"Alice isn't going with him," Ryder told Shu before he shook his head. "Though I am suspicious about him."

"Don't worry. I will make sure that our men keep an eye on him," Shu acknowledged as he understood what Ryder was trying to say. 

Even though the chances were almost negligible, there was still some hope that the man might try to kidnap her. There was a sense of unwillingness and a craze in his eyes.

"Yeah. If he has the skill to break inside or not doesn't matter. It's better to stay alert," Ryder agreed. 

Shu called his security incharge, who was at the entrance of the estate. 

"Is that man still there? Or did he leave?" He asked the security head. 

"He's standing at some distance, talking to someone over the phone," the security head answered. 

"Can you hear what he's saying?" Shu inquired. 

"We can't hear what he's saying. But from his expressions, it seems like he's talking about failing," the security head replied. 

"Alright. Keep an eye on him. And stay alert. Inform me if he doesn't leave after he finishes talking. The security should be high tonight," Shu commanded the man before he disconnected the call. 

Shu gazed at Ryder after he finished the call. He placed his hand on Ryder's shoulder as he alluded, "You can rest assured. Nothing would happen here."

He shifted his gaze at Alice. "Sleep comfortably."

*****

Alice was inside her room, immersed in the world of Divinity. 

Ryder was also supposed to be inside Divinity, but he wasn't. He was on the roof instead. He had a feeling that he needed to stay alert. Even though there was a high possibility that it was his misconception, he still didn't want to take the risk. 

He walked back and forth on the roof of the estate while keeping an eye on the road. 

Minutes turned to hours as time started passing away. Ryder stood on the roof all night without feeling the least bit tired. 

The night passed away; however, not a single person barged inside the mansion. As the first ray of light fell on his face, Ryder went downstairs. He checked Alice's room one last time to make sure that she was fine. 

After making sure that she was fine, he went back to his room and dropped to his bed. 

"It's good. I was wrong," he muttered slowly as he closed his eyes. Now that it was morning, the risk was over. If someone were going to barge inside, they would have don't so in might when most of the little was sleeping. Now that everyone in the mansion was up, he could sleep. 

As he was already tired after staying up for close to twenty-four hours, he instantly fell asleep as he lost himself in the world of dreams. 

After another hour, Alice woke up. She went to wake Ryder up to have dinner with her but seeing him sound asleep, she gave up and let him sleep. 

******

"One of our men was killed, and you still haven't found out who managed to do it?" 

"Any random man wasn't killed! The Fourth King was killed! And we don't know who the culprit is? It's been so many days!"

Inside a Palace on an unknown island, some people were discussing. A look of discomfort was on their faces. 

"Second King Riaf, you were put in charge to find that person. What have you been doing for so long? Why don't we have that person before us?" 

A dark-haired middle-aged man asked a Red-haired man who was sitting near the throne. 

A young-looking silver-haired man was sitting on the throne, lazily hearing the discussion of people. 

"Is there even a doubt? Of course, it's that masked Bastard! The Fourth King had gone there to find his identity, and he was killed. Who else but that that masked Bastard was going to have the ability to achieve that!"

"Second King, Now he's even killing our Kings! We can't delay it any longer. How long do you expect us to wait? His Majesty has given you the responsibility to find him! What have you been doing?"

One after another, everyone kept asking for an explanation from the red-haired man. 

The red-haired man kept his mouth closed as he lazily kept sitting as if he didn't care enough to explain to these people. 

"Riaf, answer,"

It was evident that the man wasn't going to answer, but that changed as the man on the throne asked him a question. 

The red-haired man stood alert as he nodded. 

He looked towards the throne before he started explaining, "Your Majesty, I have already taken the right steps. We would have the identity of that man soon enough."

"What steps did you take?" Aluren inquired casually. 

"Your Majesty, when Gong died, there were three more people in the room. One of those three was the Director, who also died with him. The second person is the one who is blamed to have killed them. And the third person is Ray, who Gong had gone to interrogate." Riaf started explaining. 

"Now the story is that the Vice-Director killed Gong. But we know that he also worked for us. So this doesn't make sense. The only person who can reveal this is Ray, as everyone else has already been found dead. So the steps I took are for precisely that," he continued. 

"I have found Ray's sister and have her kidnapped. Our man finished the task only today. Soon I'll have then contact Ray and have him answer if he wants his sister alive. We will have our answers soon if he wants to see his sister alive," he further added. 

"And what if he didn't answer?" The Ninth King asked. 

" He will. He sure will," The red-haired man answered. 

"You can't be so certain," the Third King chimed in. 

He further added, "What if Ray is the masked man himself? What if he lies to us and name a random person? Or if he keeps pretending to be ignorant?"

"That's right. If he is the culprit himself, he might not tell the truth. He'll keep acting ignorant to keep himself safe," Another King said. 

"If he lets his sister die and still acts ignorant, then it's fine. Next would be his number to die then," the red-haired man answered. 

"Just have some patience. I know what I'm doing," he added.

"You have five days," Aluren commanded as he nodded. 

Knock! Knock!

A sudden knock on the door attracted everyone's attention. The door was opened a little as a person took one step inside. 

"Master Riaf, we brought the girl here." The man informed Riaf. 

"Good. I'm coming there. Wait," Riaf nodded as he stood up. 

"Your Majesty, I'll be right back," he told Aluren. After getting Aluren's permission to, he left. 

*****

Ring!

Ray was sitting in his car, thinking something, when his phone rang. 

He checked his phone only to find out that it was an unknown number. 

He picked up the call and placed the phone near his ears. 

"Hello?"

As soon as he spoke, his face turned pale. 

From the other end of the call, he heard the screams of someone he cared about. 

It was as if his face had lost all its blood.

The windows of his car were closed, so his voice didn't come out of the car, but if someone were to look in the direction of the car, they could see a man screaming inside the car with a phone in his ear. 

"Don't! Don't do anything to her! I'll do as you say!" Ray thundered. 

" Good. Tell us the name of the man who helped you in DC. The person who was behind a mask while killing all the terrorists. And the person who killed your director and the old man who was with him. Give us the name of that person."

Ray went silent as he heard the conditions. He had to give up Ryder. How was it that a situation like this happened twice in such little time? It was once again the same. His sister's life was at risk if he didn't answer?

'They won't know if I lie. As long as I'm convincing,' he thought as he decided to lie. It was risky, but he had faith in his abilities. 

He lied about not knowing the person who had killed the terrorists in DC. As for the death of the Director, he placed the blame on the Vice-Director. His acting was good, according to him, but it was as if the others refused to believe him. 

"I'll count to three. If you don't tell me, the girl will die. The question is simple. Answer us. Either that man will live or your sister. The decision is yours." A grim voice from the other end of the call said. 

Ray's heart skipped another beat as he heard their threat. He was going to stay calm and think of a way, but he lost his composure as he heard the sound of a gunshot, which was followed by a scream of their sister. 

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