C27: Disappearance

<Third Pov: James>

The King walks across the dark hallways with a tight grip on his hand. He's concealing his anger, but his furrowed eyebrows and his flaming eyes show his true emotions.

Behind him, the two right-hand men of the King follow.

"Where is Connor?" He asks the two guards.

"No clue, sire. He's supposed to report back to us, but he has disappeared from his guarding position earlier this night. The Knight guarding the Princess's door says it didn't open. Nor did he blink once to miss the Princess's sight. So, he guarantees her safety. But Connor, sire. No word of him." The magi knight at his left replies.

James narrows his eyes as he takes a turn in the hallway.

They stand in the very hallway which leads to the Princess's room. The guard at the door of Reya's room shifts to the King just as he sees him, bowing down to his presence.

"Sire! What brings you here?" He asks the King.

Without a response to the guard, James steps forth. "Out of the way, Felix," he pushes the magi knight aside to gaze at the door of his daughter's room.

His fury is overtaking him.

'James. This is not the way to deal with kids,' he reminds himself, taking a deep breath and exhaling. After removing the furious expression on his face, he raises his hand to knock on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Three taps is all he does.

"Reya. Are you in there?" He asks as calmly as he can.

No reply comes through.

"You missed Dinner, Reya. The guard asked you, and you didn't even say a word to them? At least, say you refuse if you are refusing to come to Dinner, daughter. You are shaming me. A princess should not act this way," James continues.

No response comes through.

He sighs. "What is it? Why – why are you being such an arrogant little – ugh! Don't make me say it Reya!" he bangs his fist on the door. The wooden door shakes.

No matter what he says. Only silence accompanies him from the other side of that door. This silence of Reya makes the King suspicious. He narrows his eyes, putting his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm coming in."

He turns it and it flings open, just like that.

James steps into his daughter's room. The bedsheets of the royal bed are draped across the stone floor. The dress which she wore earlier to meet him lies on the ground, torn apart. The windows are closed and the candle which keeps the room alight is almost out.

He gazes around the room.

Not a single sight of the Princess. She's gone.

His teeth grit. "Tch, Reya."

He turns around and steps outside the door. Felix, the guard of the room stands beside him. The King's eyes fall upon the magi knight.

"Argh!" He slams the knight against the wall, pinning his neck with his arm. "You idiot! You let her escape!?"

"Sire – augh! I don't know… I didn't even sense anything! Not a single wave of mana escaped that room!" Felix cries, holding the king's hand back. Even if he is the King, he couldn't let him take his life.

The King finally releases the knight from his grip, letting him fall to the ground.

James turns to his two right-hand men.

"Send out 40 guards to every inch of the castle. The Generals too. And send 60 more to the city. Find the Princess. Find her… no matter what."

A sharp pain erupts in his heart as a picture of a dead daughter flashes in his mind. He closes his eyes, gritting his teeth. He can't let that happen.

No matter what. He has to find his only daughter.

///

<Silver's Pov>

Way into the night, I sit up on my bed.

Reya is sleeping. Her breast lies right in the open with only a thin blanket covering her lower body.

I bet she has never slept in a bed as hard as this before. Never felt the coldness creep into her through a thin blanket. But it doesn't bother her. She's asleep like a little baby.

As I stay there silently without making a single noise, the blue wisp appears beside my shoulder.

[You have scored 1 point! 99 points more to go before your curse is lifted! Keep up the good work, Warrior!]

The notification pops up, finally.

'All this. And one point,' I smile, resting my head against the wall with a sigh of relief.

'She's asleep,' I say to myself, standing up from the bed.

Her face has sunk deep into the pillow. I still smell like her juices. Without making too much noise, I walk to the other side of the room where my cloak hangs on a hook.

'It's better to do this now before she wakes up,' I tell myself, grabbing the cloak. 'Right about now, the guards should be alert in the castle. It won't take them days to find out that the Princess of the castle is missing.'

I grab a small glass bottle from my coat and open the lid of it.

[Slumber Dust: Level 3]

The tag floats above the small bottle.

My quest here is over. But I feel a certain pain in the heart.

I walk over to Reya and gaze at her as she sleeps. She knows nothing of what I am truly. Doesn't even know my real name or my real face.

I lean close to her bed and slowly incline the glass bottle.

The dust gradually pours into her face, and she inhales it, still deep in her slumber.

[The victim has been affected by the sleep dust! They shall not be able to wake up for the next 3 hours!]

The system notification declares.

'Only 3 hours left for me to deliver her back to the castle, then?' I stand up, gazing at the Princess's face.

Reya's a beautiful young woman.

As delusional as she may be, there's something about her that makes my heart feel puffy. She's asleep now. No matter what I do to her, she would not wake up for 3 hours.

I push the trail of hair covering her sleeping eyes behind her hair, taking a seat beside her in bed. Her eyes make me feel guilty, even though they are closed.

The moment she touched my hands under the water of that pond came back to me. She had nothing but true feelings for me.

I lean closer to her face.

Her breath graces my lips as she sleeps without a clue.

I kiss her on the lips gently for a long time. "You are a true Queen, dear Reya," I say to her, breaking the kiss.

"That's why you must learn to sacrifice some of your own interests for the betterment of your castle."

I step out of the bed and pull up my leather pants.

Soon, guards will storm the city. Going alley to alley in search of the Princess. Gladly, I've already taken out their general. This will give me enough time to make it out alive. After all, if I have the King's Daughter at the tip of my knife, how can he make a move against me?

I cover the lovely Reya with her ghost cloak, and she disappears. But before I carry her home, there's one last conversation I must prepare for.

I decided how her future shall go…

And how I can contribute to it.