Once the gate was formed, Ezio did not hesitate to enter. He came out at the manor's reception area. Ezio started to look around and found their trails leading to the main hall on the first floor. He ran towards that direction and found them.
He saw that they were surrounding a group of employees and that the atmosphere was not right. He walked up to them without making a sound and stopped a few meters from them, it was enough for him to hear what they were talking about. He was a bit surprised to hear that they were actually the spies that their enemy sent to monitor the duke's movements.
"How long have you been relaying information to the council about me or about the people in this household?" Galahad asked. By this time, he didn't feel anything anymore for these people.
They were all trembling but they couldn't back down because they were already exposed. Although trembling, one of them answered, "It's been a year now. We were told to gather information about you and your heir. Also, we were told to report all of your movements, and even the list of visitors you had and their names."
Ulysses sighed and shook his head. This statement only proved that the council had been plotting this treason for a long time now. He looked at his friend but he only saw a stone-cold face. He couldn't blame him though. The council you've trusted to support and help you rule the dukedom were in reality plotting to destroy you.
"Do you know who else is helping the council do all of this?" Galahad asked again. He didn't believe that the council could do this by themselves.
They did not have the power to do so. The Blackwell territory's council was mainly composed of the small houses from the branch families of Blackwell. All of these families had little to no mana and couldn't use magic so most of them became merchants. Some of them were even granted permission to operate a mine.
Using evil spirits to attack the manor and cause damage were not something they could do by themselves. He believed that there was someone behind them, someone who could manipulate these spirits. That person might also be the person responsible for the recent attacks on the people of Blackwell.
Several people shook their heads. They do not know anything about it because their only role was to pass information. There were a total of six people and they were all from the side of different council members and this gave an idea to Galahad that maybe these people had different interests but have one common goal, that is to get rid of him.
The duke did not speak much after that before he asked one more question, "Who among you had been passing information outside while we were being attacked?"
The people being questioned looked at each other and shook their heads. They all looked clueless and had no idea what the duke was talking about. One of them raised her head and looked in the duke's direction.
"None of us did. We were too terrified to be able to do that. We only have one way of communicating with our employers and at a specific time at that. Someone from their side would come to get the information from us," she explained. The other people with her nodded their heads.
eαglesnovel`c,om Galahad did not believe them on the spot because they could be lying but it was also a reasonable reason. If any of them were sending messages to their employees amidst the chaos then that person should have been using magic or some extraordinary means to send some real time information. Both were plausible if these people could actually use magic.
Ulysses who had been listening suddenly had an idea that seemed to be ridiculous but it was the only explanation he could come up with. "They were not the spy that gave out our location and movements to the enemy. Something supernatural must have been listening to us from the beginning. If someone was controlling those evil spirits to attack us then it is not impossible for him to send a spy that could eavesdrop on us and I am afraid that the enemy might have already heard everything from the beginning."
True to his words, the mysterious man had been listening to their conversation from the very beginning. He had indeed planted a spirit in the manor and made it invisible so that they wouldn't be able to discover it. The man hidden through the darkness of the night and the shadows smirked at the revelation that Duke Ginehart gave.
"You've got it right," a crisp and calm voice echoed inside the main hall. It startled the people inside but did not create panic amongst them because they already knew that they were being spied on.
"You've got a talent," Ulysses remarked because he was honestly impressed by the person's ability.
"I've been told," the voice remained calm and they could hear a hint of joy from it. The person was clearly enjoying their predicament.
"If you are so powerful that you can command spirits, why are you giving those council members the right to command you and you keep on doing their bidding?" Ulysses couldn't help but ask. It was one of the questions that if not answered would be haunting him till he couldn't sleep.
"Doing their bidding, you must have the wrong idea, Duke Ginehart. I am not doing their bidding. I am doing what I want to do and it so happens that they were convenient pawns that I can use for my goal," the person laughed without restraint.
"What do you mean by goal?" this time Ulysses had and the others had already noticed that Ezio was there. So, the duke asked another question.
The person hummed then chuckled, "Are you genuinely curious or are you just asking that question because you were bidding time for that young man to be able to create a gate?"
A shadow then spread throughout the entire hall and covered it. The shadow grew a face that was staring at them intently. It suddenly let out a loud laugh that made the people inside the room cover their ears. This also broke Ezio's concentration and the gate that he was supposed to be making disappeared.
