The Shadow in the Kitchen

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The sun was slowly rising.

"General Agrippa. We have searched the entire Imperial Palace, but we have yet to find Princess Joy."

"Are you absolutely certain you searched everywhere?"

"Y-yes, sir. We combed through everything, from the food cellars to the Gold Area, but we found nothing."

At the commander's words, I stared intently at the map. Did she escape? No. If she's hiding, she'll wait until tonight. Then where is she? If she's hiding, it must be somewhere secluded.

"We checked every wardrobe, drawer, and under every bed... Since there's no trace of her, perhaps she has already left..."

At the commander's cautious words, I closed my eyes and sank into thought. The gates and harbor were blockaded. Even if she had escaped the palace, she had nowhere to go immediately. Did I miscalculate?

"Where are the servants?"

"We have confined them all to their quarters."

"And have those quarters been searched?"

"Yes, every single one."

Damn it... where did she run off to?

"Did you search the outbuildings as well?"

He answered as if it were obvious. "Yes, sir. We even tore apart the haystacks, but found nothing."

Damn it... Yohanes. That bastard is definitely behind this. Looking at the war situation, the only one who would try to assassinate Deviang and the Emperor and kidnap Joy to swallow the Empire was him.

I cooled my head and thought. This was meticulously planned. They must have had an escape plan or route. Let's reverse-engineer their plan.

The assassin entered the Gold Area via the roof. Based on the rope length, they must have hooked it from the fourth floor. The fourth floor consists of guest rooms for those close to the Emperor. No guests are currently staying there.

"Check if there are any rooms on the fourth floor with an open window."

Shortly after:

"We confirmed that a window is open in the western guest room on the fourth floor."

I sank into thought. They must have moved from the western guest room on the fourth floor to the east along the roof. The Princess's room and the Emperor's room face each other with a wall in between, so if you go down to the first floor and turn the corner, you can meet up.

They said two people crossed over, right? Even highly trained agents would need at least two people to quickly and securely kidnap a woman. An adult woman weighs around forty to fifty kilograms. Subduing the princess and carrying her down to the first floor by rope would be too much for one man, especially with pursuing guards.

In other words, they must have assigned at least two people to kidnap Princess Joy. One fled from the Emperor's room. That makes at least three assassins.

But only two escaped the palace. That means... at least one assassin is still inside the palace.

First, I need to identify them.

Having made up my mind, I ordered the commander. "Investigate the palace servants immediately. Conduct a full audit of anyone who has gone missing since last night."

"Yes, sir!"

Meanwhile, the search continued. But with no clear clues, anxiety began to creep in.

How much time had passed? The sun was already high in the sky.

"We have confirmed four missing persons among the servants."

The commander handed over the resumes. I looked at them.

"Damn it..."

Looking at their occupations, my head spun. They had deliberately infiltrated to gather internal palace intel. Maids have hard work, but it makes it incredibly easy to map out high-ranking officials' movements and room layouts.

And looking at Henry, the chef, they probably planned a poison assassination. Deviang was wise to bring Mary's servant beforehand. That's likely how they avoided poisoning. The assassins wouldn't want to raise alarms with an uncertain attempt.

Four. At least four operatives were hiding in the palace.

Excluding the one brutally killed by Deviang, there were three. Since two escaped, at least one remained in the palace.

"Have you identified the dead assassin?"

The commander nodded. "Yes. He has been identified as Woody."

So Woody, the gardener, was the one killed by Deviang.

"Gather all the royal chefs. I must interrogate them."

The commander nodded. "Ah... His Majesty the Emperor had a message to pass on."

My heart dropped. Did Deviang die? No, it can't be. I didn't want to face my old friend's sudden death.

"What is it..." I tried to suppress my trembling voice.

"The Grand Duke has entered a stable condition."

"Phew..."

What a relief.

I chuckled.

"Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness."

I felt a wave of relief. My friend survived.

I glared at the palace. Deviang, I will make sure to save Princess Joy, whom you begged me to rescue with your dying breath, and punish those who tried to harm you.

Shortly after, the bound chefs knelt before me, weeping and begging.

"P-please spare us! I am innocent!"

"That's right. We are just simple cooks. To think we would try to assassinate His Majesty and the Grand Duke? Never!"

"To begin with... none of us were even close to Henry! It's the truth!"

Looking at the twenty or so chefs, I spoke coldly.

"Henry, a chef who worked right alongside you in this very palace, tried to assassinate the Grand Duke. How am I to know you aren't complicit?"

A trembling chef said, "W-we know nothing. Truly, we know nothing."

I deliberately acted furious to terrify them.

"Silence! How do I know one of you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠isn't colluding with the enemy? The torturers will be the ones to prove your innocence."

I was actually prepared to torture them if necessary. It was hard to say there were only four assassins. Circumstantially, there were at least four, but there was no telling how many there could be.

Unlike Deviang... I am not soft.

"Spare us, General!"

"I will give you one chance."

They all looked up at me.

"Tell me everything you know about Henry. Furthermore, if you help me capture him, I will personally vouch for your innocence to His Majesty."

The chefs erupted with information.

"Henry mostly cooks dishes from the eastern part of the Empire."

"And he's highly skilled at butchering meat. His hometown is the Nicaea Kingdom, but I heard he lived in the western Empire and the Allied Kingdom for a long time."

"Uh... I heard he had a daughter who passed away years ago."

Useless information.

"This is too disorganized. Let me ask you this: if Henry attacked His Majesty and is currently hiding within the palace, where would he be?"

Silence.

"Uh..."

"Well... we don't really..."

They just looked at each other. I sighed.

"Ah... could he be there?" one chef spoke up.

"Where?"

"Well... there is a cold storage facility beneath the kitchen. It's mostly used to store meat, but because it's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hidden, only the chefs know about it."

I looked at the map, puzzled. The kitchen is on the first floor. Looking at the basement map, there are no rooms under ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the kitchen.

"Strange. Looking at the map, there is no such facility marked beneath the kitchen..."

The head chef stepped forward. "Ah! I heard that cold storage was originally used as an imperial secret torture chamber centuries ago. That is likely why it was omitted from the maps."

Secret torture chamber? Agrippa has been in the palace for months and never heard of this.

"Oh, that's right! I saw Henry heading toward the cold storage yesterday."

I ordered the commander: "Send soldiers to the cold storage immediately."

"Uh... but you probably won't be able to find it easily." the head chef said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... it's structured so that it only opens if you find the hidden mechanism on the wall."

I nodded. "Then lead us there! Right now! Commander, summon the giant soldiers, court mages, priests, and court physicians to the kitchen immediately."

I gave the orders and headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen was already a mess from the soldiers' search. Looking at the kitchen where vegetables and various ingredients rolled around, I asked, "Where is it hidden?"

The bound head chef stepped forward. "Please wait a moment."

He walked to the hearth. He pressed a brick at the bottom with his toe.

Creak! Rumble!

"Incredible..."

The hearth began to slide open.