Lunatea and her father, the Emperor, stepped out of the room with a heavy heart. Their talk with Kaze went as expected, which was both a good and bad sign.
After letting Kaze know about the accusations being held against him that led to the situation they were in, they exchanged words for a few more minutes before stepping out. Kaze didn't react as badly as they thought he would, but it was still enough to cause Lunatea to feel disturbed.
She fixed her gaze on her father's back as she left the room with him, putting on a face that looked as unperturbed as possible as to not allow her emotions to show. In actuality, she was very bothered by this questionable decision as well as the disappearance of her sister.
It was no secret that what happened to Lunaria, within the Rentaria family, was something unfortunate, considered a taboo topic at some point in life. Every time something of relevance came up, Lunaria would immediately enter a panic attack. This caused them to avoid talking about it as much as possible after countless failure in therapy and trying to counter her fears. It wasn't a very solid move at the time because the effects wouldn't disappear and only be temporarily suppressed.
Lunatea hadn't told Kaze that Lucentia suspected they encountered a devil, simply because she didn't want Kaze to know too much about Lunaria's past. Whatever it was that Lunaria had should be told by Lunaria herself, it wasn't Lunatea's place to decide that. Even if Kaze was her close friend, on par with Sera and the others, it was not right.
"Father," Lunatea shifted her position to her father's side as they walked down the hall of the palace. "What are we going to do now?"
"Mm… even if you ask me that, this is going to be a hard problem to solve," the Emperor mused, carefully glancing around them.
Making their way back to the room they were staying in, Shiina greeted them with a salute and allowed them to enter.
"Your Majesty, how was your business?" Shiina asked, knowing that the two went to have a look at Kaze.
"He's awake," Reginsleif simply nodded. "You know what to do."
Widening her eyes at his words, Shiina didn't say anything more and bowed. As soon as they entered the room, Shiina walked away from them, allowing another dragonkin guard to fill her position. She was going to execute the orders given by the Emperor.
"Well?" Lucentia asked Lunatea as soon as she saw her sister and father returning. "I-Is he alright?"
"Yeah, we talked about the general scope of things," Lunatea nodded, plopping down on the space next to Lucentia at the couch. "This isn't going to go well."
"A third party, as we had suspected?" Luniel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Most likely," Reginsleif agreed. "It would be hard to make such an accusation without help."
What the dragonkin royal family had come up with so far was a simple yet deadly theory. The devil, as they were assuming as of now based on Lucentia's description, casted an illusion that influenced the guards to develop a certain suspicion on Kaze when he was found with Lucentia. Since they knew that Lucentia was the princess, they trusted she wouldn't do anything to her sister while something happened regarding Kaze as the traitor.
Following that, more theories developed as to why Lunaria was taken and how they would trace her. They trusted Lunaria enough that they were not too worried, but at the same time scared for her well-being. There was no telling what devils would do if they were the cause for Lunaria to lose. According to Lucentia, she knew Lunaria could win based on what she saw at the beginning with Kaze. If her lost was explained by her trauma, then it would make sense.
As for third part intervention…
"Hm… no clue huh?" Lunatea sighed, leaning against the back of the sofa. "I think we will have to get Sir Ethan's help for that."
"I don't know if he will believe us. We haven't decided to explain to the King about our findings yet," Lunaea frowned. "I am a little sceptical about relying on him, to be honest…"
"You know we have to," Laevia gave her elder twin daughter somewhat tired smile. "Without the help of the guards, it's going to take ages for the number of forces we have to search the area. Besides, we can't assert our military force on grounds that aren't ours."
"Mother, you really can't sense Lunaria-nee anywhere?" Lucentia asked Laevia desperately. "We can walk around the city in disguise…"
"No can do," Reginsleif was the one to disagree with Lucentia. "Our safety is being compromised as we speak. Who knows if their kidnapping of Lunaria was just a way to get us to reveal ourselves? They already know of us being here from Lucentia's exposure the night before, it is hard to say if they had planned an ambush on us already."
Everyone knew their father was right. At the moment, they knew far too little to be able to take any action. For now, they had to focus on gathering intel and working together with the King of Czech to ensure that their safety wouldn't be in danger. It was also the reason why they weren't making any unnecessary movements, instead staying in the palace where it was guaranteed to be safe from any ambush and allow the armed forces of Tristania to help with the search and rescue.
It was a bad timing for all this to happen in the middle of the night. None of them and the military staff were able to get much sleep as everything happened all of a sudden. With forces being dispersed throughout the city, troubles arising, questioning of suspicious activity, finding out the explosion causes, tracking down the missing dragonkin princess… all of this equated to a full-on mobilization of the army for once under the orders of the King himself.
"Your Majesty, Sir Ethan is calling for you."
"Alright, I will take my leave for now. Stay alert at all times, alright?"
A notice from the door came from their dragonkin guards, notifying Reginsleif of his presence being needed by the King. It was likely an emergency meeting regard the search-and-rescue of Lunaria. Leaving the comfort of the room with his family, Reginsleif headed off with the palace guards over to the meeting quarters.
As of now, daylight had barely shown itself from beyond the night skies. The past few hours could be described as nothing more than an absolute mess. With the palace being put on full alert, Reginsleif could see guards running here and there along with activity happening all over while he was brought to the meeting itself.
"Reginsleif-dono, I'm glad you could join us," Ethan quickly addressed the Emperor himself as soon as he showed up.
"No, no, as a father I will need to offer my help as much as possible," Reginsleif offered a worried smile at Ethan, taking a seat at one of the empty chairs by the table. "Let's begin then."
Ethan, Reginsleif along with a few other military officials and politicians were with them in the meeting room within the palace. Since this operation was being taken at the top priority, it was natural to have everyone involved as soon as possible. Reginsleif could tell that the officials hadn't had a wink of sleep the night before either, judging from their tired look and black markings on the underside of their eyelids.
"Before we begin, I would like to personally apologise," Ethan turned towards Reginsleif and bowed. "I am sorry that our negligence has caused your daughter's safety."
The other officials similarly apologised to the dragonkin Emperor. Following their King, they also understood they were at fault for relaxing the security of the nation to the point that they allowed a possible terrorist act to happen without any tip offs. To say the least, this was one of their lowest points possible, especially when it involved a very important diplomat.
"Please, I am thankful for your immediate actions," Reginsleif addressed everyone in the room with an understanding smile. "You sacrificed your sleep for my daughter. I understand it is a given, especially when the order came from the King himself, but I am grateful for the urgency that each of you personally have."
"Your Majesty, please don't put it that way," a general with a stubby beard smiled wryly at Reginsleif's words. "I have a daughter and son at home too, I would understand the worries of being a parent."
Several nods and voices of reassurance followed, causing Ethan to break into a smile from his tensed expression. He was glad that he had such reliable people working for him, especially in a situation like this that could potentially be the tipping point of the relationship between their nation and Aravel. Securing Lunaria was of utmost importance.
Following this was the beginning of the emergency meeting.
"Our target this time is Lunaria-hime, the eldest dragonkin princess of the Aravel nation," Ethan himself briefed everyone in the room with some occasional help from Reginsleif. "Anything linked to her appearance and image will be given to everyone later. For now, we shall progress with the details of the case. She was last seen 3, 4 hours ago with…"
Throughout the meeting, everyone's sleepiness was immediately blown away once they got into the details of the kidnapping and fighting. It could be seen from the look they had that this was beyond a simple kidnapping of a royalty, consisting of a breach of national security as well.
While the main concerns focused on Lunaria in general, the fact that a diversion tactic could be used to distract rescue efforts to the point they had to rely on students from local schools to help temporarily. One example of this was the involvement of the top 10s from Kaze's school, though it was never specifically brought up during the meeting and instead covered briefly as one of the points of their failure.
The discussion quickly flowed on, bringing everyone to actively participate on ideas and proposals on their next move.
Meanwhile, Kaze and Lunaria's friends were all back at their house. After being kept at the hall for hours, everyone was allowed to go back home after a quick debriefing, ending the festival at once. Regarding the third day itself, the blessings would have to be postponed due to the urgency of the current situation.
"Damn it!" Shoko shouted, slamming her fists against the table. "Why did we have to leave Lunaria…?!"
"Where do you think Kaze is?" Sera asked nervously, glancing at the door time and time again.
"We don't know. We will have to wait for Yuuji to return," Mitsui shook her head, twiddling her thumbs anxiously. "He is taking a longer than expected though…"
"I'm not surprised. With the current situation being something of utmost importance, it is necessary that all safety precaution is taken," Albert sighed. "I can't believe I'm here with you guys instead of back home…"
"Now, now, don't say that," Chris smiled at Albert. "Think of it as being here for moral support."
Yuuji had returned to the palace to gather whatever information he could as the prince. Based on what they knew, Kaze and Lunaria's disappearance weren't made a public fact yet, nor was the fight that took place at the graveyard. The only reason they knew it was a fight was thanks to Sera and Rena, both of knew at once that it was a result of Lunaria's magic. The trembling of the grounds aside, the flow of mana that came from the area could tell one that much if they got as close as possible.
All of them were gathered in the living room. Despite being well past their sleeping time, they were all dressed in casual clothing from the fancy ones they had on earlier. It was like they were prepared to take action anytime now, especially those of them who were already dressed in combat outfit.
"How is Irene?" Rena asked Chris, turning to him. "Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she's finally asleep," Chris gestured to a sleeping Irene lying on his lap. "Sheesh… she was crying so much earlier too."
"I don't think we can blame her," Sera made a tired smile. "We were all very worried for the two…"
"Ah, it's Yuuji!" Mitsui opened the door, allowing her cousin to return.
Entering the house with Noel right behind him, Yuuji removed the cloak that covered his body. This was because there was no guarantee of his safety, hence why he had to hide his identity when he left the streets with Noel as his partner and protection.
All of them immediately gathered around, wanting to learn what Yuuji knew.
"No good," Yuuji shook his head, a grave look displayed on his face. "The situation is worse than we thought it to be. Mother said that Kaze is in captive right now while Lunaria is nowhere to be found."
His words casted a despairing mood on the group. Questions lingered on everyone's head from his statement, but no one voiced their opinion as they knew he was going to get there once he calmed down. From the way he was panting, he had likely raced all the way back home with Noel to avoid wasting time.
Yuuji told the others what he had learnt with the limited information he got from his mother and some of the guards that Noel had managed to ask. As far as they knew, Kaze was charged with the kidnapping of Lunaria and was locked up for now until they had further evidence. On the other hand, nothing was known about Lunaria, meaning that she was indeed missing.
When they received the overall detail of things from the two, everyone had mixed reactions. Irene, for starters, had been woken up to hear such sad news, causing her to sob while snuggling with her boyfriend. Even Noel, who rarely mixed with them, showed off such disturbing emotions from the way her face had been warped from sadness.
No one wanted this to happen to any of them, especially not to Lunaria and Kaze.
"… So, anything?" Yuuji asked, turning to each of them for some form of reply. "Did you guys manage to do anything?"
"Shoko proposed for us to go on a manhunt, but not right now," Rena answered, gesturing to the kitsune. "If what you said is true and the army has been deployed, it would be better for us to move in the day."
"I meant I would go myself, but then you all got worried and wanted to move together, so I am forced to stay here," Shoko glared at her friend, crossing her arms. "I'm an assassin. I know how to stay out of the way."
"But what are you going to do if you encounter them, hm? If they are indeed someone who could take down Lunaria, do you think you could beat them?" Rena shot back.
"T-That is… of course I will come back…"
"I doubt so. You plan to rescue Lunaria and get out of there right?" Sera raised an eyebrow. "Don't be naïve, Shoko. We know that if they are able to defeat Lunaria, they can contain her as well, meaning they have countermeasures towards any rescue protocol that could be deployed for Lunaria. We have to remain calm and analyse our next move… in the morning."
"I agree with Sera and Rena, Shoko," Albert nodded. "It's too dangerous for us to move now, as mere students. Even though we all want to help with the search and rescue, I'm afraid this is out of our depth. Not even the top 10s were allowed to participate."
"Are you implying that we should allow things like authority to get in our way of rescuing our friend?!" Shoko stomped up to Albert. "If you mean Kaze, fine I agree we can't do anything about it now that he is locked up underneath the palace, but what we can do now is look for Lunaria!"
"… Let's take a vote then," Yuuji suggested, getting everyone's attention. "Those who are willing to commit to their actions, no matter the outcome, may stay. Anyone who doesn't want to get involved has the chance to leave in the next 10 seconds."
It was an implied meaning as soon as Yuuji made this suggestion that he was going to be involved in the search too. As dangerous as it was, everyone knew the risks as soon as they heard the details themselves. Therefore, it could be said to be a consensual involvement, something they were all aware of.
Yuuji knew that volunteering to take part would mean they had a chance of receiving certain type of punishment from the monarch itself. As such, by not being one of the participants who knew anything about what they were going to do, there was an excuse they had not 'took part at all', even if they were only present during the voting process.
10 seconds quickly passed by in silence other than the sound of Irene sniffing. It was clear that everyone was committed to finding their friend, one way or another. Regardless of the outcome, they would respect the majority decision and work together to find Lunaria.
"Alright then, lets vote," Yuuji nodded. "Those in favour of finding Lunaria now, please raise your hand."
Only Shoko and Chris raised their hands. With that, Yuuji sighed and smiled at Shoko, who was mainly the driving force for finding Lunaria immediately.
"Those who have any other opinions, please raise your hand. If not, we shall assume our operation takes place at 7 later."
When no one else voted, the outcome had been decided. Shoko, who looked a little unsatisfied, just nodded at this and plopped herself on the sofa.
"Time to sleep then," Yuuji declared softly. "Everyone, get some shut eyes so we can move around a lot better in the morning. It's late, we all need a bit of rest."
"Yuuji, are you honestly fine with this?" Noel asked him, tugging on his sleeve. "Your father won't be happy with this."
"Yeah, I'm good," Yuuji answered without hesitation after a short moment to think. "Kaze and Lunaria comes first. I can't be called the future King if I do not know how to take priority when it comes to my life or my friend's life."
This was already the answer that Noel had expected from Yuuji. Even so, she was still surprised by his response that contained the resolution of his person. It truly showed the type of person Yuuji was, being someone that Noel was happy for him to be, not only as a future ruler but also someone close with her.
As childhood friends, Noel and Yuuji were going through the thick and thin, no matter what.
"… Alright then, I'm coming along," Noel sighed with a smile, lightly tapping the hilt of the two swords by her side. "I can't allow the prince of our nation to wander off by himself, can I?"
While a silent motion had been passed within the group of friends, a similar action had been decided within the meeting of the higher-ups of the nation.
The meeting adjourned with an affirmation of an immediate action to be taken. Sparing the details itself, most of the military had been put into action with the prioritizing of Lunaria's safety. As of now, they had a committee to investigate the place of the battle in hopes of getting any clues of the kidnapper.
Needless to say, a busy day for all. With the increase in rescue forces now, it should not take long to comb through the entirety of Tristania unless they had escaped beyond the city's borders. They could only hope it had not been too late, especially when the incident itself occurred at such an inconvenient time.
Especially Ethan, who felt that the burden rested heavily on him.
It was unfortunate they could not take action any quicker due to the distractions with the explosion, redirecting them away from the true aim of the bandits itself. Until now, they hadn't identified a mastermind was it was going to be a tricky case to solve.
What's more, the matter about Kaze.
- - - - -
It had been a few hours since Kaze was visited by the Emperor and Lunatea.
Still inside of his 'cell', Kaze could not get over the fact that he was being accused of orchestrating the entire operation. Who in their right minds would believe something as ridiculous as this?
He understood what Reginsleif meant when he couldn't help Kaze right now. There were more important things to worry about, like the rescue of Lunaria.
If that was what that took priority, then Kaze did not mind being doubted as of now. He rather be the one in the wrong than to compromise the effort of saving Lunaria. That was how much he cared for Lunaria, as well as how much he hated himself at the moment.
More than anything, Kaze wanted to be out there, being part of the rescue service.
He knew that his friends were probably not going to sit around as well. While there was no conclusive way or reliable technique to find Lunaria, it was better than sitting around and doing nothing.
"Shit!" Kaze shouted, jumping out from bed and punching the wall repeatedly.
His frustration was through the roof, to say the least. Being restricted of movement was bad enough, but someone had to frame him for his doings? All he had ever done was help. This was stooping to a new level of low, with Kaze only being able to think of one person that was able to do this: the devil in the coat.
Just as he was about to flip the table and rage yet again, there were muffled voices that came from the other side of the door. For a second there Kaze thought that they were finally here to arrest him for real over incriminating evidence or whatever it was. It could be said Kaze had little faith in the system itself.
A few thumping followed along with more muffled voices. When everything got quiet outside, the door to his 'cell' opened and revealed a person in a maid outfit.
Even if the person was wearing something that the palace maids would, there was no fooling Kaze from appearance alone that she was someone else entirely.
"Eh… A-Are you… Sakuya?" Kaze timidly called out to the dragonkin guard whom he saw just a day ago. "I think you got the wrong room…"
"… Nonsense, I can tell it is you from your scent alone," Sakuya muttered, walking over to him and dragging him by the collar. "We must leave, Kaze-sama."
"What are you doing? Are you going to punish me?" Kaze gulped, noticing the difference in her tone and polite wordings. "I'm sorry I let Lunaria go-"
"As much as I would like to do that, my orders strictly forbid me from doing so," Sakuya glared at him, dragging him out of the room. "Be thankful."
Kaze widened his eyes when he saw the few guards outside were all collapsed on the floor, apparently fainted based on their appearance alone. Looking at Sakuya in surprise, he immediately knew what was going on.
"S-Sakuya-san… why…?"
"… My orders were to bust you out, Kaze-sama. You have work to do."