Chapter 168: The Missing Piece

Lorien:

I almost wanted to throw the file across my office.

It had been three full days. Three entire days of investigation, interrogations, magical analysis, surveillance reviews, and searching through every possible lead we had managed to uncover, only to arrive at exactly the same place we had reached after every previous incident involving Elara - a dead end.

I stared down at the reports spread across my desk, my fingers tightening around the edge of one folder until the paper beneath them crumpled slightly.

Nothing. No identifiable magical residue. No confirmed suspect. No reliable witness. No explanation for how someone had managed to interfere with a vehicle belonging to one of the most experienced warriors in Starfall without leaving behind even a trace.

My gaze eventually lifted from the papers and settled on Elara, who was sitting opposite me with a tablet in her hands, her entire attention absorbed by whatever she was reading. She looked considerably better than she had three days ago, but that didn’t make the sight of her sitting in my office any easier, considering the reason she was called here. Yet she looked calm. Almost unnervingly calm.

My attention shifted toward Hazel when she finally broke the silence. She stood beside my desk, her shoulders rigid and her expression filled with something I rarely saw on her - genuine guilt.

"I’m sorry, Headmaster," she said quietly. "I failed."

I looked at her without answering. Hazel swallowed before continuing, admitting that she had failed not only to protect Elara but also to discover who had orchestrated the accident or exactly how it had happened. I didn’t bother telling her she was wrong. She had failed. There was no point dressing the truth in comforting words simply because she was one of my most trusted warriors.

"I failed too," I finally said, my voice colder than I intended. "Elara’s safety is my responsibility. She is within Moonveil territory, inside an academy I control, surrounded by wards and warriors I personally appointed. And yet someone managed to target her repeatedly under my protection."

The admission tasted bitter. Every incident since her arrival had been another reminder that I wasn’t doing enough. I had promised myself that no one would ever take her from me again, yet I had allowed threats to reach her doorstep more than once. The thought of what could have happened three days ago made the anger inside me burn hotter. If Magnus hadn’t been following them, if he hadn’t reached the wreckage before the vehicle exploded, I didn’t even want to imagine what I would be sitting here discussing now.

Before Hazel could answer, Elara spoke. "If anyone has to be blamed, it should probably be me."

My head snapped toward her. She didn’t look hurt when she said it. There was no self-pity in her expression, no bitterness, no attempt to make us reassure her. She sounded as though she were stating an obvious fact.

"I’m the easiest target," she continued, lowering her tablet slightly. "And it’s my fault for being one."

Something inside my chest clenched painfully. I wanted to tell her she was wrong. I wanted to tell her that none of this was her fault, that she hadn’t chosen to become the lost Princess, hadn’t chosen to have enemies she didn’t know existed, hadn’t chosen to be hunted. But I stopped myself.

Elara didn’t need sweet words. She needed to understand the reality she was living in, and perhaps the most important thing she could have done was recognize that her position made her vulnerable. It hurt to hear her speak about herself as a target, but there was something valuable in the clarity of it. She wasn’t pretending the danger didn’t exist anymore. She was learning to survive it.

After a moment, she sighed softly and looked directly at me. "So where did the investigation end?"

I leaned back in my chair, exhaling slowly before answering. "Every lead you gave us eventually led nowhere."

Her expression remained attentive as I continued.

"The brakes were definitely tampered with. We confirmed that much. Someone interfered with the mechanism deliberately, so the failure wasn’t accidental. But there was no magical residue left behind, and we found no witness who saw anyone approaching Jasper’s car. Whoever did it knew what they were doing." I paused before moving to the next point. "Then there’s the coffee."

Elara’s expression tightened slightly. "You questioned Mrs. Carter?"

Hazel nodded. "We did. She insists she didn’t add anything unusual, and we found nothing that directly contradicts her statement."

I rubbed my temple. "The problem is that we can’t test the coffee anymore. The cups were completely destroyed in the accident. Whatever substance may have been present was either destroyed, contaminated, or scattered during the crash. We have nothing left to analyze."

Elara immediately shook her head. "Mrs. Carter wouldn’t hurt me." There was absolute certainty in her voice. "She doesn’t have the ability to pull something like this off, and more importantly, she has no motive. She cares about me and has always been kind to me. She wouldn’t do this."

Hazel’s expression remained serious as she stepped closer. "I’m not saying she definitely did it. I’m saying we can’t completely eliminate her yet."

Elara frowned.

Hazel continued before she could object. "Think about it. Whoever orchestrated this knew you were taking driving lessons with Jasper. They knew enough to target the specific vehicle you would be using. They also knew the exact trail you were taking during those lessons, because the truck didn’t appear randomly. It was positioned along the route at exactly the right time." She placed another report on my desk. "And the truck driver is still missing."

Elara’s eyes narrowed.

Hazel’s voice hardened. "The truck was part of the plan. We are almost certain of that now. The driver didn’t simply panic and disappear after causing an accident. He vanished before we could question him."

Hazel paused before adding, "I know what you are going to say. You and Jasper weren’t exactly hiding the fact that you were taking lessons. Several people saw you leaving that first afternoon, and news could easily have spread through the academy. Someone might have learned that you were using Jasper’s car instead of one of yours." Elara opened her mouth, but Hazel continued before she could speak. "That still doesn’t explain how they knew the route."

Silence settled over the room.

"And then there’s the coffee," Hazel added. "It wasn’t coffee brought from outside. It came from your kitchen. Mrs. Carter made it, handed it to you and Jasper, and then you left. Which means if someone tampered with it, they would have needed access to your dorm."

Her eyes met mine.

"But Princess’ dorm has a locking spell. Breaking through it would have left traces. Entering without breaking it would require either permission, a loophole in the spell, or someone with the ability to bypass it entirely. We found no evidence that anyone entered." She folded her arms. "So we are left with a situation where someone knew about the lessons, knew which car you would use, knew the route, arranged a truck on that route, and somehow managed to tamper with the coffee without leaving evidence."

Elara had been listening silently until then. And suddenly, her eyes widened. The color seemed to drain from her face as she looked straight at me.

"Lorien..." she whispered.

And the way she said my name made every instinct in me sharpen at once.

"What is it, Elara?"