"Did no one seriously see anything?"

Liora questioned anxiously one of the guards accompanying her back to the palace. The woman was visibly anxious as well, as she shook her head.

"No one, Lady Liora, you and her majesty were the last ones to see her highness."

Liora clicked her tongue. How could nobody see anything? Just how can you kidnap a princess without anybody seeing you? Liora had to wonder whether the kidnappers were really good or whether the royal guards and black guards were just so incompetent.

"Did they issue any demands?"

"No, there aren’t any as of yet."

They didn’t? A cold sweat ran down Liora’s face, a bad premonition going through her head. Were they assassins? But Liora quickly discarded this idea. The kidnappers were going to send demands eventually, right? Liora comforted herself with the thought slightly, before realizing something.

"And her majesty? How is she doing? "

Her majesty would obviously be the most affected by the princess’s disappearance. The guard looked slightly uncomfortably as she seemed to be thinking about what to say, before finally opening her mouth.

"Well… she kinda shut in."

"She shut in?"

The guard nodded as she led Liora to the princess’s room. When they arrived, Liora saw in the dimly lit room the queen sitting on the floor next to the empty crib, holding one of the princess’s toys in her hands. Her eyes looked lifeless as she continued to stare at the empty crip.

"Your majesty..."

"Liora, you will find her, right?"

When the queen heard Liora’s voice, she turned around to face her. Now it was apparent that her majesty was crying. Despite that, her eyes were filled with hope now that Liora had returned back.

"Of course, your majesty, we will bring her back."

Liora smiled reassuringly at the queen, who nodded back. Liora wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to do, but regardless, she went and began her investigation immediately.

"Is her majesty here? I have something to report. "

"Tell it to me. I am in charge of the investigation at her majesty’s wish. "

The guard that had now arrived looked unsure of what to do as she looked at the sergeant standing by the door. She only nodded in response, and so the guard delivered her message.

"We discovered a body of one of the black guards."

Liora was shocked. How could somebody manage to kill one of the elite black guards without getting noticed? Liora went under the lead of the guard down the hall until they arrived at a small room that served as a cleaning closet, outside of which a few guards stood as well as a shocked maid. 

"She is the one that made the discovery."

The guard motioned to a maid, who, despite her shock, bowed to Liora. She nodded to her as an acknowledgement and urged her to speak with a light gesture of her hand.

"You see… I came here to get supplies to clean this hall as I was instructed, and when I came here... she was inside. "

The maid didn’t seem to see anything at all of what happened, only the aftermath. Liora got closer to the closet, inside among the cleaning supplies lay the body of a woman dressed in a black cloak with a mask hiding her face.

Just quick inspection of the black cloak revealed a golden pin with a royal crest on it. She was definitely part of the elite guards. However, something else was bothering Liora when she inspected the body.

"She has no injuries, then how did they..."

The woman didn’t have any injuries, yet she was clearly dead. Liora didn’t know what to make of this. As she turned the woman on her back so she could continue inspecting, the mask fell from her face, revealing an expression that was a mix of pain and shock. What could cause her to die with an expression like this?

The answer presented itself in the form of a small dart stuck near her chest. Liora took the dart with a piece of cloth and inspected it. It was a short dart made of metal, and its tip seemed to be coated with a potent poison. Based on the woman’s expression, this was a surprise attack, but who would be able to ambush a black guard like this?

The black guards were masters of stealth and used it extensively while protecting members of the royal family.No one ever knew where exactly they were. To be able to ambush one like this, whoever is behind the kidnapping has to be an extraordinary foe.

"So, this is where she was."

When Liora turned around, a woman dressed in the same outfit and mask as the death guard stood there. Living up to your reputation, I see.

"I take it you were looking for her, then in that case who was she, ZERO."

"She was THIRTY, I had personally assigned her as personal protector of her highness based on her ehem achievements. But she didn’t give her periodic report, so I went and looked for her."

Liora looked back at the corpse, seems she was an extraordinary even by black guard standards. Especially to be recognized by a famous ZERO, a Black Guard commander known for her strictness.Liora gave a silent prayer for the deceased THIRTY’s soul.

"Then, how long ago did she disappeared."

"Hmm, like an hour ago?"

An hour ago, then the kidnappers may still be in the city. Liora realized that it was unlikely, but she still chose to be hopeful.

"Thank you for the information. I shall now use it to look for her highness."

Liora gave a polite bow to ZERO, as befitting a noble lady in the service of the queen.

"I will as well. We are talking about an heir to the throne, after all. So, if there is any assistance I may give, then ask. "

ZERO gave her offer to Liora. Despite the mask on ZERO’s face, Liora was sure that she could see anxiety on her face, understandably so. Liora intended to decline the offer but quickly thought of something.

"In that case, lady ZERO, can you provide me with a dog?"

"A dog?"

ZERO was visibly taken aback by Liora’s request, after all, she expected to be asked to provide some of her subordinates for the investigation. Why would Liora even request such… oh. ZERO realized what Liora wanted and nodded her head.

"Sure, I will lend her to you."

…

I was hoping that ZERO would bring her sooner than after an hour. I hope they haven’t gotten too far yet. Liora sighed as she got ready to re-enter the princess’s room with the "dog" she borrowed from ZERO. Upon opening the door, she was welcomed by the sight of the queen, Loriam, still sitting on the floor hugging a teddy bear that seemed to be the princess’s second favorite toy.

"Your majesty."

"Liora, did you find her?"

The queen looked at Liora hopefully, but Liora only shook her head.

"Unfortunately, not your majesty, not yet at least."

The queen lowered her head down again in disappointment, her hair covering her face. Liora took a deep breath and addressed the queen again.

"Actually, your majesty. I would like to request some of her highness’s things. "

"Her things?"

"Yes, your majesty, we need to borrow some of her highness's things so this dog can search for her."

Liora placed her hand on the "dog’s" head for emphasis before something landed on her face. When she inspected what had covered her face, it turned out to be a blanket that belonged to the princess. Liora was slightly confused as she stared at the blanket in her hands, then she realized that she had requested it.

"You will find her, right? You will find my daughter and bring her home, right? "

The queen was now presenting several articles of clothing as well as plushies to the dog-eared girl that Liora borrowed from ZERO. The girl was shocked that the queen was talking with her, no more accurately, she was begging her.

"I will give you anything you want. Just please find my daughter. "

 Queen’s eyes were teary and her voice was shaky she was visibly desperate as she begged girl in front of her.

"We will find her, your majesty."

Liora reassured the queen while handing the blanket over to the girl. The queen wiped her tears away and looked at Liora.

"...You will, right? "

"Yes, she has the best nose in Losemia. With her, we will be able to find her highness for sure. "

Liora wasn’t just saying it for the sake of reassuring her majesty. This girl that she borrowed from ZERO was exceptionally good at picking up scents. With her, Liora was guaranteed to rescue the princess and bring the kidnappers to face the wrath of the queen as well as the rest of the blood clan.

"…I think I have her smell."

The queen looked at the girl, her face was filled with hope, while the girl only got nervous.

"Then don’t just stand there and lead the way!"

"I will grant whatever wish you may have, so please find her."

Liora urged the girl to get moving while the queen was promising her reward. The girl was intrigued by the promise and followed the scent as she was instructed, with Liora closely behind her.

…

"Are you sure this is the right way?"

Liora was led by the dog-eared girl further through the hallway past the closet where they had discovered the body of the black guard woman. But after some time, the girl just stopped in the middle of the hallway and started sniffing the air around her. As far as Liora was concerned, there was nothing except an old bookshelf and a seemingly older statue of a knight. She kept sniffing around for some time before she seemed to find the right scent again and started sniffing around the old bookshelf.

"Is your nose working properly? There is nothing but old books. You are supposed to sniff out her highness, not books. "

Liora was starting to get angry at the girl. There was clearly nothing wrong with the bookshelf, and behind it was just a solid wall. Despite that, the girl continued to sniff around it.

"…the smell… leads behind this."

The girl said as she looked at Liora’s annoyed face. Liora approached the bookshelf and moved it from the wall slightly, then she showed the normal stone wall behind the bookshelf to the girl.

"So how exactly does her highness scent leads behind this fucking wall!?"

Liora didn’t bother to hide her annoyance as she yelled at the girl, who ignored Liora’s outburst and only glanced at the wall before tilting her head in confusion.

"A secret passage?"

"Oh, yea, why didn’t I think of that…Of course, I thought of that there is exactly 0 secret doors in this palace."

Liora began to remove every single book from the bookshelf to make sure that this girl got it. The queen lamented all the time that there were no secret rooms in the palace to discover, this girl was useless after...

Click

"Huh?!"

Liora’s aggressive removing of books was interrupted by a clicking sound, but it didn’t come from the bookshelf but from the old statue. Before Liora could ask, the wall opened without a sound and revealed an empty room behind it.

"Hey.... What did you do? "

Liora asked the girl who was crouching next to the statue. She only pointed at the pedestal of the statue and answered.

"The sword of the knight... tilted to the side... when straightened... a small button is revealed."

And you pressed it. Liora looked at the girl before returning her attention to the room that not even the queen knew about. The room was dark, so Liora took a candle from the wall and lit it. The light wasn’t nearly strong enough, but it was better than nothing.

Everything inside the room was covered in a thick layer of dust and spider webs. But thanks to that, it was apparent that somebody was here recently thanks to the footprints on the ground. The shelf that was in the corner of the room only had a few empty glass bottles that seemed like they could be used for alchemy. The table that was nearby was just like the rest of the room, covered in dust and mold, as well as old alchemy equipment and writing utensils.

The only other things in the room were ancient looking, moldy flag with the royal crest hanging on one of the walls. But unlike the one Liora was used to seeing, this one had a crown above the sword. The other one was an ancient moldy painting of a silver-haired lady who seemed to be somebody from the royal family and a tall man with slightly darker skin color, with horns on his head.

What was unusual about the painting was the repeated stab holes in the couple's hearts and faces, as well as the knife stabbed into the painting.Upon closer inspection, there were little letters on the painting that spelled "mother I hate you" in the ancient language of the Blood Clan over and over. What does this mean?

"This way."

The girl unceremoniously removed the flag from the wall and revealed the staircase behind it. Liora went behind her as they passed a seemingly endless dark corridor. After what seemed like eternity, they arrived at the end of the tunnel, where they only needed to open a trap door.

"Here goes nothing."

Liora opened the door and was relieved that they had finally gotten out of the tunnel. but was surprised that they were so far from the city. By Liora’s guess, they were at least 300 meters outside of the city. The girl didn’t seem interested and began to sniff the air again, before running ahead. Liora didn’t waste any time and ran after her.

"…and mighty are the silenens and their likes.

In their hearts is nowhere our soil nor grain. "

Liora was surprised by a singing woman she heard from ahead, but the voice sounded extremely weak, as if its owner was trying to sing from the last bits of energy left in her body.

"... Ah, the elite prosper, but the nation dies.

The masses are dancing blindly in their worlds.

In this nightmare of politics and shame,

The throne merely price in a children’s game…"

The singing ended as Liora, under the guidance of the girl, got closer. As Liora wondered who was singing the song and what its meaning was, she got her answer. Close to the makeshift camp fire, in a poodle of her own blood, lay a young looking woman dressed in a maid's outfit.

As Liora got closer to inspect the woman, she seemed to die just as the strange singing stopped. Shame, she could have known something. Liora clicked her tongue as she tried to figure out who this woman was. She was clearly part of the blood clan based on her ears and fangs, but even though she was wearing a maid uniform and had a medallion with a royal crest proving that she was a royal maid, Liora didn’t recognize her at all.

Liora prided herself on her good memory, especially for faces. If this woman was actually a royal maid, then she would be at least remember seeing her before. Which means... she is one of the kidnappers.

Liora was unhappy that the only kidnapper she could find was already dead and her highness was nowhere near. As Liora thought that there were no clues and wanted to ask the girl where the princess was, a piece of burned paper catches her attention. She carefully picks it up and reads its content: ... to Itten. Ave imperatrix.

Maybe I should inform her majesty about this.