Killing Intent 1

"Even though my left hand hasn't fully healed, my strength has mostly recovered." The Baron spoke decisively, downing the mouth-rinsing broth in one gulp. He could not even be bothered to spit it out and simply swallowed it.

"Let's go." He pushed back his chair and stood. "Anglie, before I return, stay in the castle and try not to go out. Understood?"

Anglie hurriedly nodded. "Yes, Father."

"Mm... I estimate that I won't be back for at least half a month. The situation has been very unstable lately. Ward, the castle's safety is entirely in your hands." The Baron spoke seriously.

Ward nodded. "Rest assured. While you are away, everyone in the castle will protect Young Master Anglie."

The Baron nodded, turned, and strode out of the dining hall.

Everyone in the dining hall hurriedly stood and bowed to see the Baron off.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded until it disappeared entirely. Only then did the ladies, young misses, and young masters still eating let out heavy sighs of relief. Several girls began whispering to one another, and the atmosphere around the dining table was far better than when the Baron had been present.

Anglie sat at one end of the table, pretending to be deep in thought.

A 3D human model floated before his eyes. The pale-blue model slowly rotated in front of him, while a label beside it clearly read: Baron Kyle Leo's Physical Condition.

"Kyle Leo. Based on nineteen data scans, his detailed physical condition can roughly be determined.

Strength: 2–4. Agility: 3.4. Constitution: 3.9. Current condition: healthy. After a special burst, strength and constitution increase. Agility decreases."

The pale-blue human model slowly rotated, completely recording Baron Kyle's physical condition.

Anglie carefully scanned the information, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Father's hand has clearly healed, yet he is still pretending it has not. It seems he has discovered something too." Anglie's worries eased slightly.

With attributes and strength as formidable as the Baron's, even an ordinary peak-ranked knight might not be able to keep him. In a direct confrontation, he was even much stronger than the Dark Chapter assassin they had encountered before. However, Dis did not specialize in frontal combat, so overall, they were not far apart.

Reassured, Anglie shut off the chip's auxiliary function and comfortably speared a piece of fish with his fork before putting it into his mouth.

"I'm finished eating. Anglie, Angela will take her leave first." A little red-haired girl on his left pushed back her chair and bowed to Anglie from afar.

"Kiya too." A girl in black directly across from him also left her seat.

Anglie nodded. These two girls were only eleven or twelve years old, daughters the Baron had later had with two maidservants. Because their looks, figures, and temperaments were all quite good, the Baron occasionally remembered them, and their respective mothers had risen greatly in status as well. Though they were seated in the lowest positions at the table, compared with people like Maggie, who were not even qualified to dine with them, they were already doing very well.

With the two girls taking the lead, people in the dining hall began leaving one after another once they had finished eating.

In less than ten minutes, only Anglie and a few young masters and young misses who ate slowly remained at the table. Cilier was among them.

The beautiful, doe-like girl took small sips of milky-white fish soup, occasionally glancing at Anglie.

Anglie pushed back his chair. He had eaten enough as well, so he stood and left the table. He was nearly at the entrance to the dining hall when a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind him.

"Anglie." The voice was young, clear, and pleasant.

Anglie turned around and saw Cilier hurrying toward him in a small run.

"Is something the matter, Cilier?"

Cilier tilted her head up slightly, her cheeks flushed. "Recently, I heard that Sister Maggie often goes to your room..."

"That is true." Anglie nodded frankly. Leaving aside the fact that he had not done anything to Maggie, even if he had, it would have been only natural. In many noble castles, such relationships were practically inevitable. They were also a shortcut to deepening one's ties and receiving better treatment from the family.

Cilier's face reddened slightly as she said softly, "In a little while, I want to go to the washroom and wipe myself down, but getting hot water there is very inconvenient. I was wondering if I could..."

A faint smile appeared on Anglie's face. Cilier's meaning was already very obvious.

In the castle, the bathing areas for servants and noble masters were separated. Servants, including lower-status family members, all went to a large bathhouse. At most, several private rooms were partitioned off within the bathhouse for higher-status members to wash up. The other servants could only bathe together.

In other words, the castle bathhouses were divided into two main sections: one for nobles and one for servants. Only within those sections were they divided by gender.

Given Cilier's status, she could use a private room in the noblewomen's bathhouse.

However, people of the highest rank, such as the Baron, Audis, and Anglie, had completely separate bathing rooms. Maidservants and servants maintained a supply of hot water for them at all times. The hot water came from the kitchens after the daily cooking was done, and it could only serve a very small number of people.

Naturally, Cilier was not bringing this up merely because she wanted to bathe. She wanted Anglie to bathe with her.

Anglie looked Cilier up and down.

Her long black hair fell over her shoulders, and her red, form-fitting dress emphasized the curves that had not yet fully developed, making her look small and charming. Her snow-white skin showed through her bare arms. At such close range, the faint sweet fragrance of a young girl drifted into Anglie's nose.

Anglie's heart stirred.

"Sure. I was just thinking of washing the dust off myself too." He chuckled softly.

With a soft cry, Cilier threw herself into his arms.

However, Anglie noticed that among the few young masters and young misses who had not yet left the dining hall, there were faint looks of jealousy and disdain directed at Cilier. But when Anglie looked over, they immediately hid them.

Holding Cilier, Anglie stood a full half head taller than her.

"Let's go together." Anglie bent down and whispered into Cilier's ear.

"O-Okay..." The girl blushed all the way to her neck.

Anglie knew full well that Cilier was obviously asking something of him. Still, since meat had delivered itself to his door, even if he could not eat it, he could at least smell and touch it, could he not? Though a flame rose within him, he still had no intention of taking Cilier completely. His body was still too young. It would do him harm and no good.

The two of them went down from the main tower, crossed the practice field, and headed directly toward the residential area.

Anglie's private bathing room was located separately in the residential area.

He dismissed all the surrounding servants, then told Cecilia to leave first and not disturb them.

Anglie took Cilier's hand and led her directly into the private bathing room beside his bedroom.

The bathing room was much like a restroom from Earth, except there were no toilets or urinals, nor were there any tiled floors. It was simply made of the castle's own stone bricks.

Grayish white was the only main color in the entire room. The walls, floor, and the stone platform at the far end where towels were placed were all made from grayish-white stone.

Anglie had Cilier enter first, then gently locked the door behind him.

"Cilier." He stood quietly by the door, looking at Cilier's figure from behind.

Beneath the red form-fitting dress was a small, delicate body that trembled slightly. It was clear that Cilier was overly nervous.

Anglie walked over and gently placed a hand on the girl's rounded buttocks.

"I'll give you a good wash..." he murmured tenderly.

An hour later.

Anglie walked out of the bathing room feeling refreshed. Cilier followed behind him, her entire body flushed crimson. Her form-fitting dress was full of wrinkles and in complete disarray. Even as she walked, her feet were spread slightly apart.

"I'll have Ward handle the matter you mentioned," Anglie said blandly. "Go back and rest first."

"O-Okay..." Cilier replied in a voice as soft as a mosquito's, her head lowered.

"Someone, Maggie!" Anglie clapped his hands.

From the end of the corridor, the maidservant Maggie hurried over.

"At your service, Young Master."

"Escort Miss Cilier back to her room. Go through the practice field," Anglie said calmly.

"Yes."

Cilier followed Maggie away in a daze.

Anglie's purpose in having Maggie take her through the practice field, where the most people were outside, was to let everyone see that Cilier was now considered his woman. That was the fastest way to establish Cilier's status.

Watching the two leave at a brisk pace, Anglie still savored the soft warmth and fragrance of the girl's body lingering on his hands.

"Since I promised someone, I should fulfill that promise as quickly as possible." He smiled softly, shook his head slightly, and strode downstairs.

He descended from the fourth floor of the residential area and turned into the third floor, where Ward was located.

The third floor was connected to the main tower opposite the residential area by a skybridge.

Anglie arrived at Ward's room and knocked on the door, only to find that no one was there. Just as he was about to leave directly.

A faint murmur of conversation suddenly came from outside the corridor window.

His heart stirred. He lightened his footsteps, walked to the stairwell window, and turned sideways to look outside.

The voices came from below.

"...Is that so?" Ward's voice came through.

"Yes, sir."

Anglie saw that diagonally across from the window, in a corner of the castle, Ward and a soldier could vaguely be seen talking quietly through a gap. It seemed that he had come at an unfortunate time, as their conversation had already ended.

Anglie saw Ward standing to one side with a worried expression. The soldier stood respectfully with his head lowered, saying nothing.

Ward sighed. "If that is the case, go back first."

"Yes, sir," the soldier replied quietly before quickly leaving the corner.

Ward remained standing there. After another long sigh, he finally left the corner and headed toward the residential tower.

Anglie frowned slightly and thought for a moment.

"Given Ward's character, if it were something I could know, he would tell me directly. If he did not say anything, then knowing would be useless and would only cause needless worry."

With that thought, Anglie went downstairs as well and headed toward Ward.

When he reached the stairwell entrance, he ran into Ward, who had just returned.