Chapter Ten

Seeing the master of the house, the people looking for the second Miss, stood still with their faces turning pale. They knew that apart from the lady of the house, the fourth prince overly pampered and loved his youngest daughter. Therefore, they were all speculating in their hearts what sort of punishment awaited them.

Fourth prince

I could guess what had happened but at the same time, I was hoping my guess would be wrong. Knowing my daughter, she had always disliked the idea of being cooped up in the mansion. Although I didn't restrict her movement, I also hoped that when she ventures out, she would know when to return which was why I provided her with one of my best knights but looking at the ongoing commotion, (sighs with a harsh fleeting glint in his eyes) it seems the knight was a useless one, if anything should happen to my daughter then, he alongside his family will pay with their lives.

Turning to his personal guard, he ordered to assemble his knights and search the entire island for his daughter and that if they could not find her then they also should not return. Looking at the trembling maidservants, he dismissed the rest and left behind his daughter's personal maid.

Calming down, he asked "Tell me in detail what transpired before this search began"

Kneeling with both hands placed on her tummy, if one should look closely, one would discover she was shivering and her hands were trembling slightly but at the same time, she had to put on a bold front because apart from his daughter, the fourth prince does not condole any form of weaknesses.

"Answering to my lord, this morning after serving milady, milady suddenly gave an order to this maidservant, refraining anyone from entering her quarters without direct permission from herself. Listening to the lady's request, I went about carrying out my chores, when it was time for lunch, milady did not send for me and I wasn't really worried because most days, milady hardly ordered lunch (hearing this statement, a frown appears on the fourth prince face, he was thinking with a worried expression, he thought of how thin and weak his daughter was and wondered why she was skipping her meals)

Seeing the prince frowning, the already paled maidservant became even paler causing her voice to die down

"Why aren't you speaking, is that all?"

With a sudden fright, she continues, this time stuttering" No..no...th..(breathes in heavily to compose herself) That's not all my lord, later on when I discovered it was already quite late and milady was yet to request for her dinner, I decided to take courage and knock on the door, after several attempts with no answer, I decided to open the door and check on my lady myself, (sobs silently with her shoulders trembling....) Who knew when I walked in, I would discover my lady was not in(sobs more).

Messaging his head, he looks at the Hawthorne candy in his hands with a sad expression when he suddenly remembers,

'I have four hawthorn candies with me, one for my wife, two for my youngest, and one for my oldest (exclaims) that's right! 'oldest', why don't I see her around (with a vexed disappointed expression) I don't know what went wrong between those two but they are sisters, twin sisters at that, as the older one can't she ignore the past and let go, I am even certain she must be the one at fault, hmph, how heartless can one be, she can't tell me she had no idea something had happened with all the noise made here today, she definitely did not come out on purpose hmph see how I deal with her later, she must think she's all that now that she has been recognized by everyone for her might, valor and skills. Then again she's my daughter (he thought with a proud expression that dimmed down as soon as it appeared) but I still don't appreciate her nonchalant attitude when it comes to her sister.

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Then again it was known to all that the fourth prince was especially biased towards his youngest and it was this biased nature of his that later brought about his doom but that's a story for another day.

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Looking at the knight he had assigned to his daughter, he shows a very disappointed expression.

(Facing the knight) "go, go find out why the first Miss is absent"

Bowing down" Yes my lord"

He leaves while clenching his hands. As he leaves, he reflects on his past 'relationship' with the lady he was supposed to protect, although he called it a relationship they had barely had any interaction. He remembered when he was first assigned this job, his heart was not willing, who in the fourth prince mansion didn't know that the youngest daughter was a weak fairy yet to discover her own talent and then there's himself who was recognized as the strongest. Yet, he was assigned to such a person, he was not convinced, why wasn't he assigned to the first Miss, unlike the first Miss who at least leaves the house, the second was always at home doing nothing and it's not like someone would suddenly appear to harm her(rolls his eyes) and (sighs) just when I decided to turn a blind eye something like this happened but I must commend tho, am quite impressed by how she left without me discovering. Luckily for me, the first Miss courtyard is not too far from the second Miss place if not the fourth prince might use his pent-up anger as an excuse to punish me before the second Miss is found. I do hope she comes back safe if not I might really lose my life.

On reaching the first Miss courtyard, he discovered that there was also a small commotion going on, signaling to a passing maid, he was able to ask and find out that the first Miss was currently not back, with a surprised expression he decided to first report to the fourth prince but at the same time he had a bad premonition, it could not be that someone was really bold enough to come into the fourth 'dragon's' palace to harm his daughters right? And even if they did, how did they come in and leave without anybody finding out (he lets his imagination run wild)? Meanwhile, people from the Chung-Jo's courtyard were not that worried because one, the guard that normally hangs around her had already informed them why he returned alone and there's also the fact that she was quite strong but they were more worried because they knew if the first Miss was not yet back then the second Miss was also still out late and this would really make the fourth prince angry. At first, they were still holding on, believing that the first Miss would return before the fourth prince did, one must know that the first Miss was not fond of being out in the dark but rather, their fears came true first and the fourth prince returned before both misses.

When the maidservant of the first Miss saw that someone had been sent to check on the Miss, she decided to follow behind him and report the reason for the first Miss's absence in order to avoid any form of speculation on her first Miss absence.

Arriving at the second Miss courtyard, the knight reported his findings to the fourth prince but not his speculations after all, he was still hoping that the second Miss would return safely, that way he would be able to escape the death penalty hanging around him. Immediately after he finished reporting his findings, the fourth prince suddenly lost the remaining strength he was using to hold on, his family was his bottom line and nobody was allowed to mess around with his family. Although physically he suddenly looked weak at the same time his head was trying to work out a solution to the problem at hand, while contemplating he heard a voice that pulled him back from his wandering thoughts. Looking down he sees a maidservant from his first daughter's courtyard kneeling.

"My lord (she calls out again)

(exasperated he sighs) "there had better be a good reason for disturbing my thoughts"

(Without fear)"my lord, I would like to make a report regarding why the first Miss is currently unavailable"

(Waves his hand tiredly and in a relieved manner) "go on am listening"

(Breathes in) "earlier today after the first Miss training, the knight of the first Miss arrived alone, and immediately he arrived, he came to inform me that the first Miss had discovered the second Miss sneaking out of the mansion and decided to follow behind to see what the second Miss was up to"

"In order words, the two misses are together"

"Yes my lord"

"You may take your leave"

(Frowning) inner thought) 'I should be relieved but why do I feel strangely uncomfortable' (in an irritated manner he runs his finger through his hair).