Chapter 10: X
The search for the princess had begun about three hours ago and the princess has not been found.
Her fiancé who was already impatient joined in the search. He wanted to see her desperately that he was losing his mind.
"Duke Evans, why don't you go to the room I had them prepare for you and rest? You don't look too good," the king said when he noticed that the young man's eyes were turning red.
He looked like he might pass out or go haywire if Aurora doesn't get found early.
"I want to be the first to see her when she returns. I don't believe she ran away. Perhaps she was kidnapped last night by the man in her room," the duke defended Aurora blindly. "If she was kidnapped, shouldn't we search for her? Your majesty has to send your soldiers to find her."
"I have sent two of my best men to find her. They will be back by twilight if they don't find her within the gates of the city. You have to be patient. However, what if she ran away? If she ran away, we will only be wasting our time searching for her since she won't to get caught," the king said in a very suggestive tone obviously building that thought in the Duke's mind.
He knew very well that the anger of a man rejected in such a public and disgraceful manner will be strong enough to ruin Aurora and she will soon be forgotten since she will be made a taboo as a member of the royal family who disgraced the royal family by being immoral and unfaithful to the man she was betrothed to.
"You sent just two men?" the duke murmured under his breath not loud enough for the king to hear. "I will send my men to help with the search," The duke said. As a wise man, he did not miss the suggestion in the king's voice.
The king was always someone who stood by Aurora's side. Why was he suddenly not supporting Aurora anymore? This change is very sudden.
"I will be very grateful if you do. I will also send a message to the border in case she is being taken out of the city or she is heading out of the city," the king replied. At this point, it was best to shift people's assumptions away from her real mission. He knew what was on the young man's mind because of the evocative tone he used.
If the Duke thinks he is trying to soil the princess's name then perhaps it will make him think Aurora got harmed in the palace or something else was wrong.
"No, I don't think there is any need. The princess is still within the city," the Duke argued strongly just as the king expected him to.
The king succeeded in having the soldiers searching focus their search in the city. The duke thought she was locked up somewhere and it only made him confirm that his delay was caused by the king.
He secretly interview a few servants and guards he planted in the palace to watch after his future wife and he found out that the king invited Aurora to his study and spoke with her secretly.
That was actually not an unusual thing since Aurora was said to be closer to the king than his own son but the servants said Aurora did not spend much time with the witch she always stays with afterwards and he tried to find the witch but the witch has disappeared totally.
He knew there was something hidden underneath. Aurora was a very strong woman and that was the reason he fell in love with her.
When he went to her room to investigate, he did not see any sign of struggle and the last place she was seen was in her room. He suspected that she was drugged but he could not find any evidence.
He later got information that Aurora's horse was missing along with another horse in the stable.
Aurora was a very good horse rider and he could still remember when he watched her from her far that she will be good enough to compete one of their fastest horse racer and she might actually not fail.
Aurora also has been trained by her uncle on how to use to the sword. He always found that suspicious since it was almost a taboo for a girl from the royal family to hold a sword but the king simply said he enjoyed spending his time that way with Aurora since his son was away from the palace and he was lonely since his daughters will never touch the sword.
He began remembering certain things even Aurora's nonchalant attitude to their relationship.
She was always cold in a very attractive way that he got tired of getting jealous at the generals and dukes who could not take their eyes off her but they were too scared to venture.
He understood that she was cold because of what happened to her when she was a kid.
That also did a good job of scaring off other potential suitors because she was said to have bad luck but what he saw in her was good luck.
She was the luckiest person he has ever heard about. She was so lucky and he wanted to marry her along with the good luck she has that made her survive.
He wondered if he was the only one that saw it but Aurora seemed to glow in a very beautiful manner. She made him feel like she was a goddess.
He was not sure how it was possible that he always noticed her hair glowing even in the smallest ray of light but he was definitely not blinded by love to notice that about her. Aurora actually glowed.
She was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom and any other kingdom he has visited in the many journeys he had travelled in his life.
His family will immediately give him another wife if they find out what happened and he did not want to spend his life with anyone else except Aurora.
He was running out of patience now. He was sure the news must have gotten to his family and his mother must be doing a good job of finding another wife for him.
He spent almost a decade waiting for her and if she was taken from him, he was willing to turn the kingdom over to find her. He does not care if she got kidnapped or she left on her own, he was going to bring her back to him.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone