The ones who are no longer there

The night had been long for the young King but the hope of a better and successful tomorrow kept him going throughout the night. However, Keito felt his hopes dim as the sun rose without any concrete information from his guards.

"How can an elite squad not find one slave trader? One slave trader?" The young king paced inside his room, his steps not making any noise and yet his body language gave a lot away to his onlooking guard captain.

"We found a lot of slave traders but we were not able to find the one your majesty required us to find. I apologise on behalf of the soldiers" the young guard captain bowed down to the kind which did nothing to curb the rising irritation Keito was faced with.

Jess had left once she was ensured that the king was well enough to look after himself. Kaito was grateful for her support but he did not want her personally involved in all this.

After all, her family was a big factor in his past life and had interfered a lot into his political rule.

"What about the second matter? Did you look into that too?" The king asked, reminded of the other investigation he had launched with the slave market sweep. After all, that was the only other place Noah could be at this time.

"We did your majesty but the results were negative as well. Are you sure such a person is not a part of your imagination? Such a 'colouring' is not really traditional in any sense" the guard captain asked, his tone cautious.

He could see the foul mood the king was currently in and he did not want to ignite that rage on himself. He did not remember the Kaito ever being like this before the magid poisoning? Was this an aftereffect?

"Are you questioning me Yuu?" Kaito's voice was dark, his eyes blazing which made the guards flinch. The aura of a pissed off Alpha was more than what most of them could handle after all and even the guard captain Yuu knew that.

"Of course not, Your Majesty. But Kaito, you do need to calm down before you end up ruining your reputation and future chances. Don't forget that your position for now" perhaps it were the words of the young man or the use of his real name, but Kaito felt his anger wavering with a deep breath.

The young King braced himself and took a deep breath.

"Very well. Leave me alone for now" with a bow, the present set of people left but a cautious look at his back. For Kaito, it was not a new sensation, but a familiar one.

This was how people had treated him in his last years of rule - as a cautious caged animal ready to lash out.

'Did not find him?' his wolf wined, his voice irritating but it conveyed much more feeling than Kaito currently himself could.

'We'll find him. Maybe we came here before the slave trader made his way into our borders' Kaito replied optimistically but even he knew how unlikely that was.

This illusion, magic or whatever it was that caused this flow back was surely not accurate enough. Some things were as crystal clear as he remembered, not a detail out of place and yet the whole setting screamed of foul play and deception.

Things had changed enough to make everything completely different and he knew the key to all this was held in the hand of that white omega fox.

'Need to find him. Please?' his wolf was almost begging him now, the ferocious beast no more than an insecure pup currently. It was conveying everything Kaito could not and it was frustrating to the alpha.

"Fine, let's go for a walk. Maybe the astrologist could help us find him" even if Kaito was not optimistic, his wolf was. The animal seemed to cheer up at his world, the folded ears on his head peeking up once again.

The scenery was familiar to the young alpha, the wide and unpaved streets continuing into the town square which held folk of people seeking entertainment. Carefree laughter of people and their ideal chatter reached his ears.

It relaxed the young alpha, his tense shoulders coming to a rest with the words that seemed like a fleeting wind in his ears. He felt like a young kid again, his eyes taking in everything that was long gone.

"Young prince, you should not be out here without informing your guards" the old caretaker who had followed the prince called out to him, his voice tired with fatigue. No doubt, his old body protested at having to keep with the young and vigorous prince.

This felt familiar to the young prince.

"It's alright. If I tell them then they are going to make a fuss and that would defeat the purpose of this trip. Besides, I can take care of myself on my own" the prince called out to the elderly, his voice boasting full of confidence his young self had.

His own reply rang inside his ears, his mind sure that he had once said this exact same line in an exact same scenario.

It gave him Kaito a pause, his mind recalling the significance of this day. The old caretaker looked on in confusion at his stop.

Once again, the young alpha looked around for anything that could jolt his memory and a jewellery shop caught his attention. The accessory was nothing new to his senses, having seen far more impressive stuff.

And yet it drew him in, his senses zoning in on the stall. The stall lady quickly joined him, her eyes eying his money pouch and calculating its worth before she finally seemed to make her move.

"It looks like this young master has taken a liking to this piece. Just for you, I'll reduce its price to 5 silver" from the lady's voice, it seemed as if she was doing him a favour and flattering him at the same time.

Kaito paused as soon as he heard her words, his mind forming a foggy image inside it's depths.

"Maybe some other day" Kaito replied and left the stall in a somewhat hurry. The old caretaker followed him, a little confused and worried at the same time.

"Weren't you looking for a gift for her highness, Young master? Are you going directly to the forger? But we did not get his address?" The words were said in a confused tone but they finally made the young king realise what he was forgetting.

'Noah. This was the day I met Noah' Keito picked up speed, his steps making a thunderous noise as they crashed on the clumsy pavement. He remembered the alley, the influx of people and those blue-green eyes looking at him.

And yet there was nothing in that corner that caused the young king to collapse on his knees.

'Don't smell him. WHERE IS HE?' Kaito did not know, did not have an answer and did not have hope either. For the very first time doubt began clouded his mind at the very existence of Noah.

Did he really not exist in this reality? But why? How?

"Young master?" The old caretaker who had finally caught up to him seemed somewhat shocked and worried in equal parts to see the strong-willed king kneeling down at the ground in such a fashion with a lost expression.

"Was I that bad? To send me here and then not even exist - just what am I supposed to do here? Tell me, what is the objective of all this?" The young king seemed to be lost in his own little world, his eyes looking and yet not seeing anything of significance. Whatever the elder wanted to say got stuck inside his throat to see his charge in such a state. The other was a well behaved, if somewhat mischievous child. He had never seemed so lost before.

"Young master, why did you even come out here in such a state? Let's go back" the old man knew of nothing that could work in such a condition but he was sure that Miss Jess would be able to do something.

The young master held her in the highest regard after all and if she was a brilliant mind.

"Out? I-the astrologer? The temple? Yes, it could work" the king finally came about at those words, his eyes gaining the barest sparkle of hope and perhaps the final one too. Finally, the king pulled himself back up, his moments picking up life and purpose and he walked toward his destination.

All the elder could do was to look around at the hard-headed alpha and sigh. Puberty really was difficult at such an age and the young king was not doing anything to help those around him at all.

Now, should he inform the guards and others of the young king's moments? Young Miss Jess had asked to be always informed of the smallest of things but he was not sure if should this time.

It felt personal.