"Young master, it was reported that a group of soldiers... at least a thousand in number, had made their way to conquer Baymard within the month of May." The young knight said.

"Any report about the men leaving Baymard?"

"No young master... it would seem that they had succeeded in conquering Baymard."

.

William tapped his fingers on the balcony for a while, before sighing out in pity.

'Sigh!!'

"It seems like that this cousin of mine was either forced into slavery, or worse... killed."

"He's a pitiful one, Young Master."

"Indeed!... ..... send a message for our men in Riverdale city, to find out about his situation detaily.

If he died, then they should step back... but if he survived, then have them rescue him immediately."

"But young master, what do we do after rescuing him?"

"Give him 30,000 Copper coins, and have him leave Arcadina.

This place is too dangerous for him... so it's best for him to go instead."

"Yes young master!"

.

William looked up to the sky and continued sighing.

He had heard about this cousin of his, and had also seen him while in disguise 2 years ago.

Funny enough, he had spoken to Landon for close to a month.... while pretending to be a 'fireplace' boy.

.

Normally, palaces often had over 700 people working within them.

Palaces required dozens of servants just to maintain the day-to-day workings of the place.

The servants were meant to take care of the royals..... as well as the thousands of knights, living within the palace.

Some were poop boys, who threw out buckets of shit daily.

Others took care of the horses, fetched clean water, polished armor, and so on.

And one shouldn't forget that each noble woman within the palace, had more than 30- 50 maids assigned to their individual courtyards.

It was like living in a tiny cramped city, with everyone all serving the needs of a single Family.

So of course the palace would have over 700 people in it.

As for how the living quarters for the servants were.... one could say that 7-10 people would sometimes cramp into a single room each night.

Only favored maids, butlers and slaves could sleep in groups of 2 or 4.

I'short, they were treated like shit!!

.

Anyway, with so many fireplace boys around.... William had easily sneaked into the palace using that identity.

Of course no one had discovered him, because of all the cinders on his face.

Fireplace boys could work in the kitchens, and any other areas with fireplaces.

Hence they usually took care of the charcoal, and swept all the cindors out.

So their faces were always as black as those chimney sweepers in Mary Poppins.

Hence when he walked around the palace, he would always leave his face like so.

.

Back then, William had immediately realized that this cousin of his wasn't built for war.

Everyone bullied him and talked badly about him.

Heck!!... even the maids treated him like garbage.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way that Landon and his army of 300.... would win against thousands of knights.

'If you do survive, I will do everything in my power to give you a peaceful life.' William thought.

.

"Young Master.....there was also news from the East.

It seems like that Slytherin Cord guy is secretly heading towards one of Eli Barn's camps with more than 7,000 knights.

So far, we haven't figured out why they're moving such large forces yet."

"Ohh?

It looks like something big will happen soon!"

.

--Unknown Forest, Arcadina--

.

Under the clear moonless night..... the stars illuminated Hertfilia, giving off a light dim glow to the land below.

The night seemed magical.... as several fireflies danced in a heady swarm of light, like a frozen firework explosion.

'Gallop! Gallop! Gallop!'

11 men on horseback, were currently riding within the forest trails in the dead of night.

"We will stop here!!" Commanded one of the men.

.

All this while, they had been looking for somewhere safe to camp.

They had to choose a place that wasn't too easy for enemies to spot.... as well as not too close to the deep jungle-like forest, lest they get attacked by wild animals as well.

And after searching for close to 50 minutes, they had finally found the perfect location.

.

After setting their camp and preparing dinner.... they immediately gathered around the fireside to begin their feast.

Connor dug into his meat, and felt like crying.

One should know that for the past 2 weeks, they had been eating raw mice and other digesting food stuff.

At this point, if food was a God.... he would worship and pray earnestly at its temple daily.

All hail the God of Food!

.

In fact, it wasn't just him... but everyone else as well.

After eating soaked bread for weeks... one could imagine how tear jerking, eating this roasted meat was.

As the thought of Mr. Death, their faces immediately became distorted from anger.

These past 2 weeks had been the worst time of their lives.

All of them had come out with at least 2 or 3 permanent injuries on them.

From loosing their arms, toes and so on..... everyone had lost their body parts to these 'Games'.

.

They had gone into that estate in groups of thousands.... but at the end, only 11 of them from Connor's side had survived.

As for James' side, only 4 people had made it out..... James included.

No matter how they wrapped their heads around it, they couldn't see how that waste had managed to survive.

But little did they know that Mr. Death's employer had specifically instructed that both James and Connor had to survive.

.

They could loose small body parts like toes, fingers and ears.... but not major like an entire leg, or arm.

Even if they were about to make the wrong moves, Mr. Death's people would make sure that they were done... as per his employers request.

So even if they chose the option of loosing an arm, Mr Death's people would switch it to any measly body part.

.

"Your highness..... it was definitely Prince Eli who did this!!" One of the yelled exclaimed in anger, as he thought about the whole situation again.

"I agree your highness!"

"Mr. Death said that his employer was a Royal.... so I can only see it being Prince Eli!"

"No your highness.... I think it was the first Queen's scheme! (Eli's mother)"

"Your highness...."

"Your highness...."

"Your...."

"__"

.

As the men spoke out in turns, Connor quietly listened to their suggestions on the matter.

No matter how he looked at it..... the person who hired Mr. Death, was merely playing with them.

This move showed that whether they died or not... Mr.Death's employer couldn't be bothered by them.

I essence, they were telling them that no matter how much they did... it would never obstruct the employer's plans.

Hence in this game of cat and mouse, they were just ants... who could be squashed anytime they wanted.

.

Connor closed his eyes in Fury.

He was sure that this plot came from Eli.

That brother of his had always seemed to know everything.

No matter how many assassins or attacks one sent to him.... Eli would always come out unscathed.

For the fact that Eli still kept them alive, just how little he thought of them.

Eli was basically telling them that they could jump up and down like fleas... but at the end of the day, the throne would still belong to him.

How hateful!

.

Right now, he just wanted to get home fast.... so that he could strategically plan his revenge.

Eli had to die for his fury to completely quench down.

'Bastard!'