Judge had escaped many things in his life — responsibilities, noble gatherings, the consequences of his own elaborate schemes — but never had he attempted an escape quite .
The Drakonis Palace in Wistmere was no mere residence; it was a fortress disguised as a monument of wealth. Its corridors twisted like the mind of a paranoid emperor, its security was tighter than a miser's coin purse, and its staff had eyes sharper than an owl with a telescope. And yet, none of these things compared to the real danger: their mother.
Eleyn had an uncanny ability to detect nonsense from miles away, and if she so much as suspected her dear sons were up to something, their so-called 'adventure' would be reduced to 'another lesson in parental dominance.' Judge had no intention of sitting through that again.
To make matters worse, Eleyn had arranged for a few servants to keep an eye on them (how few is not specified), stationed discreetly throughout the palace to prevent any foolish attempts at escape. Fortunately, Judge and Liam were nothing if not persistent.
Stein and Raphael were the last obstacles in their way.
"Leaving already?" Stein asked, leaning lazily against the balcony railing. He looked every bit like a man who had seen too much and cared too little.
"Indeed." Judge adjusted his top hat. "We must chase after our mother. The world isn't ready for her unsupervised."
"Should I be concerned?"
"No more than usual."
Stein pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's what concerns me."
Raphael crossed her arms, studying them with an expression of mild exasperation and mild… something else. "And here I was, thinking you'd at least pretend to be sad about leaving."
"Oh, I am sad," Judge said solemnly. "Deeply, profoundly sad."
Raphael narrowed her eyes. "Really?"
She deadpanned, then stepped forward and did something that caught Judge entirely off guard. She took his hand — just for a moment, just long enough to squeeze it before letting go.
"Stay safe," she said, in a tone that was so casual that it felt not casual at all.
Judge, for once, was at a temporary loss for words. But Liam, never the tactician, patted his younger brother's back and grinned at Raphael. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
Judge recovered immediately. "You say that as if you're not the reckless one."
Stein smirked. "Considering the two of you are running away from the palace, I'd say recklessness is a family trait."
Liam turned to Stein. "Make sure to inform Amber of our escape tomorrow. I doubt she will take our absence well, but she still deserves to know."
Stein nodded. "Understood. Raphael and I will be returning to the capital with her for school, so I'll pass the message."
With their goodbyes said and minor social landmines avoided, the escape was successful.
Judge had told his brother that he had a spirit that can tail their mother without her knowing and gather the location. Thankfully, Liam did not know the first thing about spirits, or how sensitive their mother was to spirits.
"Satan." He called out mentally,
Currently, the name alone was enough to send chills down the spines of most men who knew him, Satan was known as the crazy masked man who killed anyone who offended him. Fortunately, Judge was not a normal man — he was, however, a very busy man who required answers.
Satan, Judge's loyal underling, answered without delay — or, more accurately, from a very comfortable-looking chair where he had been enjoying a fine cup of tea.
"Lord Observer," he greeted, inclining his head with the kind of reverence usually reserved for divine beings and exceptionally good chefs.
"I require information," Judge as the Lord Observer stated, mentally lowering himself onto the seat opposite. His voice carried the weight of command, a decree spoken not as a request, but as inevitability. "Our lord's mother, Eleyn Drakonis. Where is she?"
Satan snapped his fingers, and a bunch of records entered Judge's mind like the rude kindergarten children. "I have compiled two days' worth of recordings, my lord. Every moment of her journey, from the moment she left Wistmere to her latest stop."
Judge sighed. "That's a lot of records." These words, however, did not reach Satan.
He activated his Enhanced Cognition, eyes gleaming as he scanned through the data in a mere point two seconds.
Liam leaned closer. "Well? Did your Spirit give you any answers?"
Judge sighed, rubbing his temples. "She's exactly as unpredictable as expected. She dropped some trails following the main route and took another route, used limited catalysts and — " he paused, face darkening slightly, " — gave the local baker financial advice?"
Liam blinked. "...Why?"
"She believed his pricing strategy was 'an affront to the very concept of profit margins.'"
Solarae, who emerged from behind him coughed. "To be fair, my lord, she was not incorrect."
Judge waved a hand casually, even though he had many questions. But this was not the time to ask. "Regardless, I now know their most likely destination." He snapped the recording device shut. "Time is of the essence. Prepare our transport."
Liam grinned. "Oh, I've already got that covered."
Judge frowned. "Define 'covered.'"
A loud crash echoed from the courtyard below.
Judge sighed. "Liam, what did you do?"
Liam shrugged. "Let's just say we might have borrowed a cloudweaver."
Solarae cleared his throat. "Might I add, master, that the term 'borrowed' implies an intention to return it?"
Judge adjusted his top hat. "That is a future problem."
He knew one thing, if Liam had "Borrowed" the cloud weaver, then both their grandfather and father already knew about this, and their loyal guards, who their grandfather gave a day off today, would already be on board.
"I should've known it!" He cursed in his mind, "Unless this was a dream, there was no way the situation would be so perfect for an escape, grandpa and Dad already knew this didn't they."
The cloudweaver was small, but the design was meant to provide mobility. Both jumped to grab the rope hanging down and made their exits.
As expected, four guards awaited their entry on board. Cloudweavers were known to be hard to navigate and drive, but these guards were trained in this stuff too.
As the Drakonis Palace faded into the distance, Judge sat back, arms crossed, mind already calculating their next moves.
Liam, meanwhile, was enthusiastically manning the controls. "We're officially out of Wistmere's airspace! No turning back now!"
Judge hummed. "Good. Now let's see if we can catch up to Mother before she decides to single-handedly restructure the economy of another unfortunate town."