“Since he must be there, we need to leave horses behind,” Drayce suggested. The two sped their horses towards the Grand Palace where the other knights took away the horses.

Drayce talked to Jasper who was waiting by the entrance, about to escort him back to his study. “Handle the paperwork for now and put aside those requesting an audience at a later time. I need to leave the palace.”

“What? You can’t! Where are you sneaking off to–” Jasper was about to nag at him, but then realized something and changed his tone. “I mean, Your Majesty, how long will you be gone?”

“My friend is here,” Drayce replied vaguely, aware his trusted aide would understand.

“Ah, like every year,” Jasper said with a nod. “Rest assured. I will take care of everything as usual.”

Drayce looked at Slayer who was ready to leave with him.

“Wait, are you taking him with you, Your Majesty?” Jasper asked.

“He is Slayer’s friend as well,” Draven replied.

“And what about me? I am his friend as well…”

“But you need to take care of work. I will let him know that you were dying to meet him,” Drayce said with a sarcastic tone.

“Dying? That’s too much of an exaggeration. Fine, fine, I’m used to being treated like a poor slave. You two can leave now so you can hurry back,” Jasper agreed as he imagined the pile of work left for him to finish in the King’s study.

The three men went their separate ways, with the King’s aide heading back to his office while the King and his guardian knight went inside one of the empty chambers before disappearing.

Drayce and Slayer appeared on top of a cliff outside the city of Blackhelm. It was the very cliff from where he last saw his mother. At the edge of the cliff, a familiar tall figure could be seen standing while looking at the cloudy sky.

Brown hair flowing past his broad shoulders, the statuesque figure of a man clad in luxurious blue clothes that showed a style of another kingdom turned around the very moment he sensed the arrival of Drayce and Slayer. A pair of eyes with the deepest shade of sea blue turned towards them, and the owner of those eyes welcomed them with a smile.

“My friend, you are quick to know that I am here.”

A hint of a smile could also be seen on Drayce’s lips.

“My powers can sense your presence and you know that, Arlan.”

Arlan Cromwell, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Griven, raised a brow. “That, and also because you were waiting for me knowing I will be here at this time.”

“That too,” Drayce agreed. “I wished to get over dealing with annoyance at once so I can be free soon.”

“Free to go back to your wife?” Arlan asked, a teasing smile on his face as he let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. “They say after one gets a wife, one forgets their friends. You are proving this saying to be true.”

“I don’t mind it,” Drayce said as he walked to stand next to him near the edge of the cliff.

Arlan looked at the other man who was yet to say a word. “Good to see this annoying friend of ours not coming on his own. I didn’t expect him to bring you here this time.”

Slayer joined them near the edge, standing on the other side of Arlan. “Sometimes, he knows how to act reasonably.”

Arlan patted Slayer on the shoulder, as if commending him for his hard work. He then turned his attention back to the black-haired man. “Well, how was it? You seemed to have finished your search early this time. Did you find anything new?”

“I had to return in a day due to circumstances,” Drayce replied, “and I think I had been looking in the wrong direction all these years.”

“What do you mean?” Arlan asked.

Drayce explained to him about how Seren had that flower mark on her wrist that belonged to his mother and even told him why he had to return in just a day.

Arlan was surprised to know all these revelations. “Then, it is good news. Congratulations on finding a lead on your mother.”

Drayce agreed. “I hope to find her soon.”

“Even I want to thank her for making my life easier,” Arlan commented as decades-old memories surfaced in his mind. “If Queen Esther had not visited me in the past, I don’t know what I would have done. No one believed a four-year-old kid at that time but she did. She believed me and even helped me. I didn’t know it was the last time I would be seeing her.”

“Did you find out why my mother came to your kingdom at that time? I am sure she was not there only to see you. After that night, she returned to the palace but she didn’t tell me she met you,” Drayce spoke.

“I still couldn’t find it. At that time, other things caught my attention. The same night, the little girl who was betrothed to me disappeared as well along with her grandfather. I remember my father sending soldiers to search for them. I totally forgot about your mother’s visit, and there was also the promise I made to her. Aside from you, I didn’t tell anyone about her visit.”

“Can there be any relation between Her Majesty’s visit to Griven and the disappearance of your betrothed?” Slayer asked after a while.

“There must be. Intuition is saying it’s too much to be a coincidence. I am trying to find out more, but as you know, it’s been decades.” Arlan shrugged. “There are no clues left.”

“My mother is a meticulous person. She won’t leave anything behind. We can get answers only if we directly ask her,” Drayce commented.

“True, but well, we need to have you find Queen Esther first. I hope we can.”

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