IGIWS: FIRST DRAFT: Chapter 252

Meanwhile, at the Duke's Manor. A delivery cart was coming up the drive. It stopped in front of the entrance.

The Butler, Belial, came out with a few footmen to grab the packages and crates.

"Delivery from the Crown Pharmacy. Sign here," the driver said, handing him the clipboard and a pen.

Belial signed the paperwork and took the package and crate.

With the help of the footmen, he brought them to the parlor. Belial went back outside and paid the driver.

"Thank you," the driver said, then rode off.

Belial watched as the crate left the property grounds. He spotted the strange woman who was trying to act discreet as she was watching the house from afar.

'She's been here for three days and nights... His Lordship's paranoia seems to be justifiable... She must be working with that Dark Elf... Well... She's about to learn that her cover is blown.'

Belial returned inside the manor, and he looked at all the supplies that came in from the Crown Pharmacy. But three of the crates had different markings.

'Let's see... These ones have the gifts from the Kingdom of Marn... They better not have swindled him out of his money...'

Belial sighed and ordered a footman to take the crates to his master's office.

The butler led the way and knocked on the door.

"Enter," Duke Alaric's voice was heard from the other side.

Belial opened the door and saw a room littered with pieces of parchment. There were several maps of the continent on the walls and tables.

Duke Alaric had his hair tied up into a ponytail.

Alaric scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to his butler.

(What is it, Belial?)

The Butler took out a pen and scribbled underneath the words.

(Three packages came from our friends up north.)

Alaric's eyes lit up with excitement as he stood up from his chair and pointed to the footman to place the crates on the far side of the room.

The footman was confused by his Lordship's sudden excitement but did what he was ordered.

Belial walked over to the table as well and, grabbed a crowbar from a cabinet next to the table, and opened up the first crate.

Alaric's eyes shined with happiness and greed when he saw the contents inside the first crate, as there were five spherical artifacts with runes inscribed on them.

Alaric quickly grabbed one and channeled his mana into it as the artifact began to glow yellow. Then, a tiny shockwave shot out of the artifact, rattling the windows once the force reached the glass.

Belial was taken aback by how silent everything was. He couldn't hear any birds or other sounds.

Alaric was examining the artifact with a satisfied smile. He looked at the footman, "I need you to stand outside my study and wait for my orders."

"Um... Y-Yes, your Lordship," the footman said.

He bowed to his Lord, then opened the door to the study and noticed a strange rippling effect in the air that was in the doorway. It was similar to looking at an object in the distance in the desert heat, but the rippling wasn't caused by heat.

The footman stepped through and noticed a difference in his hearing. Everything seemed normal as he could hear the ambient noises that seemed to have vanished within the Duke's study. He turned around and looked at the Duke and Mister Belial.

Alaric smirked, "Can you hear me boy?"

The footman had a confused to look written on his face. He saw the Duke's lips moved, but he didn't hear a sound.

"I can't hear you, Sir," the footman replied. But Alaric and Belial couldn't hear a word from the footman's mouth.

Belial smirked, "So it's true... They had Silence Auras all this time."

Alaric chuckled, "Of course they did... The Kingdom of Marn was able to invade the Wood Elf Kingdom with little to no resistance because of these artifacts."

"But I thought the Black Roses were the ones to kill the Elven King... No?..." Belial questioned his lord.

Alaric glanced at his butler, "How do you think they snuck into their kingdom, Belial?... King Arnaud Dupont gave the Mercenaries these artifacts so the Elves couldn't hear them... Now stop questioning me and order that boy to bring my wife here..."

"Y-Yes, your Grace," Belial nodded. He turned to the footman and stuck his head out of the Silence Aura.

"Go find the Duchess and tell her that the Duke would like her company... Go," the Butler ordered the footman.

"Yes, sir," the footman replied.

He was a bit confused by the fact he could hear Mister Belial perfectly clearly but not the Duke. But he knew better to question his lord.

The footman closed the door and went to look for the Duchess.

Meanwhile, within the Silence Aura, the Duke was busy checking the rest of the crates. There were twenty of these spheres in the other crate that would undoubtedly go a long way in getting him his revenge. And the last crate had these hooded forest green cloaks.

Alaric smelled and pulled one of these cloaks out.

Belial took the cloak and inspected it, "Sir?... Are these what I think they are?"

Alaric's smell faded when Belial's hands touched the cloak, "Yes, my good friend... These cloaks are elven and enchanted to allow the wearer to hide anywhere. So long as the wearing doesn't attack or move quickly... This was one of the few prizes the Kingdom of Marn received when they conquered the wood elves... With these two items, Leandra should be able to sneak in and out of the palace to talk with Hilda without those three elves noticing... But I thought there was a third item Krenn was supposed to send me?... He better not have lied to me..."

Belial looked at the first crate with fewer spherical artifacts and noticed something underneath the packing straws. It wasn't obvious initially, but he pulled the straws out of the crate and saw the item.

"I believe this is the third item, your Grace," Belial pointed toward the third item, which was a smell two-inch by two-inch cube with glyphs and symbols carved on its surface.

Alaric smirked, "It appears Krenn came through on his end of the deal... I didn't know I would need this artifact so soon. But this artifact will prove useful."

Belial was intrigued, "What does it do, Sir?"

Alaric held it at eye level in his hand, "It's an artifact that can display incantations and spells... They say it can disrupt mana flow from a mile away... As long as you point this end of the cube at the mage and the runes glow, then that means it's working."

"Why would you need such an item, your Grace?..." Belial asked his lord.

Alaric smiled and walked towards a window that had its blinds down. The Duke peeked out the window, looking for someone. And after a minute, he spotted the golem that was walking around the outer perimeter of the fence.

"There it is... Let's see how well this works," Alaric said as he pointed the cube at the golem.

And the glyphs on the cube glowed when Alaric channeled his mana into it. His forehead started breaking into a sweat the more mana he poured into the artifact.

Belial watched in curiosity as his Lord aimed the artifact at the golem.

***

R9 was walking outside the estate grounds, watching for the Duke. Ever since he locked eyes with her two days ago. The Duke closed all the blinds to the Manor and hasn't left. She slipped up, but the golem didn't care. What could a human with such a weak mana vein do to her? Nothing, and she knew it. He would show himself eventually, and she didn't need sleep, food, or drink to function.

She was going to stand there until he came out, or she got the order to return to her creator.

But she there was one nuisance she couldn't quite figure out. A young human commoner spotted her a couple of days ago, and he was checking her out. His friends were the ones to egg him on to come talk with her, and each time he tried she would turn the other way. Which frustrated the teenager to no end. He wanted to get a response from her and he kept pestering her until his mother called him back home.

R9 would ignore him again if she saw him today. And like clockwork he showed up again with two of his friends by his side.

"Come on, Will... She's not interested, let's go," the teenage boy's friend told him.

The teenage boy named Will was frustrated and was hoping this beautiful woman would respond to him this time.

"Just one more time, guys, she'll have to talk to me at least this one time," the teenage boy said.

"Good luck with that," one of his friends chuckled.

Will ignored his friends and walked up to R9 and tried his luck once again. He tried being nice the last time, but she still ignored him. So maybe if he was more aggressive with his advances, she would respond.

"Hey, you!" the teenager shouted.

R9 didn't respond as she kept her eyes on the Manor.

"You know what?... You're pretty rude for how pretty you are. You should treat guys better," Will said.

R9 didn't respond.

"Don't act like you're ignoring me," the teenager raised his voice.

His friends were watching the scene with second hand embarrassment.

"What the hell is Will doing," the blonde haired teen whispered to his black-haired friend.

"He's either crazy or he going to get slapped in the face. My money is on him getting slapped," his friend snickered.

Will was pissed that the lady wasn't responding to him. So, he grabbed her arm and tried to pulled her close to him. But she was far heavier than he expected, so he couldn't budge her.

R9 glanced over to the boy who tried to keep up his bravado. She could tell the kid was puzzled on why he couldn't move her.

"S-So now you're gonna talk to me," the boy stuttered.

"Let... Go..." R9 replied with a emotionless tone.

The boy smirked and his confidence was restored.

"Nah, you're gonna give me a kiss," Will said as he moved closer towards her lips.

His older brother did this to woman and most of the time he would be slapped or punched for doing something so bold. But on the rare occasion he would get a kiss instead, and the girl would usually walk off with a smile on her face.

So, this woman wouldn't be any different, he thought. He just hoped that she wouldn't punch him in the face.

The golem sighed.

"Last... Chance," R9 replied.

Will leaned in kissed her on the lips and when R9 was about to push this human away she felt a force hit her from her left side. Her eyes glanced over to the Divalo Manor and spotted a smirking Duke pointing an artifact at her. She focused as much as she could on the Duke and noticed how haggard he looked as he used his mana on the artifact.

R9 could tell he was trying to disrupt her mana core and she before she knew it. Everything went dark as her azure eyes faded. Soon her body destabilized and returned to the base materials she was made from.

Will was unaware that the beauty in front of him was turning into dirt and stone. All he could think about was kissing the beautiful woman. It was only when his friends screamed that he noticed something was wrong.

"Will!" the black-haired teen shouted.

"What?" the blonde-haired teen said in a panicked voice.

Will opened his eyes to a woman crumbling to the ground. He quickly stepped back and stared in horror at what he was seeing.

"Holy Shit," Will muttered.

"Will... What did you do?" the black-haired teen asked.

"I-I just kissed her and she started falling apart. I swear," Will answered.

"You have cursed lips!?... Stay away from us," the blonde-haired teen cried out.

Will panicked that he killed the girl of his dreams. And his friends were acting like he had the plague. He wanted to go help her, but he was frozen in fear.

"We need to get the hell out of here. I don't want to get turned into a statue," the black-haired teen shouted.

The other teenagers agreed and took off running down the street. They ran as fast as they could and didn't stop until they got to the other end of the street.

Will ran as well, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was a murderer. He would never try to kiss another person after that experience. Took him a long time to get over the scars and trauma from that incident.

He vowed never to let that happen again.

***

As the events of R9's destruction, Rya was meditating in her room at the palace. Her mind was clear until she felt R9's conscious fly into her mind as all of the memories of her golem were transmitted into her brain.

'Huh!?... Gah!... What was that?... Why do I feel like something bad happened?' Rya wondered as she felt like something was missing.

Rya took a few breaths to calm her mind and focus on all the information she had just received.

'Hmmm. That's strange, R9 was destroyed,' Rya thought as she reviewed her golem's memories.

That's when she noticed Alaric image of him struggling to use the artifact he had in his hand. Rya smiled when she saw this, "Well, well... It seems like the Duke has an artifact that can disrupt magic... I wonder how many more of those he has?..."

Rya opened her eyes and walked out of her room and she made her way to the dungeon. She went downstairs and found the dead end of a secluded area.

The Dark Elf's eyes started the stone floor. Soon a golem started to from in front of her. She created R9 once more looking like her human form.

The golem kneed down in front of Rya, "Sorry... Creator..."

Rya shook her head slightly, "I told you to be more discreet, R9... What do you have to say for yourself?"

R9 bowed her head, "Never... Again..."

The Dark Elf sighed and then nodded her head, "Well... At least we know some of his new tricks... Get dressed in some clothes and find out how many of those artifacts he has... Alaric will probably let his guard down now that he thinks you're gone... You're gonna have to be even sneakier... Got it, R9?"

The Golem bowed her head, "Understood... Creator..."

Rya smiled and walked away.

'You think that Artifact is going to protect you Alaric?... Oh you poor fool. You haven't seen anything yet.' Rya thought as she smiled.

The Dark Elf went back to her room and laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. She wanted to review everything that R9's consciousness had shared with her.

Rya saw and felt everything that her golem had experienced. Including the poor boy who tried to Court R9. She found it amusing.

***

Back at the Divalo Manor in Alaric's study, the Duke opened the blinds after seeing the golem crumble into dirt. Belial smirked as his Lord dealt with that woman.

"My Lord has a Keene eye... How did you know that she was one of the Dark Elf's golems?..." Belial asked curiously.

" She changed their appearance, but they have the same color eyes of that witch. Not to mention their hair and body structure is identical. I wasn't sure if it was her until the golem turned her head and looked straight at me three days ago," Alaric stated with a dark expression. He wiped some sweat off of his forehead before placing his artifact on his desk and then taking a seat.

Belial smiled, "And the Duke didn't let the woman out of his sight after that..."

"The golem's eyes were the same color as that witch, Rya... Never forget that when you're out in the open, Belial... I'm sure she can change those bastards appearances easily," Alaric said in a deep voice.

The butler nodded, "Noted, My Lord..."

It was at that moment a knock came from the door to the Duke's study.

"I'll get that, my Lord..." Belial said as he went over and opened the door.

Standing outside of the study was the footmen from earlier with Lady Leandra behind him. The footmen bowed, "Milord... Milady is here..."

Belial nodded his head and the footmen stepped out of the way.

Lady Leandra entered her husband's study and took a look around.

"This is the most disheveled I've seen this place... What paranoia have you gotten yourself into Alaric?" Lady Leandra asked with a raised brow.

"Planning for contingencies, My Dear. Planning for contingencies. You should prepare yourself too. We can't let that Dark Elf bitch ruin us," Alaric said as he leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on his desk.

"Oh, I would but you refused to let me leave the Manor... What has gotten you so spooked? This is unlike you," Leandra asked as she crossed her arms.

" I wasn't sure at the time but now positive that we had one of her golems spying on us... I just received a package from a certain person that let me deal with the situation," Alaric explained with a smirk. He grabbed the cude artifact with his left hand and showed it to his wife, who looked unamused.

Lady Leandra narrowed her eyes and looked at the item in her husband's hand, "That is?"

"The Mage Disruptor," Alaric said with a smile.

Leandra looked stunned and dropped her arms, "Are you serious?... I thought the Mages Guild outlawed them?"

"They did, but they couldn't stop the nobles in the north from hoarding a few of them. That's the main reason why the Guild doesn't bother with the northern kingdoms. They don't like the idea of being worthless," Alaric replied with a grin.

Leandra smirked, "And you were able to get your hands on one? That's good. I was afraid I was going to be useless if you were caught by the Dark Elf and couldn't protect yourself... But I'm sure you didn't bring me here to gloat about the artifact... I know how you operate," Leandra said as she sat down on the chair.

"That's why I like you so much, Dear... You are as quick witted as I am... Belial... Show her the other artifact," Alaric said to his butler.

Belial pulled one of the spherical artifacts from one of the crates and handed it to Leandra.

Leandra held the item in her hand and examined the runes that were on it. She then looked up at her husband, "This is?"

" What artifact that can cast Silence Aura... No sound outside of it will be heard," Alaric explained.

Leandra's eyes widened, "Are you serious? How much did that cost?"

"Don't worry about it, Dear. The money wasn't an issue... Now give it a try... Just focus and channel your mana into it," Alaric explained as he got out of his chair and stood up.

Leandra sighed, "Well... I guess killing those monsters was worth it... Even though I hated it," Leandra said as she focused her mana.

Soon the artifact began to glow with a yellow light and a transparent bubble-like effect shot out and engulfed the study.

"So this is silence aura," Leandra said as all the ambient noises disappeared.

"Indeed. So now you can speak to the princess without elven ears eavesdropping on our conversation," Alaric said as he walked over to the table with three crates.

"I see... But how am I going to speak to her if the entire Palace knows that I'm in there?" Leandra asked as the aura faded.

"Well, that's simple, my Dear," Alaric said as he pulled out the elven cloak from one of the crates and showed her.

"You expect me to wear that?" Leandra said with a raised brow.

Alaric smirked before putting it on and channeling is mana into the cloak. It didn't take long before Alaric disappeared.

Leandra became surprised, " You were able to get the Royal Wood Elf's cloak?"

"I did, indeed. This will allow you to walk around the Palace without any trouble. The only downside is that it's very hot," Alaric explained as the aura faded and his presence became visible again.

"A little heat never hurt anyone," Leandra said as she stood up.

"Very true, my Dear," Alaric agreed as he handed her the cloak.

"And you want me to wear it?" Leandra said as she held it up.

"Of course. You're the only one who can convince the princess... I'm only the support for this plan... You're my wife for a reason," Alaric explained.

"True... Fine. Should I see the princess right now? Or do you want to wait for after the ritual?" Leandra asked.

"Speak with her now... But leave her in the dark about the ritual... We need to used her to wedge the Dark Elf away from our nephew... Even with the rigged ritual he's not going to accept her," Alaric explained.

Leandra smirked, "Understood,"

"Good. Belial... Escort my wife to the palace. Make sure no one see you two," Alaric ordered.

Belial nodded, "As you wish, Your Lordship."

"Good luck, my Dear," Alaric whispered.

Leandra walked up to Alaric and placed a soft kiss on his lips, "You know... This is the kind of excitement I've always dreamed of."

Alaric chuckled, "It is a dangerous game we're playing. But it'll be worth it to get out revenge, my Dear."

Leandra grinned as she followed Belial out of the study.

'Finally... I'm starting to get an edge on that whore... I'll make you regret not siding with my son, Rya... Mark my words... You'll never have your happy ending,' Alaric thought before walking over to his desk and sitting down.