The Duke's Passion

Chapter 628  Third one

As Lilou, Samael, Klaus, and Claude were enjoying their breakfast, a butler came in and whisper in Claude's ear. Klaus, who had been with him for years, studied his nephew's expression. When Claude's eyes darkened, he arched a brow. "What?" Klaus inquired, putting down his glass of wine, eyes on Claude. Lilou and Samael also caught the change in the atmosphere as they set their eyes on their nephew.

"Auntie Lilove, uncle Hell, I really want to spend some more time with you. However, something came up that the earl had to deal personally." Claude forced a smile at the two sitting across from him, pushing himself up. "Uncle, we have to excuse ourselves first."

"Uh," Klaus rocked his head, grasping that tone the earl used. He smacked his lips, standing up from his chair. "Enjoy Monarey. We will come back later."

Claude cast Lilou and Samael one last look before he turned around. As soon as he did, his expression turned grim, with his fingers balling into a fist. Meanwhile, Klaus stretched his arms while following his earl. Knowing Claude, something must've happened and Klaus had to stretch before running rampant.

As the two left, Lilou and Samael looked at each other and then gazed at where the two left. "This is the first time I've seen him angry," Lilou commented in awe, clapping as Claude surely looked like a man. "I just realized I'm actually old since Claude is a man now."

"Not older than me. As if we care about our age now." Samael kept his eyes on where his nephew and brother left. "Wife, do you want to watch?" "Hmm?"

He set his eyes on the misplaced innocence in Lilou's eyes. "I think something happened in that guild. Claude will not leave us if Klaus can handle it unless it is something personal."

"You mean you want to help?" she asked, correcting his words. "Didn't you say you will not meddle unless they asked you to?"

"Err... thing is, I have this gut feeling that..." Samael scratched his temple. "... that we are partially at fault here."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"One, two." He counted, pointing a finger at her and then at him. He didn't say anything, but her eyes slowly dilated in horror. "Right... the third one is a troublesome fellow." Lilou gasped, thinking that this situation was just too much of a coincidence. She didn't idle and weakly pushed herself up, realizing what kind of devil they brought in Monarey. ******

Meanwhile, somewhere in Monarey, Penny coughed out blood as she tried to stand up from the ground. Her body was already littered with bruises, stained with her own and other people's blood. She winced when someone squatted down in front of her, grabbing her hair up aggressively. "Penelope. You are still so willful after all these years," the man spoke, staring back at the glare she was giving him. "You said all that to your people when you just caused trouble for us last night. Were you perhaps scared after wreaking havoc on my turf?"

Penny spit at his face and scorned. "Are you crazy? If I am that person who wreaked havoc in your filthy place, do you think I will let you see the sunlight?" The man chuckled in ridicule as he wiped the spit off of his cheek. His eyes glinted menacingly.

"Hey, you don't have to play dumb, you fucking witch. That person confidently said he is an owl. If not the owl, who else would know the value of what he stole?" Penny laughed mockingly, only to stop when he slapped her, causing her to be tossed to the side.

The man seethed, stretching his neck from one side to the other, eyes on her. "Give it back or I will kill every single owl right in front of you," he threatened ruthlessly, cracking his knuckles. "Where did you hide it, Penelope?"

Penny ground her teeth, revealing the blood still fresh on her teeth. "Have you gone asinine? If I am really the one who stole that, do you think I will stay in Monarey? Dumb fu — " Before she could finish her sentence, Penny received a merciless kick in her side.

"Ugh... this is fucking annoying." The man grunted, running his finger through his hair. "Are you saying you don't have a member named Third?"

This time, Penny's body froze. She gazed up, wide-eyed, surprised to hear Claude's name. Claude had been missing after her announcement about the war. Did he infiltrate the Nightwalkers and stole something? show up, one owl will die."

"So it's really one of your people, huh?" the man scoffed, squatting down in front of her again. "I will peel that fucking smile off of his face. Every hour that he doesn't show up, one owl will die."

As soon as the man uttered those words, he aggressively grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of this dungeon-like room. With her hands bound behind her and the chains with an iron ball attached around her feet, Penny could only get dragged while yelling her lungs out.

******

Meanwhile, as soon as Claude arrived in the guild's dwelling, his mind went blank momentarily. His eyes dilated, hands clutched into a tight fist. The pub that was usually lively was turned upside down. There was also blood everywhere and some guild members slumped on the floor. "Ugh..." he snapped his eyes when he heard someone grunt. Karen, who was wounded, raised her head weakly. She instantly caught Claude's figure but ignored the other people with him because of her blurring vision. "Third," she called and Claude rushed to her in a blink of an eye. Holding her as he squatted down, Claude clenched his teeth, seeing her up close. "Karen, what happened here?" "Third... call for help." Karen was gassing out, clutching at his chest. "They... they took Leader and everyone. We... tried... to fight, but..."

Claude squeezed her hand and spoke through his gritted teeth. "Karen, don't speak anymore. Conserve your energy." His eyes glinted as her breathing grew heavier. He raised his eyes and scanned the pub. Some were already dead, some were left to bleed out but still holding onto life. "Treat everyone in here." He gazed down at Karen once again and smiled reassuringly, putting her down carefully.

Karen held on to him, but he reassured her everything will be alright. Once she let him go, Claude slowly got up to his feet and faced the knights with him.

Some were already rushing inside to give first aid, but Claude ignored them. His eyes locked with Klaus, who was leaning against the jamb. "Sir Klaus, send only elite knights to their hideout," he ordered through his gritted teeth. "I will wipe them all out."

Klaus rocked his head calmly, uncrossing his arms. Although he wasn't as angry as Claude, the side of his lips stretched into a grin.

"Man... all that formal planning." He laughed, scratching his head as she stood straight. "In the end, we're resorting to the old ways. Doesn't matter, though. Boys! You heard the earl, right?! We are all allowed to go crazy!" As Klaus's voice reached the knights outside the establishment, a loud and enthusiastic roar resonated before they set off to deliver a bunch of people to hell.