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The main story quest ‘Taking French Leave‘ in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has one big stumbling point right at the start — before you can sneak into Maleshov Castle, you’ll need to find a secret passage. The passage itself is hidden somewhere in the forest near the castle, and the instructions you’ll get aren’t as clear as they could be. If you’re lost and confused, here’s how to find the secret passage to Maleshov Castle.
And that’s not all. You’ll also find more on this quest — we’ll explain where to find Hans Capon in the castle, and where to find the hidden book Rosa Ruthard requests before entering the castle. If you can’t find the book, we’ll explain exactly where to find it.
The Secret Passage To Maleshov Castle
Progressing the main story, Henry will finally get his chance to sneak into Maleshov Castle and rescue Hans Capon from captivity. The path to the castle isn’t so easy — before you can save Hans, you’ll need to find the secret passage.
After saving the Ruthard Family, you’ll begin the quest ‘Taking French Leave‘ and learn more from Rosa Ruthard. Rosa will give you directions to the secret passage and send you to Hashtal’s Farm to acquire horses. This will happy automatically, so the real challenge is finding the secret entrance at all. Ruth gives the following steps.
- Rosa’s Steps To Find The Secret Maleshov Passage:
- At the Hashtal’s Farm crossroads, look for a wayside shrine.
- Look for an old chapel. Look for the gap to see ruins.
- Go to the ruins and follow the stone cross. Follow each stone cross in the direction it points.
- Continue to a clearing, and you’ll find a marker. Dig with a Spade to reveal the hidden passageway.
These steps are pretty open-to-interpretation, so here’s a longer explanation — or you can skip directly to the actual location marked on the map below. If you’re exploring at night, make sure to use a Nighthawk Potion to make spotting each landmark easier.
- Step-By-Step Instructions | Maleshov Secret Passsage:
- From Hashtal’s Farm, go south to find a white pillar marked on the map called a Shrine. From here, you should see clearing to the southwest of the shrine. The only thing left of the old chapel is a small window-shaped wall.
- Look through the window. It faces south. Follow the direction south, crossing the stream, to find an old ruin on the forest hill.
- The stone cross is slightly east of the ruins. Follow the ruined wall and look on the ground for the stone cross — the stone cross points north.
- Go north until you reach a large, old white tree trunk. The next stone cross is in the ground next to it and points northeast. Run northeast from the second stone cross to reach a third one next to a tree. When you get close a prompt will appear.
Dig next to the third stone cross — you’ll need a Spade to dig, which you can buy from the local Trader in Maleshov if you don’t have one already — and you’ll reveal a path underground. This is the secret passage to the castle!
Activate your torch and enter the secret passage. You’ll want to wait until night to make sneaking through the castle a lot easier. If you talked to Rosa, you’ll also have a secondary objective to find a lost book — you can only complete this task while in Maleshov for the quest ‘Taking French Leave‘.
Entering the castle through the cellar wall, you’ll initiate a cutscene with Von Bergow and your nemesis Otto.
Where To Find Rosa’s Book
Talk to Rosa before going to Maleshov Castle and you’ll begin the task ‘Rosa’s Book‘ — the book is located somewhere in Maleshov Castle and can only be collected during the quest to rescue Hans Capon. If you escape the castle without the book, you won’t be able to return to collect it.
- Reach the castle keep in the center of Maleshov Castle. Taking the stairs up, you’ll encounter two guards blocking the room at the top of the stairs. Wait for them to leave under the stairs — they’ll walk past you — and then sneak up to this floor.
- Enter the bedroom where Lady Ofka is sitting. She’ll be facing the fireplace. You can talk to her and pass a Speech Check to safely roam or simply knock her out with a stealth takedown.
- Behind the bed, you’ll find a [Book of Humorous Anecdotes] in the windowsill seating area, to the right of the fireplace. Collect it, that’s the book Lady Rosa is looking for.
Now that you’ve got the book, you can save Lord Capon. He’s in a room at the top of the keep upstairs.
Where To Find Hans Capon
Hans Capon is being held in a room at the top of the keep — the large building in the center of the castle. Lift a key from a guard to sneak in or lockpick — or go through the basement. Either way, sneak up to the top floor to find him.
- Inside the keep, if you encounter guards talking to a woman, wait under the stairs. This is covered in the previous section. If you wait under the stairs for the guards to leave, you can safely sneak up one floor, then up another set of stairs to the top of the keep.
- At the top floor, lockpick the [Hard] difficulty locked door or use a key robbed from a guard. Get through the room marked with a lit lamp to find Capon. During the cutscene, you’ll meet Capon and another French friend.
- Next, you’ll need to escape the garrison. Unfortunately, Capon refuses to escape through the tunnel. Instead, you’ll need to use the horses from the stables.
NOTE: Collect swords from the room beneath where Hans Capon is being held. This is the same bedroom as the book. Give both characters weapons to help in your escape.
You can either fight your way out together or clear the way using stealth and signal by lighting a torch at the stable. Kill and hide the bodies of as many soldiers as you can before lighting the fire and making sure the way is totally clear for both men.
There are two guards in the lower courtyard. One is in the gatehouse and other patrols near the stables and the tents. Kill them and the guard that patrols near the gates. Light your personal torch near the stables to signal your allies, then open the gate to escape.
Even if you have to fight your way out, you’ll complete this quest — don’t forget to bring the book back to Rosa in Kuttenberg to collect your reward.
