General Robert felt that he had offended the king, as he had been given the task of finding and rescuing Anastasia. He was a general responsible for warfare and strategy, not for searching for missing persons. When had he ever been in charge of such a task?
Moreover, looking at the information collected by the previous team searching for Anastasia, he felt it would be better to start afresh.
Anastasia had disappeared into the sea, and not a single trace of her had been found since. There had been no tempest at the time of the incident, so even if she had drowned, finding her should have been easy. Yet, there was no sign of her; not even an earring had fallen off to be found.
"Start the investigation from the evening they arrived at Wiwell Village up until they left shore. Since there is no evidence in the sea, send people to all the shores within the kingdom and those leading to Eastern Gube," Robert ordered after secretly cursing the king in his heart.
It would have been easier if he had begun the investigation immediately after the incident, but five days had already passed. If those spies were really from Gube, then their tracks would already be well covered. Finding Anastasia or even a clue would be much more difficult.
"Father, what can I do?" his eldest son asked. After all, his father’s failure would affect the entire family.
"Set up checkpoints from Wiwell Village to the front lines of the war. Conduct random searches and capture any citizens of Gube still within our territory. Anyone could be a spy or aiding the spies in hiding," General Robert instructed. He would rather make a mistake and kill the wrong person than allow a traitor to escape.
In any case, if he could not find the princess, he wanted as many hostages from Gube as possible to serve as a means for the king to vent his anger.
"You will send a message to Velmoria and instruct them to block any ships from Gube," General Robert ordered his second son.
Velmoria was not as large as Nixel or Gube, but it was surrounded by water and valleys. Its unique geography made it difficult to attack yet easy to defend. Moreover, the kingdom was prosperous, with a strong naval presence and flourishing trade.
Although Velmoria was small, its strategic location and military strength meant that other kingdoms preferred to trade and maintain good relations with it rather than provoke conflict.
The king of Velmoria was wise, maintaining neutrality between Gube and Nixel during times of war. This did not mean that there were no opportunists seeking to exploit the kingdom, but it had remained standing.
The message that General Robert’s second son was sending was to alert Velmoria that Gube had kidnapped the princess of Nixel, thereby ensuring they would not allow any passage to Gube. Doing so would mean choosing a side in the conflict.
After issuing his orders, General Robert decided to visit the Earl of Everstead. Since the first attack had taken place in the earl’s territory, he felt it best to meet with him personally.
Earl of Everstead’s Residence
Lord Williams had business to attend to that day, but when he received word of General Robert’s visit, he immediately guessed the reason. He summoned his stewards, as Wiwell, the village by the sea, was primarily involved in his trade business. His stewards dealt with merchants who came to buy goods.
The news of the princess’s kidnapping was no longer new. The royal family had been making every effort to find her. As an earl, he could not remain ignorant of the situation.
The royal family had gone straight to the region to investigate, so he had initially kept his distance from the matter. Moreover, since the crown princess had gone missing at sea; a domain managed by the royal family he had no authority there. This allowed him to feign indifference.
However, now that General Robert was coming, he had to make preparations.
"My lord, Steward Gray is in charge of that area. I have summoned him to the residence. He should arrive before the general does," his trusted aide informed him.
"Alright, prepare a feast. Although General Robert is here to investigate, we must still welcome him properly," Lord Williams instructed.
"I will carry out my lord’s orders," the aide bowed and left the study.
When Steward Gray arrived, he was nervous. This was the first time he was meeting the earl, despite having used his name to dominate business in Wiwell.
"My lord," he bowed respectfully.
"Have you noticed anything unusual in Wiwell these past few days?" Lord Williams asked, getting straight to the point.
The common people were already aware that the prince’s wife was missing, so Steward Gray understood why his lord was asking.
"My lord, nothing unusual has happened. I did hear of an attack on the royal army a few days ago, but it was reported that the attackers were mere thieves. I don’t know any more details," Steward Gray answered with a bow.
"Did you not notice anything at all?" Lord Williams pressed.
"My lord, the only notable event was a young lady claiming to be the daughter of Duke Thompson purchasing a servant from us," Steward Gray replied. He was still uncertain about Anastasia’s true identity, so he mentioned this incident in case it was relevant.
When Lord Williams heard the name, he frowned. He was well aware that the crown prince had married the daughter of Duke Thompson.
What were the chances that the person his steward was referring to was the crown princess? Especially since the timeline matched.
"Tell me in detail what happened that day," Lord Williams ordered. He hoped and prayed that he was not in any way entangled in the matter.
Steward Gray took a deep breath and recounted the events. He remembered that Anastasia had warned him not to mention the caravan to anyone. Furthermore, he did not dare reveal to his lord what he had done.
He had planned to use the fifty silver coins to cover the expenses of the journey. After all, there was no way to justify his actions to Lord Williams.
The inn was his private business, and he did not want his lord to discover his dealings.
Lord Williams listen and did not find anything ode in the story. Many noble pretend to be kind in such situations.
"Did you see the lady’s face clearly?" Lord Williams asked. If it was truly the crown princess, there was a chance that she had remained hidden from sight. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel_fіre.net
"Yes," Steward Gray answered.
Hearing this, Lord Williams smiled and ordered an artist to be summoned to sketch the woman based on Gray’s description.