Chapter 99
A few minutes before the explosion—
Lucas dropped a lit match into the drain. It was the signal for the man watching below.
“Get out of this alley as fast as you can.”
Climbing into the carriage, Lucas urged the coachman to move. The man nodded and whipped the reins, driving the horses as fast as the narrow alley would allow. When they finally burst onto the main road—
“This way!”
A familiar, frantic voice rang out amid the noise.
Pulling the curtain aside, Lucas caught sight of Tom. The boy was leading the Gloria knights through the streets, his face pale and urgent.
Lucas froze. That bastard—he’s outside?
He’d expected Tom to be hiding somewhere in that cursed building, not guiding the duke’s knights himself.
Since when has he been working with House Gloria?
Did the Duke know?
No—there was no way. Lucas had only gone to see Petric after the Duke had already left.
It’s fine. Better this way, actually.
A few steps closer, and his “gift” would be waiting for them all.
Just as he dropped the curtain again, Tom’s gaze met the carriage.
That man…?
It was Lucas.
He saw him only for a brief instant, but he couldn’t mistake that face. He’d remember it even with his eyes closed.
If Lucas had come from that alley, it meant he had already been inside Miles’ Wine. And the speed of that carriage—it all fit too well.
“Sir knight! Stop! That’s the wrong way!”
“What?”
The knights halted at the mouth of the alley.
“That carriage—!”
Before Tom could finish—
Boom!
A sound all too familiar to a former miner split the air. The ground heaved, and the earth itself seemed to explode. Buildings and cobblestones shattered, sending debris in every direction. Flames flared through clouds of thick smoke. Screams echoed everywhere—but a massive stone crashed down on Tom before he could even cry out.
“Hey!”
A knight ran to him. Tom wanted to speak—to tell him to forget about him and chase that carriage instead. That the young lady might be inside…
Lady Marsha…
***
Claudio had ridden without rest. He hadn’t heard that Marsha was in danger, but unease had gnawed at him the entire journey—sharp, inexplicable, and growing stronger by the hour.
As always, his instincts were right.
Upon returning to Delua, the butler told him everything: the letter under Marchioness Severia’s name, Tom’s visit, and Marsha’s disappearance.
And finally—the collapse of the building where she was believed to have been taken.
Claudio didn’t wait to hear more. He went straight to the ruined street.
The alley, destroyed in yesterday’s explosion, looked like a vision of hell. Once-solid buildings were reduced to rubble, and the stench of gunpowder still hung thick in the air.
“It seems a large amount of gunpowder detonated in the sewers simultaneously,” one knight reported, explaining the situation.
By sheer luck, the Gloria knights hadn’t yet entered the alley and survived, though some were injured. Everyone inside Miles’ Wine was presumed dead.
“Marsha.”
Claudio’s voice was low, steady—too calm. The devastation before him hardly registered.
“She hasn’t been found, my lord.”
“Then where is she now?”
His tone was as still as glass—unnerving in its coldness.
“She may have been inside Miles’ Wine…”
The knight’s trembling voice cut off as Claudio drew his sword from Vist’s waist and pressed the blade against his throat.
“So you’re telling me Marsha is in that ruin?”
Fury burned in those scarlet eyes. The knight swallowed, trembling.
“S-Sir, someone said—Lucas might have taken Lady Railford with him!”
Lucas. That cursed name again. Claudio ground his teeth, his voice low and seething.
“What the hell do you mean by that? Speak clearly.”
“T-The witness… said that when the explosion happened, the man named Tom tried to speak, but the blast struck him. When he regained consciousness this morning, he told us he’d seen a carriage leaving the alley—and Lucas was inside. He believed Lady Railford had been kidnapped by him.”
Believed. Not certain. Which meant Marsha might still be buried under that wreckage.
To think the hopeful scenario was that she’d been abducted.
Claudio shut his eyes, forcing himself to breathe. He had to stay composed. Losing control now would only waste time.
He knew it. He knew—but couldn’t feel it. His blood felt like it was draining away, leaving him hollow. He wanted to tear apart every stone of that ruin with his bare hands just to be sure she wasn’t there.
But if she truly had been taken, he couldn’t afford to linger.
Damn it.
He hurled his sword. The steel clanged across the shattered street.
“Vist. You’re in charge of the site. Search every inch of it.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Urian—check every gate’s passage record. And bring me everything we have on that bastard Lucas.”
Urian, who had already been compiling a file on Lucas, bowed quickly.
“I’ll start with the gate records right away.”
When Claudio and Urian left, Visd sighed and bent to pick up the discarded sword.
If I’d had a gun on me, that poor knight would be dead by now.
Claudio’s restraint had been a miracle. For a moment, with the blade pressed to that man’s jaw, he’d truly looked ready to strike.
Still… pulling a trigger is quicker than drawing a blade.
New inventions aren’t always blessings, Vist thought grimly.
And this whole mess had begun with gunpowder.
Please, let Lady Marsha be safe.
He had never seen Claudio so shaken. If she wasn’t safe… Vist didn’t want to imagine what would be left of him.
“Haa…”
He exhaled heavily and turned back to the ruins.
***
That evening, Claudio hadn’t rested for a single moment. Reports streamed in, and he pored over the gate records Yurian brought.
According to the logs, all city gates had been sealed two hours after the explosion. Anyone who’d escaped within that window—especially by carriage—could lead them to Lucas.
The western gate required identification for all passengers. The east and north gates were too far for a carriage to reach in time.
Then it must have been the south gate.
Urian soon returned, panting.
“My lord, these are the files you requested—everything on Lucas Rom. They’re not fully organized yet, but the facts have been verified.”
Claudio snatched the thick folder and flipped through it. He focused first on Lucas’s properties.
If Lucas was fleeing, he’d need a place to stay for at least one night. He couldn’t risk an inn, nor could he rely on acquaintances—it would draw too much attention. Which meant he’d likely hide in one of his own estates.
But there was nothing in the south.
Of course, leaving through the southern gate didn’t guarantee he’d gone south; with enough time, he could circle anywhere.
Checking the records was a waste of time.
Clenching his teeth, Claudio growled, “Send the Second Division. Search every property Lucas owns. Even if he’s not there, look for any trace that he was.”
“Yes, sir.”
Urian hurried off to relay the order.
Now Claudio had to decide—stay here, or move.
If Marsha was buried in that ruin…
No. Impossible.
He clenched his trembling fist. There was no way. She wasn’t one of the corpses they were finding.
Lucas had taken her—he was sure of it. The explosion, the destruction, all of it was to erase his tracks, to make it seem like Marsha had died.
Which meant—she was alive.
If he truly believed that, there was only one thing left to do.
Chase him.
He couldn’t sit still. Even as his knights spread out, Claudio poured over the documents again, thinking.
Lucas believed no one would suspect him as the culprit. But Tom had seen him.
Even without Tom’s testimony, Marsha’s disappearance alone would have been enough for Claudio to know.
Had Lucas fled to the Dominion Principality? No—the border was too tightly guarded these days. More likely, he’d gone west—his home territory.
As he weighed the possibilities, one particular detail in the report caught Claudio’s eye…
UNLOCK SOON!~