a seat with the operative taking a place behind him.

His hands reached down for the poison hidden in his pocket. Waiting in silence, Henryk didn’t take long to open the door and storm in. Lech hurridly stopped his father from killing Piast on the spot and forced him to sit.

"Duke." Trying to put on his best smile, piast looked at the men before him, but his lip twitched at the cold gazes he was getting.

"My grandson is dead. And your spy has disappeared, Piast. You better have a good reason." Henryk did everything to contain himself, forcing the words out. Lech carefully rested his hand on his father’s shoulder.

Piast’s eyes darted between the Duke and the operative behind him. It was all or nothing. "We have been tricked." The operative hid his bitter smile and took a slight step back, not going unnoticed by Lech. "They took my wife, Duke. I have had to comply to ensure she lives."

Hernyk clenched his fists and stood up, ready to attack. He didn’t believe a word, but Lech stopped him, looking at the man behind Piast. "Who is he?"

While smiling, Piast looked into Lech’s eyes and nodded backwards. "One of them." Everything next happened quickly. Lech threw himself out of the chair while the operative took the glass vial out of his pocket. Not wasting time opening it, he bit down on the glass, smashing it, and drank its contents.

Blood poured from his mouth, torn by the glass, but his smile, while looking at Lech, who tried to force his mouth open, said everything it needed.’For the Empire.’Silently saying in his mind, he looked at the man with eyes that screamed of his victory. It annoyed Lech, who punched his jaw, desperately trying to open his mouth.

Henryk watched everything, and after a minute, Lech stood up with hateful eyes. "He’s dead." Piast exhaled and leaned forward.

"We don’t have much time, Duke. I’m sorry for whatever happened, but my wife. He will kill her if he doesn’t return." Henryk looked at Piast’s desperation and saw he was telling the truth. It calmed his rage slightly, but he still couldn’t forgive the man.

"Who are they?" He forced the words out through gritted teeth, and all eyes landed on Piast.

Gulping, he sat in silence for a couple of seconds. He didn’t know fully, but his mind only thought of one man. "Konrad." Saying the name, a suffocating atmosphere came off the duke.

Lech looked at his father. "The letter. It was a trick." He lightly chuckled and looked at the dead man.

"You got a letter from Konrad?" Piast carefully asked.

"Telling us to worry about the empire and focus on them," Lech answered for Henryk and laughed harder at the whole thing. He felt stupid. He warned that it could have been a diversion yet played right into it.

"Are you sure it was Konrad?" Henryk coldly asked. Piast looked at him and nodded. "Snowid." Growling the name out, Henryk stood up. "How dare he. You couldn’t let him live after all."

"Duke." Piast quietly said, trying to calm him, but Henryk’s eyes showed he had long lost any room for reason. He knew Izaak had embarrassed the royal family by having a bastard, but did that warrant the death of a child and angering both the Duke and Marquess?

’The letter.’It clicked in Piasts mind.’The Empire.’Throwing himself up, he looked down at the body. Henryk didn’t stick around and left before Piast could say anything. Breathing heavily, he walked over to his desk.

’My King. The Empire has tricked us.’Piast quickly wrote down the events of the past week.’The Dabrowski family has been played. They are not disloyal.’Piast desperately wrote down the warning, hoping his word could still be trusted.

Thinking back on Horace, he shuddered in fear. How long was his game? How deep did the Empire’s plot go? They were questions he didn’t have answers for. He just hoped it wasn’t too late to stop it.

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The final killer threw open the door to his hideout with cold eyes. Walking into his office, he walked straight to his desk and grabbed the gold he had been paid. He had been tricked, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t use the payment he had been given.

Crouching down, he didn’t realise the subtle movements from behind the open door. The man scavaged through the draw, grabbing a few items he would need, but suddenly stopped and turned, crossing his arms over his face.

The knife of the operative sent to silence him pierced through his arms, causing agonizing pain. Quickly pulling it out, the man grabbed the crossed arms and moved them, stabbing through the man’s neck. Pulling it out, he didn’t bother to check the corpse and quickly grabbed the gold, leaving the building.