1305 The Insider's Job

Prince Rudolph was in a terrible mood. His body had regenerated back to its full form from the few pounds of flesh it previously was.

But whenever he closed his eyes, the pain of that explosion, the horrible feeling surfaced back.

The pain of his skin melting, flesh dissolving and bones disintegrating, it was much, much worse than Rudolph ever thought it could be.

Since his birth, he was the natural candidate for the crown prince. He fought strong warriors but it was mostly training.

Of course, he went to distant lands, killed enemies of the Alliance, but it was all pre-planned and carefully selected by his prime advisors.

He had a few close death encounters, where things could have gone wrong.

But he never experienced anything like this. It was plain luck that he was standing alive today.

Had the formation been just 2% more potent, he'd have died.

Just like that.

Orthodox Prince. One of the greatest talents. Man of Elegance.

And all other titles bestowed on him would've been meaningless in the face of death.

"I need revenge," Rudolph exhaled a puff of purple-colored smoke.

Apparently, this was a banned drug from Centaurus. He didn't think he'd use something this cheap but he had nothing better now.

As he was lost in thoughts, his maid knocked the door. "Master, Baldur is here, claiming he knows something about the other side."

Rudolph sprang to his feet and threw a robe over his naked body. He walked through the torn pieces of maid clothes and underwear before opening the door and stepping out.

"Where is that bastard?"

"In the 3rd study."

Baldur immediately noticed the changes in Rudolph. The man who was brimming with both vitality and confidence before leaving for the mission was now lacking both.

His face was pale, his shoulders were slightly hunched, there was a sense of weakness that was too obvious to ignore.

And the confidence…it was all gone. After almost dying and facing the biggest set back of his life, Prince Rudolph had lost something far more important than merit of the mission.

'He won't even be able to fight his equals anymore.' Baldur had a strong feeling he was right.

"So, what do you know? If you dare to lie to me, you will suffer. The border has high demands for boytoys. A prince like you would be their wet dream and your worst nightmare."

At least in the past, Rudolph always maintained a royal style of speaking. He didn't yell, didn't use vulgar words and certainly didn't speak like a gangster like he's doing now.

Baldur knew he was already in deep trouble.

On the way here, maid Daphne already asked him multiple times about his 'disappearance' and the attack on his mansion. She only set aside as she prioritized Rudolph's affairs.

But he knew that even if he did support Rudolph wholeheartedly, the probing would continue. It wouldn't be a pleasant outcome.

In the past, Baldur at least begrudgingly saw Rudolph's high talent as the reason to accept him as his brother-in-law.

But comparison with a certain man made him feel that his sister was marrying a clown.

Even though everyone would feel like a clown compared to that man's ridiculous talent, just their contrast decreased Rudolph's value in his eyes.

He wasn't as…amazing as before.

"Prince Merov might be dead." Baldur dropped the bombshell.

"Wh-What?!" Rudolph's face cracked into a big smile without even him noticing.

His gloomy tone turned joyful and his gaze towards Baldur softened. "What's the proof? How do you know? Sit down, brother-in-law, have some snacks and slowly explain."

Even before his words finished, Daphne placed some expensive wine and meat on the table and bowed to Baldur, signalling him to savor the delicacies.

Baldur's ego swelled from the size of a stone to that of a moon. Especially when he noticed the reluctant acceptance in Daphne's eyes, he almost couldn't stop yelling in joy.

'Bitch! You looked down on me then! Look at you now! Hah!' Of course, he didn't say anything like that and put on a serious expression.

Then, recalling Varian's instructions, he took a deep breath. His normal gaze turned despondent and sad. It was the look of a man who had gone through extreme hardships and came out broken.

"The zions attacked me. I managed to escape thanks to a treasure and counter kill them." Baldur's voice was filled with grief and fear.

Rudolph couldn't care less about him dying but the situation demanded an appropriate response.

"Laying a finger on you is laying a finger on me! Don't worry, I'll avenge you!" Rudolph promised.

"I gathered a comm from the I recently managed to hack. It was connected to the other side. These are the latest videos. You can verify them."

With a brush of his finger on a half-cracked bracelet, a couple of holograms began to play videos.

The most prominent among them was the green star in the capital star system.

"This intensity of light…Those aura fluctuations, I'm sure, that's him!"

Prince Rudolph grabbed the bracelet from Baldur and almost crushed it.

"No, no, he shouldn't kill them, if that happens, I—"

The beam of light obliterated the green star.

"Yes!" Rudolph jumped to his feet, slamming his thigh with a great smile and pulled Daphne into a deep kiss.

"That bastard is dead! Let's celebrate!"

If it was the usual Rudolph, he'd have considered possibility of Merov not dying and would've made counter plans.

But after his terrible experience, he wasn't in the right state of his mind. He's just happy that Merov was gone forever.

Without even caring for Baldur's presence, he began to undress Daphne. The maid didn't stop him.

"Brother-in-law, you can join if you wan—"

"No thanks!"

Baldur stormed out of the room and took deep breaths.

His original mission was just to keep them engaged and give a signal for Varian to drill a hole in the security mechanism and sneak in. But now, they're too engaged!

"Brother-in-law, I'm leaving now! Please take care!" He yelled.

The only response that came was a grunt and a moan.

Baldur ran to a security room that and approaced the locked door.