Back at the castle, the King was in an uproar.
"What did you say?! What do you mean the princess is missing? How could she escape from the castle? Find her!"
The day after the search in the library, Adi had decided to check on Damia since she had not yet left her room and it was well past midday. On his way to her chamber, he heard Prince Elric in a rage, so he walked passed Damia's room to see what was causing the commotion.
Prince Elric was outside of his bed chamber, berating the captain of his palace guards.
"I'm telling you, Castor, someone has been in my room and taken things out that should have remained 'til now! Pollux remained guarding when I left for my hunting trip so surely, he must know who entered, and if not, then what explanation can there be for my missing articles?"
"Young Master, I spoke with Pollux, but he is adamant that only servants entered and none left with more than what they brought. No one in the castle would dare steal from you or anyone else. They know that doing so would mean certain death so of all things for which they could risk their lives, why, Sir, would they steal a shirt and a pair of pants?"
"And my journal? That has gone missing as well."
Adi approached the pair. "Prince Elric, Sir Castor is right. None of the servants would dare risk their lives for such items. There must be some misunderstanding."
"Were you on this side of the castle yesterday as well that you can attest to no one having entered?"
"No, I was not, but perhaps milady can shed some light as she retired to her chambers early yesterday. I was just on my way to check on her as she also hasn't left her room today."
Prince Elric consented to speaking with Damia for any information she may possess. He marched over to her room, with the two men following behind.
Banging on the door, Elric yelled, "Damia, open this door immediately. This is of urgent matter."
He waited. No response. He banged louder still.
"Damia, open up."
Adi was getting annoyed with how cruely Prince Elric was speaking. "Perhaps milady is fearful to open the door because Your Highness is so abrasive."
Elric glared at Adi with an intense anger that if looks could kill, Adi would have been dead on the floor.
Ignoring the Prince, Adi stepped around him and up to the door. "Milady, the prince only wishes to ask you a few questions regarding anything you may have witnessed between last night and today. Could you please open the door for us?"
They waited in silent anticipation, but still, no response came from Damia's side.
"That's it. Sir Castor, I demand that you open this door immediately, by order of the Prince."
Sir Castor was nervous. He was the Prince's captain, but he would be intruding on the Princess' chamber. If he disobeyed, he would be severely punished. If he opened the door and the Princess be indecent, he would also be severely punished. What was he to do in this situation?
He stepped up to the door, hesitantly. "Princess Damia, I beg of you, please open this door. If you do not, I will be forced to open it by order of the Prince. I will give you until the count of five, and if you have not yet opened the door, then I suggest you prepare yourself as I will force the door open. One...Two...Three...Four...Five..."
Sir Castor was still hesitating.
"Enough with the waiting, Sir Castor, open the door immediately!" Elric demanded.
Enhancing the strength of his leg, Sir Castor broke down the door with one swift kick. As the dust from the falling door settled, they looked around and found the room to be empty. The Princess' bed did not even appear to have been slept in last night.
Furious, Elric turned to Adi. "Did you not say that the Princess returned to her chambers early last night, and that she has not been seen out since leaving you yesterday? How do you explain her empty room?"
Adi was just as surprised as everyone else to find that the room was empty, but he had lost his patience with the Prince. "Prince Elric, I understand your frustrations, but do not take them out on me. The Princess did retire early yesterday. And while I did not accompany her to see her off, I confirmed with the guard that stood watch last night that she made it to her chambers. For the last several weeks, we have been meeting at the library every morning, and when she did not arrive today, I spoke with the guard that stood watch earlier, who stated he had not seen her depart from her room. Let's do keep in mind that the guards rotate. It's very possible that she left while they were on rotation which would explain why she is not found here now."
Adi's explanation was sound, and Elric realized that he was going overboard with his reactions, especially now that they discovered Damia's disappearance. He took a breath to center his thoughts and process this rationally.
"Fine, the Princess is not here, but now that possess a greater question. Where IS the Princess? Sir Castor, please put together a group to search the castle grounds. Surely, she must still be here, perhaps she just went unnoticed as she moved about the castle."
"As you command, Your Highness."
Sir Castor left to do as the Prince had commanded.
Elric then turned to Adi.
"And you're sure she never made it to the library? Did you come from there when you came looking for her initially?"
Adi couldn't believe Prince Elric would ask such an unnecessary question, but he replied politely, "That is correct, Prince Elric. Damia did not appear in the library at all today. I have been in there alone all day."
"Alright, then as much as I hate to do this, we should inform the King of her disappearance."
"Don't you think it's too soon? What if we find her? We'll look like fools that needlessly involved him."
"It's a risk we'll have to take, because the opposite extreme of that outweighs it. Say an enemy of the crown somehow managed to infiltrate the castle and kidnapped the Princess, failure to report it to the King could lead to losing precious time in mounting a rescue."
"I see your point. Fine, but do you need me to go with you for this?"
"Yes, he'll want you to tell him about your side of the story so taking you with me now saves us the time later."
Adi consented to the Prince's plans and they both departed to speak with the King.