Late at night, the Royal Palace was utterly silent. Grand Duke Karim ben Hassan was fast asleep, his brow faintly furrowed as though he was worrying about the fate of the city-state even in his dreams.
Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps shattered the peace of the bedchamber. A servant rushed in without even having time to knock, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Grand Duke! Grand Duke! This is bad! Something terrible has happened!"
Grand Duke Kalim was jolted awake. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he scolded irritably, "What are you panicking about? What could possibly happen in the middle of the night?"
He assumed a fire had broken out somewhere, but he never imagined the servant's next words would plunge him instantly into an icy abyss.
"The orcs... Something happened at the orc residence!" The servant's voice trembled even more violently. "Aldo Envoy Eliot led people in a surprise attack on the residence where the orcs were staying. There's blood everywhere inside. I heard... I heard that apart from that Centurion who escaped, all the other orcs were killed!"
"What?!" Grand Duke Kalim suddenly sat up in bed, the drowsiness vanishing from his face without a trace.
He could hardly believe his ears. He seized the servant's arms with both hands and asked urgently, "What did you say? Eliot... He actually dared to attack the orcs? How... How is that possible?"
The servant's arms hurt terribly from the grip, but he did not dare pull free. He could only nod shakily. "It's true, Grand Duke! The news has spread throughout the city. Quite a few residents saw smoke rising from the orc residence, and some even heard gunshots and screams..."
The Grand Duke's hands fell limply to his sides. His body swayed, and he collapsed heavily onto the bed.
He felt