Night draped the noble district in silence, the cold air thick with tension. The moon hung high, its pale glow barely piercing through the mist curling around the grand estate of Lord Avelric. Guards patrolled the grounds, their footsteps steady, their gazes sharp—but not sharp enough.
A shadow slipped through the gaps in their watch. Kale moved like a ghost, silent and unseen, each step calculated. The estate was well-guarded, but not against someone like him. He had studied their patterns, memorized their weaknesses. This wasn't an attack of brute force—it was precision, efficiency, inevitability.
Reaching the upper floors, Kale found Avelric's study, its doors sealed tight. No lights flickered from within. The lord had retired early, likely weary from yet another day of political infighting. Kale didn't hesitate. He picked the lock in seconds, slipping inside without a sound.
Lord Avelric lay asleep, his breathing slow and steady. For a moment, Kale simply watched. Avelric was an obstacle, but his death was a message. A necessary push to accelerate the kingdom's descent into war.
A flick of his wrist, and a thin dagger glinted in the moonlight. No wasted movement—the blade sank deep into Avelric's throat. A sharp exhale, a faint gurgle. The noble's eyes shot open, his hands grasping at the wound as crimson spilled onto silk sheets.
It was over in seconds.
Kale wiped the blade clean, already moving to the next phase. He needed to ensure this assassination pointed in the right direction. A dagger of foreign design was placed beside the corpse—a weapon unmistakably belonging to the enemy kingdom's elite forces.
But the real work was in the details. The broken window latch, the deliberately scattered documents, the small burn mark on the rug—all staged, each one a carefully planted clue leading the investigation toward a single conclusion: the enemy had sent an assassin.
By dawn, the kingdom would be in uproar.
Kale stepped back, ensuring nothing was out of place. Then, like a shadow dissolving into the night, he vanished, leaving only chaos in his wake.