"You're finally here. Thought you were not going to make it. I was about to go back to get you!" said Riza when Reeve arrived carrying Eskaria. She was sitting on the front-seat of an open carriage. The horses were ready.
"Where's Soren?" asked Reeve, as he gently placed Eskaria on the carriage. She looked better. 'The fresh air must have made her better', thought Reeve, as he climbed the carriage.
"I don't know. I left him behind, have you forgotten?"
"Well, he went out after you. If he didn't come here, doesn't that mean he went home?"
"Why are you concerned about him?"
Reeve scratched his head. To be honest, he didn't have an answer. He didn't even know why he was concerned. It was supposed to be none of his business… And yet, for some weird reason, he just couldn't let it go.
"I honestly don't know. I know I shouldn't get involved, but I already am. We should at least go back with a piece of conscience, don't you think?"
"You're very weird. What do you think we should do then?"
"We first need to get Soren. Where do you think he is right now?"
"Uh … I don't know", Rizaneth shrugged her shoulders. She continued, "If he didn't return to his parents' house, he might've gone to … Oh NO! Cindi came to the house and said Soren was in danger!"
"Who is Cindi?" asked Reeve, as the name sounded familiar.
Rizaneth rolled her eyes at him in the darkness. She still answered, "Remember the girl we met, who helped us to get here? She asked me to help rescue Soren. She said that their butler had met with the masked man back then, and Soren's name might've come up in the discussion. If what she said is true, then something is going to happen at the banquet!"
"Wow, how did you come to that conclusion?"
"Call it intuition. This probably means that he's at the banquet. I'm sure his parents were invited."
"Well, then let us just go and get him", spoke Reeve.
"Uhh… I do not think that's a good idea. If you heard what I said, there's probably trouble there. Besides, she's still not conscious yet. Do you want to leave her here alone?" she asked pointing at Eskaria who was lying unconscious in the carriage.
"One of us has to go, and the other has to stay with Eskaria."
"Which simply means I have to go and be his knight in shining armor", complained Rizaneth. Truth be told, she hated wasting every minute talking. Something had to be done. They had to leave, and that's what she wanted. This reminded her of the day she ran away from home. It was quite dark, like this. There was no moon in the sky either.
"I could go, but I would get lost. I have never been to the mansion where the banquet is being held, while someone bragged about growing up in Sky City!"
Riza sighed. This was the first time someone made her feel helpless. Usually, it was the other way round. She made people feel helpless, and they usually gave up on trying to reason with her. However, this time, she had met her match. Actually, it was safe to say she had met her worst nightmare, someone her pranks couldn't bother. Well, she had not yet tried hard enough.
"Fine then, let me leave you outside the gates so that you can be safe", she said, as she took the reins. She began to drive the carriage away from the Southern district.
"By the way, where did you get this carriage?"
"You don't need to know. Let's just say I borrowed it from someone who owes me money", as she replied, she chuckled.
Reeve didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he heard this statement. Wasn't she indirectly admitting that she had stolen it? When they arrived at the city gates, they saw that the gates were closed, and there were a few soldiers standing there. Riza bribed the soldiers, who let her pass. When they were a safe but walkable distance, Rizaneth left and returned for Soren.
Instead of going through the city gates that they had left with, she used the smaller gate. Mostly it was locked, and there were usually soldiers patrolling the area. However, tonight, there were no soldiers. Using the lockpick she had, she carefully unlocked the small gate, and then went in. After seeing that there were no soldiers, she dashed towards the Severin mansion.
Unlike the smaller gate though, the Severin mansion was crawling with soldiers. They were patrolling the entire area, and they were usually in groups of three.
'What is going on in there? Why would they use such heavy security for a mere betrothal banquet?' thought Riza. After walking around the walls surrounding the mansion, she found a smaller gap where she could fit through. Using it as an opportunity, she went inside. The backyard of the Severin plot was quite large. A few laps around the yard was the same as running a marathon.
She arrived at the back door, which she found locked. Not that it was a hindrance to her anyways. Using her lockpicking skills, she unlocked the door, and went inside. The room she arrived in was quite small in comparison to the entire house. When she looked around, she discovered various uniforms hanging around. There were maid uniforms, as well as those worn by butlers. It was a very easy decision, and it didn't take long before she was wearing a butler uniform.
After donning the butler uniform, she walked into the next room. She looked quite conspicuous. However, she didn't mind at all. The next room was a washroom, which was where the clothes were washed. Without stopping, she went through until she managed to reach the kitchen. Surprisingly, it was empty as well. Riza couldn't believe her eyes. The place looked like a storm had passed through it. There was indeed evidence that food had been prepared in this room before, but there was no one here. Without stopping, she went into the corridor before heading towards the dining hall.