* * *
After stepping out of the room, one of the 4th Knights was seen sitting hunched over next to the door.
Judging by the continuous drr-rrr sound of snoring, he seemed to have fallen asleep while on guard duty.
He was told that he couldn’t leave the room, so they were indeed keeping watch.
Joel, who was about to pass by, thinking the knight must have been awfully tired to fall asleep while on guard, felt that something was amiss.
No matter what, as knights directly attached to the Crown Prince’s personal guard, how could they be so unguarded?
From what he observed during the journey, the 4th Knights didn’t seem like such a loose group.
Come to think of it, the manor was strangely silent.
A strange premonition struck Joel, and he stopped abruptly.
Baron Bennet, who had been holding his arm and leading him, turned back.
Joel tried to demand an explanation from him, but Baron Bennet urgently hurried him with a stern look, saying, “Hurry, there is no time,” so he had no choice but to follow for now.
Baron Bennet led Joel to the basement.
Following his father down the spiral staircase, Joel tried to ask his father what on earth was going on.
But before he could even part his lips, a sharp reprimand to be quiet flew at him.
His father was clearly very afraid of being overheard, and Joel naturally had to keep quiet.
Joel, being dragged by his father, nervously looked around. Surely, his biological father wouldn’t do anything to harm him…
Is it really okay to follow him like this?
Where is his father trying to take him in the middle of the night?
Joel stopped several times to ask Baron Bennet, but Baron Bennet only checked his pocket watch repeatedly, urging Joel to hurry.
The basement they finally reached was pitch black.
The only source of light was the lantern Baron Bennet handed to him.
Passing through the pantry where wine and food ingredients were stored, they arrived at the far end room where sundry items were gathered.
Baron Bennet approached a broken shelf placed on one side of the room.
The shelf was made of solid wood and looked quite heavy.
But the massive Baron Bennet simply lifted the shelf and moved it aside without much effort.
Strangely, he looked familiar with the entire process.
Joel, coughing as dust rose, belatedly discovered a door on the wall and flinched, stepping back.
It was a small door, about the same height as Joel.
When Baron Bennet opened the door, a tunnel was revealed.
The dirt-packed stairs inside the tunnel, which seemed narrower than Baron Bennet’s shoulder, continued deep down, its end unknown.
Joel hoped that he wouldn’t have to go inside, but unfortunately, Baron Bennet pointed inside the tunnel and commanded, “Go in.”
“Father…”
The tunnel was so cramped and deep that simply looking into it felt suffocating.
The terrified Joel held onto Baron Bennet’s arm with a trembling hand.
But Baron Bennet heartlessly brushed off his arm and urged Joel, saying, “Hurry, we must hurry. There is almost no time left.”
Joel looked at his father with fearful eyes.
The shadow on Baron Bennet’s face flickered grotesquely with the swaying light of the lantern.
He looked truly out of his mind, and Joel felt the last traces of sleepiness completely vanish.
Come to think of it, hadn’t Robert said that Baron Bennet had been brainwashed by the preacher John?
Joel, finally fully grasping the situation, felt a chill run down his spine.
“F-Father, so what is it you want to show me? Please tell me clearly.”
He had never once in his life been afraid of his foolish biological father, but now his father was truly terrifying him.
If he screamed for help here, would anyone come to rescue him?
He heard all the tenants were brainwashed.
Come to think of it, are the 4th Knights and Benjamin alright?
“You will know once you go inside and see.”
Joel naturally didn’t want to go in.
The tunnel was cramped and eerie, and what was at the end of the hole was unknown.
When Joel planted his feet and resisted going in, Baron Bennet spoke in a gentle tone, as if to ease Joel’s caution.
“Joel, my child. What you are looking for is inside there.”
“What I’m looking for? I haven’t lost any… Wait.”
Could it be that the Crown Prince was inside there?
The horrified Joel questioned him, “Then, did Father really kidnap His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince?” Baron Bennet replied with an ambiguous smile. It was a reaction that seemed closer to a “yes.”
“Father, are you truly in your right mind? This is treason! I will call the 4th Knights right now!”
“If you do that!”
Baron Bennet called back Joel, who was about to turn and run out, in a stern voice.
“If you do that, you will never be able to see His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince again. In fact, we don’t even have time to be arguing like this. If you want to save His Imperial Highness, hurry and go inside.”
“Father…”
Joel looked once again at the inside of the tunnel, which looked like the gaping maw of a monster.
He couldn’t bring himself to set foot inside the cramped, dark hole, but the warning that he might never see the Crown Prince again if he delayed any longer was clouding his judgment.
If the Crown Prince was in there, he had to go.
Moreover, hadn’t his father said the situation was urgent enough that they couldn’t afford to waste time?
Firmly resolving himself, Joel tightly clenched his trembling hands once and finally stepped into the tunnel.
“Father, then was last night’s attack truly orchestrated by you?”
Joel, descending the tunnel, asked his father who was following behind him.
He had his sleeve covering his nose, so his voice sounded nasal.
The deep tunnel was filled with a musty, earthy smell and the odor of mold.
If the Crown Prince weren’t down there, he would have shoved his father aside and fled outside immediately.
“Of course not.”
Fortunately, Baron Bennet immediately denied it.
He didn’t seem to be lying. Was that at least a relief?
“But I heard that all the attackers were our tenants.”
“Yes, your father heard that as well. If so, I can guess who led that attack.”
“…Who is it?”
“Probably… the preacher John.”
So that hateful fellow was the root of all evil.
Not only did he brainwash his father and the tenants and steal their property, but now he was even trying to harm the Crown Prince.
Joel, who was gnashing his teeth, felt his patience reach its limit when his father defended the preacher John, saying, “But if that person truly committed such an act, he must have had some deep meaning behind it.”
When he thought about it, this entire situation was virtually caused by his father’s foolishness.
He was already hurting and miserable enough, and he certainly didn’t have the capacity to tolerate his brainwashed father talking nonsense.
An angry Joel immediately turned around and challenged his father.
“No, Father, what are you talking about? Are you still unable to distinguish right from wrong after causing this mess? Why are you protecting that charlatan!”
“Hush, mind your language!”
But as Baron Bennet suddenly raised his voice, Joel had no choice but to flinch.
Baron Bennet had cherished Joel, who was exceptionally small compared to his peers, since childhood and had never once raised his voice in front of Joel.
No matter how much he liked the preacher John, how could he do this to him?
Joel looked at Baron Bennet with hurt eyes.
“…Father.”
“How dare you call the preacher John a charlatan! He is a great savior. Even you cannot be forgiven for showing disrespect to him. Apologize right now!”
But Baron Bennet didn’t seem to regret raising his voice at Joel at all.
His eyes, reflected by the light of the lantern, were gleaming with a strange light, and Joel finally understood deeply Robert’s words that he had been ‘brainwashed’ by the preacher John.
Behind him was a tunnel of unknown depth, and the only escape route was blocked by the massive Baron Bennet.
Joel, of course, had the great temper to fight back without fear even in this situation, but since he was no longer alone, he had no choice but to give in for now.
“I’m sorry. I will be careful from now on.”
When Joel readily admitted his fault, Baron Bennet, who had been raging angrily, finally suppressed his anger.
“Good. The preacher John is waiting for you now. Let us go quickly. Though your ignorant self distrusts the preacher John, once you meet him, you will follow him just like your father.”
Baron Bennet spoke in a chillingly gentle tone, as if he had never raised his voice at all.
* * *
Oh