"Fabian, dear, have you seen your sister?" Bianka's voice trembled with urgency, interrupting Fabian's concentration as he finished his classes.
He looked up at his stepmother, his brows knitting in confusion. "I had classes all day, so I didn't see her at all. What happened?"
Without waiting for a reply, Bianka's anxious form hurried away, her frantic questions echoing throughout the mansion. When Welden, Fabian's father, arrived home, the air thickened with tension.
The news that Yohana was nowhere to be found propelled them all into a state of panic. The once tranquil halls now buzzed with anxiety as they desperately combed through every nook and cranny, searching for her.
It was Nina, a maid, who finally cracked the puzzle. She spoke of a new tutor, a revelation that baffled Welden.
"I haven't found a tutor for her yet," he muttered, his forehead furrowing as the truth began to unfold.
The realization dawned upon them – someone had kidnapped Yohana. The shock of such a sinister act on an innocent child sent shivers down their spines.
"Why would anyone kidnap her? She is just a little girl," Fabian's voice wavered.
Berating himself, Fabian's thoughts raced as guilt bore down on him. "I shouldn't have left her alone today. I should have realized something was amiss sooner. She usually disrupts my classes, but today she was so quiet. I thought she was finally enjoying her own company, learning to wait," he muttered, the weight of his responsibilities crushing him.
Driven by a surge of determination, Fabian dashed to the stables, hastily mounting his horse. Bianka, concern etched across her face, chased after him. "Fabian, where are you going?"
"Mother, I won't sit idly by while the kidnapper holds her captive. If I'm swift, they might not have gone too far yet. I can still catch them," Fabian's voice held a fierce determination.
He instructed a servant to fetch his prized sword, a blade that had tasted victory in countless battles. With a firm grip on the reins, he spurred his horse into a gallop, heading toward the nearby forest.
Through the dense forest, Fabian's eyes scanned with an intensity fueled by desperation. His heart fervently prayed for a glimpse of his sister, as he pleaded with the divine for her safety.
He begged the Saints to shield his little sister until he could embrace her in his protective arms. Yet, as the sun descended and the sky transformed into darkness, Yohana remained elusive.
Arriving at the town square, Fabian's determination remained unyielding. He scoured every shop, questioned every passerby, hoping against hope that someone had caught sight of her. With her distinctive silver hair, he counted on her uniqueness to attract attention. But despite his efforts, nobody had seen her.
With a heavy heart and the weight of his futile endeavors, Fabian returned home. His father and the knights embarked on a search near the border of Grossfeld, determined to find Yohana. The night wore on, and as his father braved the darkness, Fabian stood steadfastly by Bianka's side.
Seeing the shaken state of his stepmother, Fabian felt compelled to offer his presence as solace. In the absence of Aunt Jana's visits or his father's return, he remained rooted within the manor. Only once he had ensured that someone would be a comforting presence for Bianka did Fabian venture out in search of Yohana.
Days melted into weeks, their frantic efforts yielding little solace. How could a child endure the wilderness for this long? Such thoughts whispered unspoken fears in the hearts of many. Though the question loomed large, no one dared voice it, as if speaking it aloud could bring the dreaded reality to life.
In the midst of their agony, hope was the fragile thread that the family clung to, like a lifeline in the storm.
Then, whispers among the maids twisted through the air, weaving a tale of Yohana's capture by a band of hooligans, driven by the sinister motive of money. Fabian found himself trapped in a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts, his mind a tumultuous sea of uncertainty.
Welden, a pillar of reason, cast a shadow of doubt over the whispered rumors. The absence of any ransom demand raised a flag of skepticism. If these miscreants sought riches, logic dictated they would have demanded payment from the very beginning. There was no reason for them to hold onto a young girl without pressing their financial demand.
Fabian's thoughts mirrored his father's skepticism, yet Bianka, fueled by desperation, clung onto this semblance of a lead. It wasn't as much about belief as it was about a need for any scrap of information, no matter how unlikely it seemed.
When Welden's rationality rejected this notion, Bianka seized the sliver of possibility, hoping against the odds.
Knowing that Welden's protective stance would bar her path to the supposed meeting point of the alleged abductors, Bianka took charge. With determination aflame, she mounted a horse and fled, following this thread of hope. Her absence soon became an unbroken void, a silence that stretched and echoed.
Days marched on, leaving no trace of Bianka. The knights eventually stumbled upon the horse she had ridden, perched precariously at the edge of a cliff. Beside it lay a single shoe, a poignant marker of her presence.
The scene painted a grim tableau, suggesting a tragic accident that silenced Bianka's desperate quest.
Bianka's untimely passing sent shockwaves through Welden's world. The weight of grief was a heavy mantle, one that cast shadows upon his ability to manage the duchy, let alone orchestrate an effective search for Yohana.
The news of this loss spread, even reaching the ears of the crown. In response, they dispatched their knights to encircle the Reinhard mansion. The significance of the Reinhard Duchy to the king was undeniable, leading him to assign his knights to safeguard the mansion grounds.
The fact that these loyal soldiers now patrolled the estate raised an alarm in Fabian's mind. Something about this situation felt askew, a gut feeling he couldn't quite shake.
Finally, after days that stretched like eternity, filled with tireless searching and avoiding the watchful gaze of the royal knights, Nina appeared with news that held the promise of a breakthrough. It was the moment they had all been waiting for, a beacon of hope in the midst of their collective ordeal.
Fabian's thoughts involuntarily turned back to the past, to those few weeks that might have rewritten the fate of his family. A haunting thought flitted through his mind – had Yohana escaped her captors just a bit earlier, could it have altered Bianka's fate?
Yet, Fabian swiftly swallowed this speculation. He vowed never to utter such a notion, especially in Yohana's presence. She had borne enough burdens during her captivity; adding any more weight to her shoulders was unthinkable.
With the long-awaited news in hand, Fabian hastened to share it with Welden. Together, they embarked on a poignant journey to Nina's house. Their reunion with Yohana was a tearful affair, the emotional outpouring so strong that even Nina, who bore witness, was moved to tears by the sight.
As Yohana recounted her harrowing tale to Fabian, he clenched his fists tightly to rein in his anger. Listening to her narrative, a disturbing possibility loomed in his mind – Queen Charlotte might have gone beyond kidnapping Yohana and orchestrated Bianka's tragic demise.
If this speculation held true, it painted an even more perilous picture for Yohana. Her existence was a threat that needed to be concealed from the prying eyes of the royal knights, who could easily snatch her away again.