"Lady Maris is missing. The servants don’t know where she’s gone, but it’s been over three weeks since anyone last saw her," Cielo said, her voice low. "I doubt she’s traveling with Lisbeth."
The two of them had visited the royal palace just two weeks ago and had trained with Lisbeth that day. Lisbeth hadn’t ntioned her mother’s absence, which made it seem likely that she wasn’t even aware Lady Maris had vanished before she herself disappeared.
"Where could she be?" Lumi muttered, her brow furrowing in concern.
They split up again, combing through every corner of the palace. Whenever they saw soone pass by, they’d stop and ask. If two or three servants were walking together, they’d question each one, hoping to catch so detail they hadn’t noticed before.
After regrouping, they compared notes, but nothing concrete had co up. No one seed to have any useful information about Lisbeth’s whereabouts.
"Did anyone ntion the northern tower?" Cielo asked.
"They did," Lumi replied. "But is that even relevant?"
Cielo paused, thinking hard. "Rember? Lisbeth seed worried about Florian. I distinctly rember her saying that he’s kept in the northern tower."
"But all the servants were relieved from duties related to the northern tower," Lumi pointed out. "It’s practically abandoned now."
"Exactly! No servants around the northern tower ans there’s no one who can testify to what’s been happening there. We have to check it out!"
Lumi’s heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t a fighter. She had always been the weakest among the trio, and even though she’d fought in the battle against Elder Alfred’s team, doubt still gnawed at her confidence.
"Will it even help?" Lumi asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She clung to the hope that they would find Lisbeth in her chamber, safe and sound under the blanket as if nothing had happened. But deep down, Cielo could tell that sothing was wrong.
She smacked Lumi’s arm, forcing her to et her gaze. "Do you even care about her?"
"Of course I do!" Lumi snapped back, but the words felt hollow. Fear and the desire to protect a friend were two very different things, and in that mont, Lumi felt the weight of both.
"Then let’s go! We survived one battle. What’s stopping us now?" Cielo’s voice was sharp, filled with the fierce determination that had grown in her since their fight against Elder Alfred. She was no longer the hesitant girl she once was.
Lumi wished bravery could be contagious. But it wasn’t. She opened her mouth to respond, but the words stuck in her throat, swallowed by the fear that had lodged itself in her chest.
In the end, Lumi followed her more fearless friend to the northern tower. The mont her foot touched the cold stone floor, a shiver crawled up her spine.
It was as if the very air around her was charged with sothing unseen, a warning that whispered through every fiber of her being, urging her to turn back. The comfort of her familiar life seed so distant now.
She reached for Cielo’s hand, her fingers trembling slightly, and whispered, "I don’t think there’s anything here. Maybe... we should co back later—bring the adults with us."
That seed like the wisest course. After all, they were just young adults. What could they possibly do in the face of sothing powerful and unknown?
Even during the battle against Elder Alfred, their roles had been peripheral, re supporters until the true forces stepped in. Lisbeth, who had fought at the front lines, had stood bravely in the thick of it.
If soone as strong as her had fallen, what hope did they, the re supporters, have against whatever danger was hiding here?
But the thick tension in the air sparked a different realization in Cielo. While Lumi saw the looming threat as a danger to herself, Cielo viewed it as a danger to Lisbeth—their dear friend.
If she turned back now, who could say with certainty that Lisbeth was still safe?
Of course, she shouldn’t have made a hasty judgnt. The princess could very well be sipping tea in so hidden room, laughing with Florian, but Lumi didn’t believe that for a second. Sothing was off—this place wasn’t just a silent, empty tower. There was darkness here.
No, sothing had gone terribly wrong. And it had happened to Lisbeth.
Every second counted. Returning to fetch the adults would waste precious ti, and who knew what could unfold in that gap?
Lumi had learned the hard way that adults didn’t always act swiftly, even when the truth was clear. She had spoken up in the past, but more often than not, their help had arrived too late. She couldn’t afford to wait now.
"There’s no ti. Lisbeth may need us now. And I an now," Cielo said firmly. She stepped forward without hesitation—each movent careful and deliberate, as if trying not to disturb the sleeping darkness around them.
She ventured deeper into the northern tower. Like any abandoned part of a castle, the air was thick with dust, untouched and heavy. It was too much to expect the princess to keep this place clean, in addition to delivering his als. Naturally, the northern tower had fallen into complete disarray.
The wooden stairs groaned beneath their weight, each step echoing through the silence. Aside from the pounding of Lumi’s heartbeat, it was the only sound filling the space.
"It’s just Fangless’s brother. What are you so afraid of?" Cielo muttered, glancing over her shoulder at Lumi, who was trembling behind her.
Despite her words, Cielo remained cautious. Lisbeth had ntioned how much Florian had changed since his return.
How different could he really be? she wondered. He’s still just a young vampire. She was confident she could handle him if it ca down to it.
But what Cielo hadn’t considered—what she failed to grasp—was that Florian hadn’t simply changed.
He hadn’t grown up. He had beco soone else entirely.
SCREECH!!
The sudden crash startled the girls, forcing them to stifle their screams—especially Lumi, who looked monts away from fainting.
Cielo, however, reacted differently. Without hesitation, she let go of Lumi and sprinted toward the source of the noise. She skidded to a stop near a corridor, where a gust of cold night air rushed in through an open window.
No—not open. Broken.
She hurried to the window and peered outside. Jagged shards of glass glittered on the grass below, their sharp edges catching the moonlight. The break had co from the inside. Soone—or sothing—had escaped.
The trees beyond swayed violently, their leaves rustling as if disturbed by a sudden, forceful movent. Whoever had been here was already gone.
The air, once thick and suffocating, felt lighter now.
Cielo’s pulse quickened.
This is our chance.
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