The previous night.
After writing the letters Adam summoned the Brotherhood's ssenger—the white owls—and had them deliver the letters through the Spirit World.
Then, he patiently waited. Not even ten minutes had passed when suddenly he sensed an individual covertly enter his manor compounds. He got up from his chair and walked to the window, gazing at the hooded figure entering his building.
A minute later, the door to his study opened and the hooded figure entered. "What's the matter?" He asked. "What's so urgent that you'd call so late at night?"
The figure removed his hood, revealing himself to be none other than Daneli. He gazed at Adam standing by the window with his back facing him.
"Adam? He called out again.
The raven-haired youth slowly turned around and coldly stared at him with blatant killing intent. There was a raven-feathered dagger in his hand, pointing straight toward the elf.
Daneli's expression darkened and he spoke in anger, "Adam, what's the aning of this?"
Adam coated his mana around the dagger and coldly muttered, "Danely, why…" The next mont, he pounced on the elf and roared in indignation. "Why did you betray ?"
Daneli was shocked to hear those words co out of Adam's mouth. Then, absolute anger took hold of him. He conjured his scimitar from his storage artifact and then imbued it with wind mana.
CLANG!
With a steady stance, he blocked Adam's attack. He looked him in the eye and spat through gritted teeth, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you out of your damn mind?!"
Adam's eyes narrowed, a peculiar light flashing in them. But the next mont, his expression turned vicious as he kept hacking the dagger at the elf.
"You betrayed ! You betrayed all of us!" He roared. "After all we've been through… this is how you repay ! How could you?"
Daneli had had enough. He imbued even greater strength into his scimitar and slashed it toward Adam's torso in rage.
With a loud clash, Adam was swept a few steps back. However, this ti he didn't pounce back on the elf. anwhile, Daneli was seething with fury as he glared at him.
"Did soone cast a spell on you?" He said angrily. "Looks like I must beat so sense into you."
Adam deeply looked at the elf and then breathed a sigh of relief. He put away his dagger and raised both his hands in surrender. "Forgive , Brother, but I had to confirm."
"To hell with your confirmation!" Daneli protested furiously. "How dare you accuse of betraying you? If this is one of your sick jokes, I'm not going to have it!"
After the anonymous letter Adam received, he had to beco extrely cautious. Although he treated Daneli like a brother, soone whom he could trust, he still had to make sure of it.
In the heat of battle, words spoken could be lies. But the emotions shown under pressure could not. That's exactly what Adam was aiming for. He had now confird that Daneli hadn't betrayed him. He was very sensitive to others' raw emotions, after all.
"Look at this," he said as he walked toward the furious elf and handed him the letter.
"Hmph!" Daneli angrily snatched the letter and read its contents.
'The Duskfall Masquerade is a trap!'
Daneli's pupils constricted after reading that statent. His heart was gripped by a sudden wave of terror. He looked at Adam and spoke in a grave tone, "You've verified its authenticity?" Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire
"It's true." Adam nodded with a solemn expression.
Daneli crumbled the letter in his hand and cursed aloud, "Fuck!" Not for a mont did he doubt Adam.
"…Yeah." Adam nodded. He walked to his study table and took his seat. He interlocked his fingers and used them to support his chin as he leaned forward.
"There are two possibilities," he began.
Daneli sat across from him and answered in a solemn voice, "Soone's betrayed us… but who?"
Adam shook his head. "I don't know. You're the only person I trust, to be honest. Elrick, Liriel, Kael, Brigham, it could be any one of them. My bet's on that old bastard Brigham Flynn."
Daneli remained silent for a few monts before answering, "It's unlikely that it's Liriel. She has a strong hatred for vile nobles such as the Duskfalls. She suffered injustice at the hands of such corrupt nobles when she was young. As for Kael, I don't think it's him either. I've spent so ti with them and have an idea about their personalities."
He paused for a mont before adding, "I can't tell anything about Elrick and Brigham. I don't know them well enough." He then looked at Adam and asked, "And the second possibility?"
Adam looked at his friend and spoke gravely, "The Cult has been leading us by the nose from the beginning."
Daneli's fists clenched involuntarily. "So they've known that we've been after them for a while now, and they left behind breadcrumbs for us to pick on and lured us into a trap, is that what you're saying?"
Adam leaned back in his leather seat and heaved a helpless sigh, "There are many smart people in this world, Brother. It shouldn't co as a surprise that we were outsmarted by soone."
He paused for a mont before smirking, "But it's a good thing that we have a well-wisher amidst our enemies, eh?"
"So what's the plan now?" Daneli spoke in indignation, his pride hurt by the fact that he had been outwitted by the enemy.
"We will assu that both possibilities are true." Adam showed two fingers. "The one to most likely betray us is Brigham Flynn if my guess is right, so we must also assu that he won't show up."
Daneli listened to the new plan attentively.
"You've got noble blood in you, so if you were to go to one of the other councilors tomorrow and reveal to them what we've found about the Red Fists and the Duskfall Family, they won't outright refuse you," Adam continued.
"Now, otherwise the councilor would never believe such things without proof, but the fact that you, a successor to one of the Four Great Clans of Baja High Forest, would make such claims would be sufficient proof. At the very least, it would be enough for the councilor to go to the Duskfall Estate and act as reinforcents should the need arise."
Daneli nodded after confirming that this was sothing he could work with. His family had enough prestige to influence a Councilor of Ravenfell, after all.
He looked at Adam and asked, "Which councilor do you have in mind?"
Adam's lips curled up into a smirk, "The one with the most firepower in the city - the Lord Marshall of Ravenfell, Sabrina Benton!"
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