When the prince got out of Atropa's room, he sensed a familiar presence nearby.
He smiled as he spread his arms to welcome the little ball of energy who was coming towards him.
"Briar, you are finally back!" the girl squealed while barreling towards him.
"How's my little princess?" he asked while giving the girl a hug.
"I am doing great!" Rozen replied.
He frowned slightly when he noticed something furry squirming between him and his sibling.
The tiny fur ball was trying to get away from being suffocated from the siblings' tight embrace.
"Reim!" Rozen exclaimed when the fur ball got out from her grasp and jumped to the floor.
Briar took a good look at the creature which had fur that shines like gold.
"A fox cub?"
"By the way this child is called Reim." His sister excitedly picked the fox and introduced it.
The fox looked at him with those black beady eyes. It was as if it was scrutinizing him.
For some reasons, Briar felt that the fox was a bit familiar. A certain fox had overlapped inside his head.
While staring at the tiny young one, Briar murmured. "why did that stupid fox that took Lily's kiss flashed in my mind?"
He would have grabbed the creature to investigate some more but he refrained himself.
"There is no way that this tiny thing is the same as that evil creature." He mumbled to himself.
"Are you saying something?" his sister asked curiously.
"Nothing." He replied while eying the cub with suspicion.
"where did you get that cub?" he asked his sister.
He pointed out even further. "That is a wild animal, it is not supposed to be kept as pet."
"I got this from Atropa before you left." Rozen said while hugging the cub.
Reim had tap his paw on the girl's arm as if telling her that he is about to be squeezed and suffocated.
Rozen loosened her hold for a bit and shared. "Atropa said it is okay for me to have this fox. It is quite tamed."
Briar would have asked more questions about the fox, but his sister had beat him.
"Where is Atropa?" the princess aksed.
The prince flinched. Images of what he had done flashed his mind. In response to the stimuli, his face turned a bit red.
He cleared his throat before answering. "She is resting."
"Can I see her?" the girl gave her older brother her puppy eyes.
But Briar resisted his sister's wish.
He knew that Atropa still needed to rest. The maid had her mana depleted and it seemed that their little adventure had taken a huge toll on her.
"You can see her after she rest for a while. She seemed exhausted." He advised the young girl.
"I missed her…she had been gone for a week." She whined.
"Atropa was supposed to be my lady-in-waiting. But you took her away." The princess pouted while eyeing her brother with spite.
He stiffened when his sister said that.
"It was a good thing that Reim kept me company." She said while petting the fox's head.
'Is this child guilt tripping me?' the prince thought to himself. 'it was wrong of me to take her maid away. I never really thought she would react like this.'
"I apologize for borrowing Atropa. The task I gave her was quite important." He then produced a pretty ruby to give as peace offering.
The girl narrowed her eyes before accepting the gem. "Thanks!"
But that did not cheer her up.
"Atropa was in top condition when she left. Now she is exhausted. You should have returned her in the same condition as when she left since you only borrowed her."
Briar was taken aback. 'What??? Where in the world did this child learn something like this?'
"Guess… I have to talk to her tutors later." The prince decided.
He then tried to change the topic. "Anyway, we are already back. You only asked for Atropa. It makes me feel sad. Did my little sister even missed me?"
"Of course! I missed you, silly." Rozen said with a smile. She then hugged her brother with her free hand.
"Now, that is my younger sister!" Briar said.
After spending a few moments with his younger sibling, Briar went to his study to take on the pending tasks.
He was tidying up the documents when Nigel came in.
"Your highness. I think you need to rest first before you go to work." His aide suggested while eyeing the prince.
Briar looked like he needed a few hours of respite.
But the prince waved at him. "I am fine. I had taken a nap while riding the carriage."
That was a lie, instead of napping he had been staring at the sleeping Atropa their entire ride while occasionally finger combing her hair and caressing her cheek.
The aide sighed in resignation. He knew that he could not convince the prince to stop working.
Briar had read the reports regarding the events in Marjoram. He was surprised that a few more deaths had occurred after he and Atropa were trapped in the dungeon.
While the prince was perusing the other data from the papers, he noticed the presence of the shadow guard nearby.
"Ashton." Briar called out.
The shadow guard appeared before him. "My lord."
"Could you give me the rest of the report now?"
Ashton bowed while apologizing. "Forgive me, your highness. The culprit is still at large. He had taken a few more lives."
"Were you not able to track the man down?" the prince queried.
"I am sorry your highness, he was able to shake us off after that confrontation."
The prince massaged his glabella as he felt a headache. "We have to arrest that vermin soon. The longer he is not locked behind bars, the more lives are at stake."
"Have you investigated the transportation spell in Hopley?" he asked after recounting Atropa and his disappearance to the knight.
"we have tried and reconstructed the circle but could not activate the spell. We even hired a freelance mage to help in the investigation but he was not able to make the spell work."
"You hired a mage?" the prince asked.
"Yes. The deputy was able to convince Zeke to aid us." Ashton informed.
Finally, Zeke had joined them. Briar hoped that Zeke would be able to help them solve the cases they are dealing with.
Briar noticed that the shadow knight was acting a bit off. "If you have something to say, just say it." The prince ordered.
Ashton voiced that he is somehow suspicious of the witch. "I think that lady's maid may have possessed a certain power or skill that we are unaware of. She might be related to this incident."
"Don't be ridiculous." The prince brushed his ideas aside. "Atropa was with me the entire time. If she wanted to bring me harm, she would have been able to do it when we were alone."
He then dismissed the knight and worked on the piles of documents that needs to be approved.