Chapter 188: Secret

Jane, Aric, and the butler all followed the trail of the bald men. They strudel through the walls as if they knew where they were going beforehand.

This gave the butler a good idea that they had a man inside all along. The internal building of this castle was highly restricted, so that meant that they had information, not in the public.

Darren and Miser were both led in the back as if they were being tortured. They could not move at all any of their limbs, just their legs.

They did not know what they were going to doing. What could they do that the bald men could not?

Then, they finally reached a certain door that led to a painting room. The group of bald men led Darren and Miser inside.

Once they were there, they could see a myriad of paintings and artworks that seemed to be of high value. It was something that only a king could afford.

Miser was kicked towards one of the biggest paintings inside the room. It was the only painting on this wall, making it much more special.

When Miser looked at this painting, he felt that it was familiar.

He could see that was it was a sky full of stars as a backdrop while the foreground was full of swaying grasses.

When Miser saw this, it gave him peace and serenity. However, he did not know why the bald men wanted him to see this.

"Now tell us the secret," the man without weapons said.

Miser frowned. What secret? He did not know what he was talking about. There was a secret to this painting? Why would he know it?

"I do not know what you are talking about," Miser said with growing eyebrows.

The man without weapons, the captain, obviously did not believe Miser's words. If there was anyone that would know the secret, it would be Miser.

"The sooner you tell us, the sooner you will be reunited with your daughter," the captain said as he walked around the room looking at the paintings.

Miser frowned. He wanted to save Mia, and he would do anything to do it, but he truly had no idea what the captain was talking about.

"I don't know!" Miser argued. "Why would I even know that?"

Then, the captain smiled and looked at Miser face to face. It seemed that the captain knew something about Miser that even Miser did not know.

"You must have not listened to your wife then," the captain said.

Wife? What had that got to do with the painting? Miser still could not understand.

"Come on!" the captain shouted. "Only the former queen could know the secret. She must have told you!"

Miser flinched away from the captain, but he still could not understand the situation. As far as he knew, he did not hear anything about a secret.

She did not tell him anything. If she did, he would remember it.

Up in the ceiling watching everything, Jane and Aric both looked at the butler for some answers.

"Do you know what he is talking about?" Jane asked the butler.

The butler had a serious face as he looked at the painting. It seemed that he knew something about the secret. l since he knew everything about the castle.

"Yes," the butler said with a heavy heart. "The paintings held a secret which could lead to the royal family's heritage treasure."

A treasure? Now it made sense why the Shark Loan company would try and get the secret.

"Why would they ask Miser? Surely he would now know anything," Aric said.

The butler shook his head. "Before she died, the former queen told a few of us that she told the secret to her family."

The butler bit his lips. This information should not have been leaked to the outside, but it seemed that it had gotten in the hands of these unscrupulous people.

This could only mean that somebody had betrayed the royal family for treasure. It was despicable in the eyes of the butler.

"Unforgivable," the butler said as he looked at the bald group below them.

"Can you take care of them?" the butler asked both Jane and Aric.

Aric and Jane were both confident in their powers, so they quickly nodded their heads. They wanted to save Darren and Miser from the clutches of the Shark Loan company.

"Good," the butler said. "It's showtime."

Then, the butler pulled a lever in the wall and suddenly activated internal mechanisms inside the walls of the castle.

The painting room suddenly had an earthquake that made the bald men alert of the current situation.

"An earthquake?"

"Should we do something?"

The bald men were in disarray. However, they still kept their cool as their captain was still in control of the whole situation.

"Tsk," the captain said as he looked up at the ceiling.

Even though he could not see anything, he knew that the only people that could do that were the loyal dogs of the royal family.

"Don't worry. The only thing that he could do is trap us inside," the captain said.

Just as the captain said that metal walls started to come down and the walls and reinforce it. With this, the doors, the windows, and everything else was locked inside.

There were no escapes left for the bald men. Miser and Darren were both glad to see that someone was trying to rescue them.

"Ready?" the butler asked. Then, Aric and Jane both nodded their heads.

When the butler pulled another lever, the floor tiles underneath Aric and Jane's feet fell below, leaving them falling.

*DUN*

When Jane and Aric stepped foot in the painting room, the bald men were surprised. Did someone come from the ceiling?

"Attack!"

"Kill them!"

The bald men raised their weapons in the air and charged towards Jane and Aric.

"Get Darren and Miser," Jane shouted towards Aric. "I'm deal with them!"

Aric nodded and rushed towards Darren to free him from his shackles. He activated his black fire and froze the shackles until they became brittle.

*CRASH*

With one punch, Aric destroyed the shackles. Once Darren felt he was free, he could finally show his usefulness.

Just as a bald man was about to slice through Aric's head, Darren shoved him out of the way and punched his gut.

With one successive move, Darren stole the bald man's sword and used it against him. With one slice, it was like he was back at the battlefield.

Blood rained down on them as Darren made a mess out of the bald men's bodies.

Jane also used her air pressure to throw the bald men to the metal walls near their side. Aric, on the other hand, froze their bodies until death.

"Stop," the captain uttered.

When they looked towards the captain, they saw that he had Miser's neck on his hands. With one squeeze, he could kill Miser.

Darren was forced to stop his massacre as he saw Miser's life in danger. He quickly tried to run towards Miser, but the captain raised his hand.

"If you take one more step, I will kill this guy," the captain said as he gripped Miser's neck even harder.

Darren was forced to skid in the ground until he came to a stop. He wanted to kill the captain, but Miser's life was ok the line.

"Show me your hands," the captain said.

With the threat of Miser's death, Aric and Jane had no choice but to do as he said.

Jane and Aric both raised their hands deactivated their powers.

Darren was forced to throw his weapon to the ground. With this, the remaining bald men can finally get a grip on the fight.

With one kick to the thigh, Darren fell to the ground. He could not do anything as long as Miser was still with the captain.

Jane and Aric were also kicked to the ground unit they had to kneel. The bald men took this chance to act out their revenge.

Many of their comrades had been killed by them, and the bald men wanted them to die. However, the captain still did not give them the signal.

"Do you want me to kill them too?" the captain said as he addressed Miser and pointed at his comrades.

Miser frowned. Not only was Mia's life in danger, but also with his comrades. If they die too, he would not have a chance in saving Mia.

"Going once…twice…," the captain said as he counted down until Miser gets pressured.

"Okay, okay!" Miser shouted.

Once he got the hat he wanted, the captain smiled. Then, he put Miser's head closer to the painting and asked him.

"So? Tell me," he said.

Miser said that he would tell him the secret, but he had no idea still. So, he had to figure it out on the spot so that he could save them.

When he looked at the painting, it gave him a sense of familiarity. When he thought about the stars, all he could think about was his dead wife.

Then, he realized it. She was the key!