Chapter 8

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked. "Both our gates were closed, nobody comes in or out," Tiara explained. "It's useless to negotiate with Duke Kevin because we're both not on good terms and I was banned from coming to his faction even if it is for an official matter." She continued explaining. Emily's heart started to brake. "But don't worry Emily; these two gentlemen will help you." Tiara got her hopes back. "How about your son?" Emily asked trying to understand the situation. "Yes, Mrs. Morrison, we came up with a plan to rescue your family." Alan was trying to convince her and she gave a surprised reaction.

"Before that, may I borrow your map?" He asked for permission. "Of course, please do." She replied. Alan took the map and opened it on the table that they were currently using for their tea. Since this map of hers was too large, they had to move their tea and food to another table. This map had shown not only the full-scaled locations of factions but the entire world. The details found on this map were not only complete but also easy to understand. "How did you get this map?" Tiara asked impressively while looking at how magnificent this map was. "It was from my late husband; he found this map when he did some business trips but I can't remember where exactly he found it." She was trying to remember.

"What is so special about this map?" Alan wanted to know. "There aren't any men who have this knowledge about world exploration." She said. "Currently we only have a discovery map of this kingdom only; maybe this is the legendary map called the Thousand Map." She guessed. "No, this is not, I heard an old folktale once that said the Thousand Map which consisted of the map of the world was discovered in the abyss," Emily told Alan. "It's so sad that this map was shredded into pieces, it can't be read unless you combined all the shredded pieces into one." She continued. "That's why it is called the Thousand map because it's shredded into a thousand pieces," Tiara concluded. "Indeed." Emily agreed.

"Erm sorry to interrupt, may I continue our mission?" Alan cut into the conversation. "Please continue." Emily insisted. Alan was too excited to do this mission but he doesn't know where to start because this is the first for him. "May I?" Leo interrupted him. Then Alan moved aside to make space for Leo. After that, he started to draw a map of how their plans would work. "Mrs. Morrison, can you show us their whereabouts?" Leo asked Emily. "From what I know, she lives around here." She predicted. "I see." That's all he could provide answers for. After that, he started looking at the maps longer than usual.

"Is there any problem, Leo?" Alan tried to lend help. "This not what I expected because this place is too hard for us to go in and out." Leo couldn't figure it out. He showed Alan of all the ways problems could occur from the map. "Now I understand, there are too many soldiers at that place," Alan said. Both of them trying to find a solution but it seems that there were no answers that would come up. Emily just sat down and prayed that they can save her family. "Why don't we ask who helped our Mrs. Morrison to send the letter?" Suddenly Tiara spoked. The three of them showed the brightest of faces after receiving a good suggestion.

"I will call her immediately." Emily grabbed her bell to call her butler and then he comes in. "Please call Lina now." Her butler rushed to get Lina. After a few moments, Lina came in and was introduced by Emily. "This is Lina; she's helped me so much especially to send my letter to my family." Emily praised her very proudly. "Lina, can you show us how you sent the letter?" Tiara assisted Lina to the map. "I only sent it up to here and then I hired someone." She pointed at the end of the border. While Lina pointed at the map, Tiara unexpectedly saw something sparkle inside Lina's clothes.

"Did you have fun?" An irrelevant question suddenly came up from Tiara. They were shocked whilst looking at Tiara act strangely. Lina who was confused and speechless did not know how to approach Tiara's questions. "What are you talking about, Tiara?" Emily is quite confused too. "So, you are a thief." Tiara voiced her suspicion of Lina. At this moment, this scene became much tenser. "I didn't understand what you were saying?" Lina was frightened. "You try to be innocent." Tiara angrily grabbed her clothes while tearing up a little. After that, they saw something sparkle on Lina's chest. After looking closer, it was a beautiful necklace. A necklace made with gold and sky emerald, which can only be afforded by the highest of nobles.

"What is the meaning of this, Lina?" Emily stood closer to both Tiara and Lina. "It was a gift from a man I loved." Lina tried to cover up the truth but she started to stutter. "Don't be a liar." Tiara tried to add some hesitation to the whole situation. "If I am not mistaken, this is the necklace I once wanted to gift a princess but sadly this type of necklace is limited with only a single one existing in our town." Tiara started to act frustrated. Emily started to believe Lina but for Lina, her fright became stronger. "The shop manager said some unknown lady who came to the shop alone without any assistant brought a large sum of money to buy this necklace" She explained. "That's very suspicious." Tiara continued.

"Is that true?" Emily attempted to make Lina talk. Finally, Lina confessed to her wrongdoings. She admitted to have hid that money before she sent the letter. "How dare you do this to me after all I did for you?" Emily was very disappointed after listening to her confessions. "From now on, I don't want to ever see your face again." She spewed her hatred towards Lina. "Please madam, have some mercy on me, I will do anything for you to forgive me." She begged. "There is no mercy on you if you don't have any mercy towards people, now begone." Emily drove her out.

After that, her butler helped her to cast Lina away from her house. On that day, Lina lost her job and the absence of a recommendation letter made it difficult for her to land any other job. "Thank you for helping me, without you I would not have known how much crime she would have committed behind me." Emily started to cry. "Don't worry; I try my best to help you out." Tiara gave a hug to calm Emily down. After that, Tiara walked her towards the map to continue the plans. "Shall we continue?" Tiara asked her while Alan and Leo also waited for her answer. Then, while still sobbing, Emily gave a nod as a sign of approval to them to continue their plans.

Leo started to explain their plans. "We shall ride from here until the end of the borders." He said. "So, how do we get into Kevin's border?" Alan asked. "After I reviewed the place where your maid paid someone to send your letter, there is one possible place that we can use to get into Kevin's faction." He finally found the solution. "There." He showed that place by using his finger. Tiara gave an astonished look. "No, I'm not going to let both of you go there." She forbade them from going to that place. "Why mother?" Alan wanted to know the answer.

"That's the outlaw city that is held by Lady Goodnight, if you carry out one wrong step you are doomed." She answered. "I can't let you go there because there is too much violence and criminals." She continued giving them a warning. "But this is the only place that we can reach them in a short time; another route will maybe take a week." Leo showed the route that's full of winding roads. "I agree with Leo's mother, we don't know how much longer they can survive there." Alan supported Leo. What he said was true, Emily's family was in danger, they almost ran out of their money and there are no guards to keep them safe. Their time for survival was limited.

"Please, I am begging for all of you to save my family, I will give you anything, everything even if it means to give up on my title." She started to kneel in front of them and begged desperately. Both Alan and Leo helped Emily to her get up but for Tiara, she was speechless but understood that no words could have possibly stopped Emily's plead.

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At Duke Ruddy's place, he was handling his documents. Even late at night, he carried out his job without rest. Suddenly, his butler knocked on the door. "I've got a letter for you." His butler came in to submit the letter. "At this hour at night?" He felt strange about this letter. "When I checked the lock, I looked outside and found this letter in front of the door." His butler replied. He looked at the letter; there was nothing suspicious about it. He started to grin, curious after he saw the family crest on the letter. He opened up the letter slowly and read them very carefully. After he was done reading the letter, he kept the letter back inside the envelope and looked back at the family crest behind the envelope. "You want to play a game, huh." He suddenly gave an evil smile.