“What do you mean?”
Caesar looked at me, clearly not understanding.
“You’re saying Floria left the box seat on her own? Why would she?”
“Well, that part…”
Alvin, standing nearby, chimed in.
“But if she left of her own accord, wouldn’t there be no reason to hide it from His Majesty?”
I hesitated, then answered.
“She could have been threatened or tricked. If that were the case, the person responsible would’ve told her to keep it from Your Majesty.”
“There were no signs of that…”
Caesar trailed off.
‘True…’
Security at the snow festival had been intense. If Floria had made contact with someone, it must’ve been before the event.
But throughout the entire festival, Floria didn’t seem like someone under duress. She had acted completely normal. And she wasn’t someone particularly good at pretending.
“…Could she have planned to meet someone beforehand?”
“Who could that possibly be? You know Floria was under constant guard. She knows that too. She wouldn’t have broken away from her protection unless it was someone extremely trustworthy and the meeting was very important.”
“Hm…”
That was true as well. Even though Floria was young, she wasn’t thoughtless. She would’ve known exactly what kind of uproar would follow if she disappeared without a word.
Unless it was someone she trusted deeply, and the meeting was truly urgent, she would never have done something like this.
‘Then who? Who does Floria trust more than anyone…?’
Just then, noise erupted outside the door—and it burst open.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, please—!”
Bang—the door slammed shut again, swallowing the guards’ frantic voices.
Standing there was the Empress. Shocked, we all rose to our feet at once.
“We greet Your Majesty the Empress.”
But her gaze was locked solely on Caesar.
“Floria… Floria…”
Her voice trembled. It had been months since I last saw the Empress, and she looked thinner than before.
Now, with Floria missing, her face had gone pale, her eyes red and burning. She looked as if she’d seen the depths of hell—beyond anger, beyond despair.
“Your Majesty, please sit—”
Caesar tried to speak, but it only provoked her further.
She stormed over and grabbed Caesar by the collar.
“Your Majesty!”
Alvin flinched and tried to step in, but Caesar held him back.
“Why did you go to that festival? It’s you, isn’t it? You did this to my daughter—!”
The Empress ]glared at Caesar as if she would kill him. But her hand, clenching his collar, trembled so much it looked more pitiful than violent.
“Because of you… Floria…”
And then, the Empress collapsed.
She sank to the floor, trembling. We could hear the sound of her stifled sobs.
I stood frozen, unsure of what to do.
Caesar looked down at the Empress sitting before him and then spoke to us quietly.
“Everyone, leave.”
“…Your Majesty.”
“Go.”
Alvin looked back repeatedly in worry, but finally stepped out. Olche followed, and I left last, holding Katana’s hand.
The moment we stepped into the hallway, the guards looked at us with curious expressions.
“…Let’s go to my room.”
There was no way we could talk here, so I led Alvin, Olche, and Katana to my quarters.
Even once we arrived, no one spoke. We were still reeling from the Empress’ state—and we didn’t have much to say.
I had a lot on my mind. When I tried to think of who Floria would trust enough to leave without a word, the first person who had come to mind was the Empress.
I’d thought maybe she’d hidden Floria somewhere for political or safety reasons.
But what we’d just seen— there was no way that was an act. I could say it with certainty: it wasn’t her.
‘Then who’s left…?’
Had the mastermind made another move? But all the nobles from the noble faction had been sitting calmly in their places.
‘Is there someone else?’
So far, the mastermind had never acted personally. There had always been someone else acting in their place. It made sense to assume the same this time.
But whoever it was— the how was the real problem. To disappear that quickly, unnoticed by anyone…
“They might have used teleportation magic.”
Katana, still holding tightly to my hand, spoke suddenly. Her face was pale, clearly shaken by Floria’s disappearance.
“They teleported into the box, took Floria, and teleported out again.”
“But I thought you said teleportation magic was really difficult.”
Katana nodded slightly.
“It is… But if it was someone who made that kind of magical tool, who knows…”
Alvin quickly countered.
“Teleportation magic is impossible inside the box.”
“Impossible? But the other magic tools worked.”
“Then it must’ve been a teleportation scroll!”
Katana looked hopeful, but Alvin shook his head again.
“We had all spatial magic—including teleportation scrolls—disabled in advance. We considered the possibility of a kidnapping too.”
“Then what was it?!”
Katana looked like she was about to cry. The more we talked, the deeper the mystery seemed to get.
Then Olche, who had been quiet the whole time, finally spoke.
“What matters now isn’t how Her Highness disappeared— but where she is. That’s what we need to figure out if we’re going to rescue her.”
Silence fell over the room once more.
‘Floria…’
Olche was right. We had to find her—and fast. No one knew where she was or what was happening to her. And in the worst-case scenario…
‘Please…’
I shut my eyes tightly and prayed.
*****
A day had passed. But there were still no leads, and Floria had not returned.
Caesar had ordered that finding Floria was to take precedence over everything else. Everyone who attended the snow festival was subjected to an intense investigation.
Particularly the staff of the princess’s palace. The maids and guards who were in the box seat with Floria were detained and questioned, and the entrances to her palace were sealed.
The Empress Dowager emerged from her quarters and resumed official activity. Naturally, she was more invested than anyone in locating Floria.
“Um, Your Majesty. Can I ask you something?”
I carefully spoke to Caesar. The two of us were in his office, going through the background checks of everyone who had attended the festival, searching for any connections to Floria.
“Of course.”
Caesar looked up from the documents as he replied. His tone was gentle, but his face, sleepless from the night before, showed deep fatigue.
“What did you and Her Majesty the Empress talk about yesterday?”
Honestly, I’d expected things to get explosive after seeing the Empress’ reaction. I thought she might completely sever ties with Caesar—or that this would turn into a major political crisis.
But surprisingly, it seemed she had decided to work with Caesar. They were cooperating to find Floria.
“…I apologized.”
“You apologized?”
“For taking her to the snow festival. And I told her I would do whatever it takes to bring Floria back.”
Looking into Caesar’s eyes, I felt I could guess why the Empress Dowager had changed her stance.
She had probably known, deep down, that this wasn’t Caesar’s fault. She had just needed somewhere to direct her grief.
I looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
“…It’s not your fault, Your Majesty. You know that, don’t you?”
Caesar looked down again at the documents. A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
I, too, turned back to the files, but my head was swirling with unanswered questions.
‘If this incident was really orchestrated by the same mastermind, then… why?’
Up until now, everything the mastermind had done was meant to dethrone Caesar. Even the poisoning attempt on Floria years ago had the same goal.
But now, Floria wasn’t a successor to the throne. Her kidnapping wouldn’t threaten Caesar’s reign in the slightest.
No clear suspect. No clear motive. No clear method. Nothing made sense.
I swallowed a sigh and tried to focus back on the documents. But then— a sharp voice rang in my ear.
<What?!>
Startled, I raised my head. The shout in my ear belonged to none other than Viscount Krause.
‘Ah… the listening device…’
I had forgotten about it completely, distracted by everything happening with Floria.
I had set the volume to the lowest setting, so Krause’s voice until now had been barely louder than the buzz of an insect.
‘What’s going on that she’d yell like that?’
A chill of unease crept over me along with my curiosity. I quickly turned up the volume. Krause’s voice came through clearly.
<Is that true?>
I couldn’t hear the person on the other end. They were likely using a magical communication tool, unless they were speaking from far away.
<But how?>
Krause’s voice was filled with tension.
<So the former princess is still alive?>
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