Emery's efforts to follow the prince all day had finally paid off with the conversation between father and son he managed to witness.
First, from how they spoke of it, it seemed both father and son were still in the dark regarding the circumstances surrounding Sir Bagdemagus' death.
Second, it was evident the prince's friendly demeanor towards the princess was not purely out of kindness, but clouded with ulterior motives. Like the other kingdoms, Logress was tempted to seize the Lioness' rich territory and lands to secure their own power and had no regard for the princess herself.
He was not too concerned about the first part, but he would be lying if he denied feeling annoyed due to what the prince said. At first, he thought of the prince as a decent man and perhaps, a good companion for the princess, but after what he heard, he changed his mind. The shell of a chivalrous, smiling golden knight he saw at the tournament has cracked, revealing the manipulative character underneath.
Emery waited still even as their conversation ended and followed the prince, as he walked out of the throne room. This time, he was more determined to find anything that could be used against the prince.
It was not long pass noon, but after the throne room fiasco, Emery only saw the prince head back to his chamber to rest.
He waited, cloaked with his spell, for the prince next move. Though he considered waiting as wasting time, its somehow too risky going in right now, He would rather not have the whole Logress castle residents chasing him in an open daylight.
He wait just a little bit more, but when the sun sets, his patience wanes.
He decided to move into the chamber, not caring about the risk anymore.
However, before he managed to cast his [Spatial Gate] spell and sneak into the prince's chambers, the door started to open with a creak. The prince looked around and walked with quiet but hurried steps.
The prince walked out of the Logress castle, took his horse from the stables and rode away in the middle of the night. This was definitely suspicious, naturally Emery followed him in hopes that, this time, the prince would lead him to Morgana.
Emery ran as quickly as he could and followed the galloping horse towards the forest. The prince kept on riding and went into a forest around an hour away from the Logress family.
Finally, the prince stopped at an estate standing right in the middle of the forest. Though the house was not particularly big, it was quite luxurious, with gilded gates and pure white walls despite being hidden this deep.
Around the gate, stood a few guards, some of them nodding as if on the verge of falling asleep. Emery hid himself behind the trees and used his spirit reading around the area to discover at least a dozen people inside the estate.
By concentrating his spirit reading, Emery felt there was a multiple-layer barrier on the basement of this building, which of course only made him worry. What if Morgana was held against her will inside one of those dungeons? What did they do to her?
Emery's heart started to race. The thought of her being tortured scared him more than he would like to admit.
There's no need to hide, not anymore. There was no one here and, if Morgana wasn't here, he would confront the prince, beat him senseless if he had to. Emery was determined to find out the truth about Morgana.
Emery dashed through the gate, his spell ensuring he would be able to move undetected. But, when he just a few steps away from the estate, he heard a shout.
Someone had spotted him. Considering it was not easy to detect his presence while cloaked under [Hide in Shadow], the person must be really skillful.
He could just cast [Blink] and run away just like last time, but he decided against it. He walked closer and approached the figure who shouted towards him.
Now that he was closer, Emery could see it was Gaious, the court wizard. Not long after the golden prince himself walked out of the estate and stood next to the old man.
"Who are you? What do you want?" The prince stared intently, trying to find out about the unknown face beneath the black robe.
There was no need for introductions. Emery decided to go straight to the point.
"I came here regarding a certain girl, a Chrutin girl. I have reasons to believe you kept her here."
The prince and Gaious were both startled and took a step back. The guards from the gate had gathered around and started to surround them.
"My prince, fortunately I have prepared a barrier spell, or else we wouldn't have been able to spot him."
The prince narrowed his eyes and he pulled his sword before pointing its tip at Emery. Whoever he was, he decided to sneak around at night and that was never a good sign.
"So, tell me, who you are and I will consider your question"
Emery was quite surprised with the prince's response, but considering what he heard today, he would not trust this two faced prince
"Just tell me where she is?!"
The golden prince seemed lost for words not answering the question. The old man next to him said.
"Prince, we should capture this person first, and ask the question later. If this is the same person I felt before, I'm worried he could run without a trace like last time"
The prince nodded and said
"Yes but refrain from hurting him too badly, I need to interrogate him"
Hearing such words made Emery curious how strong this wizard is.
He was sure this old wizard won't be able to defeat him unless he's a legendary being like the lady of the lake, but he can't be too careful.
To further hide his identity, not to get his sword skill recognized by the prince, Emery decided to take out his pitch black dagger instead.
The old man raises his hand and Emery can feel the weave of spirit energy formed around him and a spell was cast.
The next moment? Emery felt the ground under his feet shake and roots come out trying to catch him. It was a very familiar [Entangled], a tier 1 plant element.
If this old wizard can only cast tier 1 spell, there's really nothing to worry about
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,