Before going to find his sister, Rafe naturally went to look for Benedict first.
He frowned. ‘What’s going on? Where the hell is Benedict locked up? Why can’t I find him anywhere?
‘Could that bastard Matthew have taken Benedict to Woteria?‘
‘No, it can’t be right, Rafe argued with himself.
Matthew went to Woteria to find Anthony, so he would not bring Benedict along. That would only complicate things.
Given Gabriel’s vigilance, there was no way he’d let Benedict be taken out.
After all, Gabriel likely saw Benedict as being in cahoots with his sister.
He was probably worried Eliza might try to rescue Benedict if he got out. That could only mean Benedict was still in Gabriel’s hands.
Even if Gabriel couldn’t kill his rebellious son, at the very least, he might use him as leverage against Eliza.
After some thought, Rafe finally set his sights on the Duke’s estate.
“If he’s not on the main floor, then he has to be in the dungeons beneath.” Rafe narrowed it down.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the silent shadow following a few paces back.
He smirked and scoffed softly, then turned a corner and disappeared from view.
Seeing Rafe disappear around the corner, the shadow guard was just about to give chase.
But after just two steps, Rafe, who had vanished, suddenly reappeared.
The guard quickly retreated to his original position, placing a hand over his chest in relief. ‘Damn it, that was close. I almost got caught,’
The shadow guard thought, ‘What the hell is this guy looking for? He’s been creeping around the Duke’s estate for hours. Is he seriously not done yet?”
Of course, Rafe’s double didn’t stray elsewhere. Instead, he calmly returned to Shiverhall Courtyard.
After using the corpse puppet to lure away those following him, Rafe stealthily made his way to a spot not far from Gabriel’s study.
He had scouted this area before. Shadow guards lurked in the darkness, clearly guarding something important, or someone.
Rafe was not sure if Benedict was there, but there was only one way to find out.
With practiced ease, Rafe slipped past the shadow guards and infiltrated Gabriel’s study right under their noses.
After entering, Rafe’s gaze scanned the room and settled on an unassuming vase. He walked over, examined it briefly, and instantly knew, this was the
one.
He reached out and took hold of the vase with both hands, giving it a firm twist.
A mechanical sound came from the base of the yase. Almost immediately, a dull thud echoed behind him.
Turning his head, Rafe watched as the white wall behind the folding screen slowly parted, revealing a hidden doorway.
“So this is where it’s been.” Rafe smirked, raising an amused eyebrow.
Without hesitation, he stepped through the hidden door. Beyond it, a dimly lit staircase descended into the darkness below.
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Chapter 725
Rafe walked down with unhurried steps, his light footfalls echoing sharply in the confined space.
At the same time, the faint dripping of water echoed in his ears.
It was coming from somewhere below. There must be water down here.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
When Rafe finally reached the bottom
saw what lay beyond the secret passage, he instantly understood the source of the water sounds.
Beneath Gabriel’s study stretched an enormous underground water dungeon.
As Rafe surveyed the scene, the water dungeon stretched out before him, far more expansive than he had expected.
Dozens of iron cages hung suspended above the dark water, each easily large enough to hold thirty or forty prisoners.
Among all these iron cages, only one was occupied; the one suspended in the very center of the water dungeon.
Rafe squinted through the darkness, but could barely make out the figure inside.
The water dungeon was plunged in utter darkness, not a single candle flickered to pierce the gloom.
Since he couldn’t see clearly, Rafe simply called out, “Benedict, is that you?”
Inside the iron cage, Benedict had been imprisoned in this water dungeon for days, drifting in and out of consciousness.
His eyelids felt like lead weights, he simply couldn’t open them.
His mind wandered through a fog of delirium, no longer certain where he was.
The chains suspending the iron cage were retractable at will.
However, without Gabriel’s explicit orders, the shadow guards who brought him food and water never dared to hoist the cage up.
At most, during feedings, they would drag the cage closer, pry his mouth open, and force liquid gruel directly down his throat.
Indeed, every morsel Benedict had consumed these past days had been forcibly administered by his jailers.
Gabriel had given only one order: as long as Benedict didn’t die, nothing else mattered.
At first, they left him to starve for days. Only when he was on the verge of death did they finally bring him some food.
However, Benedict refused to comply.
“I’d rather die than endure this humiliation,” he thought bitterly, “and I won’t become Father’s pawn against Eliza!”
So, he stubbornly refused to eat.
It turned out that when the shadow guards reported this to Gabriel, he simply ordered Benedict’s diet to be switched to liquid gruel–force–feeding him once a day, just enough to keep him alive but too weak to even think about escaping.
Benedict had been enduring this hell for days now. Every single day was a torment far worse than death.
But even ending his own self was impossible for him.
His arms and legs had all been broken, each limb bound in iron manacles and left hanging in the iron cage. His mouth was gagged, denying him the mercy of biting through his own tongue.
Benedict had endured all this humiliation, surviving in the pitch–black water dungeon until now, but he could feel death closing in.
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Benedict’s forehead burned with fever, his eyes vacant as he stared at the water level with his shoulders. In his delirium, images shimmered across the
surface.
There sat little Eliza, no bigger than a doll, before she left home, holding their mother’s hand. They simply sat there together.
His mother waved at him, beckoning him to come closer. Little Eliza looked up at him with a sweet, forgiving smile, as if she had already forgiven him.
But this couldn’t be. Eliza, his little sister… there was no way she would ever forgive them.
Benedict choked out weakly. “Eliza… Eliza… I was wrong… so terribly wrong.”
Just as Benedict was about to close his eyes, a puzzled voice suddenly sounded above him.
“Hey, Benedict! I’ve been calling you for ages. If you’re awake, why aren’t you answering me?” Rafe called out.
