There was a tent where a hundred gems were individually placed on top of a large board on the wall. A soldier was always present in front of it and was tasked with keeping an eye all the time to ensure they could report the death of a prisoner immediately and properly.
Although it may appear to be a hard job, most of the work is done in under a week unless a special case of a survivor managing to survive for months.
The soldier sighed, "This batch is surely weak." Because the jewels stopped illuminating one by one each second.
It appeared to be a fun thing but in reality people were actually dying each time a jewel stopped illuminating. A scary thought to have but the soldiers did not bother with it since the ones who are dying are all criminals but that is what they thought since the majority were just people wrongly accused or under false crimes for opposing some powerful figures or challenging to be the heir etc.
They were all bound to die and the soldiers made sure to record their names to ensure everything was done properly. As it all was unfolding, the soldier suddenly noticed one disappearing and he checked the books to see the name.
He suddenly fell back while sitting on the chair after seeing the name because it truly shocked him. "No - No way... An Angeras!!" He was afraid of what he saw because none of the soldiers knew the boy was the son of the Duke.
The trial and crimes for Estefan was well known in the mainland but Borderlands were so far outside that such news did not circulate due to lack of care since they were all busy defending the border and doing their work diligently.
The soldier immediately wrote down the time when the jewel stopped illuminating. After recording it, the soldier told one of the guards to replace his position while he ran out towards the Captain's tent where the Captain was having a meeting.
The Captain quickly told his men to leave because he knew why the soldier would run towards him like this, he knew which position the soldier held and there was only person who can make one soldier run like this to report their death. He was correct when he heard "He is dead." When those were the words uttered by the soldier.
The Captain ordered the man to arrange a team to find the corpse of the boy and retrieve it as quickly as possible for evidence.
After some minutes later, a man entered the tent rashly with his boots stomping hard on the ground "Why are we sending a search party to find the corpse of a rapist?" Keane yelled at his superior who signed upon hearing Keane's voice. "Do what I told you rather than being annoying like you always are." The Captain belittled Keane as a response to his antics.
This did not make the man happy, "I will report to the superiors at the Capital that you are miss-using your powers as the commanding officer of this post." Keane's words made Captain sigh more "Yes, definitely they would be happy to see you delaying the discovery of the corpse belonging to the eldest son of the Duke and give you a medal for it." The Captain mocked him more. "Already afraid, I am going to complain- wait what? Duke's son? So the Duke's son is a rapist." He pondered over it.
"God, are you that dumb?" The Captain finally yelled, "They always send people for wrongly accused crimes to remove any political opponents. Just use your brain for once rather than dipping it deep down in hatred, now go and commence the search."
After some hours later, the soldiers reported that the corpse wasn't found especially in the grey zone, since it's been only one day since they have been sent outside so the prisoners cannot have gone past the grey zone.
The Captain placed a 15 inch tall mirror in front of him, the Captain then placed his palm on the mirror where it began to shine in a lighter green light before a man appeared on the mirror. "What is it Captain?" The person asked, "I have an important report for the Duke." But the person rejected it saying "The Duke is busy with an interrogation."
The Captain just sighed because he must report this without more delay or else more problems could appear, "Very well, tell the Duke that his eldest son is dead but we haven't been able to discover or retrieve his corpse." The person nodded and responded "Your words have been recorded and the Duke will be notified immediately." Then the mirror changed to normal.
Specially crafted mirrors were used as a form communication tool, a person has to imbue a bit of mana or use tiny mana stones which can power up the mirror enough to talk to the person they want. The mirrors enabled far away military posts to keep in touch with the main HQ all the time.
Deep under the main palace of the Duchy, there was a special dungeon made specifically for interrogation and disappearing people who are said to be a threat to the Duchy. Once taken to this dungeon the person is not expected to come out from there in fact all the prisoners who have arrived there have never left, at least not in one piece.
The Dungeon can be accessed through a special room, that special room has a door connecting to the main corridor for the Duke and other important figures to enter while also having another door which connects to the outskirts of the Palace from where a prisoner is taken inside.
The third door is connected to a set of stairs which goes downwards towards the underground dungeon. It is said that the prison was made first before the Palace, in fact the palace was simply a way to hide the fact that there was a secret prison on the inside by the current Duke took so many people into this dungeon that the secret became a rather open secret which everyone knew but none questioned out of fear.
Deep down there are many cells, inside trails of blood along with bits of the human body along with organs, even teeth on the floor can be seen. Some are even dried to the point where one can make a mistake that it's red paint on the wall. But the stench of death was strong that if one cannot manifest Aura, they are bound to fall unconscious or puke due to it.
One of the Palace guards arrived at the cell where the Duke was present. The Duke was standing near the wall while watching a man whose hands were chained individually and raised up. Some men were seen holding tools of torture, the tied man got his tooth ripped out along with nails, they were holding his left ear while threatening to remove it but they stopped when they saw the guard.
The Duke approached the guard who immediately kneeled down "My Lord, there is an important report from the western border." The guard spoke but the Duke didn't respond as he waited for the report, "Young Master Estefan has died." But the Duke suddenly asked "Body?" The Guard shaked his head sideways "None my lord, they couldn't find anybody but they did find signs of a battle inside the forest at the Grey Zone." The Duke after listening simply dismissed the guard from the area.
There was complete and total silence in the area, none spoke and the torture was paused as well since they waited for the Duke's order.
The Duke turned around and faced the prisoner "You are free." His words had no emotion behind it as if it was something so blank and empty. The prisoner did not believe it because it obviously could be a trap but what if there was a chance that the Duke wasn't joking.
A hope after knowing the Duke lost his son whom he disliked but the hope was nothing but despair because the Duke grabbed a sword, a clean slash separating the right arm and then he did the same to the left "You are free." Blood gushed out from the prisoner who screamed but he was indeed free from the chains since the chains connected to his arms which were removed.
"Run." The Duke continued to speak while practically remaining unfazed with the screams and blood. The prisoner tried to stand but slipped due to his own blood but the Duke continued his attack by slicing both legs of the prisoner. "Now you are free." Those were the last words from before he penetrated his sword down into the prisoner's nape and came out through the mouth.
The Duke stared at the blood "He is dead." There was no joy nor sorrow but it was as if he never truly cared about the boy enough to bother about it.
He immediately moved out from the Dungeon, his attire was changed and burned since there was blood from the prisoner on it. He wore a new one with the insignia of the house which was a three sword since Angeras was a house of warriors.
While the Duke was changing, butler Benjamin arrived because he was called for by the Duke.
The Duke all of a sudden began to laugh out loud which shocked everyone "You lost! You lost your bet old man." He exclaimed while looking at the mirror which reflected that snickering face. "I don't understand, my lord." Butler Benjamin was confused to see his Lord being so weird all of a sudden "The brat is dead, my mistake is finally dead." Gleeful he told the butler.
Benjamin understood what the Duke meant but he stood there unfazed "I see, so you have indeed won the bet." Those words had deep disappointment in them, "Yes, make sure to drink it." The Duke ordered his butler who simply bent down his head while adhering to the command.
"If you see him as a mistake then you shouldn't have done it to his mother." The Butler added in those words while looking at the reflection of the Duke whose expression suddenly changed "I raped his mother, so what? I never loved her, I didn't even want a child. I just fucked her and I loved it but who would have thought that the bitch would become my wife due to my father forcing it." The Duke yelled out, while the remaining servants walked out to avoid his anger. "That is not a mistake my lord, you knew exactly what you did and the boy was a result of it." Butler Benjamin doubled down on it.
"Tsk." The Duke walked out unable to find any excuse because that is exactly what happened, a young mage raped by a jealous man and later forced to marry him due to the then Duke's order since there was a child on her womb as a result.
Many knew but none bothered to speak about it due to the word making the Duke Gerin look like a criminal although what he did was in fact an act of cruelty due to jealousy that a person was more talented than him. Estefan's existence reminded the Duke that he did in fact commit a crime and is a criminal.
Meanwhile the information regarding the death of Estefan was a hot topic inside the Palace, spreading everywhere and even outside the Palace with many being so happy to know a rapist died. So even celebrated his death while others didn't bother with it.
Meanwhile his stepmother Cornelia was indeed happy to know her son's competition died without being a threat "Now the Duke must declare that my son is the true heir." Her words while she placed her gaze on her youngest son but she wasn't happy knowing her eldest had to marry a commoner while many people around her including her cousin Alberto nodded in approval.
All of a sudden the Duke walked into the room which startled them all, his arrival was a surprise but the Lady didn't "The timing is impeccable honey, you came right when I was thinking of you declaring our son the heir."