Back in Aric's study where he was looking through the Sentinel Sphere, jumping from one Observer Crystal to another. He desperately wanted to know what the Dark Elf was doing in the corner of the ballroom, but the poor repcement of the crystals and battle of wits, between his wife and sister-in-w, was dominating the audio feed from the Observer Crystals. 'Son of a bitch! Why didn't I put in more Observer Crystals in the goddess be DAMNED, ballroom! And what the hell are those cotton things she's handing out—'

  The Duke attention was drawn to a indicator that in the upper right on the Sentinel Sphere. Belial and the two other servants who were, silently, standing by the Duke's desk noticed the indicator. While the Footman and Valet didn't know what it meant, Belial, though, never seen those indicators light up when he was at the helm of the artifact.

  "Your Grace? What's wrong?" Belial asked as Aric didn't want to reveal that he secretly put a Observer Crystal in his wife's bedroom and he tuned the Sentinel Sphere so when the Duke's mana was channeling through the artifact it would activate the motion sensor of that Crystal.

  "Uh, it's nothing, Belial. I just had a extra Crystal pced in my wife's room just in case she ever cheats on me," Aric said as naturally as possible, but Belial caught on that his master was embarrassed. The other two servants didn't pick up on this, as they haven't been in the Duke's service as long as Belial.

  The Butler had a slight frown on his face as he worked out why his lordship was embarrassed and didn't want him or the other two servants knowing that he had been spying on his wife. It wasn't like the Sentinel Sphere could travel far away from the crystal and only had about an mile range from the Observer Crystal. Plus, Leandra was many things, but being unfaithful wasn't one of them.

  'Cheating?... If his lordship was worried about his wife all he had to do is ask me to check in on her. Frankly, her love of using those...toys of hers is the closest things to cheat—'

  Belial's thoughts stopped as it hit him to why Aric was embarrassed. That sly old dog must enjoy watching his wife pying with herself. The Butler let out a small chuckle, which confused the other two servants, but the Duke grimaced a bit before clearing his throat.

  "Ahem!... Well, let's see who might be intruding in my wife's private sanctuary, shall we?" Aric said, a little flustered. "Hopefully, it's just a maid doing the rounds, but with the party and the Dark Elf it's best to remain vigint."

  Belial nodded and said, "Of course, Your Grace. You know that you can count on me. And I'm sure the other servants would help as well."

  Aric straightened his posture before he looked back down at the Sentinel Sphere, where the motion sensor indicator was still active.

  'Whoever is in my wife's bathroom better hope they are a maid, because if not they'll be executed on the spot,' the Duke thought as he channeled his mana into the Sentinel Sphere. The orb's runes glowed as the feed switched to the hidden crystal and the Duke's jaw dropped open at the scene pying out on the sphere.

  It was the House Dule girl and her sister-in-w with the former lying in his wife's bed, legs spread wide while Tayna used one of Leandra's dildos before she ran out of the room, leaving Amelia to her own devices.

  The two servants nearly stumbled over as Amelia's growing breasts popped out of her dress. Aric head tilted as he couldn't believe how aggressive Amelia was with her self pleasure.

  'W-Was the Dule girl this... talented?... Maybe she needs to be spread from her family's fate...' Aric thought as he was etching the scene into his memory.

  Belial looked over at the Duke's growing erection and cleared his throat, "Ahem!? Your Grace?... That other woman, Lady Tayna seems to be rooting around in your room."

  Aric snapped out of his trance and acted like nothing happened, "Hmm, yes... She's in league with the Dark Elf and must be trying to find anything incriminating against me. Too bad for her that I don't keep sensitive documents in my room."

  Belial felt a lump in his throat as he recalled that he put the new coordinates for the new hideout in Eder Hills Domain repced the old coordinates to the three vaults in Divalo Domain. Those old location were no longer safe after Rya's golems ransacked the hidden vaults in the Veridian Encve. The coordinates would be worthless alone but with the teleport ring, which was still inside the secret compartment in the corner of the Duke's bedroom, that could easily take Aric and his men to the new vault.

  The teleportation ring was a relic from the times of the Deities Wars. It was created by a demon lord who awakened to Time Space Magic after the Void sent the astroids filled with ether that changed the ndscape and life on the pnet as mana flowed into the pnet's atmosphere.

  The Demon was the first generation of beings to born with a mana and mage vein. They no longer needed to worship their Deities to bestow their power unto them. They could do it themselves, which allowed the gods and goddesses to fall or evolve to this new power.

  The Demon Lord's name was lost to history, but his name was forever inscribed into the teleport ring's rune matrix.

  He created this ring for his Queen if she ever needed to flee from the armies of the Deities of Virtue when the war came to the Faeo continent. When creating the ring, he knew she didn't have a strong enough Mana Vein to use a ring that has the incantation of Teleportation. He found that it took ten times the amount of Mana to perform a Teleport spell in the first ring he created causing Mana Exhaustion as many lesser demons turned to dust testing his ring.

  The Demon Lord found that if you had an affinity in Time Space Magic then the ring would be able to teleport without killing the user, but he only knew two other demons that had affinity in this element, which was a very rare thing for a demon to awaken too.

  So, he made a second ring with a different incantation written on the inside of the ring. He was able the put charges in the runes of the ring, allowing anyone to use fair less Mana to teleport. But once all the charges were used up, the ring was nothing more than a piece of jewelry. Unless he recharged it himself.

  The Demon Lord kept the original ring, while he gave the second one to his Queen. And over the millennium after his time had past with his wife, the second ring had jumped around from ruler to ruler until all the charges were used up and no Time Space Mages had existed for a long time, thus the ring went back to being a piece of jewelry until one of Belial's spies found it a year after the failed assassination attempt on Quinus when his Lord was punished financially.

  The butler found a mad sage in the Independent Kingdoms in the northern parts of the Continent and hired him to find a way to recharge the ring, which was easy said then done. Belial thought it would be a perfect backup pn for his master just in case things went south.

  After six grueling years the mad sage pulled off the impossible and got two charges back, but at the cost of the sage's life. The Sage's apprentice reyed the news but he tried to demand more gold. The butler made sure he paid this apprentice his gold by smelting him down into the gold bars he demanded.

  At the time Belial didn't know if the sage actually did and he tested it out once as he teleported himself back into the Divalo Manor from the north, thousands of miles away.

  Aric was pleased by his butler's proactiveness. He didn't need the ring to get what he wants, but having a backup pn was always a good idea. Unfortunately, now Tayna Dule was unskillfully rifling through Aric's bedroom.

  Aric couldn't help but notice how quiet Belial had become.

  The Duke turned towards his Butler who was sweating a little.

  "Belial?... What are you keeping from me?" Aric's tone was low and menacing.

  "I am sorry sir, but I thought you already knew. The secret package is still secure in your room... With the new paperwork to the final location," Belial spoke in code as he didn't want the footman and valet to know exactly what he was talking about.

  Aric's eye widened as he thought Belial removed the ring into his study. "You—you... Imbecile!... I thought I told you to move everything into my—"

  Belial gnced over to the other two men in the room, hoping that his Lord would get the message.

  "—study!" Aric caught his words before the other two would understand the implications of the conversation.

  "I understand. But we can arrest her if she manages to find the compartment, my Lord. Although, this looks like this is something she new to—"

  "But she might find it! You can't let her steal the package!" Aric was now furious at the woman who was going through his valet.

  "Sir, I believe we should keep a calm head about this. I doubt that she will discover the spot and if she does, I don't think she will know what the item is or how to use it," Belial said.

  "But what if she does? That's the problem, Belial!" Aric growled as his face turned a shade of purple.

  "If the worst comes, my Lord..." Belial looked over at the two servants who looked a little worried themselves. "We can send Gilbert and Ludwig with six guards to detain Lady Tayna. That should be enough to subdue her."

  Aric calmed down a bit even though his paranoia has never been this high ever. He was the one in the shadows pulling the strings and yet ever since Rya came into the scene, she's been slowly cutting his strings off one by one with precision. He's been able to roll with the punches, but hers are too sharp and powerful to ignore.

  "Yes... You're right... If she does find my package, then we can charge her with trespassing and stealing. House Dule might pay a penalty for the crime, but I don't like the idea of disclosing what she tried to steal to the rest of the Major Lords. It will bring up more questions and put a bigger spotlight on me," Aric was trying to think of the worst possible scenario.

  "Indeed. We can always switch out what was in the hidden compartment. We can fill it with something that is valuable, but far less controversial. Say... A few pieces of rare jewelry?" Belial offered.

  Aric rubbed his chin and thought for a moment while watching Tayna look underneath the Duke's bed.

  "The problem will be her. She will have her say in a trial and will know that we switched the items out," Aric pointed out.

  "Yes. However, she could be beled a liar and a thief. And the other nobles would take our side."

  "That would be easy if most of the Major Houses were on my side... Or maybe?... Yes, that's what I can do," Aric smirked as a new pn popped into his head. He was considering helping out Linus Dupree but if Tayna forces his hand then he would speed up the timeline for assassinating Baron Johnathan Dule and install Linus as the new head of the Dule family.

  "Master?" Belial wondered what the Duke was thinking about.

  "Belial, prepare some guards to follow... Gilbert and?..."

  The Duke gnced over to the Footman and Valet standing there nervously.

  "Ludwig, my Lord," Belial said.

  "Yes, them. If they wish to move up in this world, then they can prove themselves if the opportunity arises," Aric said with a smirk.

  The two servants nodded while keeping a brave face.

  "Yes, your Grace. I shall send them out in a couple of hours. I'm sure the dy won't find the compartment right away," Belial bowed.

  "Good. Make sure you send at least six men with them. I want them ready to leave at a moments notice—"

  All four men were caught off guard as the "video" feed from the Observer Crystal went bck.

  "Is that supposed to happen?" Ludwig asked as he looked at Gilbert who didn't have a clue.

  Aric put his hands on the Sentinel Sphere and channeled his Mana into it in hopes to re-established the connection.

  "Something isn't right. What in the hell is going on?" Aric asked with a frustrated tone.

  "Could the crystal be out of mana or something?" Gilbert suggested.

  Aric turned to him and gave him a scowl.

  "What asinine idea was that!? The crystals don't need mana to work you simpleton," Aric chided.

  "S-Sorry, My Lord," Gilbert stammered.

  "Try connecting to another crystal, my Lord," Belial suggested.

  Aric was about to snap at his butler, but realized it was a good suggestion. He quickly channeled his mana and the sphere lit up, projecting the image from another crystal in the ballroom again.

  Belial sighed in relief, but Aric was just as concerned as ever as it looked like he was struggling to cast a spell.

  "Is something the matter?" Ludwig asked.

  Aric ignored the Valet and looked like he was switching from one Observer Crystal to another in quick succession.

  "What the hell!? Come on! Work damn you!" Aric cursed as the sphere went from one crystal to the next until the projection changed back to the first one they were looking at before.

  "Did something happen, My Lord?" Belial asked.

  Aric gred at him, "I can't connect to the one in my room..."

  Belial saw that but he didn't know if it was that big of a deal. However, the Duke continued, "Or the one in my wife's room... Someone must have found out and destroyed them!"

  "Are you certain, My Lord?" Gilbert asked.

  Aric smmed his hand on the desk, startling the three men, "OF COURSE I'M SURE, YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL!... Someone else must have helped those girls. It's the only logical expnation."

  "Then we must send the guards to apprehend them at once!" Belial shouted.

  "I'll go inform the Captain," Ludwig said.

  "No!..."

  The men stopped and looked at the Duke who was in deep thought.

  "... We will deal with whoever is helping them, but my way. If they hear us coming then they might use the ring before we get the chance to subdue them... Gilbert! Ludwig!..." Aric ordered, causing the two to stand at attention, "... Prepare yourselves and head for the living quarters with my guards, but instead of heading straight to the Duchess's and my rooms, station yourselves in the guest rooms and ambush them. We need there to be no room for escape."

  "Understood, My Lord!" Ludwig excimed as he and Gilbert rushed off.

  Aric then turned to his Butler, "Belial, you are going to stay here and wait for me. I have a bad feeling that I will have to intervene in my wife's party. I'll need you to be my eyes if I do so."

  "Yes, My Lord!"

  With that, Aric went back to watching the party and became nervous when he spotted the Dark Elf approaching his three oldest daughters.

  'What is her angle?... Maybe she is trying to find out that I'm getting funding from my daughters' husbands. Well, they know NOTHING you little bitch!... No, wait!? She could be pnning on interfering with my other two daughters arranged marriages! Damnit! Clever little girl... I'm on to you...'

  Aric thought as he stared at Rya with level of loathing and contempt like no other. He wanted to go down there and confront her right then and there, but it was a Ladies only party and he had to put his trust in Leandra to push back Rianna and humiliate the Dark Elf.