Louise Flyer: The Price of Pride - Final Part

The sound of metallic footsteps echoed through the forest as over twenty soldiers wandered through the woods. They had been searching for someone who had apparently disappeared two days prior for hours. That someone was a girl from the Fyer family, the richest family in Forthen.

"Damn it... if only I had been there at that time," the leader of the soldiers, a prodigy named Kewy Narick, muttered to himself.

According to his report, he had seen the missing girl leaving the city two days before she was reported missing. As luck would have it, he was still in the city at the time.

"We found something!" someone shouted, interrupting Kewy's thoughts.

Immediately alerted, Kewy ran to the location.

It all started when the girl's butler, Yuval Sarh, went to the city's police station claiming that she had disappeared. When asked about the information, he said, "Miss Louise asked me to! I swear! She said she would stay in the library for a few days, and that was already something common. But when I went to bring her some things, she wasn't anywhere to be found. I thought she might be in some other part of the huge library, so I left everything with the receptionist. She said that Miss Louise hadn't been there. I was flabbergasted, so I rushed to the mansion, thinking she might have returned. But... when I got there, there was only a letter."

He then handed over a letter that read, "Louise Fyer is dead in the forest beyond the barrier. Don't look for her."

According to sources, that letter did not have the same handwriting as Yuval, the main suspect. He also volunteered to search for her.

Louise Fyer: a beautiful 11-year-old girl with long red hair and blue eyes. That's how everyone described her.

And arriving at the location where they were alerted...

"...!" Kewy's eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. He didn't know what to feel: anger, frustration, sadness, pity, hatred... he simply didn't know how to react to it. But unlike Kewy, two people there clearly demonstrated their emotions.

"Louise, why... If I had done my job properly... you wouldn't have..." A tall man in armor. He was Vska, Louise's uncle and a soldier who guarded the barrier's border. In part, it was really his fault, but who could make him suffer more than he was now? The man covered his face and silently wept at what he saw in front of him.

Not only was Vska shattered, but there was another person there who drew even more attention.

"Miss!! No! Why!! It can't be...!" The elderly man had fallen to the ground as if he had completely lost the strength in his legs. Tears flowed rapidly from his face as he pounded the ground until his hands began to bleed. Soldiers were holding him back so that he wouldn't cause any more harm to himself.

And every commotion made sense for what they saw.

"... " Kewy averted his eyes in disgust.

A girl with red hair stood amidst a sea of blood. She had multiple scratches on her body. It wasn't just that which made Kewy, a soldier, feel sick at the sight. The girl was almost completely dismembered, her clothes torn apart. The only things remaining together were her head, torso, and right arm. And on top of that, her blue eyes were half-open, giving a false hope of life.

No one knew who to blame... In fact, everyone was to blame for the situation itself. Vska was not at her usual post. And it was Yuval's obligation to always accompany her. Kewy could have been more concerned when he saw her that time. But even though all these things together supported the incident, there was still a missing piece. Why did Louise Flyer, an extremely intelligent and talented girl, pass through the barrier? All they had was a letter, but that proved nothing. There simply were no reasons for this girl to leave through the barrier. One piece was missing, and that was the most important one.

Unfortunately, answers to the incident were never found.

But in that forest, amidst the trees, another person watched the scene.

"Huhuh."

A woman with long black hair laughed. Her smile, which went from ear to ear, was agonizing and repulsive.

"I'll let the children play for now. Kewy Narick... I'll be meeting with you soon too," and she turned her back, walking towards the deepest part of the forest.

Yes. The true culprit for the incident, and also the person who sent the letter, was her, Elaine. All of this was according to her plans, it was all necessary for a matter beyond the comprehension of many. But answers to the many questions wouldn't be long before they were revealed. This was just the beginning of a long story. A long, bloody and painful story.