Ryan's heart hitched as he heard his aide Aiden's words, "Repeat yourself" he was in denial, he must have heard wrong. Yeah, that must be it, but his anticipation broke as the aide repeated his words.
"La-lady Campbell is dead my lord! The royal family charged her family with treason as soon as the crown prince left for battle" tears streamed down his face and he continued, "Her parents were publicly executed, my lady fled from the empire to be only hunted down by those bastards. Commander Sebastian Canmore was detained for questioning them, but he soon escaped from them. The whole empire is in jeopardy but his highness's stepmother just announced her niece as the new crown princess"
Ryan clenched his jaws and pulled Aiden by his collar, "Why didn't you inform this sooner!?"
"I was put in house arrest the moment you left the capital, my lord" he explained, "I was not even able to process anything and I heard about everything yesterday night when everything was already over. I'm still under custody, but I escaped from there to inform you about this"
"You could have sent someone else," Ryan said still fuming.
Aiden shook his head, "The ones I tried to send were killed mercilessly. Every family on the crown Prince's faction were kept on house arrest, we were helpless my lord"
Ryan released his grip from his collar, "Ho-how did Lady Campbell die?"
"She fell off the cliff after being cornered by the royal army" Ryan closed his eyes after hearing his answer, "Her funeral?"
"Her body was washed away in the river and was not found"
"Ah!" Ryan felt a sharp pain in his head, he couldn't even guess the reaction of his best friend after hearing this news.
Aiden looked in the direction of the crown prince on the battlefield, "We should inform this to his highness my lord"
"He will kill you if you are the one to inform, I'll go..."
"My lord..." Aiden started. He was well aware of the crown prince's temper, he could do unfathomable things in Lady Campbell's matter. She was his only string in maintaining his sanity.
"I'll be alright" Ryan informed as he took a deep breath, "He is my best friend after all"
Ryan strode towards the battlefield avoiding the soldiers, "Your highness?"
Lorcan turned back at him and his red eyes narrowed inside the armor, "What are doing here leaving behind the defense line?"
His best friend shrunk in his place and it made him confused, "What's wrong Ryan?"
Ryan removed his helmet revealing his red hair, "You must stay strong your highness"
"What are you talking about!?" he growled, "Put back your helmet, do you want to get an arrow inside your head?"
Ryan raised his head and tears pooled in his eyes, "Your highness, Lady Campbell is no more"
"Come again?"
He clenched his fists and repeated, "My lady's family was accused of committing treason against the royal family. Marquis and Marchioness were publically executed" his whole body shook as he looked at Lorcan's fuming eyes, "I was informed that my lady fled from the empire but met her end by falling off a cliff, her body was washed way in the river"
Lorcan's ears buzzed making him deaf to his surroundings. Every fiber in his body felt numb and lifeless, he clenched his sword and rushed out of the battlefield.
He didn't know how much time passed riding his horse. He was disconnected by everything around him and his only thought was to rush back to the capital. His Rea promised him that she would welcome him with a kiss when he returned, he must hurry, she might get angry after waiting for so long.
Ryan blinked his eyes to keep himself awake on his steed. Lorcan was hell-bent on reaching the capital not caring about his health. They were riding for a whole day without any rest and sleep, their steeds were also tired from constant galloping, "Slow down your highness, you will harm yourself like this"
And his words didn't even reach his friend's ears. After traveling for another half a day, they finally reached the capital city.
Lorcan halted his steed in front of the marquis mansion. He got down in a hurry and he staggered inside the manor, "Rea!? Rea where are you?"
The royal army guarding the manor widened their eyes seeing their crown prince, "Your highness?" he pushed them away and continued searching the villa, "Rea, please don't do this to me...Rea where are you?"
Only silence greeted him, he climbed the stairs and reached Astrea's chamber. He pushed the door and entered his beloved's room. This place smelled like her and he felt tears stinging in his eyes. The portrait of her lovely face which he drew was placed on the bedside table. Everything was the same but the place which felt like home now was suffocating without Rea's presence.
He grabbed the portrait but something fell off it, his hand reached for the folded paper on the ground. He felt his heart shatter as he read the letter,
(Dearest Lorcan,
I'm sorry that I have to say goodbye like this. My family is detained inside our house and we can't understand the purpose for this, we aren't able to contact anyone outside the villa and every letter that I wrote for you was confiscated. The soldiers are saying that our family committed some kind of treason, but they never specified about it. I will not ask you to trust me for the mistake I didn't even commit and I believe that my parents would also never do something to harm your family. I'm going now, I don't have much time left and this may be the last letter because I might meet my end while fleeing from here. Im not scared about that though, but I want to request something from you. My brother is currently on a mission in the Findara empire and if I'm unable to make it in time, please keep him safe. Lorcan...Just know that I love you no matter what, never blame yourself for my situation. I don't want you to avenge me or anything, just be safe and healthy.....I miss you, sweetheart"
-Yours Rea.....)
"Ugh!" Lorcan clutched the letter to his heart as he cried, "Why!?"
Ryan halted his steps when he heard his friend's loud sobs, "Lorcan?" he was not able to keep himself sane after seeing his friend's condition. 'What was the royal family thinking by doing this?' "Get a hold of yourself, your highness. we still need to investigate this so-called treason which was blamed on the lady's family and I heard that her brother is still not found, we should reach him before the royal army"
Lorcan wiped his tears and got up from the bed, "What is this stupid treason they are talking about? Astrea too mentioned in this letter that her family was never told the reason during their confinement"
"I honestly don't know your highness," Ryan said, "Your father is not opening his mouth at all in this matter"
"And the nobles agreed on executing the marquis without even knowing the reason?"
"They always wanted this, I'm sure that they must have remained silent to get rid of lady's house" Ryan mentioned. It was the truth because other nobles disliked Campbells as they were humans.
"I'll hunt them down one by one" Lorcan seethed, "First I should confirm if Astrea is alive or not"
"But the soldiers who witnessed said that they saw her jumping off the cliff. Even Commander Canmore went berserk and got himself imprisoned"
"Sebastian got imprisoned?"
"He escaped not long after that, you know how he is," Ryan said clicking his tongue.
Lorcan frowned, "Did the royal army find Rea down the cliff?"
Ryan shook his head, "I heard that she fell into a river.....Wait!" he exclaimed, "Do you think?"
Lorcan nodded his head, "Sebastian would have killed his sister if Astrea was dead. I think he came here to distract the soldiers there and his sister from finding Rea"
"That's possible" Ryan muttered.
"My Rea is not someone to easily give up, she is alive," Lorcan said with confidence.