The fallen servants and the guards on the floor and the pitiful condition of Violet's office allowed him to make a shallow guess as to what had transpired in the Windsor family mansion but he needed concrete information to develop his own judgment.
Since Clara didn't seem like she was in a state to narrate the events to him clearly. He just held her close to himself in order to keep her from doing something stupid and looked towards the only person who could be of help to him; Luke, the person he had met before in the streets while chasing after Clara.
"Luke…right?" asked Zach so as to build rapport with the only witness available to him. Although, they had met before, they were not very close to each other. Therefore, it was only right to start with the basics.
Luke nodded in response to his question but there was a trace of helplessness in his eyes. It appeared that Clara was not alone in her regrets. There was someone else who was also feeling guilty at not being strong enough to save Violet.
Zach tactfully didn't prod into his wounds and asked him an open ended question instead.
"Can you tell me in detail about what happened here? Anything you might have heard from the assailants might prove to be a lot of help. So preferably leave nothing out even if you deem it not important enough to be included in this conversation." Zach had already deduced that Luke had been present when the attacker invaded the mansion otherwise he wouldn't have been in such a pitiful state. The look in his eyes combined with the injuries on his body could only mean that he had offered some form of resistance to the invaders.
"Clara and Violet came to find me at the training grounds to help them check on the leader of the Windsor family who had been arrested on wrongful accusations at the behest of the Hunter family probably. I went alone to check on their father while they returned home. Just when I came back from the police station to set their minds at ease regarding their father, I sensed something different about the Windsor family estate. The guards at the entrance were nowhere to be seen and there was only silence in the vicinity. I grew alarmed and worried at the same time. I hurried into the mansion and that was when I found the unconscious bodies of several guards and the servants strewn across the living room and on the stairs that led to Violet's office. That was when I suspected that something might have happened."
Zach nodded for Luke to continue since he had no questions so far.
Luke continued to narrate the events from his perspective after receiving some encouragement from Zach.
"Since there was no one around to tell me what happened. I could only stumble my way around the mansion in order to find out the cause of the dreadful situation. But the broken down door nudged me in the right direction. When I got closer, I began to hear the sounds of the battle inside. It was that criminal Jack who recently escaped prison. He was attacking Violet and I intervened in order to stop him from harming her. She was already quite injured by the time I reached. They had probably fought for a long while. Unfortunately, I wasn't strong enough to beat him despite trying my best. His control over wind element was far more exquisite than anyone I have ever encountered. He might be an S rank mage or maybe he has already reached SS level already."
Zach now understood the gist of what had happened. At the same time, he knew why Violet wasn't here.
"Did Jack kidnap Violet then?" asked Zach, wondering if Jack had some kind of grudge against the Windsor family.
"Mmm…Violet probably already knew his intentions. He had no plans of killing her from the beginning. Violet pushed me out of harm's way so he wouldn't deal the killing blow to me. I lost consciousness soon afterwards and when I came to my senses Violet was nowhere to be seen and Jack had vanished as well."
Zach already knew that the allegations against the sugar business that Marico was currently running, was a scheme of the Hunter family.
Moreover, the rise of the Windsor family would have directly affected the Hunter family which gave them motive to play out such an elaborate scheme. Violet's capabilities were visible to all the higher echelon in Byzantium city. If the Hunter family had already decided to take Windsor family out of the race for the top family of the city, then they had to take care of her as well. Otherwise, the temporary disruption of the sugar business wasn't enough to stop the rise of the Windsor family now that they had enough capital available through their recent profits.
Unexpectedly, Zach's thoughts completely aligned with those of Violet. She had left with Jack, knowing that this was all a plot of the Hunter family.
"Zach…p-please bring my sister back home…" Clara lifted her face slightly from his chest which was now wet with tears and pleaded in a pitiful voice.
"Mmm"
Zach didn't say anything in response and only rubbed her back slightly in order to comfort her. There was a rare gentleness in his eyes for this little girl who was usually so headstrong. It was heartbreaking for him to see her in such a pitiful state.
Clara seemed extremely relieved after requesting Zach's help. It was as if she was already sure that her sister would be saved now that Zach had decided to help her.
To Zach, the crux of the matter was the rescue of Violet from the enemies. If only she was here to take control of the Windsor family, Marico's absence wouldn't seem as glaring as before. Moreover they needed to prevent anything worse from happening to her while she was in captivity.
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