Living as the Villainess Stepmother

Chapter 184 - A New Priority

The man confessed everything. There was nothing he could do when faced with death itself.

Lacias restrained himself from squatting level with the prisoner, he didn't want to be in the same degree of air as him. "So you're saying that it's the Blake family who hired you?"

"I- I don't know much. But to tell you all I know." His voice was still in shock from the pain.

"The reason I could enter this place without an invitation was that Baron Blake had bought off an employee here. He said he changed the details of the carriage information and forged my identity."

At the same time, the duke and his vice-general remembered the commotion that occurred before the wedding at the gate. "As expected, he bought off someone. Any information about him or her?"

"I- I don't know about that..."

Lacias stared at him with cold eyes. But the man only dropped his head, he was overwhelmed by fear, but still did not divulge the information Lacias wanted.

It seemed that he was telling the truth, he wasn't completely informed about the situation.

Lacias clicked his tongue which made the man flinch and bend even more to the ground, to the point where his head was touching the floor. To Lacias, he really did resemble a scurrying rat.

"Lugar. As the vice general, investigate the person who the Baron bribed as soon as the wedding is over. You must find out when, where, and how it happened. You have to be as specific as possible."

"Yes, sir."

"Make sure to tell Roxanna about this as well."

"It's been a long time since I received such a fun task, so could I be the only one in charge of this without the general? I am confident that I can solve everything on my own." Lugar spoke in a playful tone but still retained the confidence that he could do it alone. However, Lacias reacted coldly.

"You think this is fun?"

"Um... I mean..."

"I asked if this is fun to you," he repeated firmly.

"...No. I will work with the general and find the person as soon as possible."

Lugar's lips slightly trembled at Lacias's firm demeanor. Although he had been working for his master for many years, he could never get used to his nature.

After Lugar admitted to his mistake, the duke turned back to the rat lying on the floor, he could almost hear his silent prayers for mercy. This prompted Lacias to stomp on the ground to get him to continue his confession.

"M- My job was simply to attract the attention of Your Highness... Duke Wipere. B-Baron Blake told me it would be easy for me to carry out the role since my face is not publicly known."

Lacias narrowed his eyes. "There must have been a reason why he tried to get my attention. What was he trying to get from me?"

"Fr- from what I know, the reason I was told to attach a hole to Your Highness was to track the Duke's movement if I failed to divert your attention."

"My movement? Were you trying to follow and assassinate me?"

Assassinate?! Assassinate my master from behind? Lugar almost burst into laughter, but he barely restrained himself.

"What a waste of effort. I don't think anyone is dumb enough to not know how that would turn out."

"Oh, no. Baron Dough Blake's target was not Your Highness...."

"Not me?" Lacias' blue eyes turned dark as if they sank to the bottom of the sea where the light couldn't reach.

To Lacias, the face of only one person flashed through his mind, the only other person that could be his target on his wedding day.

Before Lacias could ask, the man spoke up. "It's the duchess... Baron Blake said that while I divert the Duke's attention, he'll go see... the duchess...."

"...."

Lacias stood up. His cold face would have looked the same as before in other people's eyes, but Lugar, who was watching from the side, could tell right away.

Uh-oh, this guy's in trouble. He knew that Lacias flipped his lid.

As soon as 'the duchess' came out of the prisoner's mouth, Lugar knew things would get messy.

"I-I swear!" The man shrieked. "That's all I know!" He began to notice Lacias's drastic change in temper as well.

As soon as the duke stood up the man hurriedly wrapped his arms around his head in an attempt to hide himself from the horrors that were to come.

Lacias, who was looking down at the man, slightly raised the corners of his lips. "I'll leave you to clean this sh*t."

Although he didn't specify what the 'sh*t' was, the target was clear. "Leave it to me, sir."

"Wh- what are you talking about! You said you'll forgive me as long as I confess everything...!"

"Did I?" he asked, not wanting to look back down at the sad scene. "I never said a word about that."

To the spy, Lacias was so terrifying, that his eyes dilated before he collapsed on the ground. He wasn't dead as his eyes closed shortly after giving a loud cry. However, he seemed to have passed out from the fear of being killed.

"Make sure you don't make any noise. In the meantime, I'll be looking for Lila."

"Yes sir. Don't worry, sir. I won't kill him."

Lacias would have finished the man off himself, considering his personality but since Lila was involved his priorities were different.

As soon as Lugar finished speaking, Lacias rushed up the stairway focusing all his energy on finding Lila as quickly as possible.

Like any other day, Lila was wearing the necklace he gave her. If he could focus on the ring's energy, he could easily find her whereabouts.

The duke summoned his rings and sent them in different directions through the mansion. The rings counted as part of his own energy and if his energy got close to Lila's own he could simply pinpoint her location.

Lacias sent his first ring to the banquet hall where he last remembered seeing Lila, but he couldn't feel her life force. He also checked the surrounding area to not leave any corners behind but she clearly wasn't in the hall.

Damn it.

Lacias was different from his usual self. He didn't move his ring slowly to feel her energy, but rather, he kept losing control over them. His concentration was fading due to impatience, and eventually, his rings began to spin a lot faster than usual.

Just then when he moved his rings outside the banquet hall, he felt his own energy and the very vague energy of Lila at the same time.

Lacias immediately turned around and took steps towards the direction where he sensed the energy. He couldn't remember the graceful gait he had learned from birth. He was almost running.

The ring's energy was sensed near the stairs in front of the exit doors of the banquet hall. As he got closer, he felt the energy getting stronger. Fortunately, it seemed like he wasn't too late. Feeling relieved, Lacias strode towards the stairs.

When he reached the floor where the banquet hall was, a silhouette of two people caught his eyes.