That foreign woman claimed her name was Miss Bai. Before Leif was imprisoned by the royal family of Salvia Kingdom, he had received a letter from Elara about this wrist dart. In the letter, she carefully taught him how to use it.
Not long after he received the letter, the Salvia royal family came looking for him.
He wore the wrist dart just as Elara instructed. After he was locked in the dark chamber, several of his "cousins" had him searched, but they didn't find or take the dart, which looked no different from a gold-inlaid jade bracelet.
And now this dart she gave him was protecting his life.
Leif suddenly raised his hand and tightly covered his right wrist. While the other male servants were still in shock from the sudden death of their companion, Leif lifted his hand and, with dull and empty eyes, aimed at the temples of each of them one by one.
She had taught him in the letter how to kill with one strike.
The words she had written were still clearly present in his mind. Leif held his breath, and with only a bit of strength left, he calmly pressed the trigger on the wrist dart.
A few soft, sharp sounds cut through the air.
The male servants surrounding him dropped one after another.
Leif clutched the wrist dart tightly. Only after he was sure all of them were dead did he finally exhale, bend down, and start coughing hard.
Cold tears unconsciously fell from the corners of his otherwise calm eyes.
He didn't cough for long before he forced himself to suppress the bitter feeling in his chest. He raised his eyes toward the heavy prison door in the distance, which was still wide open.
This chamber was built deep underground to stay hidden.
Sounds from inside couldn't be heard outside. On top of that, his "cousins" must have told the guards not to interfere no matter what they heard, in order to force him into submission using those male servants. So outside the wide-open chamber door, there was still no one.
Leif let out a small breath and searched the bodies of the fallen male servants.
Sure enough, he found an antidote to resist the drug and took it.
A few minutes later, most of his strength returned. He chose the body of a servant closest to his own build, stripped the clothes, and put them on. He also stuffed some extra cloth around his shoulders to better match the dead man's size.
After everything was ready, he used the servant's robe to cover half of his face, gripped the dart bracelet tightly on his right wrist, and walked toward the door with his head lowered.
As long as he could leave the tunnel.
As long as he could leave the tunnel, he could escape this hopeless place.
Outside the door, the dark passage stretched toward the surface.
The chamber was built dozens of meters underground. Leif turned several corners before he finally reached the surface.
At the narrow exit above, two palace guards holding long spears stood on either side.
Leif lowered his face and quickly walked out of the tunnel.
"Stop right there. You..."
At first, the two guards didn't notice anything strange when they saw the tall, strong servant walking quickly out of the tunnel.
But when they looked again, they felt something was off.
The guards immediately shouted for him to stop so they could check him.
The servant stopped as expected.
But before they could step forward to check, he had already turned around and raised his right hand, aiming at them with calm, empty eyes.
The two Imperial Guards widened their eyes slightly, but before they could make a sound, their temples were pierced and they collapsed silently.
But there were far too many guards stationed around this place. As soon as the two fell, two other squads on either side quickly noticed the anomaly and shouted loudly, rushing over.
Leif immediately turned his head, grabbed a handful of leaves from a tree beside him, and began running fast.
He held the leaves to his lips and blew out a strange whistling sound.
More and more guards behind him started chasing after him. The originally quiet and solemn Sargassum Palace became noisy due to the commotion in this area.
Leif kept blowing the leaves, running barefoot with all his strength at top speed.
But the guards behind him kept multiplying, relentlessly chasing him.
The sharp stones on the ground pierced his feet, blood flowed out in streams, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. His breathing became increasingly ragged and strained.
He didn't know how long he had been running. The intense pain in his feet and lungs almost made him pass out. Just then, a familiar and urgent voice reached his ears.
"Your Grace, forgive us. We're late."
The fierce sound of clashing weapons immediately rang out throughout the Sargassum Palace.
Half an hour later, Leif was sitting inside a horse-drawn carriage.
His clothes were already loose and tattered from running. His feet were covered in blood and looked horrifying. He was in a terrible and miserable state.
But he refused his subordinates' offer to help him change clothes or apply medicine. He locked himself inside the carriage, curled up in the innermost corner like a baby. His pale face drooped, his expression blank, as if his mind was empty.
The only thing he clutched tightly was the gold and jade bracelet on his right hand, holding it like a lifeline.
After a while, silent tears slid down his blank face.
Only when the cold teardrops landed on the top of his foot did he slowly come back to his senses. He held the bracelet even tighter and curled up further.
After several days of traveling at full speed, Elara led the large army and was about to return to Plumera City.
Outside Plumera City.
After three months of construction and renovation, a brand-new city stood tall and magnificent on the vast plains of Plumera. It was much wider, more spacious, and more grand than the old capital city.
The new city wall was five or six times wider and longer than the old one. Its height had also more than doubled, rising from the original fifteen meters to over thirty meters now.
The surface of the new wall no longer had the uneven dirt and rubble of the old one. It was completely built with solid bricks fired from the "brick factory." This made the wall stronger, smoother, and more durable. It also looked much better than before.
Under the towers on each side of the wall, there were large gates made entirely of iron, each standing about seven or eight meters tall.
These thick and heavy gates were painted bright red. Every time the gates opened or closed, more than ten guards had to push together to slowly move them.
At that moment, the afternoon sun was shining down.
All the bright red gates around the new Plumera City were wide open.
The gate guards, all dressed in uniform, stood strictly on the walls and below them. Their postures were upright, and their expressions were serious, showing strict discipline. The lazy and useless behavior from when Lord Gregory and others held power a year ago was completely gone.
At each of the four city gates, more guards were checking every person entering or leaving the city. Their expressions were stern, and they checked carefully.
At the wide gates, which could fit four carriages side by side, several long lines had formed with people coming and going.
Outside the gate, a very smooth and wide road stretched out straight from the city entrance.
This newly built road was about ten centimeters higher than the ground. Its surface was clean and solid, with no mud, stones, or uneven spots. It looked very smooth, clean, and strong.
Carriages moved along it without any bumping. Even when it rained, there would be no puddles.
Whether people walked or rode on it with carriages or ox carts, everything moved easily. There were no sunken or muddy areas that could twist ankles like before.
In the middle of the road, long lines of merchant caravans pulling carriages were waiting for inspection by the guards.
On both sides were regular citizens carrying goods, as well as scholars, nobles' sons, and new citizens who had just been freed from slavery, all coming from nearby towns and counties.
Some of the people in line looked up at the tall and grand Plumera City. Others looked down at the strong and smooth official road beneath their feet.
This kind of road was said to have been built by the Ministry of Works using a method personally given by the Empress. The surface was not only smooth but also solid and long-lasting. Even the heaviest rains would not wash it away.
Over the past few months, this kind of strong and easy-to-travel road had already been extended far beyond Plumera City.