The knight delighted in seeing her turn red all the way to her ears.
Oh. I get it now. It dawned on Lyse why Egbert and Alcede had seemed so exasperated of late. It was cute to see the couple flirt from afar like this, but being trapped in a room with them would be awful, Lyse thought. She made a mental note to herself to keep Sidis from going too far in the future when they weren’t alone, even though she knew he’d be absolutely devastated by this.
“I guess I’ll be on my way...” Lyse said as she stood up. She left her seat and set off toward the garden with her monsters in tow to go find Sidis.
“Miss Lyse,” called one of the female knights standing guard outside. “May I ask where you’re headed?”
“The dog that just ran out hasn’t come back yet, and I was getting a little worried...”
“Please stay inside and allow me to go instead,” the knight instructed Lyse, who reluctantly obliged.
Duke Lasuarl had ordered the knights to guard Lyse at Sidis’s request; the special treatment was because Lyse was in the enemy’s sights. If she bolted outside in defiance, the knights would chase her down, compromising the security. Lyse didn’t want to cause any trouble, so she waited patiently inside as she was asked. However, no news came after ten, then fifteen minutes.
This is just...because the palace is so big, right?
Perhaps they’d gone all the way to the other end of the palace. That would explain why it was taking so long to find them. Lyse knew she just needed to sit tight and wait. As she started to grow impatient again, Alcede made an unexpected appearance at the matchmaking event. He called out to Lyse and waved her over. She had a bad feeling about this, but hopefully Alcede wasn’t here about Sidis. She walked over to him, and they left the matchmaking venue for a private room nearby.
“We’ve lost His Majesty,” Alcede said gravely.
“You heard word from Lord Sidis?” Lyse asked to clarify.
“Yes, he checked in to say that he couldn’t locate the emperor.”
Sidis had tried to search out Egbert himself, but had given up when the search turned up no results. He’d even returned to human form and set out with a group of guards and knights, still to no avail. Then, sensing how dire the situation was, he had reported to Alcede.
“Seren is missing too. Is it true that His Majesty chased after him?” the duke asked.
Lyse nodded. “Could it be that Seren kidnapped him?” The very thought sickened her.
“More than likely, I’d say. I haven’t seen the Alstran prince around either—at least not since he ventured out into the capital for some sightseeing. Granted, he didn’t have a dog or have any luggage that could possibly fit a dog.”
“Where are they...?” Lyse wondered aloud.
They hadn’t anticipated Egbert would be so easily abducted. His mana was second only to Sidis’s and he could handily best any knight in a fight. But he was in his dog form, so perhaps he was afraid to blow his cover.
“Sidis is still tracking down Seren’s scent as of now,” said Alcede. That explained why Sidis had yet to return to Spring Hall. “But I worry. If His Majesty was so easily captured, then what of Sidis? I fear that his pursuit may lead to the same consequence...”
“Let me send my monsters to look!” Lyse exclaimed as she took out a pair from her pocket. A rabbit monster and a bird monster stirred atop her palm.
“They can do that?” Alcede asked.
“Since they heed the Light within me, I assume they can sense it within Sidis too.”
Lyse released the monsters into the palace, and they came back after ten or so minutes.
“Did you find them?” she asked.
The monsters didn’t respond, however. They simply stood there as if waiting for another order.
“I suppose they’re not around then,” deduced Alcede.
“Does that mean His Majesty was spirited out of the palace and that Sidis has gone into the city to look for him?” Lyse asked, a grave look on her face.
“I’d wager so. Perhaps they’ve set a trap for you, using your beloved pet dog as bait.”
“No!” Lyse shouted.
Her mind raced back to her last moments as Qatora. An intruder had broken into the palace and grabbed Sidis—still a child at the time. She’d rushed to save the boy, but with a sword at his neck and his captor approaching the Light of Origin, neither she nor Sidis could fight back with magic. And now, the emperor was potentially the one in mortal danger.
“I’ve got to go help!” Lyse cried. “I’m heading to the capital!”
Alcede placed his hand on her shoulder as she rushed for the door in a panic. “Take a deep breath, Miss Lyse. You needn’t run—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a knight barged into the room. “Your Grace! Please, take a look at this at once!” The knight handed Alcede a folded piece of paper. “We came across this in a hallway near Spring Hall while searching for the white dog.”
“In the hall, you say...?” Alcede opened the note and perused it, his expression turning grim. “How troublesome. Expand the search to the capital city,” he ordered the knight. “And Miss Lyse, please take a gander.”
With that, Alcede handed the note over to Lyse. She expected it had something to do with the emperor. It contained a hastily scribbled ransom note: “You’ll be given a location later. Come alone to save Lyse Winslette’s dog, but consider it dead if you bring so much as a single soldier or monster with you.”
“They took him...” Lyse said as she bit her lower lip. Internally, she kicked herself for letting this happen by not chasing after Seren. “His Majesty must be so scared...”
“What? No, no. His Majesty is a grown man.” Alcede shook his head, dismissing the notion. “But we needn’t wait for his signal to rescue him either. You’d best go at once.”
“I ought to, but how?” she asked, quizzically tilting her head to one side.
“Just as you did before—use your monsters. I doubt that they could ferry a dog away from the capital so soon, and they’re very likely to have a safe house in the city. If your monsters can’t find them by detecting their stones, surely they should still be able to track down someone with as much mana as His Majesty.”
That clicked for Lyse. The monsters could detect mana, and the emperor was a big target. Still, she wasn’t sure they should go out alone.
“If I use my monsters, then I’d have to go out to the capital too,” she said, pointing to herself. She couldn’t be too far away from the monsters lest they lose control, and the city was definitely out of range.