章 7: To Find a Friend Part 1
Time went by rather quickly for Joseph. He began to get used to the castle just two days after being taken in by Regal. He knew the maids by now, even talking to some of them.
"Elayne's not here?" Joseph asked. "That's weird. She was fine just yesterday."
"I'm sorry, Your Grace. I personally gave her permission to visit her parents because she said they were sick," the head maid explained. "She left in a hurry."
"Oh, well. That's fine, I guess," Joseph smiled. "Could I at least get her number? I'll try calling her."
The head maid gave Joseph Elayne's number, but the line was off. He tried calling several times, but the phone just rang.
"Maybe she's still traveling, Your Grace," the head maid suggested. "Elayne never uses her phone when she's home."
"I guess that's why," Joseph said, a frown forming on his lips. "I guess I'll just go now."
He waved goodbye to the head maid and decided to go for a walk around the gardens instead.
He felt something odd about Elayne's sudden leave, but he shoved the thoughts away. Maybe whatever her emergency was at home was urgent, and she needed to be there as soon as possible.
"I just hope she's fine," Joseph said to himself. As he stepped onto the pavement, he realized he was starting to feel bored. There wasn't much to do inside the palace since Regal was always away. And the servants seemed to be scared of his presence. Only Elayne and the head maid appeared composed around him.
He was losing interest in his phone and all the content on the internet too. All he wanted was something interesting to do, but Regal did not permit him to leave the palace grounds. The people who captured him were still at large, and he understood that his safety should come first.
"I wonder what Regal is doing right now," Joseph sighed. He wouldn't try to admit it, but he missed the man. Regal would always whine about him, saying he was mean, and Joseph would get upset for that very reason, teasing Regal even more.
"He's probably trying to find out about the disappearances in the north."
Joseph jumped at the sound of Olivia speaking behind him. He spun around and saw her, all dressed in a black dress with a trailing train. She smiled at him, then took his arm and started dragging him along the pavement of the garden.
"While he's not here, let's talk about you," Olivia said. "Your glow started to return, but then it was gone. Why is that?"
"I had to limit my glow," Joseph explained. "The servants were already intimidated by me. Let alone seeing me glow. I don't think they'd approach me then. But wait, let's backtrack. What disappearances?"
"Some people are disappearing one by one," Olivia said flatly. "There have been reports suggesting they were taken for organ harvesting, but the street cameras don't match that description."
Joseph pursed his lips in deep thought. "How so?"
"The most interesting part about the disappearances is the people's actions before they vanished," Olivia explained. "Their family and friends reported a sudden change in behavior, like they weren't themselves. They'd ask for leave, say they needed air, or even claim they had to buy something. But they never came back."
A trail of cold sweat ran down Joseph's forehead. He gulped and stared at Olivia in disbelief, thinking the description felt eerily familiar. He wanted to ask her about Elayne, but he was afraid of the answer.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but three servants have already disappeared," Olivia continued. "The third one left last night. I believe her name was—"
"Elayne," Joseph muttered. "Elayne. She's gone?"
"According to some reports—" Olivia was cut off as Joseph suddenly sprinted towards the head maid's office. "Prince Joseph, where are you going?"
"To find Elayne," Joseph yelled. "To find them all."
As she watched the prince's figure disappear into the halls, a slight smirk formed on Olivia's lips. "And that's why you're the Golden Child with a golden heart."
Panting, Joseph knocked on the head maid's office door. The woman opened it and was shocked at the sight of the prince. "Oh, good light. What happened, Your Grace?"
"Her address," Joseph demanded. "Tell me where I can find her address."
The head maid hesitated, stumbling over her thoughts. "Your Grace, who?"
"Elayne Brewer."
—
A cloaked figure moved through the empty halls of Regal's palace. The path was dark, barely lit by the moon, which was obscured by clouds. The figure was silent, each footstep making no sound as though he were walking through the wind.
There was a small gap between the palace and the walls around it—just large enough for a person to squeeze through. It was here that the figure passed, escaping all the cameras that watched over the palace grounds.
"The God of the Moon yawning, together with the chameleons of the skies," Joseph incanted a spell. "Second-grade magic, Perfect Camouflage."
A pale green light sparked from Joseph's cloak, traveling upwards. The sparks made the fabric vanish, rendering it invisible to the naked eye. He smiled, satisfied with the effectiveness of his skill, even though it would only last a short time.
When his entire body was camouflaged, the prince took a deep breath before scaling the wall. It took him a few seconds to reach the top, and without a second thought, he leaped into the moat where freshwater beasts dwelled.
"Leap," Joseph whispered, bolting through the air and using the air itself as a stepping stone to jump. His movements were swift and graceful. If anyone had seen him, they might have mistaken him for flying rather than jumping multiple times.
As he passed the moat, Joseph unveiled his camouflage and landed. Panting, the prince tried to recover his mana. He was still depleted, barely having enough mana to cloak himself for five minutes.
"I need to get all of my powers back," Joseph told himself. Once he regained some strength, he sprinted into the city, heading towards Elayne's home. "Please be there."
As the boy disappeared into the woods, with only one eye open, Olivia watched from her tower. Her hand held a phone to her ear, where Regal was practically screaming at her. Her left eye was closed, while her right eye glowed with a dark purple hue.
"What do you mean you told him about the disappearances?!" Regal yelled. "He will definitely try to find them and put himself in danger."
"Which is exactly what we need," Olivia reasoned. "If we keep him inside the palace, his powers will fade forever. What will you do then, Regal?"
"Make him depend on me!" the king shouted. "Olivia, if I lose him, I will destroy this kingdom and everything in this world."
"Misty and the others are trailing behind him," Olivia said. "I also attached Yuki to his cloak."
The line was silent for a few seconds. Regal sighed loudly, relief washing over him. He chuckled and shook his head. "Well, you could've told me sooner."
"Maybe if you hadn't lashed out at me and actually let me talk, huh?" Olivia rolled her eyes. "You know Yuki is very dependable. If anything were to happen, Yuki will save him, and the Sheaths will aid him. Not that he needs help in the first place."
"Thank you, Olivia," Regal chuckled over the phone. "And I'm sorry. I have to go now. The prince of Belaria has signed the documents. We're now allied with another large kingdom."
"Good work, Your Grace," Olivia said before ending the call. She leaned back in her chair, her left eye still closed. "Aside from Yuki, my eye is on him."
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