145: Missing from the palace

Missing from the palace

Music Recommendation: What have we done to each other? - Trent Reznor0

—

Dante, who was engaged in conversation with his grandmother, discussing the guests and the symptoms they experienced after consuming the concoction she brewed, suddenly frowned. Abruptly, he turned to look in a particular direction, intently staring, and the Mother Queen noticed his reaction and inquired, 

"What's the matter?" She shifted her gaze in the direction he was looking. 

"Something isn't right," Dante murmured, and he stepped away from the binoculars. As he proceeded towards the staircase, the Mother Queen's eyebrows rose in curiosity. 

"What do you mean? Do you sense the demon of mischief?!" 

"It's Anastasia. I cannot sense her presence," Dante said before swiftly descending the stairs to look for her. Meanwhile, the Mother Queen's progress was hindered by her aged body, causing her to follow him at a slow pace. He navigated through the corridors, his gaze turning dark and the golden slits in his eyes appearing as if trying to pick up the heartbeat that he had grown accustomed to. He questioned one of the passing servants, "Do you know where Anastasia is?" 

The servant offered a bow without meeting his gaze and answered, "No, Your Highness."

Dante walked directly to Anastasia's room, only to find it empty and perfectly arranged. He felt his heart begin to pump faster, his senses heightening into a frenzy as he tried to locate her. Just then, Emily caught sight of his worried expression and asked, 

"Brother Dante—"

"Have you seen Anastasia? She isn't in her room, nor can I sense her." Dante gritted his teeth as he scanned his surroundings as if he could perceive every individual behind the walls and beneath the floors, yet Anastasia wasn't among them. 

"Perhaps she's in the garden," Emily ventured, noticing her brother's rising anger. "I will go and inquire about her maid's whereabouts. Norrix might have some information." 

However, when Mr. Gilbert appeared in the corridor with Theresa by his side, Dante demanded from the woman, "Where is Anastasia?" 

Theresa appeared anxious as she explained, "I left her with Lady Noor not long ago, but when I returned, neither of them were in the room." 

"Is Victor in the room?" Dante asked the servants, who nodded. He proceeded to Lady Noor's room, with everyone following suit. This included the Mother Queen, who had finally descended the final stair and entered the room with her hand resting on her back.

Dante's eyes landed on his sick brother, still resting on the bed. He looked around the space, searching for any sign of struggle, until his attention settled on the assortment of medicines arranged on the table. 

Concerned, Emily inquired, "What makes you think that something happened to her? Are you suggesting that someone might have kidnapped them?" 

"It is the soulmate bond we share," Dante stated, thankful for its existence. Without it, he wouldn't have immediately detected the faint distress that didn't come from him, but from Anastasia, before his perception of it ceased abruptly. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a droplet of blood on the carpet, his lips curling in anger as he growled, "Fucking bitch!"

Apprehension swept through everyone in the room, and the Mother Queen turned to Mr. Gilbert, ordering, "Send word that Anastasia and Noor are missing. They must be located at once!" 

"Yes, milady!" Mr. Gilbert hurried out of the room, causing several gazes to be directed at Victor, with some at Theresa, who had been the last to see the two. 

"Why did you leave Anastasia's side?" Dante interrogated the woman, his eyes ablaze with anger.

"S—she instructed me to fetch Mr. Gilbert, as there was no maid assisting Lady Noor," Theresa explained, having only followed what she was told, not expecting to find the room empty upon her return. 

"Do you think it was Noor who has been playing us all this time?" the Mother Queen asked Dante, who clenched his jaw in response. 

"Check Victor's blood." Dante instructed her, causing the Mother Queen to swiftly approach the bedside. Making a small cut on the young boy's arm, she tasted his blood before a frown formed on her face. "It tastes the same as Lucretia's, albeit fainter."

Emily's face turned pale, caught off guard by the revelation that Lady Noor had been the one targeting her family, and now Anastasia. 

Dante stormed out of the room, tracing Anastasia's scent, only for it to cease abruptly at the palace walls, as if she had never crossed beyond them. The entirety of Versailles underwent an exhaustive search for Anastasia and Noor. Every house, every street, and the dock were scoured, yielding no information. This strongly implied that a demon with a higher power had a hand in her disappearance. 

And while the search for Anastasia yielded no traces, Dante's intuition that this had something to do with a demon, or even multiple demons, turned out to be accurate. 

Anastasia winced, feeling her head throbbing once more, and it took some time for her vision to regain its clarity. 

"You are finally awake," she heard Lady Noor's voice addressing her. 

When Anastasia's eyes fell on Lady Noor, the woman was seated on a chair across the room, her legs elegantly crossed. The woman smiled at her before saying, 

"You boarded the ship. You should have just left on it rather than returned, Anastasia. It's almost as if you were seeking trouble, when I showed you how much trouble you will face by remaining in the palace." 

"Why are you doing this, Lady Noor?" Anastasia found it hard to accept that the kind woman, who had consistently offered her assistance, advice, and insights within the palace, was the mastermind behind these events. "This isn't who you are…"

Lady Noor chuckled at Anastasia's words, seemingly finding amusement in them, until her expression abruptly shifted to one of seriousness. She asked, "I have always been like this, innocent Anastasia. Why is it that people tend to assume and fabricate a certain image of someone, and when their expectations don't align with reality, they cry betrayal? But they are the ones wearing the cloak of hypocrisy, wouldn't you agree?" 

Anastasia's head throbbed, and she asked, "Were you also the one to hit me the last time?" This woman… She was the very person who had ordered her to be cast into the sea. Oh God, she whispered in her mind. 

"It was indeed me. Always wandering around, when I was nice enough to help you leave. You longed to return home, didn't you?" Lady Noor inquired. 

"Attempting to murder me is not the method I would choose to return home." Anastasia tried to shift her position, but her hands were bound behind her back, and her legs were bound to the chair's front legs. 

As more seconds passed between the two women, Anastasia's eyes roved around the room, landing on the dull walls that surrounded her. She could hear the chirping of birds outside the window, and the weather seemed to have grown cooler compared to what she had felt earlier. 

"Why are you doing this?" Anastasia asked the woman, who was leaning slightly forward in her seat. 

"I am returning a favour. Having completed my task, I am offering my assistance," Lady Noor replied with a smile directed at Anastasia. 

"Returning a favour?" Anastasia questioned, but Lady Noor's expression remained unchanged. 

"To the demon, of course," Lady Noor continued, her amusement evident. "The one all of you have been scrambling to locate, which has been quite laughable. To think that he has been with you in the palace all this time, right under your noses," she chuckled.

Anastasia couldn't help but think of the first person who popped into her mind, and she uttered, "It can't possibly be your son. The demon of mischief is hiding..."

Lady Noor's smile widened. She observed Anastasia's attempts to free herself, tugging at the ropes in vain, yet they held firm due to being securely fastened. She said, "Do you imagine this scheme was orchestrated by a mere two individuals? It goes far beyond that." 

Anastasia stared back at the woman before her, a woman who forfeited any right to be called a 'Lady', as she had been colluding with a demon and others. When she next spoke, her words came out as a whisper. "You killed Marianne..." 

Anastasia's limbs turned cold as she stared at Noor in disbelief. Gradually, anger began to fill her brown eyes, a sentiment that Noor simply responded to with a smile. 

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