Dark Moon Second Arc (His Art of War) - 126. Ghost In The Castle (Patreon)

Second Arc (His Art of War) - 126. Ghost In The Castle

Meanwhile, the night sky above the White Moon Castle, Euphorion was getting cloudy, indicating that the rain would fall soon. Cley and Claire just came out of Angel's study room. They'd put documents and reports on his desk after helping Chancellor Allan to get things done.

Cley unbuttoned his blazer nonchalantly and stretched his arms up as he gave a wide yawn.
"I wonder when His Majesty will return to Euphorion?" he said as he kept walking along the corridor. They had received the news about Euphorion's victory over Zephyrus and Draconis. Also, the news that Princess of Zephyrus would come as a 'guest'. Without further explanation, they understood what Angel meant was a political prisoner. Although they were angry after remembering it was Zephyrus royal family's poison that destroyed their hometown and took their only family, Angel had explained what happened, especially how Asteria tricked the Heart Family. Therefore, though there was a bitter taste in their hearts, they could understand that they had already bore the grudge on the wrong side. But of course, this was confidential information.

"I'm sure he will be back after he stabilizes his authority in Zephyrus and Draconis." Claire thought for a moment.
"Maybe in a month or so?" she tried to guess.

"Haaa ... That's too long. How long do I have to look at those awful documents?" whined Cley. Since Angel went to war, they had to take care of so many documents to make Angel's job easier after he came home.

"Stop complaining. At least your battlefield is only in the study room not in the original battlefield. This is all we can do to help His Majesty," Claire reminded him with a pout.

"Uhhh ..." Cley whined once again, his eyes shifting to the large balcony on their side. He smirked as a naughty idea crossed his head.
"Claire, have you heard the last scary rumour?"

"About what?"

"Haaa? You do not know about that? The whole castle guards have talked about it," said Cley with a frown.

Claire exhaled a long breath.
"Tell me," she said in disbelief. Claire always kept her ear on all information and rumours especially if it related to Angel and the castle, that's why she didn't believe Cley's words.

Cley approached Claire as they kept walking.
"The guards said they had seen a scary ghost recently. They believe it is King Xenos' ghost," he whispered in a made-up voice. His face looked serious.

Claire turned to him and looked at him with a flat stare, showing her disbelief clearly.
"I know you're lying," she said straight to the point.

Cley walked quickly before her, blocking her way. His eyes remained on Claire.
"I'm serious!" he tried to convince her. He swept around his gaze once again before returning it to her.
"I heard that the ghost sometimes appear on cloudy nights like this. He wore a bloody Euphorion uniform and covered his face with a hood. They said it was because he was ashamed of his defeat with King Angelus," Cley continued to ramble on.

Claire sighed tiredly once again.
"Stop your nonsense. You read too many horror stories," she said irritably.

"That's not nonsense. This is really serious!" Cley bluffed.
"The guards said the ghost tapped them on the shoulder several times and said ..." He put on a scared face.
"Help me ... To regain my throne ..."

"Pffft!" Claire held back her laughter at Cley's nonsense.
"What ---" Before Claire could finish her words, her eyes widened in shock and her face turned pale as a black shadow suddenly appeared behind Cley. From the dim light, she could see the bloodstain on the uniform white list, as well as the blood on the lower half of the figure's face. While the rest of his face was covered by a hood.

Claire raised her index finger in fear.
"Cley ... Behind you ..." Although Cley and Claire were used to seeing corpses since Angel used to kill some assassins who tried to kill him in the early days of his reign, a ghost was another thing.
Seeing Claire's reaction, Cley thought she was trying to scare him.
"Do you think I ---" His words stopped as a tap landed on his shoulder. In an instant, a chill rushed over Cley's back as he could feel someone standing behind him. He glanced on a hand that was covered in the black glove on his shoulder. Even though the glove was black, he could tell it was soaked in blood from the smell.

As their hearts pounded and fear enveloped their bodies, a voice came from behind them.
"Help me to ---"

"Yo-Your Majesty ... P-Please spare our lives ..." Cley interrupted in fear.

"Cley, stop playing around," the voice answered. This time, they began to realize who was the owner of the voice. They had accompanied him almost every day in his study for several years, so they couldn't be mistaken for it.

Cley turned around. While Claire walked to his side.
"Your Majesty?" They said in confusion. They narrowed their eyes, focusing on the man in the elite Euphorion uniform in front of them.

Angel took off his hood and his mask.
"Yes, it's me. Who else?" He had appeared in front of them using his teleport skill and there shouldn't be anyone who could break through the White Moon Castle with that skill except him.

They let out a sigh of relief since what they feared didn't come true, though they were quite confused about why Angel returned to Euphorion in such a state.

"Now, help me to prepare some medicines. I'll tell you what I need," he said.