Fifty li northwest of Star Luo City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire.
A palace-like building stood there, its golden glazed tiles gleaming dazzlingly in the sunlight.
With its golden roofs and red doors, the palace's antique elegance inspired a solemn reverence.
Seen from afar, mist swirled around it, its tiled roofs sloping on all four sides, as though the whole structure had been carved from a single brick. Its grounds were so vast that their end seemed beyond sight. Above the main gateway, five zhang high, stood three imposing characters: Duke's Mansion.
It was noon, and brilliant sunlight poured over the Duke's Mansion's crystalline glazed tiles, casting dazzling halos of radiant gold. That lofty extravagance was clearly visible even from the walls of Star Luo City.
The rear gate on the northern side of the Duke's Mansion opened soundlessly.
Yet the figure stepping out of the shadows was not the frail boy destined to leave along the course of fate, but a woman in exceedingly lavish clothing. Her black hair was meticulously pinned up, and her imperious eyes held a bone-deep chill.
Amid the faint creak of the turning hinges, an ink-black blur appeared at her feet like a phantom and dropped to one knee, its voice hoarse and respectful. "Mistress."
The duchess frowned slightly and coldly uttered a few words. "Is it done?"
"Reporting to you, mistress, that woman has no chance of survival. I killed her myself. But the other target-"
"What about the other one?" The woman's gaze instantly sharpened like a blade.
"He's gone."
"Gone?!"
"After disposing of that woman, I immediately lay in wait as you ordered, ready to silence the little bastard when he left the Duke's Mansion. But by the time I arrived, the woodshed was already empty!" The shadow abruptly