Presumed Missing.

Lyronia Magic Academy, Royal Hills.

Mildred, the head of the servant staff in the Verdigris household, had just finished preparing a meal for Elsinia and made her way to the young elf's room.

'As usual, the Young Miss wasn't happy after her usual mana fueling ritual. It does take a lot of her time since it needs to be done for 5 to 6 hours in order for her to keep her seal intact. After all, that's one of the main conditions that must be followed if she wants to stay in this institution. I suppose I'm happy that the Young Miss' crush is here again... It'll make things much less difficult especially since this is the year it happens.'

Mildred was quite deep in her thoughts.

"All troublesome matters aside..."

Placing the tray of food on the trolley, she gave it a final inspection before walking down the corridor.

"Oh, I hope the Young Miss will love this," Mildred murmured to herself with a soft smile.

This was her own gesture in order to try and cheer up the Elsinia. Before, she would've left Elsinia to get out of her slump by herself, but she felt that on some days it distracted her from her studies. Because of that she developed a new and better approach to cheering her up - making her favorite delicacy, Green Selip Cake, an elven specialty.

Mildred stopped outside Elsinia's door, gently rapping her knuckles against the wood.

"Miss Elsinia, are you awake?" she called out.

When there was no answer, Mildred knocked once more, more forcefully this time.

"Miss Elsinia?" she repeated, growing concerned when there was still no response.

"Please, you can't just stay angry in your room forever..."

No response.

"Miss Elsinia?"

And still, no response...

Without hesitation, Mildred moved the food trolley to the side and then, with a resolute expression, delivered a powerful kick to the door that caused it to fly open.

"Lady Mildred!" A young butler exclaimed, startled by the sudden commotion.

Ignoring him, Mildred hurried into the room, her eyes searching frantically.

"Miss Elsinia?!" she called out, desperately checking the bathroom, closet, and drawers in her panic.

Of course there was no way Elsinia would be inside any of those drawers, but that was just how desperate Mildred was to find her.

She turned back to the young butler, frustration evident in her expression.

"She's not here—this is bad!" she exclaimed, placing her hands on her head in agitation.

Hurriedly exiting the room, Mildred spotted one of the young maids and immediately called out to her.

"You there!" she shouted, the urgency in her voice evident.

As the young maid approached, bowing her head, Mildred gripped her gown and demanded, "Have you seen the Young Miss?"

The young maid shook her head. "No, but she must be in her room..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed the broken door and the vacant room, causing her to gasp in shock.

Mildred glanced at the door and then, gathering herself, instructed the young maid, "Gather all the servants in the area and have them assemble in the main room!"

"Affirmative!" the young maid replied with a nod.

The two took off in opposite directions.

As they ran, Mildred headed to the right, her dress flowing behind her, while the young maid hurried to the left, her movements were quick and focused.

...

Mildred used one of the landlines in the living room, carefully rolling the dial as she called.

Desperation was heavily written on her face as she waited for the phone to connect.

"Please pick up," she murmured to herself as the telephone rang, her eyes fixed on it.

Just then, a muscular butler approached Mildred and bowed his head respectfully.

"Madam," he began with a grave voice, "we found this wrapped in the bed sheets in the Young Lady's room."

He handed Mildred a sealed envelope.

She accepted it, adjusting the phone against her shoulder to free up her hands as she carefully broke the seal and withdrew the letter.

Meanwhile,

In her office, Lady Merlin Grailborne sifted through files as she absent-mindedly stroked the back of her small white fox that lay on her desk, its tail swaying.

The ringing of the landline broke her concentration, and she uttered a soft "huh" as she stood and walked over to answer it.

"Hello," she greeted as she picked up the phone, setting the scene for the conversation that followed.

"Lady Merlin!"

Mildred's tense voice came over the line.

Immediately, Merlin's brows lifted in surprise when she heard who it was. "Mildred, my dear. It's been weeks since you've called. All is well, I hope," Merlin expressed with genuine concern, albeit it with her usual calmness.

"It's Miss Elsinia," Mildred replied.

Merlin remained calm nonetheless. "Oh," she said. "Is it her seal?"

Mildred hesitated for a moment before explaining the reason for her call. "No, she's disappeared from her room," she revealed. "We've ruled out kidnapping, though. It looks like she left on her own accord."

Mildred could tell thanks to the letter that Elsinia left on her bed.

It wrote: "Going out for a bit, talk to you later. Love you."

Merlin listened intently.

Then, she tilted the wine bottle cradle next to her. It held an exquisite bottle of red wine. In a gentle motion, she poured the crimson liquid into a crystal wine glass, cradled elegantly between her fingers. Bringing the glass to her lips, she sipped the wine, her demeanor calm and collected.

Merlin smiled with satisfaction. "Well, that's good," she commented.

"Then again, I don't think anyone would be so foolish as to cross the boundaries of the academy, especially with me around," Merlin asserted confidently as she twirled the glass in her fingers.

"But the strange thing is, Miss Elsinia disabled her GPS and isn't responding to calls. We have no idea where to find her," Mildred disclosed.

Merlin's expression grew serious as she pondered the situation.

"Alrighty then, keep me updated, Mildred. I'll start looking into this from my end," she promised before hanging up.

As the call ended, she looked down at her little fox and chuckled. "It looks like we've got a mystery to solve, my friend," she murmured, and the fox nestled against her leg in silent agreement.

Merlin then returned to her chair and settled back down, picking up her smartphone from the table. She scrolled through her contacts and found Elsinia's number.

"It's a little weird to be calling a student on their main cell number," she muttered to herself as she clicked on Elsinia's name and allowed it to ring. "But I guess she's more than a student to me, in a sense."

She reclined in her chair, waiting for Elsinia to pick up.

Meanwhile,

Elsinia and Grey strolled along the bustling streets of Lyronia City, marveling at the vibrant cityscape.

"To be honest, I'd forgotten how good the cities in the Magic Continent really looks," Grey remarked, his hands in his pockets.

Elsinia nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's true. You're usually in Europe," she said, smiling.

Grey cocked his head and asked, "How did you know that?"

Just then, Elsinia's phone began to ring. "One moment," she told Grey as she reached for her smartphone in her waist bag. "Oh, it's the headmistress," she said with a note of surprise.

She answered the call and Merlin's calm voice entered her ear, "Elsinia, why did you leave your residences without telling anyone?"

Elsinia smiled softly. "There's no need to worry, I just needed some time to clear my head," she reassured Merlin.

Merlin tapped her desk, her tone stern.

"You should have let Mildred know. We need to know your whereabouts, especially considering recent events."

Elsinia sighed, admitting fault. "Alright, I'm sorry."

Merlin urged, "Start by switching on your GPS so everyone knows where you are."

Elsinia hesitated. "Do I really have to?"

Merlin's voice remained firm.

"Yes, Elsinia, for your safety. With the kinds of noises I'm hearing over the phone, I'm guessing you're not at the academy, and that raises concerns, especially with the possibility of you becoming a target again."

Elsinia pushed back, "No one has made any threats in years. Plus, I'm with Grey, so I'm not entirely unprotected."

Grey, unaware of the conversation happening on the other end of the call, interjected, "Huh?"

Merlin's tone softened as she heard Grey's voice.

"Oh, he's with you? That's fine then. Just make sure to check in with Mildred soon."

Elsinia agreed, "Alright, I understand."

"Can you hand the phone over to Grey?" Merlin asked.

Elsinia's eyes narrowed as if she could see Merlin from over the phone.

"Since when did you start calling him Grey? And what for?"

Merlin chuckled in her usual sweet voice.

"I'm not trying to steal him, I promise... I just need to talk to him about something important."

Elsinia grumbled a bit and then said, "Okay," as she passed her phone over to Grey, who was calmly walking with her. "Here," she said gesturing to the phone.

"Who is it?" Grey asked.

"Mer... The headmistress..." the white-haired elf gave her reply almost immediately.

Grey took the phone, took a step to the side and placed it against his ear before saying, "Yo, headmistress."

Merlin chuckled and said, "Grey, you're as lively as ever, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Grey nodded.

"It seems you and Elsinia are having fun, yes?" Merlin remarked.

"Yeah," Grey said, "we're on a date."

Merlin chuckled and said, "Oh my, so quick, you younger generations don't know anything about moderation. What happened to taking things slow?"

Grey yawned a bit and said, "Yeah, no. I don't do really do, slow."

"To each their own, I suppose," Merlin said gently, sipping her wine.

Right after, she went down to business.

"Considering what Elsinia is, it'd be trouble if she stayed outside the walls of the academy for too long. So, I'm ordering you to make sure to keep a close eye on her so she doesn't get into any... Unfortunate situations."

However, whereas Merlin had assumed Grey was already aware of everything concerning Elsinia, he was actually clueless in that aspect.

"Wait, why would she get into any trouble?" Grey adjusted the phone closer to his ear.

Merlin then said, "Oh, hasn't she told you yet?"

"Told me what?" Grey inquired.

Before Merlin could respond, Elsinia rushed and grabbed the phone from Grey's hand, immediately hanging up.

"Sorry about that," Elsinia said, slightly out of breath.

Grey simply looked at her, confused. "Hm?" he uttered.

Merlin in her office then noticed the call had been terminated and said, "Oh?"

She relaxed on her chair and placed her phone on her desk before saying, "So she hasn't even told Grey everything about her. Honestly, that girl," Merlin gently shook her head, smiling.