There is only one dungeon in Ilcutrin, and the barren land of the North can't afford to support too many prisoners, and most of them will face trial within a few days of moving in - life or death!

So much so that in the empty dungeon, Lance could only lean silently on the corner of the wall, and there was not even a creature around him who could chat and relieve his boredom.

But that's good news!

Maybe it was because of his previous instructions that he avoided the captured soldiers, or maybe it was because as a subordinate, he sometimes had to follow the commander's orders, so the count had no intention of implicating.

In short, Martin and Jacob escorted themselves back from Lane Town to 'deserters', and Lance did not see them in the cell next door.

This gave him a lot of peace of mind.

It has been two days and three nights since the dinner party was locked in, and the current time should be in the morning, if I guess correctly.

Although the dungeon is located below the castle and there are no windows for Lance to observe the brightness of the light, counting the number of heartbeats when he is bored is enough to make a rough guess.

Anyway, as if he had been forgotten, there was neither interrogation nor punishment, only the jailer brought the necessary food and water from time to time—he also counted the time by the number of meals he had eaten.

"I don't know how Angel is now, Martin should have informed her, after all, she didn't show up at the dinner," Lance murmured, a little glad that he had noticed the Earl's bad arrangements when he greeted the messenger earlier.

"Shhhhh

He gasped and felt his body tremble slightly.

The temperature in the dungeon was so low that you could see the white breath you exhaled, and Lance had to huddle his knees and bounce his body back and forth with his hips as a support point.

After all, the torch on the wall is not as good as the fireplace in the castle, if you don't want to freeze to death in this hellish place, you can only try to reduce your body temperature.

To be honest, as the lord of Ilcutrin, even though he was only a deputy, he felt that he was really a failure.

Unexpectedly, in his own territory, so many people with ulterior motives lurked in still don't know anything, even if the captain of the guard is behind the scenes, but it also fully exposes the fact that he doesn't care much about his subordinates.

If you pay even a little attention to those unfamiliar faces, that assassination should not have happened.

"That damn traitor!"

Until now, how could Lance not understand that his captain of the guard was the hidden chess piece hidden by his side, but he had slipped away long before the plan was launched, and the instigator behind it was naturally unknown.

But this assassination of himself is a bit puzzling, why did it happen to be carried out at the time when the Count ordered his arrest?

In order to kill himself and catch a dozen well-trained dead soldiers, Lance said that he had unknowingly had such an important value, and it was worth the main messenger hiding behind the scenes?

You must know that the training of dead soldiers is not easy, it just so happens that the Stoke family has been inherited for hundreds of years, and he loves to collect classics, and the family's rich collection of books makes it not difficult for Lance to learn some information that ordinary people have never been exposed to.

In order to ensure the loyalty of the tools in the eyes of these nobles is trustworthy, the average large family will collect some young orphans every once in a while, and gather them together for training that is extremely cruel and has an alarming rate of elimination.

The tools that survive are qualified to be studied, artificially finding or creating their weaknesses and reinforcing them, using them as a rein to drive them to serve the clan at all times.

Women, money, family, emotions...

They are all powerful weapons to control people's minds, and what about people who have no weaknesses at all? The wolf's belly outside the city may be the only destination for such people.

It's an investment that takes a long time and effort to get amazing returns, and no family wants to waste these tools.

Yes, waste!

The assassination was an unforgivable waste in Lance's eyes.

Do you think you're invincible in front of the Earl of Silverblade Castle, who is known for his good fighting, and a bunch of official knights?

"Is it for the Count?" said Lance, who was puzzled by the Count's tone.

Deceive?

What did the Count think he had deceived him? That's just the town of Lane.

It's a pity that the judgment of the situation is just speculation, and there is no news from there, although I am extremely unconvinced, this does not mean that the situation in Ryan Town may not be so bad.

And the discarded pawns?

Apparently the Count had received some kind of information against him and had misunderstood something, was it because he suspected that he was in collusion with Sarion?

Those dead soldiers used Saarion's military crossbows, but it doesn't mean that these people were sent by Saarion's side, Lance said that he was anxious for the earl's IQ, so obvious framing the blame, can't you see it at all?

Treason, what a serious crime!

"Hehe..."Lance sneered a few times, he didn't care much about this, there was no enough weighty evidence to prove that no one could bypass the pressure of the Stoke family to attack him.

"But who's behind the conspiracy..."Lance frowned, muttering unconsciously, "Who are the people who would want to get rid of me..."

Suddenly, the text message without the Stoker family coat of arms flashed in his mind,

"Could it be...!" Lance stood up in disbelief.

A family with sophisticated means and the ability to train the dead, so familiar with Livingston's intelligence and the Earl's character, with the presence of cronies in the Stoke family guard...

That answer became clearer and clearer in his mind.

"Is it still exposed after all..."

Lance pulled out the necklace hidden on his chest, and looked at the veins of the black falcon on a yellow background, and his eyes became sad.

Since the sudden death of the old king, following the tradition of the Gallende, women have the right to inherit but are second to men, and the queen is generally only produced when there is no adult male heir in the family.

It was with this practice that the current king, Gregory IV, succeeded in reversing the throne as an unfavored prince.

His sister, Ursula, who had been the most prestigious, was ostracized by the lords and lost her imminent crown and had to flee her homeland - simply because the warriors of the North were unwilling to bow to a lady.

As the Falcon Knights who followed her, it was naturally declared an illegal organization by the current king and banned.

Founded in 94 Penderic, this organization has a long history and heritage, and the station was burned to the ground, and most of its members were disheartened and retired or fled Livingston.

But Lance didn't want to leave, he couldn't forget that heroic woman, he couldn't forget that moving smile!

He vaguely remembered the twilight of his eighteenth year.

It was his coming-of-age ceremony, and Grandma Angel from the orphanage bought a piece of white bread for him to celebrate, and he was reluctant to eat it and secretly hid it, which naturally attracted the covetousness of other children.

After a fight, the young Lance knocked down all the older children, and he heard applause behind him.

When he turned his head, he saw a noble knight take off his helmet and smile at him.

"Well done!" she said.

The golden hair fell down, emitting a faint halo in the light of the sunset.

Lance looked at her stupidly, not even noticing that the bread in his hand, which had turned black from the scramble, fell to the ground as he unconsciously let go.

The heart was beating violently, and this was the first time that an ignorant boy felt something more precious than bread!

That smile has since been fixed and has become a memory that he will cherish for the rest of his life.

"But why?"

Lance didn't think he had the qualifications, he was at best a pawn that could be easily erased, and there must be a bigger conspiracy brewing.

"No matter what, I'm not going to give up!"

Lance tightened his teeth, he worked hard to gain the family's approval, just so that one day, he could regain the glory of the falcon and rebuild the Knights of the Falcon!

Not for Ursula's crown, but for her last wishes...

Remembering his hole cards, he slammed his chin on his knee, his eyes blank and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Due to the lack of good ventilation, the fishy stench that permeates the air is disgusting.

A mouse squeaked down the aisle, hiding in the dark with green eyes, staring at the food scraps in front of Lance.

This seemed to pique his interest.

The little mouse tentatively took a few steps forward, looking like it was running away at any time when the situation was not right, and the human look made it a little afraid to act rashly.

It is using its only intelligence to judge the likelihood of its success in stealing the food, and who knows if the human in front of it intends to use this as bait to catch itself and eat it?

Isn't that how the second uncle died!

The man and the mouse looked at each other for a long time, until the little mouse realized that he was no match for the human at all compared to patience, and the hunger in his belly drove him to submit to instinct.

With a slight bow and sharp eyes fixed on the target, the little mouse showed absolute confidence in its speed, and it felt that it could steal the food and escape before the human could react.

"Click!"

In the silent dungeon, the sound of a pebble tumbling was so clear.

"Squeak!!

The little mouse let out a scream, sprang out with agility, and fled back into the cave in the shadows.

It means almost being scared to pee.

When it became clear that it was just a stone tumbling down the stairs, the little mouse really didn't want to admit his mistake.

At this moment, the sound of chains being opened from the top of the hallway, and a girl dressed in sackcloth, led by the guards, walked straight to the room where its food was stored.

"Damn humans!" thought the little mouse, and hibernate again.