Chapter 31: Midnight Silence
The midnight air hung still over the city of Rammstein. A full moon glowed above, unobstructed by clouds, spilling the beautiful moonlight over the palace. Inside, Estefan Angeras slept soundly on his bed, his chest slowly rising and falling beneath fine silken sheets. A deceptive calm blanketed the moment but that peace shattered the moment a figure appeared, silent as breath on the window sill.
The man was clad head to toe in black cloth, his face concealed and his breathing measured. He was no amateur thief or a wanderer but he was an assassin, trained to kill and disappear like a whisper.
Without hesitation, the assassin crouched low and pulled out a short bamboo blowpipe from his belt then he fitted a poisoned needle into the narrow opening. He raised the pipe to his lips, aimed at the Baron’s exposed neck and exhaled sharply.
The projectile embedded itself into the mattress just inches from Estefan’s throat. The assassin flinched as he saw Estefan had rolled over at the last moment.
"Lucky..." The killer muttered under his breath, loading another needle and firing again. But this time, Estefan shifted onto his back while murmuring something unintelligible in sleep.
Another miss followed by another. Beads of sweat began forming under the assassin’s mask. This wasn’t coincidence but rather felt like it was awareness from the sleeping young Baron who seemed to be avoiding danger through instincts but he was told his target was a helpless weak man.
Reaching into his belt for one last dart, he glanced down just for a second but that second cost him everything.
When he looked back up, Estefan stood in front of him, barefoot and shirtless, calmly scratching his head as though he’d just awoken from a mildly inconvenient nap.
"You know." Estefan yawned, "For an assassin... you are terrible at your job. I noticed you the moment you climbed over the wall. That’s how bad your stealth techniques were or if you had any techniques since an amateur like you probably don’t."
Estefan grabbed the assassin by the clothes and threw him into the room but the assassin rotated his body to land safely on the floor before facing Estefan.
Estefan scratched his hair, "You cannot be send by the criminals since they have yet to make some deals and try to buy me... they won’t try to kill me without pulling off that so that leaves my father who would rather torture me with a slow death than a assassination like this so, you were send by my stepmother."