At the Prince's chambers:
Evan barged into his chambers and immediately kicked the small table that was towards his right. The anger that was rising inside was immense. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breath down. His chest was heaving dangerously, like he was having some breathing problem.
Even though, he was trying to calm the anger was bubbling in his chest. It was like there was a literal burning inside his chest. He snapped his eyes open and glared at the wall in front of him. He marched towards his bed and sat down on the soft mattress, hoping that its softness and comfort can calm him down.
He slowly started to relax and closed his eyes. His heart was still thudding against his rib cage wildly and the burning sensation was still there. So, he tried to divert himself from his heart and focus on his mind. Well, that proved to be a mistake. His thoughts were racing around and were all over the place.
He was feeling guilt along with anger. How can he not? He didnt do his job right. He had one thing to do and he chose his own happiness over his duty. He blamed himself for all this. Not anyone but, himself. There were many ways this could have gone right.
When Peter came up to him, he should have left then. Telling Aeinshia that he had to attend to duty. He was sure that she would have understood. He could be just a bit early in this, then he would have caught on to this easily. He didn't know why he was being this agitated over something like this but, his mind was constantly blaming him for not being early.
Now, he felt like he couldn't fulfill both sides. Its stupid to think that way, but, Evan couldn't help himself from doing it. These were the insecurities he was afraid of. He was just too insecure and over thinks a lot. This is the reason why he pushes people out of his life.
For everyone, this may seem not like a big deal. He was a prince, he could do anything. But, everyone forgets that he was also a human with human feelings, with lot of insecurities. As a child, he would hear many prejudices from the people he saw. Princes and Emperors should be tough and should keep their emotions and feelings in check.
Growing up, he found it hard to adapt with people. He didnt like the way they judged him. So, he decided to change as people wanted to see him. Cold and emotionless. It wasn't hard for him, seeing that he wasn't so interested in mingling with people. But, as the time went by, he slowly started drifting off from his loved ones. He loved his father, mother, Aeinshia and her family a lot. After his mother's death, he started talking less. His mother was the only one, who could understand him without him saying anything. And the Empress' death has had a huge effect on the little prince.
The result being, the current version of Evan. Now, no one expect Peter understood him fully.
An image of smiling Aeinshia popped up admist his racing thoughts. He unconsciously smiled at that. What would he do to see that smile on her. He wanted to see her happy and smiling. But, suddenly a small voice in his head was nagging him to focus on the current situation. So, he took a deep breath and organized his thoughts.
Right, he already wasted a lot of time and he was not going to commit the same mistake now. The woman, who came as a replacement was certainly the murderer of the Marques. And, she would have certainly escaped by now. He frowned as he mentally went over all the clues and leads they got. Finally, his face set into his signature neutral expression and eyes narrowed.
He got up and straightly marched up to the grand staircase. He wondered where was Peter. He needed to talk to him about the thing he was having in his mind. If his guess was right, then Peter must have gone to the west side of the Palace, where most of the maids lived. One of the maids mentioned, she was her neighbor, then certainly there must a record of her being working somewhere in the Palace or anyone related to Palace.
Just anyone, cannot enter the maid's place. There were records of every person who lived in that part of the Palace. The maid's daily works and chores were recorded for the sake of safety of the royals and officials. He went down the stairs and mounted his horse. He gave a small pat at its neck and the horse, Stella started racing, in the direction her owner was guiding her.
Now, Evan was more than determined and stubborn to find whoever was behind this.
.......
At the dark forest:
A man raced up to the dark forest, changing his direction of walking sharply. He might seem like going in random but, only experienced people can make their into the forest. It was dense forest with a lot of traps in it. One wrong move or step can get you killed within seconds.
The man picked up his pace and after few seconds broke out into a full sprint. Finally, he reached a lake which was in the middle of nowhere. He doubled over to rest his sweaty palms onto his knees and greedily took in the oxygen given by rich vegetation around him.
Suddenly an arrow came out of nowhere and the man dodged it by a centimeter. Still, the arrow managed to tear open skin at his bicep. The man screamed out and collapsed on his side. Two men came up and dragged him to a small cottage. The man didnt fight and just let the people drag him to the destination he was supposed to go. When they reached the destination, he was lifted and dumped at the foot of a chair, where a woman was seated. Pure authority and doubt radiated from her.
"What do you have for me?" the woman voiced out in calm voice, which almost killed the man below her from how fast his heart was beating.
The man slowly lifted his head to see the woman's face and immediately scrambled up on to his knees and touched his head onto the ground. Staying in that position, he managed to gather enough courage to tell what he was doing here.
"Th-they have a l-l-letter."
....