After gathering information that did nothing but affirm some of the various unpleasant guesses we’d made, we entered Sylvario’s capital.
We headed straight for the royal capital in hopes that we could share what we knew and confirm the situation. Since we sent advance notice that we were on our way, we were granted an audience with the king almost immediately, even despite my fearsome reputation.
Was I let in so quickly because Sylvario also recognized the urgency of the situation? Or were they just as surprised as the rest of us? Whatever the case, it was clear that they were telegraphing to us that they had no intention of making an enemy of Brigandia again.
My speculation didn’t end up very far off the mark. Not only was the king present in the audience chamber, but all of the high-ranking nobles were as well, and everyone seemed baffled by the situation.
After performing the bare minimum of social niceties, I recounted the situation and had one of the Sylvarian knights back up my claims, serving to deepen the bewilderment in the room.
“I understand the situation,” the king said. “But, Sir McGuine, Sonia did indeed leave the palace.”
“What?”
According to the king, Princess Sonia had left for Brigandia with ample time to reach the border by the planned date. Yet there had been no sightings of her at the inn of the town closest to the capital, and the road between the two was among the safest we’d seen in Sylvario, without even a hint of a dangerous atmosphere. If the princess and her entourage had been attacked, then there absolutely would have been evidence left behind.
“But would that not mean that Her Royal Highness disappeared within the walls of the capital?” I asked.
“That’s also impossible. If she had been attacked in the capital, guards would have rushed to aid her and reported the incident.”
Hmm? Why does that sound off to me?
The king’s words were sensible, yet something about it stuck out to me. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I made a mental note to remember it.
The current way things were going, however, seemed to indicate that we might hit a dead end.
“I do not doubt Your Majesty, but with your permission, may I view the records of departures from the palace in order to confirm?”
“Your insolence would normally warrant you a rebuke, but it seems there’s no time for such things. I will permit it, but due to the possibility that you may touch on classified information, I will have someone authorized accompany you. Captain Eisendarque, I leave that to you.”
“By your will.”
The middle-aged man who bowed reverently had been introduced as Count Boris von Eisendarque. Despite the thirty-something man’s dark brown hair and eyes, shapely mustache, and gentlemanly attire, his body was well trained.
Our eyes met.
He’s the real deal.
He seemed like someone who had plenty of combat experience, and wasn’t a mere figurehead; both his powerful gaze and general demeanor suggested a man well acquainted with battle. Had the situation not been as it was, I would’ve loved the chance to spar with him.
But this was the guy assigned to keep me in line—to put me down if I went rogue. They saw me as a threat, and a big one at that. I didn’t blame them for being cautious.
Though all that’s beside the point.
Taking into account Sir Eisendarque’s busy schedule—his position and abilities would imply nothing less—we made our way first to the palace’s gate to view the travel records, however...
“It seems that there are no records of a carriage bearing the crest of the royal family leaving the palace.”
“What?!”
After I said that, Sir Eisendarque ripped the log book from my hands frantically, eyes like saucers as he read through it. He reviewed it over and over again, seemingly finding nothing to contradict me before finally turning to me, aghast.
Why are you looking at me like that?
“Wh-What is the meaning of this?” he asked.
“I should be the one asking that question. No matter how you look at this, the only thing this proves is that Her Royal Highness Princess Sonia never left.”
Whether he was unexpectedly weak-willed or he truly hadn’t expected this answer at all, Sir Eisendarque was panicking. I remained calm. But seriously, what in the world was happening here?
It was then that one of the gate guards who’d overheard our exchange chimed in. “Um, if you’re wondering about Her Royal Highness Princess Sonia, the lack of record is most likely because she wasn’t permitted to use any carriages bearing the mark of the royal family.”
“What?!”
Sir Eisendarque and my voices overlapped in beautiful harmony.
According to the gate guards, the elder princesses and queen consort had forbidden Princess Sonia to use carriages that bore the mark of the royal family. Such a thing was common knowledge between the guards at the gate, but hadn’t spread far enough to reach Sir Eisendarque as the knight commander.
“Ah, here it is!” the guard exclaimed. “Her Royal Highness left with one coachman and one maid, just like always.”
“WHAT?!”
Our voices harmonized once again.
Why in the world would a princess leave with so few attendants...? AH!
“That’s it! That’s why what His Majesty said sounded strange! He assumed Her Royal Highness’s carriage could be attacked, even though that chance would be next to zero if Her Royal Highness was sent with proper protection!”
“Ah, ahhh?!”
After I inadvertently screeched that out, Sylvario’s knight commander let out something akin to a scream...and the gate guards just stared at us in confusion.
Yes, from their point of view, they were probably wondering how we hadn’t known, or were simply surprised that we were only asking about it now.
Since these guards were most likely commoners, or at most the second or third sons of barons, they had no idea that even for the daughter of a viscount, leaving home with only a coachman and a single maid was totally unthinkable. The fact that a princess had been sent off like that was something that should never have happened, but apparently it did, and often.
“As the knight commander, how did you go so long not knowing this? Was it out of your jurisdiction?”
“Yes. The Royal Guard handles the protection of the royal family... What in the blazes are they doing?!”
Sir Eisendarque was outraged, roughly scratching his head. Just the fact that he was able to keep himself from throwing hands despite his obvious anger and confusion at the awful situation showed how levelheaded he was. His clear and strong upset demonstrated that he’d really had no idea this was going on.
Every nation had their factions, so there wasn’t much that we could do about his ignorance. But in this case, it was his very ignorance that led to this missing princess crisis... No, now was not the time to be pointing fingers.
Is she safe? I hope she’s safe.
I was worried, but just worrying would get us nowhere.
“Judging from the date,” I said, recalling what I knew, “it does look like they left early enough that if they kept a good pace, they could have reached the border with days to spare. With one coachman and one maid, for a total of three people, it’s doubtful they’d have enough luggage to draw attention. It seems that she truly did leave on her betrothal journey to Brigandia on this date, though she did so with barely anything to her name.”
“How, how could this be...? Then Her Royal Highness was...!”
Though it wasn’t out of the question for her coachman and maid to have superhuman strength, if they didn’t, then chances were high that something had happened to the small party of three as they traveled along all those unsafe highways.
More than anything, the reason we hadn’t found anything during our investigations was crystal clear; we had been looking for carriages that bore the royal crest, but Princess Sonia’s carriage hadn’t had one. Obviously there had been no sightings.
Which, to our deep misfortune, meant that we would have to start our search all over again.
“One more thing bothers me. His Majesty hadn’t received any interim reports that Her Royal Highness had passed through the city gates. There’s a chance that they weren’t even allowed to send one at all. Sir Eisendarque, to start, I would like to view the records regarding all comings and goings from the capital’s gate. I’d also like to see any attendants’ records regarding what Her Royal Highness had left with in the way of a trousseau.”
“It would make further investigation in the towns along the highway easier if one knew all those things. I will have them prepared for you immediately.”
Once I saw Sir Eisendarque nod, seemingly composed once again, I began giving orders to my subordinates. Gale and company would join Sylvario’s knights in checking the records of who came and went through the capital’s gate. As the highest ranking person and the one with all of the special envoy perks, I remained in the palace to check various records with Sir Eisendarque.
And so, as we began retracing Her Royal Highness’s footsteps...