The Grand Duke's Son Is A Heretic-Chapter 107:The Malice Hidden Underneath

The next morning, Kael strode through the heart of Sparves, hands stuffed into his coat pockets, eyes scanning every detail around him. The city was silent—too silent for a place meant to be a stronghold. The usual bustling streets were empty, save for a few sluggish merchants trying to set up stalls. Soldiers patrolled the walls, but their movements were slow, as if exhaustion clung to their bones.

At his side, Gare let out a low whistle. "Damn, this place looks dead."

Kael hummed in agreement. "A fortress on the brink of collapse. Let’s see how deep the rot goes."

They arrived at the central barracks, where Cedric and Valen were already waiting. The training grounds were almost empty—only a handful of knights were present, going through slow, lethargic drills. A few sparred, but their strikes were weak, lacking the aggression and precision of battle-hardened warriors.

Kael stopped in front of them, arms crossed. "This all you’ve got?"

Cedric flinched slightly, but Valen remained composed. "This is what remains of Sparves’ forces."

Kael raised an eyebrow. "Numbers."

Valen spoke without hesitation. "Before the illness, we had 5,000 trained knights, with an additional 2,000 auxiliary troops. Now, we have roughly 800 knights still standing—most weakened by fatigue. Our auxiliary force has dwindled to 500. The rest are either dead or too sick to fight."

Handel, standing nearby, frowned. "That’s less than a quarter of your total force. How many capable fighters do you actually have?"

Valen’s expression remained unreadable. "At most? Five hundred."

Kael let out a short, sharp laugh. "Three hundred knights in a city meant to hold the northern gate. Tell me, what about your beasts? Warhorses? Any tamed creatures?"

Valen nodded slightly. "We still have 150 warhorses, though many are malnourished. Our beast tamers lost several trained creatures due to the sickness, but a handful remain—mostly frost wolves and a few wyverns."

Kael scoffed. "And let me guess, the frost wolves are half-starved, and the wyverns are untamed?"

Cedric winced. "More or less."

Kael rubbed his temples. "Gods, what a mess."

Handel, ever the diplomat, cleared his throat. "What about food? Supplies? If you’re barely surviving, I assume your reserves aren’t looking good either."

Cedric hesitated, but Valen answered smoothly. "Enough for five months if rationed carefully."

Kael narrowed his eyes. "And if we don’t ration?"

Valen met his gaze. "Less than three months."

Reiner let out a curse under his breath. "We’re standing in a starving city with barely enough soldiers to defend it." He turned to Kael. " It’s already dead, just waiting to fall over."

Kael didn’t respond immediately. His gaze swept over the knights, the walls, the distant city gates. A fortress stripped of its warriors. A city drained of its strength. A leader barely clinging to life.

"Well," Kael finally said, smirking. "Looks like we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got."

Valen inclined his head. "I will continue managing the city’s affairs in the meantime."

"You are dismissed."

Without another word, he turned and walked away, his long coat billowing behind him.

Kael watched him go, his smirk fading. "He’s hiding something," he muttered.

Kael turned to Gare. "Follow him."

Gare smirked, pushing off from the table. "Already on it." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

With that, he slipped out of the hall, disappearing into the frozen streets of Sparves, trailing after Valen.

...

Kael sat in the grand hall of the mansion, his fingers tapping against the armrest of his chair as he listened to Cedric. The steward, Valen, had just left in a hurry after their earlier discussion, and something about it didn’t sit right with him.

"What are your plans now, My Lord?"Handel asked.

Kael didn’t answer immediately. He shifted his gaze toward Cedric, who still had that confused look on his face from their earlier conversation about Valen.

"He’s been our steward for years," Cedric said, shaking his head. "I don’t think he would betray us."

Kael let out a slow exhale, not convinced.

As Cedric moved closer, he absentmindedly dusted off the ice from Kael’s collar. His fingers brushed against the fabric, and he pulled back a few frozen flakes before flicking them away.

"Oh! Thanks," Kael muttered, his mind elsewhere.

Cedric gave a polite smile. "It’s my duty, my lord."

Kael barely acknowledged it. His focus had shifted entirely.

Valen had left too quickly. Almost as if he was hiding something.

.....

Gare wasn’t sure what he was looking for when he decided to follow Valen. It was just a feeling—an itch at the back of his mind that told him something wasn’t right.

Valen was smooth. The kind of man who knew exactly what to say, how to say it, and when to shut up. Gare had dealt with people like that before. They were either the best allies... or the worst enemies.

So, when Valen excused himself after their talk with Kael, Gare trailed after him, keeping to the shadows. The steward moved with purpose, slipping through the back alleys of Sparves with a familiarity that made it clear he had done this many times before.

Then, Valen stopped before an old, abandoned warehouse near the outskirts of the city. Gare pressed himself against the cold stone wall and watched as the steward knocked twice, paused, then knocked again. The heavy doors creaked open, and Valen slipped inside.

Gare waited, counted to ten, then crept forward, peeking through the crack in the door.

Inside, he saw something that made his breath hitch.

Children. Dozens of them, huddled together on makeshift beds, their faces pale and thin. Some were barely old enough to hold a wooden sword, while others looked like they had once been squires. Despite the dire conditions, the place was warm. A large fireplace crackled in the corner, and fresh bread and soup were being handed out by a few elderly women.

And standing in the middle of it all was Valen, his usual composed mask gone. He knelt beside a coughing boy, placing a reassuring hand on the child’s forehead before adjusting his blanket and then gave him some pills.

Gare’s grip on his sword loosened.

Valen sighed. "You can come in now. No need to skulk in the shadows."

Gare hesitated before stepping inside, his boots echoing against the wooden floor. "What is this?"

Valen didn’t look up. "Insurance."

"Insurance?"

Valen finally met his gaze. "These children... They are the future of Sparves. The illness that spread through the city didn’t spare the adults, but these kids? They survived. I couldn’t let them suffer, not when they might grow strong enough to hold a sword one day."

"I had stored a major portion of ration here in case things get ugly"

He gestured to the children. "If word got out, do you know what would happen? People would start hoarding food, turning on each other, blaming these kids for their own suffering. So, I hid them."

Gare exhaled. "And you didn’t think to tell anyone? Not even Cedric?"

Valen’s lips curled into a humorless smile. "Master Cedric is young, inexperienced. He doesn’t understand that sometimes, the best way to protect something... is to keep it hidden."

In fact, he didn’t like Cedric closing things off. He had repeatedly asked him to call for help but Cedric rolled it off saying that if the Temple gotta know things, it might get ugly.

Wondering about the temple upset him so he decided to keep quite.

Gare didn’t respond immediately. He just watched Valen, searching for a lie. But all he saw was exhaustion.

"Fine," he muttered. "But you better tell Lord Kael yourself. If he finds another way, things won’t end well for you."

Valen chuckled. "That, I have no doubt."

...

Meanwhile...

A few rooms away, Cedric stood in the dim glow of a single candle, his fingers trembling with excitement.

In his hand, he held a few strands of silver-white hair. It was none other than Kael’s hair.

His breath came out in ecstatic gasps as he pressed the strands against his lips, his eyes gleaming with something unhinged.

"Hehehe... Kael... why did you have to appear now?" He whispered, his voice a mixture of delight and hatred. "If only you had stayed away, I would have had it all... but you... you ruined everything."

He stepped back, dragging his fingers through the strands, weaving them into a ritual circle drawn in thick, black ink. Symbols of ancient curses twisted across the floor, pulsating with a sickly glow.

Cedric grinned wildly, raising a dagger to his palm. "Let’s see how long you last, Grand Duke’s son."

But before he could finish, a low, guttural chuckle echoed behind him.

The air in the room turned cold.

A voice, deep and mocking, rasped out from the shadows.

"You’re cursing me...?"

Cedric’s blood ran cold. He spun around, eyes wide in horror.

And there, standing in the darkness, was Kael.

His grin was wide. His eyes burned with something inhuman.

"I like your style," Kael said, voice dripping with amusement.