Living as a Butler to the Northern Duke chapter 66

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“Ugh.”

Ed gritted his teeth as the cold, damp earth and leaves clung to him, their texture prickling against his skin.

He was being dragged across the ground at an alarming speed.

He tried to push off the vines tightly wrapped around his left ankle with his right foot, but it was no use.

The harder he resisted, the faster the vines seemed to coil around him, binding his ankle even tighter.

Even as his back scraped mercilessly against the ground, Ed held onto the items in his arms, protecting them from damage.

Suddenly, he felt himself drop downwards, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Ugh, how far are they taking me?’

As the sensation of free-falling lingered a bit too long, Ed clenched his fists tightly.

Then, the vines released him with a rough “spat,” flinging him away.

Ed tumbled and came to a sudden stop as his back collided against a wall.

“Ugh.”

He stifled a groan.

Realizing that things had gone quiet, he cautiously opened his eyes and looked around.

‘Where is this place?’

Ed had been thrown into a narrow underground chamber, barely wide enough for two people to move around.

The floor was uneven, as if someone had roughly carved a path over time.

Whip-like marks scarred the walls.

‘Probably left behind by those vines thrashing around.’

Wiping the dirt from his eyelids with his sleeve, Ed collected himself.

His gaze landed on the source of the vines that had dragged him.

At the end of the chamber was a small, barred window, from which the vines seemed to emerge.

‘Did they try to pull me inside but gave up?’

Ed swallowed, crawling on his knees toward the barred window where a dim light seeped through.

As he got closer, a sharp, acrid smell hit his nose, making him raise his arm to cover his face.

‘Is this some kind of ventilation shaft?’

Peering through the bars, Ed saw two men moving busily below: a white-haired elderly man and a younger man, likely his assistant.

“Damn it! Why does that thing keep trying to escape?! It mustn’t be discovered!”

“Please, Master, you can’t just keep pouring that much. What if it backfires?”

“Backfire? It’s only a temporary sedative—it’s not like I’m harming it. All we need is for it to make a ruckus when the hunt begins tomorrow. How hard can that be?”

The assistant shook his head as the elder grumbled.

“But what if it doesn’t wake up in time?”

“It will. Stop worrying and get on with it!”

In the dim light, Ed could make out a large, transparent tank in the center of the room.

The giant vine was thrashing inside it, trying repeatedly to escape.

Irritated, the elder kicked the tank, sending water splashing over the edges as the vine lurched upward.

“Master!”

“What?!”

The assistant fumbled with a mop leaning against the wall, but the elder simply aimed another kick at his legs.

Ed turned his gaze away.

Beside the tank was a large cauldron filled with some bubbling liquid.

The elder scooped a ladle of it and poured it into the tank, where the vine thrashed wildly for a moment before drooping.

Meanwhile, the assistant took some small, white bones from a nearby table and dropped them one by one into the tank, each bone fragment large enough to suggest a big animal’s remains.

‘What on earth are they doing?’

Narrowing his eyes, Ed continued to watch.

“Isn’t it nice when it stays still?”

“You said it. It’s supposed to only respond to the Grand Duke’s presence, yet it keeps trying to get out.”

‘The Grand Duke?’

Ed edged closer, straining to catch every word.

“It’s just a matter of restraining the Grand Duke for a short while. This vine just needs to follow orders!”

With another kick to the tank, the elder gathered more bone fragments from the table and tossed them in.

The assistant tried to stop him, pulling on his clothes.

“M-Master! If you throw it all in recklessly, it might go berserk!”

“Thirty years as a necromancer, and you think I can’t handle one experimental subject?”

With a dismissive grunt, the elder dumped the bones into the tank.

A burst of bubbles surfaced, then faded.

Ed’s eyes narrowed.

‘A necromancer?’

Necromancers, who wielded dark magic to manipulate corpses, were forbidden by the Empire.

Why would they be here of all places?

And at the Imperial Hunt, where the Emperor himself would be present?

Given the Imperial Palace’s strict control, no unauthorized people should be here.

And what exactly do they want with the Grand Duke?

Suspicion flared in Ed’s mind as he considered a troubling possibility.

‘Could they be hired by the Emperor?’

Just then, the door to the lab creaked open.

Ed pressed himself against the wall, holding his breath.

A man entered the room.

“Is everything going as planned?”

“Oh, Knight, of course!”

“Leave no room for mistakes. Even the smallest misstep must be avoided.”

“Don’t worry at all. This thing may be a bit unruly, but the moment it senses the Grand Duke, it’ll bind him instantly.”

“That alone won’t suffice. At least one leg should be broken if you’re to make this endeavor worthwhile, don’t you think?”

Cautiously, Ed peered out, trying to get a better look at who was targeting the Grand Duke.

The knight, clad in a plain black suit, looked ordinary, but the sword at his waist and his muscular arms suggested he was no mere foot soldier.

“Tomorrow will be one to remember, Knight.”

“Good. Now, what are these bones?”

Suddenly, a sickening crackle filled the air, and blue smoke rose from the tank.

The knight backed away, covering his nose as the elder stepped closer to the tank.

“Watch, Knight. These vines and bones are designed to unite and strike our target.”

The elder pointed to where a white bone fragment dangled at the end of the vine, quivering.

The vine floated lethargically before suddenly striking the tank’s glass with a loud thud, sending ripples through the water.

“Hmm, that alone doesn’t seem lethal enough to harm the Grand Duke.”

The knight stroked his chin thoughtfully, but the elder chuckled.

“That bone fragment is laced with venom, like a scorpion’s sting. No matter how resilient he is, once it touches him, he’ll be bedridden for days.”

“Days, you say… That’s a perfect timeframe.”

“Yes, but did you bring the item that belonged to the Grand Duke? The last belongings you provided didn’t carry much of his scent, so this one keeps misidentifying its target,” the old man explained, tapping lightly on the glass tank.

In response, a tendril inside gently tapped the glass back, as if acknowledging him.

A man nearby, who had been watching with a faint smile, reached into his coat to retrieve something.

Ed, intrigued, narrowed his eyes to focus on it.

“Ah, isn’t that the child’s cape?”

“Take good care of it. It was all I managed to find, barely hanging off the back of the carriage. The security around him is meticulous.”

It was Ronen’s thin cape.

“This is the Grand Duke’s biggest vulnerability right now, and since they share blood, it should be a lure that suits it well,” added the knight.

The old man responded with a slight grin.

“Understood, sir.”

Watching the old man pick up the cape, Ed bit his chapped lips anxiously.

“Right, then.”

The knight nodded subtly and began to turn away.

But by the time he did, he already held a dagger in his hand.

Ed, noticing this abrupt change, instinctively jerked back.

Thud.

He swallowed hard as he glanced at the dagger that had just missed him, embedding itself in the dirt wall.

Rather than making any attempt to stand or escape, he instinctively retraced his steps, desperate to get out.

“I’ve been discovered. I need to get out of this tunnel and as far away from them as possible.”

Fixated on that single thought, Ed pressed forward, only to abruptly halt.

In the narrow, dark tunnel, he realized someone else was nearby.

“Could it be… one of that knight’s men?”

He froze, unable to turn around, and instead edged backward on his hands and knees, retreating.

“If I get caught, it’s over.”

At that very moment, he sensed something sweep just past his cheek.

Ed clenched his teeth, convinced that a hand was about to grab him.

Bracing himself, he prepared for his head to be roughly seized and yanked forward.

“…Ah.”

But instead of pain, he felt a gentle hand cradling the back of his head, and a now-familiar scent flooded the space around him, filling him with relief.

“Ed, you kept your promise and arrived before midnight, didn’t you?”

It was the Grand Duke’s voice.

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