Six years later….
"Your Majesty, Prince Edward is missing from his chambers" the guard reported as he trembled.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" the Emperor Theodore said angrily.
"You Majesty, I'm telling the truth."
"Are you saying that Prince went missing from the palace?"
"Don't be angry, your Majesty. We will find Price Edward soon."
"Get out and immediately summon Sir Leonard" the Emperor ordered.
The guard, still trembling, bowed slightly and went out. The Emperor held his head, not understanding what is happening.
News of the prince going missing from palace immediately became hot topic among people, making them anxious as he is the future ruler of the great Nightingale Empire. The priests of the great church started to pray for prince's safety to the Anthus as it stood silent, emitting beautiful green church that filled the church.
"Your Majesty, it seems someone broke the magic circles inside the prince's room. The guards were standing outside whole night and they did not allow any one inside after prince's nanny left the room. Even the knights guarding prince's chambers did not find anyone suspicious. And we even found a small bottle lying under the prince's bed."
The head knight, Sir Leonard reported that afternoon. Unlike before, the Emperor did not shout at him, but he clenched his fist as fire burned in his eyes.
"Bottle? What bottle?" he asked.
"The alchemists claimed that it is contains the juice of Pettila flower. When the juice of Pettila flower is mixed with correct amount of alcohol, it turns into powerful drug that can make a person sleep for three days."
"Is there anything else found?"
"The kidnapper is smart, your Majesty. He did not leave any clues or fingerprints in the room or on the bottle. It seems he purposefully left that bottle."
"How outrageous! Call Duke Kristov from the magic tower and order them to inspect the prince's room" the Emperor ordered, angry about how the kidnappers were mocking him.
"Yes, your Majesty" Sir Leonard said and left the room.
That evening, the head of magic tower, Duke Kristov, came to the Emperor to report his investigation.
"Your Majesty, I've checked the prince's room." He said as he bowed his head, "The protection magic inside his room was destroyed by someone more than 48 hours ago. It was done externally. I guess someone sneaked into the palace secretly."
"How can this be possible? If someone destroyed the protection spell inside his room, then there has to be some after effects. And even if they did swiftly, people in magic tower will get some warning for trampling your own magic."
"Whoever did this is very skilled in magic. As you said, we did get notified, I guess. But someone even infiltrated the magic tower, and made sure we do not get suspicious."
"It seemed they planned thoroughly. Then how did they kidnap the prince?"
"They used teleportation circles. We found the teleportation circle made with invisible ink on the wall of that room. It seems someone drew it after destroying all the protection magic."
"Can you tell where it opens to?"
"We are still investigating your Majesty. Due to invisible ink used, it is very difficult to track down the engravings used to create the teleportation circle. But we promise we will tell the reports soon."
"Inform me as soon as you find some clue."
"Yes, your Majesty."
Duke Kristov left the room.
The Emperor did not eat and sleep that night, worried about his son. He was already heart broken when the late queen died due to poor health five years ago. He cannot lose his only son, his only family or else it will become a burden on his heart.
The next morning, Duke Kristov visited early in the morning. The black circle under his eyes clearly told people that he had not slept whole night. Not only him, but even the official and the knights working in the palace had pulled a night over, investigating the kidnapped prince's case.
"Your Majesty, we tracked down the location where the teleportation circle connects to" Duke Kristov declared with a worried look.
"Where does it leads to?" the Emperor asked, excited.
"The location points the forbidden forest in the north, your Majesty."
"The forbidden forest!" the Emperor exclaimed as his eyes became wide.
Everyone in the Empire knows that the Forbidden forest is the lair of the harmful beast and poisonous plants. No one in the right mind would ever think of setting foot in that forest. Only the first Emperor went inside it where he found the precious Anthus.
"Call Sir Leonard here immediately" he ordered a guard.
The guard bowed and ran out. After few minutes, Sir Leonard rushed into the Emperor's chamber.
"Your Majesty, you called for me" he said, as he controlled his breath.
"Immediately send skilled knights to the forbidden forest of north. Duke Kristov, open the teleportation circle to the pointed location" Emperor ordered both.
"As you order, your Majesty" Duke Kristov said.
"The knights will definitely rescue Prince Edward" Sir Leonard said.
Both left the room.
An hour later, the Emperor saw from outside as his best knights lined up to rescue his son. He also wanted to join them, but as a king, his duty was to trust his knights and wait with hope. The magic portal opened and Sir Leonard ordered everyone to follow him as he disappeared behind the portal. All the knights followed him and left to their battlefield.
The team returned that night. The number of people who returned were half of who went and all of them were badly injured. Sir Kristov stepped in front of the Emperor and handed him the child he was holding. The Emperor looked at the small child. The child had black hair just like the Emperor, was sleeping peacefully as if nothing happened.
Tears flowed out of the Emperor's eyes as he hugged his son warmly.