Escape from the evil lady (GL)
Chapter 144 - 5. Escape from prison

Chapter 144: Chapter 5. Escape from prison

The dungeon of the Imperial Palace

Yufil de Walt, the duke’s eldest son, sat motionless with his back against the wall, being one of the imprisoned prisoners of the imperial dungeon.

Despite his haggard appearance, the young man continued to stare straight ahead, as if he was not going to lose his dignity as the successor of the family until his death.

«Interesting... How long are they going to keep me here before they kill me?»

In fact, Yufil had no hope of leaving these cold stone walls ever since he arrived here. His fate could be called a foregone conclusion from the very beginning. And yet, there were still things that he unconsciously continued to worry about.

«It’s better if that girl really doesn’t show up here.» He chuckled to himself, thinking about it.

Yufil de Walt did not believe that his younger sister would actually come to a place like this to save him. And how could she do that? It would be better if she really just left it and went on with her life.

In any case, the past was beyond repair.

And now, even if he had known about all the consequences of his choice in advance, Yufil still did not regret his decision to take the risk to protect his sister.

«At least one of us will be able to survive...»

But even when the guy thought he had come to terms with it, some regrets still continued to overwhelm him. Yufil was ashamed that at a crucial turning point for their family, he could not behave like a worthy heir to the family, but instead only succumbed to the nefarious machinations of the Empress, and thus did not live up to his father’s expectations.

«Father, we will meet again very soon...» a thought flashed through his mind, «I am very ashamed that now I have to meet you when I have let you down so much...»

However, at the moment when the young man closed his eyes and sighed heavily, he suddenly noticed a strange noise that was heard outside his cell. At first, Yufil didn’t pay much attention to this, as it could have been the guards who made their rounds here from time to time.

However...

«Lord de Walt!»

The heir to the dukedom was very surprised, as he did not expect that someone could actually call out to him in this place.

«I didn’t hear that, did I...?»

However, on the other side of the iron bars, he was confronted by none other than the deputy commander of the Imperial Army, Selman Hirsch. Yufil was speechless for a moment, as he couldn’t understand what a man like him could be doing in a place like this.

— Lord de Walt, don’t worry. I am the trusted subordinate of the second Princess, and I have come to rescue you from here!

— ...

Due to such an unexpected turn of events, the guy was not even able to find any words.

«Lord de Walt...?» he asked uncertainly, «Can you hear me?»

At that moment, Yufil finally came to his senses and regained the power of speech.

— Caleb... — he was the first to say this name out loud, then he hurried to correct himself, — That is... Sir Hirsch, is that really you?

— Yes, — the knight nodded seriously, — How do you feel now? Can you walk on your own?

«...»

At this time, the young man involuntarily tensed up, as the last time he saw the second princess’s assistant, it was in no other place than the flower shop, where he pretended to be another person. Nevertheless, in order not to betray the fact that he accidentally recognized him, Yufil did not say anything and only nodded briefly.

— You really are... Can you get me out of here? — he asked warily.

«That’s right,» Selman replied readily, «I’ve neutralized the guards on this floor, but they’ll come to their senses very soon. So we should hurry up!

While the guy was still in a state of some confusion from everything that was happening, Selman Hirsch, meanwhile, unlocked the door of his cell with his key and also, entering inside, hurried to remove his shackles. All this took him no more than a few minutes.

When Yufil was finally able to leave his prison cell, at first he could hardly move because of his numb limbs and general poor health. Nevertheless, the guy continued to force himself to move his legs as soon as possible.

«Am I really going to be able to get out of here...?» — this incredible thought made his heart pound loudly with excitement.

The coveted exit from the dungeon was rapidly approaching by the second.

However, before they could leave the dungeon, an unexpected obstacle suddenly blocked their way.

— Lord de Walt, if you haven’t forgotten, you are a prisoner of Her Majesty. So where exactly are you going now without her knowledge?

The head of the mercenary organization serving the Empress suddenly stood in their way and chuckled coldly.

«That’s all I need right now!..» This thought flashed through both of them simultaneously.

When an attendant of the Empress suddenly blocked their way, it greatly complicated the situation. In the end, there was no other option but to join the battle.

Selman Hirsch pursed his lips as he had to get into a fighting position, ready to draw his sword at any minute.

«Lord de Walt,» the knight said softly, addressing him.

«Yes...?» asked Yufil.

— If you hurry up right now and head in the opposite direction, you can find another way out of this dungeon. You must hurry before the rest of the guards discover us.

At that moment, the heir to the dukedom looked at him in surprise.

— what? But what about you? — he stammered.

«Don’t worry,» Selman assured him, «I’ll stay here and try to delay him as much as I can.»

However, the guy was still hesitating, wondering if he could really just leave the knight to deal with this alone.

«Are you really sure about this?» Yufil asked, just in case.

«Yes,» he nodded seriously, «so get out of here as soon as possible!»

«.....»

In the end, since he had no other choice anyway, Yufil could only let the knight handle the matter himself. Without wasting any time, the guy turned around and hurried away in the opposite direction.

The mercenary’s gaze narrowed, and he wanted to chase after him, but at that moment Selman blocked his path, holding a sword to his throat.

«Don’t be in such a hurry,» he said abruptly, «you’ll have to deal with me first.»

The mercenary let out a chuckle.

— what? A lowly knight like you really dares to compete with me?

Selman Hirsch, in turn, smiled coldly.

— Who’s insignificant here, we’ll see about that.

In the next instant, the blades of both men touched in a fierce battle. While they were fending off each other’s attacks and converging with swords again, the knight couldn’t help but ask a question in the process:

«For what purpose did you kidnap Lord de Walt and keep him here?»

However, the assassin only continued to sneer as he parried his next blow.

«Everything is Her Majesty’s will,» he said, «and that’s something a lowly servant like you shouldn’t know.»

«Is that so?» A shadow fell on the face of the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Army.

— In that case, how are you different from me? You’re nothing more than a tool in the hands of the Empress, aren’t you? — he asked.

Although it was just a statement of fact, the mercenary still looked hurt by this disparaging remark on his part.

— Oh, you...!

The mercenary started hitting him with more force, and the knight realized that it was really getting harder for him to hold them back. To his own surprise, this assassin could actually justify his status as the head of a mercenary organization. His strength was quite comparable even to that of a captain in the Imperial Army.

In the end, his opponent turned out to be much stronger than Selman himself had expected. Continuing to hold the line with all his might in order to keep this man away from Lord de Walt, the knight eventually began to give up his position.

In the end, Selman Hirsch was thrown to the ground, while an assassin was about to plunge a sword into him from above. At the last second, the knight managed to keep the blade straight in front of him, but the outcome of this short struggle was to be resolved very soon. Mentally, Selman was even ready to say goodbye to his life. However, at this very moment...

Bang!

Suddenly, the mercenary’s body staggered and collapsed right on top of him.

Startled, the knight looked up and saw the heir to the dukedom standing in front of him. The young man stood over them and held a bloody large stone in his hand, which he had apparently hit the mercenary with just now.

For a few moments, the knight couldn’t even find his voice.

«Lord de Walt...?» he asked, stunned, «What are you doing here? Weren’t you heading for the dungeon exit just now...?

Yufil threw the stone aside and, after hesitating, extended his hand to help Tom up.

«I... I just thought I could be of some use,» he remarked vaguely, «and apparently I wasn’t mistaken.»

«...»

Selman Hirsch silently opened and closed his mouth, looking at the outstretched palm in front of him.