Someone tried to kill Damian, and he was well aware of that. But what did that mean in the grand scheme of things?

"Only two people know my identity here, and I did nothing strange. Also, the killer had already killed someone and would not make another move. So, the ones behind my killing are the Duke and perhaps his daughter."

It was not difficult to think about, and Damian quickly realized the Duke was trying to kill him, but why?

The reason, the most essential part, was still unknown to Damian, but he would find out eventually.

He did not panic and did not leave his room. "Let's create a fake slime body to get me some time. Also, it is not like they will investigate my dead body."

Damian made a slime body with many shooting holes and cut himself in the arm to put some blood in. The only reason that would work was that they would only discover his body in a few hours, and the blood would dry out by that time.

He checked multiple times to see if nothing was amiss, and it all looked neatly arranged, not the slightest suspicious someone had moved things around and left.

The most important things he carried with him: his invisibility cloak, laptop, cell phone, and necromancy grimoire, were all inside his spatial ring, so not even the Duke knew about them.

That meant those things were safe, and because the Duke did not know about them, he would not suspect anything.

Yet, there was still a problem in that whole situation. Where would Damian go?

He did not know the castle's layout, so if there were any passages he could use to avoid the guards, there was no way of knowing.

"Maybe I should kidnap a servant? No, they would not know the real passages in this place. Who would?"

"A guard!"

The guards were the only group that could know something, but it was a risky move. They were somewhat powerful, not that Damian did not have the power to go against them, but what if he caught a guard helping the killers? Then more of the same kind would come, and soon everyone would know Damian was alive and not dead.

"Let me first leave this room and then call Neil."

Damian put on his invisibility cloak and black attire and left the room during the late night hours, with no one outside but the patrolling guards.

"I cannot wait to lie on my warm bed and sleep through the morning," said a guard.

"I feel you, and I don't want to crush your dreams, but we still have," the guard said, moving his arm to check his watch, "two more hours before the sun comes."

"Fuck...."

The guards who had to patrol during the night were the most tired ones, only waiting for their shift to end to return to their warm beds.

Their eyelids were barely open, so they sensed nothing when Damian passed through them, invisible and floating. Even if they were completely alert, it would be impossible for them to notice his presence.

Despite having the advantage of being hidden from the guards, Damian did not fool around and looked for a place to stay. He moved toward the castle's roof, up at the highest point where no guard or servant would hear him.

He took out the cell phone from his spatial ring and called Neil.

~~~~

"Who is it calling me this late?" Neil thought as he woke up to the sound of his cell phone.

Neil was not feeling like getting up or answering the call, but then he remembered he was an important figure, and perhaps it was an important call!

He grabbed the cell phone and saw an unknown number on the screen.

"Who could it be? People I owe money to?"

Neil answered the call, saying, "The signal is bad. I can barely hear you..."

Damian was on the other side of the call, not understanding what that old man was doing, "is he still sleeping?"

"Neil, it is Damian. We have a problem."

"Oh," Neil cleared his throat, "it is you, Damian. How did you have my number anyway?"

"I got it with Glen; we have a huge problem."

"What do you mean?"

Neil was starting to feel uneasy. It was terrible not to know what was happening, and judging by Damian's voice, shit was happening.

"The Duke tried to kill me, and if he tried that, then it can only mean he wants to do something against your family."

"What? Are you speaking the truth, Damian?"

"Yes, I am. The Duke thinks I am dead, so I will take this chance to learn more and let you guys know, but I am almost certain someone like a spy is already inside the castle, up to no good."

"Thank you for the intel. I'll scam the place to find the traitor and take care of Astrid; no worries."

Neil was about to turn off when Damian said, "one more thing, old man. Do you know a place in the castle for me to hide?"

Damian did not know, but Neil had a big smile on the other side of the call, almost looking like a creepy old man.

He turned off the call, making Damian wonder if the old man did not hear what he said, "it could be, seeing how he looks 100 years old."

But after a few moments, a notification popped on his phone. Neil sent him a complete castle map, showing the common areas and all the secret passages and tunnels.historical

Not even the Duke knew Neil had something like that. Neil stole it a long time ago, as he wanted leverage if the other noble house tried something against his family, and after many years, the time seemed to have arrived.

"With this, I can move stealthily through all castle areas. Duke Hagrid, if you try to kill me, be prepared to suffer because of it."