SPELLBOUND

"She's still missing." Gavriel had said and Leon froze. He just stood there, wide-eyed and mouth slightly gaping in shock from the news. It was as if his system had shut down entirely at the words he had just heard. Missing? Zanya?!

"My wife said that they have sent out search parties throughout the entire land and yet, they couldn't find a single trace of her." Gavriel continued but Leon still remained silent. It was as though he could not hear a single thing that his lord was telling him.

The others were looking at Leon with concern now as the man remained quiet and just stood there like a statue. They all knew how Leon had been since that day they had parted from the princess. Even though Leon had tried his best to hide his emotions and remained focused on his job, they could all tell that something had happened when he was away, and it was… and still is disturbing him until now. 

Levy had tried to even cheer him up and made him talk and teased him that he was lovesick. They thought Leon might just be behaving like their prince who could not wait to meet his lover anymore and could not help but think about it. And with Leon's expression lately, the men thought he was acting worse than their prince. They did not know and had no idea that Leon's behaviour must be because of this matter. That something strange was really going on and to think that Zanya was still missing until now. How many days has it been since that day? 

Tomorrow, their prince was finally going to take the last dukedom of the vampire empire and then he will finally be declared the new King. This was crucial a day for their prince and them, his men, as well. Therefore, nothing should sway their concentration and affect their performance. Their best would naturally aid their lord to winning this war with more ease and less troubles.

The men could only think that this was why Leon could only stand there and could not say anything much. He must have been wanting to just bolt away to go look for her. But at the same time, he also knew that he had his sworn duty that was to prioritise and put his lord and master first. And knowing Leon, the men was aware about his loyalty and his sense of responsibility. Leon was someone who always put his sworn duty over his personal life. There was no way that he would turn his back on his Lord, even if it was to the extent of losing his own life. Therefore, the men knew that Leon must be suffering so bad for him to be even so out of it.

So, they had predicted and was very convinced that no matter how tortured he was right now, he was not going to ask or beg the prince to let him go to the Middle Lands to help look for her. 

But to their surprise, Leon spoke with so much difficulty as he clenched his fists so tightly by his sides, as if what he was about to do was one of the hardest decisions he has ever made in his life. "Your Highness, I…" he choked out. "I want to go… look for her." He could not finish his sentence confidently and ended it while staring at the ground where Gavriel's feet stood.

The men were shocked, to put it mildly, except for Gavriel. 

Seeing how difficult it was for Leon to finally spit out those words, Gavriel patted his shoulder understandingly. 

"I know." He said and Leon looked at him with surprise, not expecting his lord to be so sympathetic to his plight. "It's natural for you to want to go. And I also wanted you go. I am bothered about these disappearances. So, I'm going to let you go ahead of us, Leon. Go and search for her while keeping your eyes peeled on what is actually happening with these disappearances. Send reports back on your findings." 

Leon immediately bowed his head at Gavriel, unable to express how thankful he was for the prince's understanding. 

"Forgive me for not being there for your most long-awaited coronation, Your Highness." Leon said and Gavriel just shrugged, seemingly unbothered about him being crowned as King. 

"It's fine. Because this coronation is just the first step of many other such steps in the future. I'm not even asking Evie to come. Though she will definitely come rushing if I tell her but… this is not the most awaited day for me anymore. When that day comes, I will make sure everyone will be there at attendance. So don't apologize and go. Ride on Silver to reach there quicker."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Leon bowed again and was about to leave when he halted and looked over his shoulder. "I'm not allowed to tell Her Highness about your coronation tomorrow?"

"Yes. Don't tell her. I don't want her to come here yet. I'll appear before her as a king the next time I see her. I want to surprise her." 

"I understand, Your Highness." Leon then bowed to his lord before climbing onto Silver and the dragon pushed off mightily from the ground and flew away, leaving the men watching his departure in silence. 

Once the dragon disappeared from their sights, Gavriel's gaze became serious as he turned to look at his other men who were standing behind him. 

"Prepare yourselves men, we're going to launch an attack on the last dukedom tonight itself." Gavriel declared, and the men's eyes widened in surprise. He had just declared that tomorrow was the attack. Did the news about Zanya's disappearance change his decision? 

He nodded at his men and all of them entered into the castle. They knew that it would be an emergency meeting to push forward their plans.

And once they were inside the throne hall, Gavriel suddenly declared the change of plans, shocking the duke and the officials again. But none of them protested their prince's plan and thus, that night, Gavriel led his army to conquer Katerina and her husband's hideout. 

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