Chapter 244 - Whisked Away

"There’s no need to play coy, Kurt. I was standing nearby and happened to hear your exchange with the Pope. ’Strange doctor,’ was it?"

"Ah..." Kurt placed a single finger over his lip. "Keep that between us, Faye. She’s what the Japanese call a tsundere. If she finds out I orchestrated her miraculous recovery, she’ll probably beat me half to death for disappearing on her, and then again out of embarrassment."

"A tsundere? Japanese? Are you perhaps a scholar of ancient Myrian history?"

"Something like that."

With a smile, Faye smoothly shifted the momentum of the conversation.

"Regarding the favor I asked of you... have you given it a proper thought?"

’Aw shit. Here we go.’

"... I have. And I have an answer for you."

"Perfect." She glanced around the garden, looking for a private place to speak. "Follow me. There is a private gazebo just around the bend where we can speak without lingering eyes."

As he turned to walk alongside her, across the wide expanse of the garden, Diana caught the sight of them leaving together despite being engaged in conversation.

Her gaze narrowed as she tracked their every step until the tall, manicured hedges covered them both.

The secluded gazebo sat in the middle of a small pond, shielded by dense greenery.

"Well, Kurt? What is your answer?"

"I’ll accept it. I’ll investigate your mother’s killer and bring you the answers, and potentially killer, you’ve been searching for."

A look of profound relief and gratitude washed over Faye’s face – a performance so flawlessly executed that any unknowing person would’ve been moved.

"Thank you... Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me..."

As she was speaking, a subtle anomaly suddenly triggered Kurt’s sense.

A faint, imperceptible rustle of leaves behind the hedge wall of the gazebo, accompanied by the micro-movement of a shadow stretching around the curve.

Someone was lurking.

Without breaking his neutral expression or giving Faye the slightest inkling that he had noticed, Kurt tapped into his mana and temporal affinity.

’Time Pause.’

The world drained of color, bleaching into shades of monochrome gray. The ambient rustling of the wind died, dropping the atmospheric sound to absolute zero. A falling leaf froze suspended in mid-air right beside Faye’s cheek.

Faye herself stood paralyzed, caught mid-sentence with her lips slightly parted and her eyes unblinking. Kurt stepped around her frozen body when he stopped and turned back to look at her.

His killer blue eye swept over her exposed, defenseless neck.

From his waist sheath, he drew his switchblade.

The silver metal glinted coldly in the frozen, gray light as he lightly pressed the razor-sharp edge of the blade straight against her throat.

’I could end it right now. One quick flick of my wrist and her windpipe is severed. No more mind games. No more cult masterminds. Just a dead traitor bleeding out on the ground.’

Right as he was about to deepen his press – potentially drawing blood – pragmatic logic asserted itself in his brain, snuffing out the urge.

’No. It’s too sloppy. Stepping into a secluded place with the First Princess only for her to turn up slaughtered or missing would make me the prime suspect and the single most wanted criminal in the continent.’

He lowered his blade with a quiet exhale. "You’re lucky, Faye."

Sheathing his blade, he casually strolled around the corner of the hedge to identify the intruder.

To his surprise, it wasn’t an unknown person.

Crouched side-by-side in the dirt behind the hedge were Junior and Kiana. The two siblings were huddled close together, holding their breath and straining their ears to eavesdrop on the gazebo.

Kuer let out a dry, silent laugh at the absurd sight and walked back, positioning himself exactly where he had been standing before.

"Resume."

c-crack–Shatter!

The gray world shattered like glass. Sound roared back into existence, the falling leaf fluttering into the water, and real-time resumed seamlessly.

"...and so, I hope we can work together–"

"Hold that thought, Princess." Kurt cut her off quietly. "We have company."

He turned toward the hedge, raising his voice. "You two can come out now. The dirt isn’t doing your nice clothes any favors."

A loud gasp echoed from behind the bushes. A second later, Junior and Kiana awkwardly stepped out into the open. Kiana’s face in particular flushed bright red with sheer embarrassment over being caught. Junior, however...

"Woah! How did you even spot us, Master?! Ha! As expected of the man I admire!"

As they walked toward the gazebo, Faye’s gentle smile turned into that of a stern, elder-sister’s frown. "MJ! Kiki! Do you know how impolite it is to eavesdrop on others’ private matters?"

Kurt just waved it off casually. "It’s fine. They were in the carriage when you first brought it up anyway. Besides, this is important to them too."

Junior grinned eagerly, looking between Kurt and Faye. "So? Did you make your choice, Master? Are you taking the quest?"

"Yeah. I accepted."

"HAHA, YES! I want to join the investigation too! Let me help you!"

"MJ, no. It is far too dangerous. This is an official matter regarding a cold case–"

"I want to help as well," Kiana interrupted firmly, stepping beside her brother.

"Kiki?"

"I have been privately looking into Mother’s death for months, Faye. And there is something that has always bothered me.

"I find the unresolved death of our late older half-brother very suspicious. I believe his disappearance all those years ago and Mother’s assassination are directly connected."

The moment the words ’half-brother’ left Kiana’s lips, the calm, saintly mask Faye’s calm demeanor shattered into pieces.

Her eyes widened with a raw and terrifyingly visceral hurt as the color drained from her face.

"Kiki... Please... don’t..."

"No, Faye." Kiana pressed on analytically, entirely oblivious to the nerve she had just struck. "Think about it. His body was never found. Why would the court gloss over his case so quickly? We knew the murderers, but they suddenly vanished after they were released from the dungeons. There must be a link between his disappearance and–"

"THAT’S ENOUGH!"

""".......""""

Silence gripped the gazebo.

Kiana stood frozen, terrified by her sister’s sudden, explosive outburst.

Faye stood trembling, her chest rising and falling in ragged gasps. The vulnerability and raw rage in her red-rimmed eyes exposed a fragment of the shattered, broken girl hiding beneath the royal facade.

Realizing she had lost her composure in front of Kurt and her siblings, Faye swallowed hard, forcing her hands to stop shaking as she smoothed down her dress.

"I... I apologise. I’m... not feeling well. Excuse me."

She turned around and began hurrying down the stone path.

Then, she paused briefly, looking back at Kurt without meeting his eyes. "Kurt... visit the palace tomorrow morning. I will introduce you to my lead investigators."

"Oh... Sorry. I have prior commitments tomorrow. I can come the day after if that’s fine."

"That’s fine, yes. The day after tomorrow."

With that, she turned and left down the path.

Kiana stared sadly at her sister’s retreating back as guilt washed over her face. "I... I didn’t mean to make her so angry..."

"Don’t worry about it, Kiana." Junior patted his sister’s shoulder reassuringly. "Faye just needs some space. She’s strong, she’ll bounce back as always."

"Hey, you two. We should head back to the main banquet before people come looking for us."

"Right, Master!" Junior agreed.

The two royal siblings turned and walked ahead, entering the main garden pathway while discussing what to eat since they haven’t eaten yet.

Kurt followed behind them when–

Tingle

A prickling feeling shot straight up his spine. His instincts flared with sudden, extreme hostility. But before he could even draw his switchblade to react–

SHWOOSH

An overwhelming, tidal pull of spatial mana enveloped his entire body as someone grabbed him. Reality folded in on itself, and in an instantaneous warp, Kurt was violently ripped from the garden without a sound.

SHWOOSH

He materialised inside a vast empty hall. Sunlight streamed through massive glass windows, illuminating white pillars, a red carpet, and the vacant throne of King Maxwell.

He was inside the royal throne room.

Acting on survival instinct, the moment his dress shoes touched the marble floor, he spun around and whipped out his switchblade in a driving, lightning-fast slash toward the throat of the person who had pulled him through space.

CLANG!

A blinding flash of red light erupted as a massive, crimson odachi parried his switchblade with crushing force. The shockwave rattled Kurt’s arm to the bone, snapping the switchblade cleanly out of his grip and sending it clattering across the floor.

’This sword...!’

Before he could recover his balance, a soft, immensely powerful shove slammed against his chest, driving him backward until his body sank deep into the plush cushions of the King’s throne.

Sheen...

The crimson odachi vanished into a burst of light, sealing itself back into the glowing red gem resting at her throat.

In a fluid motion, a figure mounted the throne, straddling Kurt directly on top of his lap.

When he looked up, his single blue eye met a pair of dangerously possessive crimson eyes.

"A-Ana?"

Diana leaned down close and untied her hair. Her breath was hot, sweet, and trembling against his lips as she pinned his shoulders against the seat.

Her beautiful face was inches from his as she whispered into his ear:

"Mind telling me what you and Faye were doing all alone away from everyone else... Rosie~?"