*IMPERIAL NATION, 21st DAY*

“You are not one of us, right?” The man suddenly said after approaching Markus, or Sid more appropriately.

Markus had been wearing a face mask all time while he had told his name as Sid.

Markus instantly turned to look at the person, who turned out to be an old man.

“What do you mean?” Markus asked, becoming a little alert without any change of expressions.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But I know you are here for some purpose.” The old man said.

“You have got the wrong person.” Markus said before resuming work.

“No, I have got the right person. Please help me.” The man said before kneeling down, not caring how pathetic he was looking.

“Please get up. Don’t do this.” Markus said before helping the old man back on his feet.

“I beg you! Please help me out. I can not carry on like this anymore.” The man said, and there was a pain hidden beneath his voice which Markus could not ignore.

He told the old man to wait till others were asleep so that they could discuss things privately. And though Markus was finding this whole idea idiotic, he still found himself being convinced by the old man’s sincerity and helplesness.

Thus they ended up meeting near a tree beside their hall to talk further.

“Only five minutes.” Markus said, knowing the kind of risk they were taking right now.

“He is a murderer. No one can be as cruel as he is. You have to eliminate him!” The man said, on the verge of crying.

Markus just kept quiet, listening to whatever deal or proposal this man had to present.

The man took deep breaths to calm himself down before he resumed again, much more composed than earlier.

“My entire family was brought here. My son, daughter in law and grandson as well. He killed my.. my son during one of the drug dealings. My daughter in law was sent for the same mission along with him. When I came to know about his death, I was broken. But when I asked about my daughter in law, nobody answered me. It took me a lot of patience and good skills to dig out that my daughter in law.. she was.. raped.” The man said, as if uttering the last word was no less than a burden.

Markus felt his blood boil at the very statement that the old man had said. One thing he hated the most was weaklings who used Rape as a mean to show their power. He wasn’t a saint who respected every woman, but at least he never insulted them as well.

But Rape – this single word was enough for him to let go of any humanity left within him and kill the culprits brutally. Yet the worst part was still remaining.

“They.. they raped her for seven consecutive days before she… she died underneath their torture. But nobody felt the need to explain her death because who was she? A measly poor insect for them to satisfy their needs. Huhh. My grandson was taken away as well. And he was made to water the soil where his parents… were buried. Can he be any more of a demon?? I have been waiting for three years, three years for an opportunity to kill that bastard and you came as my saviour.” The man said and kneeled down, the way someone would kneel down in front of their god.

“Get up. Please.” Markus said, but this time the old man didn’t budge.

“I have been collecting every little information on that monster for the past three years and I will spill everything to you. But please kill him at any cost. He has to die.” The man said, his last statement full of willpower.

“Do you have some information on him?” Markus asked, catching up on the main point.

“Yeah. But promise me that you will kill him. I will assist you in every way possible and if needed, I don’t think twice before sacrificing my life for you. But we will need more men, like sort of an army to fight.” The old man replied.

“I promise. And about the army, don’t worry, I will manage that.” Markus said, his voice low but firm.

“Nobody knows this, but the actual ruler of the Imperial Nation is not a professor but his grandpa. Usually, the throne is passed onto the heir of the royal family. But there is an exception which is known by only a few.

If someone manages to kill the ruler, then he is to be declared the next ruler. This rule was made to ensure that the throne isn’t passed onto some useless child just because he is the successor.

The entire royal family accepted this rule and had no say over it. This carried on-” The old man said and paused after Markus signalled him.

Markus could lightly hear some footsteps in the distance and he instantly pushed the old man inside their room while quickly following behind him.

Before anyone could see, both of them were already on their beds, acting to be fast asleep.

“This is strange. I could hear some whispers a moment ago.” A sleepy bodyguard said and scratched his head before waiting for another minute or two and ultimately leaving.

Markus only opened his eyes when he was sure that the man had left. Thankfully he lived with a group of people who were made to work day and night, resulting in them falling sound asleep.

He tiptoed to the old man, signalling him to follow him outside.

From the old man’s conversation, he could deduce that the man truly knew a lot and he could be of great help to conquer the professor and this cruel kingdom.

Once outside, he took no risk and directly helped the man climb up the tree before repeating the same himself. Once they were on top, he said.

“We don’t have much time. They will be here to fetch me within four hours. And there will be a change of bodyguards every hour. We need to wrap this up before some alert bodyguard replaces this one.” Markus said.

“This carried on for a lot of generations until a major event happened.” The old man started again.

“Grandpa’s son, who is the professor’s father, was killed by some unknown person. Thus according to the previous rules, the man was supposed to be the next ruler.

But grandpa, afraid to loose control over the entire Imperial Nation secretly murdered that man.

Afraid to lose their lives under grandpa’s cruelty, nobody spoke another word against the dirty trick played by grandpa.

Soon it was declared that since the professor was young, grandpa would be making decisions for the Imperial Nation and once he died, the throne would be passed onto the Professor.” The man said.

“There is more to it, right? I mean what can I do about this?” Markus said.

“Yeah. What you have to do is simple, kill the grandpa and leave this Imperial Nation quickly.” The man said.

“My aim is to kill the professor, not some useless old grandpa.” Markus said.

“The professor only has his grandpa right now. If he were to lose him, the entire Imperial Nation would be in chaos. In fact, the reason behind this illogical and inhuman behaviour of the Professor is his grandpa. His useless pampering encouraged the professor to do whatever he wanted, even if it included killing.” The old man explained.

“Killing grandpa won’t be an easy task. And I find no logic in this. I mean let’s say that I manage to kill his grandpa. Then what? You want me to leave this place. Tell me do you think I have any reasons to do this? Kill grandpa and run away. For what?” Markus asked.

“That’s what I am telling you. Once you kill grandpa, the entire Imperial Nation will be in chaos. That’s your cue. You have to leave this hell immediately and bring your men inside during that period.

Although the professor seems intelligent, he has always asked his grandpa to confirm his plans. But if he loses his guide, he is sure to end up with a terrible plan, that too after your sudden attack.

Your main goal right now is to find the number of people working under professor to make preparations before you attack.” The man finished.

Markus thought the entire thing through and knew the plan that the old man had described had a lot of loopholes and risks within it. But it was better than nothing. And who knew what new information he would grasp once he was inside the walls, working as a bodyguard.

“Okay. But from your statements, grandpa holds a lot of power within the Imperial Nation. Which means a lot of people to protect them as well. How am I supposed to kill him and yet escape?” Markus asked the main point.

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Hehe.. hope you all are doing well after all these days.. Thank you for your constant support. Poating a little longer chapter this time. Stay healthy and love y’all.

– Kizy