"The woman...the one from that video. She has to be the key to finding where Natalia disappeared to all those years ago."
A sick knot formed in her stomach as realization set in. He didn't just suspect the young woman might be connected to his obsession - he was convinced she was the answer, the missing piece that would lead him to the Princess at last.
"Because she resembles Natalia?" she prodded carefully, praying he would hear the pleading logic in her words. "That doesn't mean she's actually Natalia's daughter. Or that she would even know where Natalia is now after so long."
His jaw ticked, tendons straining beneath the surface as his grip tightened on the map.
"You don't understand," he growled out in a clipped tone. "I canfeelthat this is the path - the one that will finally lead me to her after all this time."
